Do you only eat rice on eid?

By Shafaat Shahbandari - Bhatkallys.com [caption id="attachment_104827" align="alignleft" width="150"] Shafaat Shahbandari,[/caption] The concept of Zakat Al Fitr, as I understand, is to help the less fortunate members of the society celebrate Eid along with the rest of Muslims. But, with the way we are distributing Zakat Al Fitr, does it actually help the poor celebrate the Eid? We celebrate Eid with so much fanfare that we won’t be able to offer the same levels of happiness to the poor. But, we can at least give our brothers and sisters a semblance of joy on Eid. Can’t we? In Bhatkal, we have a very beautiful and organised system of collecting and distributing Zakat Al Fitr and the job that is done by the Fitra Committee is indeed commendable. The Fitra collection and distribution programme has been going on for a long time and now that we have an established platform, it needs to be used for greater good. The committee has to expand the scope of its work. For how long shall we be content in giving the boiled rice as our portion of happiness for the less fortunate. Do we mark our Eid by eating boiled rice? A variety, which, I am told is not even consumed by the recipients. Instead, the recipients sell the collected rice at half price to the same traders who sold the commodity in the first place. It is obvious who is the beneficiary in the system. Our ulema, who are at the forefront of the collection and distribution efforts, know very well the idea behind this great gesture instituted by Islam. Zakat Al Fitr, just like Zakat Al Mal, is an act of worship that aims to generate compassion among the members of the society, while at the same time helping the needy mark Eid with some sense of dignity. So, we should take care in ensuring that our acts of worship should not turn into mere formalities and rituals. Establishing a balanced and a compassionate society, where every member feels for the other, is at the heart of Islam. Quran has dedicated a significant portion of its Ayaat for charity, endowment and compassion, which goes to show how much importance Islam gives for social justice and wellbeing. Zakat Al Fitr is one of Islam’s many ways to convey to its followers that they should care, that the society shouldn’t let alone its less fortunate members at any point, and it is a way of telling the more fortunate members of the society that they have a responsibility that goes beyond taking care of their loved ones. While not getting into the nuances of fiqh, which is not my field of expertise, I would like to emphasise that we can convert this beautiful gesture into a substantial help for our needy households. Instead of giving away mere tokens in rice, we should look at other essentials that is part of our Eid celebration and which would go a long way in bringing joy to many other households. These essentials could be basmati rice, cooking oil, flour, sugar, chicken and any other commodity that could be useful. The task could be carried out by forming small teams of volunteers representing each street and these units could join together to form a bigger team representing a neighbourhood under a leader, who in turn has to be accountable to the central leadership. Money could be collected from the donors and the goods could be purchased under bulk orders and then sorted out, packaged and distributed. We have the leadership, the platform, resources and the logistic capability to carryout this task. All we need is the willingness to change.