ising Islamophobia in many countries in the western world disrespects the sentiments of 1.8 billion Muslims around the world. In a time when the fervor for free speech collides with the emotions of Muslims, the opportunists among whom often resort to violence creating national security threat and a diplomatic crisis. Recently, for example, TLP - Tehreek Labaik Ya Rasool Allah – a fringe religious extremist party in Pakistan recently brought the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to its knees with the demand to expel the French Ambassador because of the publication of cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad in a French satirical weekly paper.
In a sad way, extremist organizations like TLP provide more ammunition to the merchants of Islamophobia. Afterall, TLP was formed in memory of the convicted killer Mumtaz Qadri, who in January 2011 assassinated Punjab Governor Salman Taseer – a person Qadri was supposed to protect as his police bodyguard. What was Governor Taseer’s offense? He merely expressed sympathy for Aasiya Noreen (commonly known as Asia Bibi), a Pakistani Christian falsely accused of blasphemy in Pakistan. In April 2021, two Pakistani Christian nurses were accused of blasphemy while on duty serving patients at a government hospital in Faisalabad Pakistan.
As if one case was not enough, it has become a never-ending deluge. Is Islam such an intolerant faith and are its Prophet’s teachings so wicked that monsters like Qadri and his ilk are propping up behind every bush? Notwithstanding the evil deeds of a few, the majority of Muslims go about their daily lives as law-abiding citizens across the world, observing their faith according to the traditions familiar to them. They are not seeking publicity, nor are they carrying matchsticks to burn down foreign embassies or take hostages. During Ramadan, people of faith strive in every way humanly possible to follow the words of the Holy Prophet to whom the Quran was revealed in this month. Dedicated believers find a way to inculcate the words of the Holy Prophet in their daily lives during the rest of the months of the years in their lives.
So, what are the traditions? “The best of people are those who are most beneficial to people," said the Prophet Muhammad while trying to communicate the importance of service to humanity. If Muslims are not able to fast during Ramadan, for example, then they are expected to feed the hungry.
It might be hard for those who profit from promoting Islamophobia to believe that the Prophet’s words actually help inspire a lot of people to contribute in a very meaningful way to the human condition. While countries like Pakistan, Somalia and Afghanistan present some horrifying examples, there are far many more inspiring stories, too.
The story of Dr. Munawar Ahmad, a retired Pakistani pediatrician who trained in London, UK, is a case in point. With the hope of inspiring the next generation, he documented his experience in a memoir - “The Blessings of Service to Humanity,” which is a practical translation of the Urdu memoir “Waqf-ki-Barkaat”. The book, which describes his work as a missionary physician in Nigeria, Africa, is dedicated to his grandchildren.
Dr. Munawar, as he is known by his first name, educates the readers about the public service traditions in his family going back to his father and grandfather, who were also physicians. More importantly, he mentions the leaders who inspired him. In this connection, he quotes the 1970 speech in Freetown, Sierra Leone of Mirza Nasir Ahmad, who was then the leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community – a persecuted community in Pakistan. This speech called for physicians, teachers, and anyone with talents, to serve humanity in Africa.
Dr. Munawar, who had recently returned to Pakistan from London after his post-graduate medical training, had a thriving practice and a comfortable life in Lahore. He felt the need to serve humanity in Africa, which was not an easy decision. His wife had to sacrifice her permanent faculty position at a college in Lahore. From reading his story, one can feel the burden he carries to this day for the sacrifice his wife made for his choice, especially when their two infant children were also involved.
Dr. Munawar proceeded with his plan to serve in Nigeria, despite not knowing the country, its languages or the culture – and more importantly exactly where he would work. Friends advised him to meet Dr. Zia-ud-din, from Kharian, Pakistan, an experienced and widely respected missionary physician already working in Kano since the 1960s, heeding a similar call earlier to serve humanity in Africa.
The meeting with Dr. Zia-ud-din was critical for Dr. Munawar in understanding the prevalent diseases in Nigeria, determining where to get medicines for his would-be patients and most importantly where to start his practice. The two Pakistani physicians decided that Bukuru would be a good place. Bukuru was then a small village on the outskirts of Jos, the provincial capital of the Plateau State. Besides some agriculture, there were tin mines in this area populated by Christians as well as Muslims. While there were a number of medical establishments run by Christian missionaries already in the area, there were none run by Muslims.
Dr. Munawar rented a two-room building, with no running water to start his clinic. With humility, he began to serve the local population regardless of creed or ethnicity. Within a short period, patients came from near and far, turning the clinic into a respected medical practice serving humanity. The clinic he started continues to operate today, more than forty years after his return to Pakistan in 1976.
Upon his return to Pakistan, Dr. Munawar restarted his pediatrics practice near Mayo Hospital in Lahore. On weekends, he continued to serve with fellow volunteer physicians at free medical camps in villages around Lahore treating poor patients regardless of their faith. He himself became a patient at that very hospital when he was the victim of an acid attack, perhaps because of his faith, as a member of the persecuted Ahmadi community. Instead of experiencing anger or a thirst for revenge, Dr. Munawar turned the other cheek.
Dr. Munawar's time in Nigeria, and the people he served there, remained with him long after his return to Pakistan. Among his guests at his home in Pakistan were a British couple whose child was a patient at Dr. Munawar’s clinic in Nigeria. On one of her visits to the clinic, this woman wanted to meet his wife who was in their one-room residence in the back of the clinic. It happened to be one of those rainy days when there was standing water in the room. Later, when she met her husband who was a mining company executive, this lady described the challenging daily life of Dr. Munawar, his wife and the children. A few days later, the British couple returned to the clinic and handed over keys to a furnished house in the company’s housing complex, saying that you do so much for human beings, so this is the least we can do for you. The couples remained lifelong friends.
This is not only a beautiful story of human kindness but also an exemplar of the blessings of service to humanity. It is a critical ethos of the Muslim faith, and one shared far more widely by the 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide, than the few who would profit off fostering hate and fear.
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The Blessings of Service to Humanity
Photo by Anis Coquelet via Unsplash.
May 9, 2021
Notwithstanding the evil deeds of a few, the majority of Muslims go about their daily lives as law-abiding citizens across the world, observing their faith according to the traditions familiar to them.
R
ising Islamophobia in many countries in the western world disrespects the sentiments of 1.8 billion Muslims around the world. In a time when the fervor for free speech collides with the emotions of Muslims, the opportunists among whom often resort to violence creating national security threat and a diplomatic crisis. Recently, for example, TLP - Tehreek Labaik Ya Rasool Allah – a fringe religious extremist party in Pakistan recently brought the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to its knees with the demand to expel the French Ambassador because of the publication of cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad in a French satirical weekly paper.
In a sad way, extremist organizations like TLP provide more ammunition to the merchants of Islamophobia. Afterall, TLP was formed in memory of the convicted killer Mumtaz Qadri, who in January 2011 assassinated Punjab Governor Salman Taseer – a person Qadri was supposed to protect as his police bodyguard. What was Governor Taseer’s offense? He merely expressed sympathy for Aasiya Noreen (commonly known as Asia Bibi), a Pakistani Christian falsely accused of blasphemy in Pakistan. In April 2021, two Pakistani Christian nurses were accused of blasphemy while on duty serving patients at a government hospital in Faisalabad Pakistan.
As if one case was not enough, it has become a never-ending deluge. Is Islam such an intolerant faith and are its Prophet’s teachings so wicked that monsters like Qadri and his ilk are propping up behind every bush? Notwithstanding the evil deeds of a few, the majority of Muslims go about their daily lives as law-abiding citizens across the world, observing their faith according to the traditions familiar to them. They are not seeking publicity, nor are they carrying matchsticks to burn down foreign embassies or take hostages. During Ramadan, people of faith strive in every way humanly possible to follow the words of the Holy Prophet to whom the Quran was revealed in this month. Dedicated believers find a way to inculcate the words of the Holy Prophet in their daily lives during the rest of the months of the years in their lives.
So, what are the traditions? “The best of people are those who are most beneficial to people," said the Prophet Muhammad while trying to communicate the importance of service to humanity. If Muslims are not able to fast during Ramadan, for example, then they are expected to feed the hungry.
It might be hard for those who profit from promoting Islamophobia to believe that the Prophet’s words actually help inspire a lot of people to contribute in a very meaningful way to the human condition. While countries like Pakistan, Somalia and Afghanistan present some horrifying examples, there are far many more inspiring stories, too.
The story of Dr. Munawar Ahmad, a retired Pakistani pediatrician who trained in London, UK, is a case in point. With the hope of inspiring the next generation, he documented his experience in a memoir - “The Blessings of Service to Humanity,” which is a practical translation of the Urdu memoir “Waqf-ki-Barkaat”. The book, which describes his work as a missionary physician in Nigeria, Africa, is dedicated to his grandchildren.
Dr. Munawar, as he is known by his first name, educates the readers about the public service traditions in his family going back to his father and grandfather, who were also physicians. More importantly, he mentions the leaders who inspired him. In this connection, he quotes the 1970 speech in Freetown, Sierra Leone of Mirza Nasir Ahmad, who was then the leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community – a persecuted community in Pakistan. This speech called for physicians, teachers, and anyone with talents, to serve humanity in Africa.
Dr. Munawar, who had recently returned to Pakistan from London after his post-graduate medical training, had a thriving practice and a comfortable life in Lahore. He felt the need to serve humanity in Africa, which was not an easy decision. His wife had to sacrifice her permanent faculty position at a college in Lahore. From reading his story, one can feel the burden he carries to this day for the sacrifice his wife made for his choice, especially when their two infant children were also involved.
Dr. Munawar proceeded with his plan to serve in Nigeria, despite not knowing the country, its languages or the culture – and more importantly exactly where he would work. Friends advised him to meet Dr. Zia-ud-din, from Kharian, Pakistan, an experienced and widely respected missionary physician already working in Kano since the 1960s, heeding a similar call earlier to serve humanity in Africa.
The meeting with Dr. Zia-ud-din was critical for Dr. Munawar in understanding the prevalent diseases in Nigeria, determining where to get medicines for his would-be patients and most importantly where to start his practice. The two Pakistani physicians decided that Bukuru would be a good place. Bukuru was then a small village on the outskirts of Jos, the provincial capital of the Plateau State. Besides some agriculture, there were tin mines in this area populated by Christians as well as Muslims. While there were a number of medical establishments run by Christian missionaries already in the area, there were none run by Muslims.
Dr. Munawar rented a two-room building, with no running water to start his clinic. With humility, he began to serve the local population regardless of creed or ethnicity. Within a short period, patients came from near and far, turning the clinic into a respected medical practice serving humanity. The clinic he started continues to operate today, more than forty years after his return to Pakistan in 1976.
Upon his return to Pakistan, Dr. Munawar restarted his pediatrics practice near Mayo Hospital in Lahore. On weekends, he continued to serve with fellow volunteer physicians at free medical camps in villages around Lahore treating poor patients regardless of their faith. He himself became a patient at that very hospital when he was the victim of an acid attack, perhaps because of his faith, as a member of the persecuted Ahmadi community. Instead of experiencing anger or a thirst for revenge, Dr. Munawar turned the other cheek.
Dr. Munawar's time in Nigeria, and the people he served there, remained with him long after his return to Pakistan. Among his guests at his home in Pakistan were a British couple whose child was a patient at Dr. Munawar’s clinic in Nigeria. On one of her visits to the clinic, this woman wanted to meet his wife who was in their one-room residence in the back of the clinic. It happened to be one of those rainy days when there was standing water in the room. Later, when she met her husband who was a mining company executive, this lady described the challenging daily life of Dr. Munawar, his wife and the children. A few days later, the British couple returned to the clinic and handed over keys to a furnished house in the company’s housing complex, saying that you do so much for human beings, so this is the least we can do for you. The couples remained lifelong friends.
This is not only a beautiful story of human kindness but also an exemplar of the blessings of service to humanity. It is a critical ethos of the Muslim faith, and one shared far more widely by the 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide, than the few who would profit off fostering hate and fear.
