Methodists Help Muslims Sacrifice Goats
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has announced a new partnership with British-based Muslim Aid, with which it hopes to spend up to $15 million on joint relief projects around the world.
Muslim Aid was founded in the 1980's with help from former British rock star turned Muslim convert Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam.
UMCOR's operating budget last year was nearly $90 million, of which $27 million was a grant for Hurricane Katrina relief work from the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA). Muslim Aid's expenditures in 2005 were about $17 million.
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Then Chief Cabinet Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms presided over the June marriage announcement in London, "No one should underestimate the potential for good that Christians and Muslims (working together) can do in the UK and in the rest of the world," Timms said, according to United Methodist News Service. "This shows what distinctive faiths can achieve when the focus is on shared values."
It is not clear what exactly the "shared values" are between the liberal Methodist relief agency and the Islamic group. Randy Day, who heads UMCOR's parent group, the New York-based United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, said that "while we come from different theological positions, we have the same humanitarian values to relieve the suffering of those in need, no matter who they are or what they believe."
What is UMCOR's theology? It is not clear. UMCOR's website contains no references to God, Jesus Christ or the Bible. Its "our values" section explains that UMCOR's mission is to "alleviate human suffering," to honor "cultural differences," to appreciate human dignity, always to work with partners, and to avoid " tying the promise of its relief and development activity to any religious or political viewpoint."
In contrast, Muslim Aid is more specific. "By the Grace of Allah, the Muslim Aid global partnership now brings together humanitarian organizations in more than 50 countries with the Muslim community of the UK," its website reports. "By the mercy of Allah and the support of the British Muslim community, Muslim Aid seeks to place a strong emphasis on short and especially long-term development projects."
One of Muslim Aid's major initiatives is helping needy Muslims fulfill their Qurbani obligation on the day of Eid-ul-Adha. "All Muslims are required to offer the sacrifice of a small animal such as a goat, or offer jointly with others the sacrifice of a larger animal such as a cow," the Muslim Aid website explains. "This act of sacrifice signifies the sacrifice Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) was prepared to make when requested by God to sacrifice his son Ismail." According to the website, orders for Qurbani are now being taken, and the meat will be distributed in December. Last year, Muslim Aid spent over a million dollars on Qurbani programs in over 59 countries.
Muslim Aid's website prominently features quotations from the Koran: "Who is he that will loan to Allah a beautiful loan? For (Allah) will increase it manifold to his credit, and he will have (besides) a liberal reward (Qur'an 57:11)." The website reports that Muslim Aid is a Muslim charity that is "bound by the guidance of Islam for the disposal of charitable donations received: "Alms are for the poor and for the needy, and for those employed to administer the funds; for those whose hearts have been reconciled to the truth, for those in bondage and in debt; for those in the cause of Allah; and for the wayfarer." (Holy Qur'an: Surah Al Tawbah, verse 60)."
According to Muslim Aid, Islam "emphasizes that empowerment and help for self-help is the key to tackling the root causes of poverty." It quotes a teaching from the hadeeth, in which the Prophet Muhammad shows a beggar how to profit by selling firewood. Partner groups with Muslim Aid are expected to follow the Islamic practices of Zakah and Sadagah, which are the equivalent of Christian tithes and offerings.
Oddly, UMCOR, in its publications, makes no reference to Christian teachings about charity, much less about the Author of Christianity. As a liberal Protestant relief agency, much of whose income comes from government sources, it seems to profess no particular religious objective beyond vague humanitarianism.
Timms, the British cabinet minister presiding at the London announcement, rejoiced that the two supposed "faith" groups have worked together across a divide thought to be "unbridgeable." But what exactly is the divide? Muslim Aid appears actually to believe in the truth of Islam and of the Koran. UMCOR does not advertise any particular religious preference, which perhaps explains why it is a suitable partner for an Islamic charity.
"No one should underestimate the potential for good that Christians and Muslims (working together) can do in the UK and in the rest of the world," Timms enthused. "This shows what distinctive faiths can achieve when the focus is on shared values." The British politician is assuming that UMCOR is staffed by Christians. But if so, their Christianity must be so secret as not to merit any mention.
UMCOR and Muslim Aid have already been cooperating in Sri Lanka, where they have partnered in nearly $10 million worth of projects. UMCOR's director in Sri Lanka boasted that its association with Muslim Aid has ended the ill will and violence that previously were aimed at UMCOR workers.
"We were able to walk through villages where before people would have thrown stones at us. Now they were smiling at us," Hovey told United Methodist News Service. "We built unique relationships with faith leaders. Seeing us trusting and working with each other, people felt they could trust local faith communities."
Muslim Aid chairman Farooq Murad explained: "We are two communities looking at the same problem: the outbreak of global poverty and inequality." He cited the Koran in urging cooperation in "in what is right and what is just."
Did any of the UMCOR officials present at the London event ever quote the Bible? If so, the United Methodist News Service story never mentioned it.
In June, Muslim Aid helped organize a rally in London before the G-8 summit in Germany, to protest "the crippling effects of debt, trade injustice and climate change." It urged supporters to email the Western heads of state, warning them that, "We the world cannot wait."
Supposedly Muslim Aid is non-political and relief-focused. But its publications emphasize the Iraq War and the Palestinians with obvious political overtones. During last year's Israeli military strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, Muslim Aid's chairman could not help himself. "It is a naked act of aggression, targeting unarmed civilians, and must be ended with immediate effect, Farooq Murad insisted. "This action is a cruelly disproportionate reaction, and cannot be justified."
Muslim Aid will be working with liberal Protestants who do not openly profess specific religious beliefs but who almost certainly share Muslim's Aid's political perspective. It should be a glorious interfaith partnership.
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Mark D. Tooley directs the United Methodist committee at the Institute on Religion and Democracy.
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