Baba Yunus Muhammad

Once hailed as a beacon of hope, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is now on life support, thanks to sweeping cuts orchestrated under Donald Trump’s “America First” doctrine. With over 83% of its programs terminated and its functions absorbed into the State Department, the global development agency is witnessing the twilight of its influence—and the consequences are devastating. From Myanmar to Sudan, from Afghanistan to South Africa, millions are suffering not just from poverty or war, but from abandonment.

This isn’t merely a bureaucratic reorganization. It’s a fundamental redefinition of America’s role in the world—and those who pay the price are the poor, the displaced, the sick, and the voiceless.

Myanmar: Earthquake in a Vacuum

When a 7.7 magnitude earthquake ripped through Myanmar earlier this year, it was the first large-scale natural disaster to test Trump’s defunded USAID apparatus. The result? Catastrophic failure. With more than 3,300 dead and thousands injured, aid was trickling in—if at all. Compared to the $185 million pledged to Turkey and Syria after a similar disaster in 2023, Myanmar received a meager $9 million from the U.S.

Equally disturbing was the abrupt dismissal of U.S. aid workers dispatched to assess the situation, further undercutting rescue and recovery efforts. The absence of logistical and humanitarian support left Myanmar’s already war-battered population utterly alone.

Afghanistan: Starving in the Shadows

Afghanistan, once heavily reliant on U.S. aid, is grappling with the sudden evaporation of resources. With over 23 million people in urgent need, the World Food Programme’s operations have ground to a halt. Emergency food distribution has ceased. Children are dying of hunger, and maternal health services have collapsed.

Beyond nutrition, cuts have decimated basic healthcare. Over 200 WHO-supported facilities are now closed or non-functional. Mental health, clean water access, and gender-based violence interventions have all been derailed. What remains is a nation in silent crisis, enduring one of the most severe humanitarian withdrawals in modern history.

Sudan: A War Zone Forgotten

Sudan’s civil war has entered its third year, and with it comes famine, disease, and mass displacement. An estimated 30 million people—over half the population—now need humanitarian assistance. The U.S. had previously accounted for 44% of Sudan’s $1.8 billion aid response. That support is gone.

Community kitchens have shuttered. Refugees in Chad are left without food or clean water. Local NGOs are crumbling under financial strain, and countless families reliant on single salaries supported by aid organizations now face destitution. In one of the world’s most desperate emergencies, the U.S. has pulled the plug.

South Africa: Halting the War Against AIDS

One of the most tragic consequences of these cuts is the damage done to the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)—a global leader in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. In South Africa, where over 7 million people live with HIV, the withdrawal of PEPFAR funding threatens to roll back decades of progress.

Without intervention, researchers warn of an additional 601,000 deaths and 565,000 new infections by 2034. Beyond treatment, vital services like food vouchers and support groups have also disappeared. In the race to cure HIV, the U.S. has hit the brakes.

A Global Leadership Crisis

What unites these case studies is not merely human suffering—it is the erosion of trust. Aid workers, researchers, and officials warn that the message is now clear: the United States is no longer a reliable partner. And where America retreats, other powers are poised to dominate. China, Russia, and India are already stepping into the humanitarian vacuum, recalibrating the global balance of influence in real time.

This shift is not just humanitarian—it is geopolitical. Foreign assistance is not merely about goodwill; it is strategic. It builds alliances, promotes stability, and undergirds U.S. soft power. The cost of losing that influence will far outweigh the budget lines saved.

America’s retreat is not a policy shift—it is a vacuum. And in that vacuum, suffering multiplies.

The Islamic World Must Not Stand Idle

While America’s humanitarian withdrawal draws justified outrage, the silence from wealthier Muslim-majority nations—especially those in the Gulf—is equally deafening. With sovereign wealth funds in the trillions and some of the highest per capita incomes globally, countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait have the means to lead a global Islamic humanitarian renaissance. Yet too often, they choose restraint.

The Holy Qur’an commands believers to “stand out firmly for justice” and to care for “the orphan, the poor, and the wayfarer.” This is not a call for charity—it is a call for responsibility. From the suffering of Afghan widows to starving Sudanese children and crumbling AIDS clinics in Africa, the Ummah is bleeding—and the hands stretched out to save it are too few.

Saudi Arabia, as Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, holds not just spiritual authority, but moral obligation. The UAE, proud host of global summits and international expos, must now translate its image into impact. Qatar, which recently mediated conflicts in Gaza and Afghanistan, must do more than diplomacy. It must fund survival. Oman and Kuwait, too, must rise.

In the face of this humanitarian void, Gulf nations can—and must—launch a Marshall Plan for the Islamic World: A coordinated, sustained, and well-funded response to the crises engulfing Muslim populations worldwide. They must empower Islamic NGOs, strengthen multilateral aid structures, and invest in health, food security, education, and dignity.

Faith without action, the Qur’an reminds us, is like a mirage in the desert.

Conclusion: From Retreat to Responsibility

America’s withdrawal has exposed a vacuum not only in aid but in moral leadership. Yet it also presents an opportunity—for the world’s wealthier nations, particularly in the Muslim world, to step up and stand out. The Gulf countries, blessed with wealth and guided by faith, are uniquely positioned to fill this void—not as an afterthought to Western failure, but as architects of a new humanitarian order.

If the United States has chosen isolation, then let others choose intervention. Let them choose mercy. Let them choose to feed the hungry, to shelter the refugee, to heal the wounded. And let them do so not for applause, but because the alternative is unthinkable.

The time has come to ask: If not us, then who? If not now, then when?

Baba Yunus Muhammad is the President, Africa Islamic Economic Forum, Ghana

By Nimo Omer

It has been three weeks since a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and north-west Syria. The total death toll now exceeds 46,000 – over 40,000 of whom are in Turkey. A number of cities and towns have been destroyed and at least two million people have lost their homes, prompting the government to set up a makeshift network of tent camps and temporary container homes. On Saturday, Turkey announced that it had ended rescue efforts in all but two of the hardest hit provinces, in the cities of Antakya and Kahramanmaraş.

As time has gone on, shock around the disaster has turned into anger and frustration, with Turkish citizens accusing the government of evading accountability over poor building standards. The delayed and disorganised emergency response has not helped the situation, putting president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in an increasingly precarious position as the country heads towards its next general election. I spoke to Dr Karabekir Akkoyunlu, a UK-based expert in Turkish politics and lecturer at SOAS University of London, about the impact the earthquake has had on Erdoğan’s chances for another term in office. That’s right after the headlines.

What was Erdoğan’s position before the earthquake?

Over the last two years, Erdoğan has not been doing well politically. “Even though he has control over the judiciary, the media and the executive, the opposition has managed to form coalitions that work fairly effectively in key moments that have damaged him politically,” Dr Karabekir Akkoyunlu says. “For instance, in the 2019 local elections, they managed to get the municipalities of Istanbul and Ankara out of the hands of the ruling party after 24 years, which was a huge setback for them.”

Erdoğan’s falling popularity has, in large part, been because of Turkey’s weakening economy: the lira has been collapsing in value for years, recently hitting record lows against the dollar. And while inflation has fallen over the last two months, the average person in Turkey is unlikely to feel immediate relief as the country has consistently had some of the highest inflation rates in Europe – in October it reached a 24-year high of 85.5%.

To combat his poor polling, Erdoğan started announcing “last ditch populist measures,” Akkoyunlu says, that he might not be able to deliver. In October he unveiled what he called “the biggest social housing project in the history of the Turkish republic”, promising to build 500,000 new homes. “He started pulling these policies out of the bag even though they would obviously have huge costs for Turkey’s already empty state coffers,” says Akkoyunlu.

What do the public think now?

As buildings that should have been able to withstand the earthquake collapsed, the government has faced scathing criticism about the lack of oversight of construction firms that were allowed to skirt safety regulations in favour of speed and cost. “None of these were hidden things, they were flagged by civil society groups, activists and coalition politicians in the past, but they were oftentimes ignored, or, in certain cases, put in prison because of their activism,” says Akkoyunlu. Now, with a number of Turkish towns and cities reduced to rubble, the focus has moved back to what many are calling systemic corruption.

While public opinion will change as the country starts to rebuild, and Erdoğan likely takes all the credit for getting Turkey back on its feet, the government will not be able to shake this crisis off, like it often has been able to in the past. “From this vantage point of less than two weeks since the disaster, I think the government will not escape unscathed in terms of public opinion. I believe it’s going to lead to a landslide loss in public support,” says Akkoyunlu.

The elections

Erdoğan has made it clear that he has no desire to relinquish control and will do everything that he can to stay in power, and that might not always be within the framework of the democratic process. Currently, the official plans are that the elections will go ahead in May, or at the latest June, and if that happens Erdogan’s prospects do not look good. This is perhaps why he has been pushing ahead with unconstitutional moves to delay the election, saying that Turkey cannot hold an election in these conditions. “But there’s roughly five months until June and elections have been organised regularly in this country in very adverse conditions, so this is a clear attempt to evade accountability,” Akkoyunlu says.

As the centenary of the Turkish republic approaches, this coming election is a critical juncture for the country. Five more years of Erdoğan’s government would mean a further slide towards authoritarianism and cronyism. “This election will determine whether there is a last exit before the bridge for saving Turkish democracy.”

Akkoyunlu also notes that it is important to place Turkey within the global economic system. “Many international organisations have praised the drive of the Turkish economy towards growth and the construction sector has been at the centre of Turkey’s economic boom.” Akkoyunlu adds, “Turkey’s a particular case of what happens when neoliberalism and democratic erosion come together.”

The opposition – a six-party coalition – has it’s own uphill battle to climb, and is yet to announce who will be their presidential candidate. If they win, public institutions could easily still be filled with Erdoğan loyalists, which would make it difficult for them to govern. Or they might inherit hollowed out government departments that are simply not functional. Akkoyunlu says, however, that this is less “about things becoming perfect and more about taking one step to stop the worst from happening.”

Erdoğan’s government came in two decades ago promising to clean up Turkey, after a series of corruption scandals, economic crises, and a devastating earthquake. “I think it’s a very tragic picture,” Akkoyunlu adds. “It seems Turkey has come full circle, and in some ways, in terms of democracy, it has backtracked.”

Courtesy: The Guardian

The entire earth is a mosque for Muslims, but the physical masjid has also played an important spiritual and educational role for Muslims throughout Islamic history. The architectural evolution of mosques is a fascinating journey through time, tracing the development of Islamic art and architecture from the humble beginnings of mud-brick structures to the grandeur and splendor of modern mosques all around the globe.