Dwindling generosity
we love to honor ourselves based on the trait of generosity. we keep repeating the story of hatem al-tai (stories about his extreme generosity have made him an icon for arabs until the present day) as if there is no other in our history. if we were really generous, why not mention anyone else in our history? i personally think the most famous arab figure who has been known for generosity and self-renunciation throughout the history of the region is the late lebanese prime minister rafik al-hariri about whom i have written several articles. al-hariri was a model of generosity, particularly when it comes to spending on the education of tens of thousands of young lebanese men from all spectrums in the lebanese society without any distinction based on sects or religions. the hindu saint shirdi sai baba, whose generosity is strange but well known, was regarded as a “saint” by all indians including muslims. he is the only one, perhaps after gandhi, who won such a high rank. shirdi sai baba was a spiritual master. he preached the importance of self-realization and criticized any kind of love for perishable things. his teachings were focused on a moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, contentment, and inner peace. he has always emphasized the importance of self-search and spiritual training. he also condemned all forms of racial and religious hatred and hostility, to the extent that no one knew exactly the truth of his religion. he lived in a mosque and practiced hindu rituals, and his lessons included materials and virtues of both religions. he believed in the chinese saying, “it is better to teach the hungry how to fish than to give one”. he knew what hunger meant, so he devoted his life to feeding the largest number of poor people. today, the sai baba hall in shirdi, which had officially opened ten years ago, is the largest restaurant in the world, possibly in history. the dining hall is of area 11,550 square meters. there are 399 cooks in the kitchen who prepare food daily. more than 40,000 meals are prepared daily all year round. dr suresh hauri, the chief trustee of sai baba temple, said feeding people was the goal of shirdi sai baba. he explained that the restaurant won the state excellence award for its solar kitchen. with 73 solar dishes, each of size 16 square meters, the total steam generation capacity is 4,200 kilograms per day. in this solar kitchen, food is prepared for more than 25,000 individuals every day including 600 meals for temple guests. the kitchen uses tons of lentil and rice every day along with the same quantity of fresh vegetables that are obtained from the farmers of the area. modern dishwashing machines are used for cleaning dishes. there are two machines for cutting and washing vegetables, and another for rice and lentils. there are also flour milling and bread preparing machines. the kitchen also has the highest standards of cleanliness, sterilization and disinfection according to the world’s standards. the important thing here is that shirdi sai baba was doing his work from a purely humanitarian perspective. he was not looking for a reward. this brings us to the topic of “food tables in ramadan”, but that is another topic.
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