Publisher's Note:
At a time of recent and ongoing charity to the needy and the presenting of gifts to one's loved ones, the old adage of how it is more blessed to give than to receive applies as much as ever. It is in this context that GulfWire is pleased to present a piece by Prof. Sarah Whalen, written for Arab News, which addresses three important issues that have special meaning and relevance at this time.
First, Prof. Whalen places in context the issue of charitable contributions by Muslims to the less fortunate in general. Secondly, she provides much needed insight into how the many donations to worthy causes and those in need by generous philanthropists in Saudi Arabia in particular are being misconstrued as to the donors' motivations and scrutinized publicly to a sensationalist degree without precedent in modern American history. Thirdly, she zeroes in on the recent and highly personalized way in which much of the American media, and many in the Congress as well, have gone out of their way to attack, without so much as a shred of substantiated evidence, the wisdom, integrity, and charitable as well as humanitarian intentions of someone who, by any standard, is an extraordinary human being.
John Duke Anthony
A Princess In The Docks For Acts Of Kindness
by Sarah Whalen, Special to Arab News
Princess Haifa, wife of Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US, rarely graces the society pages, so it was shocking to see her in Newsweek's "terrorism" pages recently as an Al-Qaeda financier.
Princess Haifa fell under suspicion because she wrote some personal checks to a woman claiming, like a fairy-tale character who lived in a shoe, that she had six children and a thyroid condition, and did not know what to do (except to write Princess Haifa and ask for money).
Newsweek was casting aspersions on a devout and pious woman for giving charity to another woman with children who said she was in need. Two factors arise. First, Newsweek bad-mouthed a woman, and offered no proof that she had committed the crime of which she was accused - bankrolling Osama Bin Laden.
And while the Sunday news shows offered plenty of yak-yak from pundits and US senators, actual proof of any wrongdoing by Princess Haifa was nowhere to be seen.
Making accusations with no proof is like driving a speeding car with no brakes. The driver, passengers, and bystanders are all equally better-off if you have brakes and use them, and the same is true of the evidence for wrongdoing. But who needs to wait for a trial as long as there is television to fill the gap and keep us riveted and amused? Sentence first, verdict afterward.
The second factor says much more about us than it does about Princess Haifa and the culture from which she comes. According to Newsweek and the senators, Princess Haifa is now a suspect because she did not interrogate the needy woman, inspect her home, check out her husband's friends, or have her fill out numerous information forms. Like we do when people apply for public welfare. They find it incomprehensible that the princess would simply give thousands of dollars away without really knowing anything about the object of her generosity, or extracting a quid pro quo. This cannot be true, they say. Newsweek and the senators conclude that she must have known where her money ultimately went, and intended it to go there ultimately, to a league of murderous Saudi thugs.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry, aghast, went on television last week to explain, forcefully but quietly, that this allegation, couched in innuendo, was false and unfair. They could have said much more, but this is not their way. Technically, it is against their laws to repeat this slander even in defense of its object.
The rest of us US citizens are bemused at the idea that a Saudi can just write their princess and have a favor granted. It is too magical to be real for us. We may write our congressman, but they seldom send us money. Usually, that works the other way around. What's the catch, we wonder? And if there is no catch, what is the princess' real motive? Our skepticism is understandable, because in America, you don't get "something for nothing," and our knowledge of charitable concerns often approaches the inquisitorial. We want to know everything about where our largess goes. But there is a darker side to our spirit of giving. We lecture the poor and pontificate. We enjoin the poor to have fewer or no children, and to abort or give away the ones they have to those who are more wealthy and "responsible." We make the poor wait in long lines and dole out Christmas toys and turkey dinners in a way that clearly separates the serfs from the lords, and does nothing to unite us as a community.
Americans give charity, but our way of doing it frequently humiliates and debases those who seek it. Muslims give charity, too, but in a different way. Princess Haifa, defending herself last week to a reporter, tried to explain: "Our religion tells us to donate to the needy. And it is the kind of thing you don't announce, you just help, and it counts for you."
"It counts for you" is a telling phrase. Haifa may be a princess and, as Maureen Dowd is fond of pointing out, this may guarantee her glittering jewels, fabulous parties, and numerous elegant homes, but it does not guarantee anything for her in the eyes of God. And Princess Haifa knows it. But charity does bring a guarantee. So, like all devout Muslims, she gives a good amount of her money away quietly and in a fairly indiscriminate fashion because the Holy Qur'an states:
It is not righteousness that ye turn your face toward the East or West. But it is righteousness to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity."
In Islam, charity is an act of faith and obedience to God. To make in-depth personal inquiries and investigate "those who ask" may diminish the giver by implying that one is not giving from the heart, uncritically, as God commands. Bragging publicly about one's gifts does the same thing.
We in the West are different. We do what we want. We don't really like giving "something" and getting "nothing."
Princess Haifa could spend all her time going to charity balls and extravaganzas, as do other princesses and women of similar bearing whose faces we in the West would recognize from any magazine. But these acts would not "count" for her, no matter how much money she raised for charities. Why? Because there is another motive.
Princess Haifa probably will now make more inquiries next time she gives her money to "those who ask." But in forcing this change upon a pious woman and upon her nation, we have lost sight of something important about Muslims. Inquiries that indicate skepticism or distrust might humiliate those who ask. Perhaps the terrorists, if they did indeed wind up with Princess Haifa's money, counted on that. But this means that our pejorative tone and accusations are best reserved for the terrorists themselves, if and whenever we catch up with them.
So "follow the money" by all means, but don't criminalize Princess Haifa. She did nothing wrong, and her people need and count on her generosity. She is an example of goodness and faith for her community. And, like all Muslims, her true community is not just her "people," but all of us.
- Sarah Whalen teaches at Loyola University School of Law, New Orleans; she is an expert in Islamic law and taught Islamic law at Temple University School of Law.
Arab News Features 11 December 2002
[Reprinted with permission of Arab News]
