Indian Muslims Exemplify the Great Commandment, Providing Tsunami Aid to Hindu Neighbors

A piece by Jay Solomon in this morning's Wall Street Journal ($) recounts how a group of Muslims in southern India is providing a wonderful illustration of the universality of the Great Commandment and Summary of the Law.  Despite the sometimes-violent religious differences between India's majority Hindus and minority Muslims, this group of Muslims has been energetically mobilizing to provide tsunami disaster relief to Hindus in neighboring villages:

The village of Parangipettai is perched on a small hill above the Bay of Bengal and thus was spared the wrath of the Dec. 26 tsunami. Its religious facilities have benefited greatly from all the money expatriated Indian Muslim workers in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf have sent home. Parangipettai's shrouded women, bearded young men, and the regular calls to Islamic prayer make the place feel far removed from the majority-Hindu villages that dot Cuddalore district, of which Parangipettai is a part. Cuddalore was badly hit by the tsunami as it struck India's southern coast.

Soon after the tsunami, however, the United Islamic Jamaath's 500 members assumed a key role in uniting Cuddalore's grass-roots relief effort, according to Hindu villagers and local politicians.

Syed Mcaryacar had been riding his motorcycle on the beach when the tsunami charged ashore. Seeing the wall of water approaching, he yelled at nearby fishermen and their families to seek higher ground. He quickly returned to Parangipettai to mobilize the members of his mosque.

Dozens of men on motorcycles, looking for survivors, quickly fanned out to the beaches, drawing on their experience in responding to the killer cyclones that have lashed Cuddalore's shores. The men picked up the injured and the dead, Mr. Mcaryacar says, and transported them to hospitals and morgues. Those left homeless were taken to eight refugee camps that Mr. Yunoos's organization is helping to run.

"With our experience, we had little difficulty mobilizing our people fast," says Mohamed Ishak, the 65-year-old vice president of the United Islamic Jamaath.

One of the camps, based in a building with the Arabic name Mahmoodhia Shadi Mahal, currently houses hundreds of predominantly Hindu survivors of the tsunami. Saturday night, men, women and children slept on mats lining the assembly room's floor and waited for news of missing loved ones. They wore clothing provided by the United Islamic Jamaath.

"These men have acted like gods," says K. Anjamma, an elderly villager. "They have helped to save so many lives," she says.

*  *  *

With the crisis continuing, Mr. Yunoos and his charity workers vow to increase their aid efforts. Warehouses belonging to the mosque are accumulating more donated shoes, shirts and pants. And the kitchen at the Islamic center has stocked large reserves of biscuits, cooking oil and spices to be disbursed to towns and villages in Cuddalore. Appeals by Mr. Yunoos for more donations are being made locally and to Islamic communities elsewhere in Asia and the Middle East.

"The magnitude of the disaster is just too great," says the 54-year-old Mr. Yunoos, who has worked in the past with India's secular Congress political party, which now heads the nation's coalition government. "We do welfare work for all people, not just the Muslims."

On Saturday night, Mr. Ishak patrolled an alleyway in Parangipettai where four United Islamic Jamaath cooks were making rice and vegetables in big vats. Acrid smoke from the fires filled the air as Mr. Ishak tasted the stews. Each vat could feed 300 people, he says, and up to 30 are boiling at one time. "We're packaging and distributing food for 10,000 people per day," he says.

Local television stations have lauded Mr. Yunoos's group for inspiring new hope for Hindu-Muslim relations in India after the tragedy of Gujarat. And high-ranking officials from New Delhi, including Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, have visited Parangipettai in recent days to inspect relief operations.

Armies of men from Mr. Yunoos's mosque complex, meanwhile, continue to fan out to nearby villages to provide food, clothing and soap to tsunami survivors. In the village of Samiyarpettai, roughly 100 members of the United Islamic Jamaath arrived in town on trucks this past weekend, their mouths covered with masks to protect them from feared epidemics. They served up hot bowls of a local Indian favorite, vegetable biryani, to thankful locals and they patrolled the beach.

Refugees in Samiyarpettai's main Hindu temple weren't surprised that aid was coming from the nearby Islamic community. Standing in front of a statue of Durga, the Indian goddess of protection, someone said, "We're all fishermen here. Religion comes second."

Comments

[Thariq]

hi. thariq here from parangipettai. i proud to be a parangipettai muslim. we like to serve our peoples apart from relegious.

im thanking u for flash our service to the world wide.

thannks
may allah bless u

[D. C.]

Thank you for posting your comment, Thariq. May the God whom we both try to serve, also bless you and your efforts on behalf of our brothers and sisters.

[Ali Abbas]

I am very much proud to be a parangipettai native. Our town has done well for all the Tsunami affected people of various seashore villagers regardless of religions.

Thanks for your posting.
Ali Abbas,
Dubai.

[Anjaan Ahmed]

Its not a MUSLIM , HINDU, or Christian, We are all HUMAN BEING , when "GOD" creat it this beutiful world for all of us, that time, there wasn't any Hindu or Muslicm nor Christian.

But , Muslim people are always good and kool, some DEVIL & EVIL always behind of us, thats why MUSLIM people are like that ( TERRORIST and Other )

In our society every where we can find a good person and a bad person, no matter where you from and who you're.

Congratulation Muslim's are from South India.You gusy did the good JOB

Best luck and best wishes

Anjaan Ahmed
New York-USA

[Shaik Naina]

Naina from Parangipettai, this work take by total parangipettai muslim peoples. hole people take the work nearly 12 costal villages(tsunami afficted areas) and take the serve food and other daily need in one week. am very proud of them in my native people

[Bibhu]

We the hindu of india r broad minded enough 2 participate in christian new year & festivals. Wil u pl pray JESUS 2 bestow your christian community with such broad mindedness 2 enable u 2 participate in hindu's festivals.