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Unnoticed but important: revealing the hidden contribution of community-based religious institution of the mosque in disasters

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Abstract

The role of community-based religious institutions has been largely undocumented, underestimated and overshadowed in the disaster studies literature. This paper explores the role of the mosque, a community-based religious institution, in disaster management by documenting and analysing its role in rural settings in the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. The study examines the role of the mosque in relation to key actors from the state, civil society and private sector during response, relief, recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation phases of the Pakistan earthquake. Using qualitative research methods and a case study design, this article analyses primary data collected through 5 months of fieldwork (in 2009 and 2010). The findings demonstrate the multifaceted and distinct contribution of the mosque in cultural, economic, social and political aspects of the lives of the earthquake-affected communities. Possible challenges to engagement with the mosque, both gender inclusiveness and political controversy around its role, are also raised. This research suggests that state, civil society and private sector actors involved in disaster management need to understand complex relationships involving people and their religious institutions, and their impact on the social dimension of recovery. The findings of the study contribute to the scarce knowledge about the role of community-based religious institutions including churches, mosques, synagogues and temples and call for engagement: that is, acknowledging and valuing their role for building a synergy between secular and religious efforts for disaster risk reduction and post-disaster recovery.

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Notes

  1. It is important to note that disaster phases are not mutually exclusive because social settings are not homogenous, and different individuals and groups can be in different phases of a disaster at the same time (Neal 1997). Conceptually, it is difficult to separate these phases as they are not neatly distinguishable from each other (McEntire 2007). Therefore, disaster phases are used as an organising concept to highlight the role of the mosque in this paper and are not considered deterministically. The four phases of the disaster cycle used in this article are preparedness (1st), response (2nd), relief (3rd) and recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation (4th) in the context of Pakistan.

  2. The term “disaster risk” denotes potential human (for example lives and health) and material (for example livelihoods and assets) losses based on the current situation at a place due to a disaster (UNISDR 2004). This concept is used to broadly map risks faced by a community in view of potential hazards. A related term “disaster risk reduction (DRR)” which has been particularly popularised by United Nations (UNISDR 2002, 2005) calls for a risk avoidance approach through a holistic and strategic methods of addressing social and technical aspects of disasters and by incorporating risk reduction measures in development policy before and after a disaster. DRR and disaster risk management (DRM) are also used interchangeably (Schipper and Pelling 2006). When referring to the future role of the mosque in disaster preparedness in terms of its importance as a community-based role player, the term “DRR” is used in this paper.

  3. At the time of the earthquake, it was called the North West Frontier Province.

  4. This data collection technique provides an opportunity for the researcher to observe and note subjects in their natural settings. The researcher endeavours to fully integrate with the community under study and tries to learn their way of understanding of the world (Brockington and Sullivan 2003).

  5. The first fieldwork period was April–July 2009, and the second fieldwork period was from mid-April to mid-May 2010. The fieldwork was undertaken by the corresponding author, who is referred to in the first person when findings are presented in this paper.

  6. A mosque is a building in which Muslims worship. At a minimum, it consists of one hall, which is used for prayer by the congregation under the leadership of a prayer leader called an ‘Imam’. To fulfil their religious duty, Muslim men gather five times each day and night to offer five obligatory prayers with a congregation; the first prayer occurs before dawn and the last one after dusk. Mosques are differently managed in various parts of the Muslim world. In the context of Pakistan, and for the purpose of this research, local village mosques were defined as those that were built, maintained and run by communities without any government control.

  7. Banda’ is a common name for a village in Pashto language, the lingua franca of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The names of the case study villages have been codified as Banda-1, Banda-2 and Banda-3 for confidentiality.

  8. Purdah is treated as a cultural custom in this research. Although there are religious instructions for Muslim women to dress modestly in the Koran (24:31), the actual manifestation of purdah varies in different societies.

  9. Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) was established as a statutory body on 24 October 2005 mainly to take up the enormous task of rebuilding the earthquake affected region (Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority 2005).

  10. A salutation spoken and written with names of all Prophets in Islamic tradition, abbreviated as PBUH (peace be upon him).

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Acknowledgments

The grant of doctoral scholarship to the corresponding author from the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan is greatly acknowledged. Also, the authors thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on the earlier manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shaheed Zulifkar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST), Street # 09, Plot # 67, Sector H-8/4, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Abdur Rehman Cheema

  2. School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North, 4442, New Zealand

    Regina Scheyvens, Bruce Glavovic & Muhammad Imran

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  1. Abdur Rehman Cheema
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Correspondence to Abdur Rehman Cheema.

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Cheema, A.R., Scheyvens, R., Glavovic, B. et al. Unnoticed but important: revealing the hidden contribution of community-based religious institution of the mosque in disasters. Nat Hazards 71, 2207–2229 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-1008-0

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