Like the other countries of the world‚ the Muslim countries are also quite often afflicted with natural calamities such as earthquakes‚ floods and drought and man made tragedies like civil wars and the resultant problems of destruction and displaced families etc. Many of them are too poor or backward to cope with such unforeseen calamities from their own resources. Fortunately‚ there are also some very rich states in the Muslim world that have enough and to spare. They come to the help of their less fortunate brethren in times of distress. For example‚ in the current crisis of families displaced due to the civil war in Syria the neighboring countries have not only opened their doors to the families fleeing from the war but are also providing them succor in their hour of distress.

The international agencies too have been helping as they do in such cases. But they have their limitations; they have to mobilise their resources for the emergencies but they can not always match the needs of the affected people. Besides‚ there have been cases like that of Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar where international agencies have been of little help to the unfortunate people. The task of finding food and shelter for such a large number of people is too stupendous for any international agency or agencies to cope with. The agencies have sometimes to face international political pressures if any big powers are involved in any area. In this case the states which have vested interests in Myanmar would rather keep off the matter and leave the Rohingya to their fate than earn the displeasure of the government in Yangon. It was only some Muslim countries who showed concern for their brethren in faith and came up with some donations to help them. The plight of Palestinian refugees is also a case in point. Similar has been the fate of Muslim minorities in some other countries where they have been facing persecution in many forms.

The situation calls for a joint action by the Arab and Muslim countries to help their brethren afflicted by natural or man made calamities. They should voluntarily pool their resources‚ human and material‚ to provide adequate and prompt relief to the affected people and help rehabilitate them.

Fortunately‚ the OIC is ideally placed to undertake the task. It has now the representation of almost the entire Muslim world and enjoys the credibility of the member states. It is suggested that the OIC launch an Islamic Relief Fund to help the people faced by calamities anywhere in the world‚ the Muslims in particular‚ to mitigate the sufferings of the afflicted people.

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