BASIC FOOD AID: A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE BETWEEN MALAYSIAS FOOD BANK AND IMARET DURING THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

The Covid-19 pandemic that first emerged at the end of 2019 has had a huge impact on the world economy and social life. In Malaysia, innumerable people faced unemployment problems and this led to an increase in the number of poverty-stricken individuals, especially in urban areas. Hence, through the initiative of several individuals and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), food banks were established in numerous locations to help communities in need of food aid and basic necessities. According to Islamic history, such forms of food aid had existed throughout the Ottoman era in efforts to deal with the problem of food shortage caused by poverty, natural disasters or war. Therefore, this study aimed to examine and discuss the comparison of food banks created based on the concept and implementation of waqf institutions, which is akin to imaret (or darüzziyafe) initiated during the Ottoman empire in times of pandemics, natural disasters or any kind of dire situation affecting the population. This qualitative study analysed literature from previous studies. Findings indicated that there are several similarities in the general concept between contemporary food banks established in Malaysia and the imaret that existed during the Ottoman empire. Both these initiatives involve an allocation of funds for purchasing food which is then given away free to the need in the community. The financial assistance is provided by individual funds intended solely for the purpose of charity. However, there are differences in terms of implementation by these two institutions, such as the period of existence, method of assistance, distribution of aid, method of distribution and different allocation of funds. In conclusion, the establishment of food banks and imaret have an important role in times of an urgency, such as during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as in other catastrophic situations. The role of this current institution should be expanded so that the affordable sections of the community can implement the food bank concept to help those in need.

2019年末首次暴发的新冠疫情（COVID-19 pandemic）对全球经济与社会生活造成了巨大冲击。在马来西亚，大量民众面临失业困境，进而导致贫困人口数量激增，城市地区尤为严重。为此，在多名个人与非政府组织（non-governmental organizations, NGOs）的倡议下，当地多个地点设立了食品银行（food bank），为亟需食品援助与基本生活物资的社区提供帮扶。据伊斯兰历史记载，此类食品援助模式早在奥斯曼帝国时期便已出现，用于应对贫困、自然灾害或战争引发的粮食短缺问题。本研究旨在探讨并对比基于瓦克夫（waqf）机构理念设立的马来西亚当代食品银行，与奥斯曼帝国时期在疫情、自然灾害或其他影响民众的危急情境下推行的伊玛雷特（imaret，或darüzziyafe）这两种援助模式的异同。本研究为质性研究（qualitative study），通过梳理分析既往研究文献展开。结果表明，马来西亚当代食品银行与奥斯曼时期的伊玛雷特在核心理念上存在多处共通之处：二者均通过划拨专项资金采购食品，并免费发放给社区有需求的群体，且资金均来源于专门用于慈善的个人捐赠。但二者在实施层面存在显著差异，包括存续周期、援助实施方式、物资分发流程与资金分配模式等方面。综上，食品银行与伊玛雷特在紧急情境中——如新冠疫情期间及其他灾难性事件中——均发挥了关键作用。未来应进一步拓展此类现有机构的职能范围，使更多具备条件的社区群体能够践行食品银行理念，为有需要的人群提供帮助。