People's contribution to building their society and lending a helping hand to those around them is such a generous and noble deed. What drives progress and creates a social and global sense of responsibility is the many social contributions and initiatives that promote cooperation and solidarity to achieve social growth and development. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, once said in a Hadith: "The believers, in their mutual love, compassion, and sympathy are like a single body; if one of its organs suffers, the whole body will respond to it with sleeplessness and fever."
Social principles, values and family guidelines that are instilled in young generations through the biographies of prophets and their companions, in addition to the inspiring stories and tales, all have beneficial effects that promote the spirit of cooperation, love for good deeds and the desire to do good for people in the Arab and Islamic society. These factors also spread good morals and commit to the spirit of voluntary work in all fields, as reported in the Holy Quran and prophetic traditions.
Some of us may ask the following: How does an individual contribute to building their society? What is the true meaning of volunteering and giving? When are actions classified as voluntary work? What are the criteria for becoming a volunteer? Why are so many people unfamiliar with the concept and ways of volunteering?
There are several and broad definitions of volunteering, but all of them agree that it is a voluntary effort that requires no financial compensation. Volunteers build a cooperative society with their skills, abilities and capabilities. For example, some volunteers ensure that COVID-19 vaccine centers are managed smoothly and others plant trees to build greener streets. Volunteering is a generous act of charity that complements, flourishes, and creates a spirit of cooperation. On the other hand, activities requiring material or monetary compensation cannot be considered as volunteering. However, some of us are unaware of this difference, which is something that could lead to misconceptions. Volunteers must be generous, compassionate, open-hearted, tolerant, loyal to Allah's wishes, development and change seekers, passionate about what they have to offer, and are known for their spirit of cooperation, commitment and love for teamwork.
Voluntary work is a centuries-old practice in our Islamic culture. For example, the Prophet, may God's blessings and peace be upon him, once said the following about the Mother of the Believers, Zainab bint Jahsh, may Allah be pleased with her: "The one who has the longest hands amongst you would meet me most immediately,” and it was the hand of Zainab that was the longest amongst them, as she used to work with her hand and spend her income on charity. Because of this, Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said the following about Zainab: “I have never seen a woman more advanced in religious piety than Zainab, more God-conscious, more truthful, more alive to the ties of blood, more generous and having more sense of self-sacrifice in practical life and having more charitable disposition and thus more close to God, the Exalted, than her.”
Community initiatives in the Kingdom spanned from individuals to collaborative teams, as well as institutions and organizations that support cooperation efforts in building a culture of volunteer work between the government and the public. This was made possible by organizing programs and raising awareness until many blessed charitable activities expanded, such as the annual volunteering during Hajj and Umrah seasons. Volunteering is encouraged to become part and parcel of the culture by making it, for example, an approved activity in educational institutions and including it in education-related plans and the public sphere.
Despite these efforts, many are still in need of support and attention due to the lack of: 1) volunteering opportunities; 2) clear, relevant advertisements; and 3) institutions and organizations interested in the culture of volunteering. This resulted in low community participation and discouraged some groups from these types of activities because they fail to see their desired benefits. This unwillingness to participate is due to a lack of awareness in volunteering and a refusal to learn more about it, in addition to the scarcity of educational and guiding resources, the absence of a specialized administration for volunteer affairs, and the wrongful exploitation by volunteering service providers. These factors have led to a decrease in volunteers and a reluctance to take part in this noble act. Furthermore, volunteers are exposed to tremendous stress for long hours of intensive work that is supposed to be carried out by volunteering opportunity providers.
The Kingdom conducted an in-depth investigation and research in order to understand and identify relevant obstacles, make the right decisions, and implement the proper solutions to successfully contain the issue. In October 2018, the Kingdom, represented by the General Authority for Statistics, developed a multi-stage volunteering survey methodology to achieve volunteering sustainability and development. The survey included the stages of scope, design, organization, collection, categorization, processing, publishing and finally evaluation. The Kingdom collected clear statistics for the selection of a survey sample, and as a result 19,800 families were chosen to make up the sample of the survey. Furthermore, candidates had also been selected as field researchers to collect data from households (volunteering survey). The selected candidates were guided and trained and the survey requirements for obtaining and analyzing the results were completed.
The results during the previous 12 months of the survey were as follows: the percentage of volunteers aged 15 years and above was 14.7%, with an average rate of 52.2 hours. As for the 12 months preceding the survey period: the percentage of volunteers aged 15 years and above was 16.8%, with an average rate of 52.6 hours of volunteer work.
To ensure the sustainability of this culture, the Kingdom selected volunteering as one of the major pillars in Vision 2030 with key objectives, such as promoting community development and the growth of the non-profit sector. This dimension is concerned with supporting the culture of volunteering, which has become a solid foundation and an urgent necessity for social empowerment, as well as promoting and increasing the efficiency of the non-profit sector by training its employees, enhancing their capabilities, encouraging citizens to volunteer, strengthening corporate social responsibility, and enabling nonprofits to make a profound impact.
Targeted strategies have been developed to achieve objectives. Such strategies include diversifying empowerment programs for different segments, developing need-based, effective empowerment systems, encouraging self-reliance, promoting societal endorsement of volunteer work, finding ways to access those in need, strengthening the importance of corporate social responsibility, and developing unconventional services and solutions to increase the impact of non-profit organizations. As a result, all these strategies have been put in place to solve volunteering-related issues and challenges. Moreover, these strategies seek to preserve volunteers’ rights and provide volunteering opportunities as per a charter dedicated to human resources and social development. This will be achieved though the National Volunteer Portal, which allows volunteers to choose the place, time and field that suits their expertise and skills, document their work hours, and issue volunteer certificates. This step serves as a strong source of motivation for volunteers, and for the culture of volunteering in general. These results increase the efficiency of voluntary work, preserve its proper image when advertised, and ensure its alignment with the laws and regulations of the Saudi Government.
Volunteering is one way for communities to cooperate and solve problems, overcome obstacles, and seek development. It is crucial for society members to understand the true purpose of volunteering and realize its sublime meaning. Volunteering allows people to support their communities and stimulates their sense of responsibility. We should not lose sight of the importance of volunteering from a religious point of view. This act of selfless giving was mentioned in the Holy Quran, the hadiths of the Prophet peace be upon him, and the biographies of the companions. Therefore, Vision 2030 aims at transforming volunteering into a basic value for the members of society, and making sure it is well taken care of. Through volunteering, nations rise, darkness dissipates, and light shines.
Each one of us must ask the following: What if we all achieve these goals and targets before 2030? What will societies look like after the rise of the volunteering culture? These questions will allow us to imagine the result and dedicate every effort to develop and advance our societies.
