It has been almost two years since the pictures of Aylan Kurdi, a three year old Kurdish boy, whose lifeless body lying face down on a Mediterranean beach, made headlines around the world.  Yet, despite the outcry at the time, the plight of refugees desperately seeking refuge in Europe has not improved.  Thousands of refugees are still drowning in the Mediterranean Sea each year.  Furthermore, far from easing the passage of refugees and working to making their settling easier, Europe has opted to do its best to block the passage of these desperate people. They are often now met with barbed wire and hostile border police and are often held indefinitely in substandard camps rather than being allowed to pass into safety.  This is despite the fact that Western countries are well aware of the horrors and desperate plight of people fleeing places like Syria and Iraq.  And it is despite the fact being amongst the richest nations in the world, European countries should be setting an example to the world on how to treat refugees in an honourable and humane manner.   Surely this ill treatment of refugees is another example of the deficient moral values of Capitalism? Those who criticise the likes of the Assad regime and ISIS on the one hand, refuse to accept the people who flee from those very same regions.

Islam’s View of Immigrants and Foreigners

Islam views the issue of immigration and refugees quite differently than how it has become debated in the West.  Firstly Islam does not view this issue from the direction of race, as it is in the West.  In fact, Islam pays little attention to people’s race and ethnic origin and discouraged us from viewing people in this way.  Allah (swt) says in Surah Al-Hujraat (49:13):

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ

O people, We have created you male and female and made you nations and tribes that you may know one another. Verily, the most noble of you to Allah is the most righteous of you. Verily, Allah is knowing and aware.

Furthermore, Prophet Muhammed (saw) in many ahadith discouraged viewing people from their ethnic origins and rather told us to judge people according to their closeness to Allah (swt). Abu Nadrah reported: I heard the farewell sermon of the Messenger of Allah, and he (saw) said:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَلَا إِنَّ رَبَّكُمْ وَاحِدٌ وَإِنَّ أَبَاكُمْ وَاحِدٌ أَلَا لَا فَضْلَ لِعَرَبِيٍّ عَلَى أَعْجَمِيٍّ وَلَا لِعَجَمِيٍّ عَلَى عَرَبِيٍّ وَلَا لِأَحْمَرَ عَلَى أَسْوَدَ وَلَا أَسْوَدَ عَلَى أَحْمَرَ إِلَّا بِالتَّقْوَى أَبَلَّغْتُ

O people, your Lord is one and your father Adam is one. There is no virtue of an Arab over a foreigner nor a foreigner over an Arab, and neither white skin over black skin nor black skin over white skin, except by righteousness. (Musnad Ahmad)

How Islam Treats Those Seeking Shelter and Help

Not only did Islam discourage judging people upon their race and background, but Islam further encouraged the good treatment of those who seek help and shelter.

In Surah Ad-Dhariyat Allah (swt) mentioned how Ibrahim (as) was visited by guests, who were actually angels, but they were not known to him, yet he immediately welcomed them into his home and prepared a meal for them.  Allah (swt) said:

هَلۡ أَتَٮٰكَ حَدِيثُ ضَيۡفِ إِبۡرَٲهِيمَ ٱلۡمُكۡرَمِينَ إِذۡ دَخَلُواْ عَلَيۡهِ فَقَالُواْ سَلَـٰمً۬ا‌ۖ قَالَ سَلَـٰمٌ۬ قَوۡمٌ۬ مُّنكَرُونَ فَرَاغَ إِلَىٰٓ أَهۡلِهِۦ فَجَآءَ بِعِجۡلٍ۬ سَمِينٍ۬ فَقَرَّبَهُ ۥۤ إِلَيۡہِمۡ قَالَ أَلَا تَأۡكُلُونَ

Has there reached you the story of the honoured guests of Abraham? When they entered upon him and said, “[We greet you with] peace.” He answered, “[And upon you] peace, [you are] a people unknown. Then he went to his family and came with a fat [roasted] calf.  And placed it near them; he said, “Will you not eat?” {Ad-Dhariyat  24-27}

Prophet Muhammad (saw) also encouraged us to help those who come to us in need.  He (saw) said:

“…Let the believer in God and the Day of Judgment honour his guest.” (Sahih Muslim)

In fact, the Companions of the Prophet (saw) were so motivated to follow the teachings of their Prophet that they would welcome and provide for a needy guest even if they themselves did not have a lot of provisions.  It is narrated that Abu Talha (ra) and his wife Umm Sulaim welcomed a hungry traveller into their home even though they had little to eat.  Abu Talha (ra) asked his wife to bring whatever they had and gave it to their guest.  As the guest ate, they even pretended to be eating in the dim candle light.  The Prophet (saw) gave them good news the following day, that an ayah of Quran had been revealed mentioning their generosity.  Allah (swt) said in Surah Al-Hashr (59:9):

وَٱلَّذِينَ تَبَوَّءُو ٱلدَّارَ وَٱلۡإِيمَـٰنَ مِن قَبۡلِهِمۡ يُحِبُّونَ مَنۡ هَاجَرَ إِلَيۡہِمۡ وَلَا يَجِدُونَ فِى صُدُورِهِمۡ حَاجَةً۬ مِّمَّآ أُوتُواْ وَيُؤۡثِرُونَ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِہِمۡ وَلَوۡ كَانَ بِہِمۡ خَصَاصَةٌ۬‌ۚ وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفۡسِهِۦ فَأُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ هُمُ ٱلۡمُفۡلِحُونَ

And [also for] those who were settled in al-Madinah and [adopted] the faith before them. They love those who emigrated to them and find not any want in their breasts of what the emigrants were given but give [them] preference over themselves, even though they are in privation. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul – it is those who will be the successful.

This honourable treatment of guests and those in need, is in stark contrast to what is happening in Western countries today.  Refugees are scrutinised according to their race and the countries they have travelled from, rather than their particular needs.  They are dehumanised and viewed as an invading hoard, seeking to exploit the riches in the West.  Furthermore rich Western countries claim they do not have enough money to help and support these refugees.  Yet these same countries continue to hoard huge masses of wealth within their banking systems and furthermore do not struggle to find the means when they decide upon starting wars throughout the world.

How the Khilafah Treated Refugees in the Past

If we look back through Islamic history we can find many examples of how the Islamic State treated refugees and people in need very differently to the way refugees are being talked about and treated in the West today.  During the Spanish Inquisition, after Islamic Spain was re-conquered, King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I decreed all Jews and Muslims were to convert to Catholicism. Those Muslims and Jews who refused were either expelled or killed.  During this period of extreme ‘religious cleansing’ thousands of Muslims and Jews fled their native Spain to Muslim ruled North Africa and also Ottoman ruled lands.  In fact the Ottoman Sultan, Beyazid II (successor to Mehmet the Conqueror) issued a formal invitation to Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal and they started arriving in the Ottoman lands in great numbers.  The exodus of Jews was further encouraged by the likes of the Chief Rabbi of Edirne who wrote a letter inviting the European Jewry to settle in the Ottoman (Uthmani) Khilafah, in which he stated that: “Turkey is a land wherein nothing is lacking” and asking: “Is it not better for you to live under Muslims than under Christians?”

Another clear example of how the Khilafah took it upon itself to accommodate desperate fleeing refugees is between the Russian conquest of Muslim Crimea in 1783 and the second Balkans War in 1913.  During this period between five and seven million Muslims were expelled from lands taken from the Uthmani Khilafah in Eastern Europe, the Crimea and the Caucuses.  The Uthmani Khilafah set up a ‘migrants commission’ in 1860 to oversee the safe resettlement of these desperate people.  Despite its weakened position at the time, it made enormous efforts to cater for this huge influx of refugees to its lands.  It arranged for their resettlement and channelled aid towards them in the form of agricultural subsidies like seeds, tools and even cash. This is in complete contrast to the way refugees seeking to enter Europe are currently being treated.  Despite the fact that Western states are economically in a far better position to cater for refugees than the Uthmani Khilafah was at that time. The Uthmani Khilafah saw it as its duty to cater for the refugees fleeing Christian Europe a century ago.  Whereas the rich countries of Europe lose little sleep at the crying of refugee women and children at their borders today.

How Khilafah Will Deal with Refugees in the Future

Islam clearly views refugees in a completely different way to the way they are viewed in the West.  Rather than religiously and racially profiling them and turning them away at the borders we can see from Islamic history that they were welcomed into the Islamic lands, regardless of their race and religion.  The future Khilafah will continue with this Islamic tradition and offer itself as a sanctuary and refuge for any that seek its help.  Thus the Khilafah would view it as its religious duty to help and support people fleeing from war zones and famines.  The Khilafah would seek to welcome, not turn away, economic migrants to its lands and see such people as a resource who just require the opportunity to work and provide for themselves.

The Khilafah would also seek to deal with refugees in quite a different way as they are today.  As seen from the historical examples above, the Khilafah would seek to resettle refugees in a permanent manner offering them citizenship and so quickly integrating them into the state and furthermore offering them means to establish themselves.  Once settled into an Islamic society Muslims would be much more welcoming and supportive of these new communities.  As mentioned in the evidences earlier, Islam strongly encourages the help and support of the needy.  In contrast, nowadays, refugees are hoarded into oversized camps and expected to wait years or even decades until they are returned to their countries of origin; often not being allowed to work or properly settle into their host countries.

The future Khilafah will stand in contrast to the immoral way refugees are being treated by rich capitalist countries today.  In this way, people throughout the world will see the stark contrast between the high honourable values of Islam and the selfish values promoted by Capitalism.