Working for the Common Good

By MUNEEB NASIR

When Craig Kielburger was twelve years old, he was shocked by a newspaper story about the murder of a young Pakistani boy crusading against child labor in his country.

Moved by the story, Craig educated himself about child exploitation around the world and made a presentation to his class, asking for volunteers to fight for children’s rights.

Eleven of his classmates stepped forward and along with Craig formed Feed the Children, an organization working to end exploitation by promoting children’s rights and educational programs.

The organization began as a small group of youths and quickly evolved into an international phenomenon.

Free the Children has now changed the lives of more than one million young people around the world and Craig Kielburger has become a Canadian celebrity.

The organization has built 500 schools, providing daily education to more than 50,000 children.

Craig Kielburger’s story illustrates the power of one person to effect change through volunteering.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of a successful society and it represents a significant aspect of Canadian life.

Almost 12 million Canadians, 45% of the population 15 and older, volunteer their time to support good works.

We see these volunteers everywhere.

They coach children and youth, run scouting groups, provide social services, support cultural programs, run health and educational activities, advocate for the environment and much more.

Volunteers contribute close to 2 billion volunteer hours in Canada, which represents an astounding equivalent of over one million fulltime hours.

Without them, many of our most treasured services and activities would not exist.

Believers are not spectators

In Islam, there is a strong ethic that encourages engaging in good deeds and giving of oneself.

A believer in God cannot be just a spectator.

The flowering of religious principles and its highest form of expression comes through the believer’s actions and participation in the welfare of society.

Prophet Muhammad, peace be on him, said:
“Whoever removes a worldly grief from a believer, Allah will remove from him a grief on the Day of Judgment" (Prophetic tradition, Muslim).

"He who is not merciful to people, Allah will not be merciful to him.'' (Prophetic tradition, Bukhari and Muslim).

The terms Faith (Iman) and righteous deeds ('amal-us-saalihaat) are used so often in the Qur'an that it leaves one convinced they are intertwined.

“By (the Token of) Time, Verily Man is in loss, Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.” (Qur’an 103).

Muslims are challenged to translate their moral values into works for the betterment of the society.

This requires Muslims to recapture the universal dimension of the religion and not to think of good works as simple being engaged in ritual obligations.

In essence, Muslims are called upon to translate the Qur’anic principles, described as ‘guidance for mankind’ and the Prophet’s life example, who is described as ‘mercy to humanity’, into good works.

No action is considered too trivial. Indeed, one’s eternal life is tied to the performance of good deeds.

“Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has Faith, verily, to him will We give a new Life, a life that is good and pure and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions.” (Qur’an, 16:97).

Transforming times

At the beginning of the 21st Century, people are looking for new directions and speaking of change.

Grass roots volunteer movements bringing together diverse people and groups are springing up to address such issues as the global warming, poverty, child abuse and working for the common good.

One such inspiring example is that of Chicago native, Dr. Eboo Patel, who established the Interfaith Youth Core which builds mutual respect and common ground among young people from different religious traditions by empowering them to work together to serve others.

The Interfaith Youth Core seeks to strengthen and deepen young people’s religious convictions while helping them gain greater knowledge of the beliefs of others, identify values they have in common and express those values in community service projects.

Over the course of 7 years, 10,300 young people in 5 continents have participated in the In the Interfaith Youth Core Programs.

Every year there is the Days of Interfaith Youth Service in which young people come together on college campuses and in their hometowns to do community service and engage in dialogue.

Eboo Patel, Craig Kielburger and millions of volunteers teach us the power one person has to effect change and that no act is too small or insignificant when working for the common good.

(Article appears in the April edition of Faith of Life Magazine)