Collaborative Contribution Of The Mosque After 2010 Flood:Unraveling The Potentials Of A Community-based Religious Institution

The role and involvement of the mosque in seemingly non-religious activities of flood management,largely left untouched in the realm of disaster studies,was investigated in detail in this research.Two basic research questions guided this study for finding out the actual collaborative role of the mosque after 2010 flood and also unraveling the potentials of the community-based institution in the face of flood in rural settings.Three villages of southern Punjab were included in the case study for detailed investigation using qualitative methods.The mosque served as the connecting bridge between the affected communities and the outside world during different phases of flood management.Its contribution eased the functioning of aid and development organizations in the local flood-hit areas.It was the main gathering point for men for interactions,discussions,sharing information and making decisions of common interest.This role was critical in economic sense as crucial information about livelihood sector was shared among victims and cooperation was also extended to each other in these gatherings.Although,the women were mainly found absent from the physical structure of the mosque but the support and the role of the imam and the mosque helped greatly in building socially and culturally viable environment for their participation in development activities.The purely fatalistic and religious explanations helped communities in healing the grief and provided psychological support as well but there were negative implications too.A significant number of flood victims did not deem it necessary to take care of the scientific measures due to their belief in fate,developed by these religious explanations.The controversies attached to the mosque were also debated and it was maintained that unnecessary prejudiced labelling hinders the realization of the actual potential of the mosque as a beneficial community institution.A call was made to all stakeholders of disaster management,including the state functionaries,the private sector and the civil society,to enhance their engagement with the institution of the mosque owing to its dominant position in its social environment.More proactive and collaborative role of community-based religious institutions such as the mosque,the temple,the church and the synagogue in seemingly secular and non-worship activities of disaster management could help in sacred cause of saving human lives and stopping natural hazards from turning into disastrous events in future.The literature of disaster studies direly needs to acknowledge this role and make serious efforts for tapping and channeling the precious potential of these institutions in best possible way for the cause of humanity.This research made an effort to make up some part of this short fall by focusing on the role of the mosque in apparently non-religious activities such as dealing with flood.