Is there a doctor in the house?

Al-duktoor fil bayti?

The situation right now in my country, appalls me. Everything I'm hearing is unfortunately, hearsay or via the BBC-World News reports.

Let it be said, the BBC does indeed 'demand a broader view.' How broad?

Days ago, they interviewed a spokesman from the Red Cross, confronting him with dire statistics and speculations of the Houston region alone. On that day, the reporter & BBC captions read:

27,000 refugees in Astrodome - possibly for at least another 3 weeks. Serious concerns for sanitation, basic hygeine and living standards, and disaster relief logistics.

45,000 refugees in hotels around Houston.

But the Red Cross worker seemed mildly amused at this British alarmism, if one read his facial expression. The media wars have begun - PR vs. ground-level facts. At least the BBC-World, delivered this much.

48 hours later, friends in Florida tell me the military's rolled in. Wonderful - I wonder if that will only worsen matters for disaster relief?

Recent reports suggest it may take months for the waters to recede.

I truly believe this is NOT the time for metaphysical or political blame-games. It is a time to help the needy, the Miskeen, the destitute, and the sick.

A sound tradition from our beloved Imam, Rasulullah (saw), mentions the immense blessings of simply visiting a sick person. 70,000 angels is no small matter.

Months ago, I asked a contemporary giant of an aalim, who is Shafi'i by madhab about medicine and Islam. He related the following to me:

-Imam shafi'i used to express his regret that muslims did not go into medicine, and that they left it to the jews and christians.

-documented by al-bayhaqi in Manaqibal-Shafi'i

- "al-'ilmu ilmaan: ilmu t-tibbi lil-abdaan, wa'ilmu l-fiqhi lil-adyaan"
(meaning: there are two kinds of knowledge; medicine, for the body and fiqh, for religion)
as if the other branches of knowledge are secondary while these two are paramount

-he (Imam Shafi'i) possessed a fair amount of medicalknowledge himself, it is said

We were content with the Red Cross and other 'benefactors' helping out the Tsunami victims of Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Aceh, other parts of Indonesia, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and southern India's coastlines. We are also privy to ground level reports concerning the actual ongoings of charity-sponsored missions in those regions.

There are many wealthy, rich Muslim physicians in the US & Canada. And elsewhere in the world. They are supposedly organized in certain pockets, printing out glossy brochures with brown people receiving awards from whiter faces.

Will these so-called brown (and white, and yellow, and red, and purple) healers, please STAND up and face the music? I'd like to hear from ANYONE who knows a thing about Muslim doctors doing relief work in the southern part of the country God HAS blessed (and shall continue to).

Ya Rahman - is there a doctor in our house?