Social Justice – Episode 31 – Islamic Ethics Regarding Asylum, Refugees, and Migration

inshallah Tada, we're going to start now a discussion about

what it means to be an immigrant or what how we really understand what's happening to us right now in our political context, from an Islamic conception and a few weeks ago, you know, I think that when we had the program that we had here, about the dreamers, it dramatically changed the way that a lot of people view the subject just because they were able to put a human face to it. And I think that's one of the biggest points in all of these discussions that at some point, you move from theory, to not just practice, but to interaction and interaction changes the way that you view theory and the way that you practice. And I'd like us to just take a moment to appreciate so today

we're going to talk about conceptions of asylum, refugee migrant, these types of discussions, and I'm going to try very hard to stick to the Quran and the Sunnah, particularly the Hadith of the Prophet slice, I'm in regards to the subject, because that's what we're trying to do is frame it from an Islamic perspective, and not get too lost into modern debate. But I do want us to just take a moment to appreciate what point of history we are in right now. There has probably been no time in history where you've had actually, we can say that pretty confidently where you've had a greater refugee crisis than the one that you have right now, where you literally have a significant swath of

humanity, just circling around this earth trying to find a way to survive. And when you think about it, either in terms of quantity, or if you took it in regards to how proportional the refugee population is, to the human population, we're about as backwards as it comes right now. And there's a very powerful documentary that I would I would recommend everyone watches, maybe with your older children as well called human flow, which just looks at the global refugee crisis, because again, I think it's important to understand just the implications of the era that we live in right now. And I think that if we're going to speak about refugee law, we have to critique it against broader

political and social context. I want us for a moment just to appreciate where we live right now. And what we're seeing right now happening with the Rohingya happening with the Syrian refugees, what's been happening for decades now with Palestinian refugees, that just the displacement that's been taking place throughout the continent of Africa with absolutely no outcry from the world. Just take a moment and understand it from this perspective. If we look at the time of the Prophet slice, I'm in fact, if we look at jelenia, we look at the days of ignorance. We look at the tribal system that existed before Islam. And automatically we viewed as incredibly backwards and were repulsed by it

and rightfully so, how is it that a person belonging to a certain tribe is entitled to this, this this and that, whereas a person who belongs to a lesser tribe or doesn't have a native tribe at all, is entitled to almost zero economic protection or political protection. But I would venture to say that even in jelenia, the person who would be in the state of urban Mr. Rude that lived in the in Mecca at that time, or a person who in whose favor helpful football, we talked about helpful football to the League of the pack of justice was established with the profit slice on participating in that person that started that whole thing, had a much better situation and was dealing with a

less backwards system than the one that we're dealing with right now, in the, in the global scale of things. What does that mean? If you think about how cruel our current broader political social context is, in regards to how it forces people into these difficult situations, what makes a person intrinsically more valuable because they, they're born in a certain country, or they have a certain passport, and they have the freedom to travel and migrate throughout the world with very little hiccups. And with not even having to apply for a visa if you're from a certain country, and another person just because they were born in a certain place or because their parents were born in a

certain place, not having access to any of those countries, and at best being relegated to some tense at the border of some of some country not having any access to public services, not having any access to hospitals, schools, or whatever it may be. What makes that person who's born in that situation less valuable than I for example, I'm gonna use myself was born as an American, right and has an American passport and can travel throughout the world have the law not banned for most countries with relative ease, whereas a person who has none of that did absolutely nothing to deserve that status is relegated to the situation where they have to constantly fill out paperwork

if they can even access paperwork to be treated like a human being and apply for asylum. And what does that say about our current state of human

rights. And again, I don't want to delve too deep into modern refugee law, and how backwards it actually is because this class is meant to give us lenses. And I haven't even started with the headache yet. Here's the lens. And here's what I want you to think about. As human rights are constantly invoked. In our modern day discourse, through liberal paradigms, they're often always invoked in the context of freedom of expression, and the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. And it's usually at happiness, where most people haven't even gotten to life yet. Okay, so the human rights of people to do this the human right of people to do that the human rights of people to do

this, in this context. And it's usually in regards to people's individualistic rights, to be able to express in a certain way to be able to live in a certain way. And usually, those terms are hijacked, or hijacked, or privileged populations. But when you look at the Islamic conception of human rights, it starts at life, and not just at life. But the idea that everyone is entitled to a dignified existence, every human being is entitled to a dignified existence. So you have human rights, and you know, in America in the West, and this is the problem with all the isms is that they all suffer from classism. They're all they're all plagued by the same disease, of working for those that are in a

certain status and a certain economic status, or whatever it may be. Islam starts off with the right to a dignified existence before you go to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, you start at life. And the disparity that we see right now in the world, that puts refugees in the situation that it puts them in, is tied into all of these different contexts and constructs. And it's important for us to view the refugee crisis and the migrant crisis first and foremost, within the context of life, the right to life. And it's really interesting here because in sort of denisa, verse 66, again, I haven't even started with ahaadeeth yet, that's gonna, that we're going to frame the entire

discussion from but start from this and certainly sub verse 66, a loss of hundreds out of likens being forced out of your home to death, to being murdered, being forced out of your home, an equitable and full circle, outflow Doom in the article, okay, that you kill yourself, or that you are forced out of your homes, that being forced out of your home, is like being killed. And to ask someone to leave their home forcefully is like, you know, is like asking them to kill themselves. It's, it's at the same degree. And if you've ever dealt with refugees at an extended level, then you know, that many refugees would rather live under the threat of bombing in their homeland, than live

outside and feel like complete strangers and complete aliens, which speaks to our terminology, and you know, the way that we refer to human beings today, look, you know, they would rather be at home, they'd rather you know, deal with the threat, if they could still be in the safety of they could still be in their home. And if they could still feel like they're going to be in their land. How many times you hear a person say, I'd rather die in my homeland, than live completely humiliated in somebody else's home like a stranger for the rest of my life. Right? So Allah Subhana Allah addresses it from the emotional perspective, from what this means for that person. And this starts

at the right of life, the right to life. And so

I'm just going to go through some of the ahaadeeth inshallah time then we'll have a discussion about how this plays out in Islamic ethics. And this is really what this discussion is about. The first Hadees that we'll start with, it's a hadith that's married and soon to Timothy, that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, Man, Amara Morton Ceylon, a Weber Allah who have Holla Holla who Yeoman piano detectible, actually young Malala Illa Willow. Now authentic hadith the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, Whoever grants respite to someone in difficulty, whoever grants respite to someone in difficulty, or alleviates him, Allah will shade him on the day of judgment

when there is no shade, but his so profound Hadeeth because it speaks to the, you know, to the, the notion that's embedded in almost all of these Hadith and all of these subjects, that you treat people the way you want a lot to treat you and whoever grants shade, respite, safety to someone, Allah will grant them safety, respite and shade on the Day of Judgment. And it's very powerful. If you think about how a lot ties shade and safety together, and the Osceola and even in this world, right in the hereafter the shade of Allah means that you're safe, right, you're shaded, you're amongst those people that are shaded and granted the protection from a loss of hundreds out of that

means you're safe from any punishment. You don't have to worry. The same type of discourse is used in the way

That we treat people that are seeking shade Seeking Safety. Right? So the prophets lie Selim says, Man, I'm Laura Morrissey, Ron. And again, these terms are broader than the ones that we use today because the ones that we use today have very specific implications. Whoever grants respite to someone in difficulty or alleviates him, Allah will shade him on the day of judgment when there is no shade. But his we also already covered a hadith in some detail, but it does speak to the subject, the Hadith where the Prophet slicin I mentioned, there is no right for the son of Adam except in these things, a house in which he lives, a garment to cover himself and a piece of bread and water.

So the right to shelter is also a human right that's described by the prophet sallallahu wasallam. Now when you look at the Prophet slice lm and you look at he himself fleeing persecution, and he himself living like a refugee and the companions early on living like refugees and living then, after being granted safety and other senior living in a certain situation, you find this very particular Hadith that describes the state of doubleback kettle, the luevano and a monkey had fled persecution from Mecca, or was going to flee to Abyssinia to Habesha

but then ended up staying behind because of a very particular thing that happened. A while back, it held out longer than most of the people that were sent out. The prophets lie Selim sent out people to Abyssinia twice, so there are two groups that were sent to Abyssinia to live in safety, okay to his last two migrations that were made to Abyssinia to live in safety. And it was interesting that the prophets lie Selim expressed without knowing the Joshua without knowing the ruler of Abyssinia that he'd be too decent of a human being it'd be to just have a man not because of his faith, not because of he man. He'd be too just of a person, too decent of a person to see these people fleeing

persecution and not to send them back, not knowing anything about their plight, not knowing anything about why they're being persecuted the prophets lie Selim is saying this is a man that's not going to disappoint you. He's never met him. He just knows of him. And this is a man that's not going to disappoint you. Could it be that the prophets lie Selim is praising a quality that's not Islamic, the idea that a man would see a people that are fleeing from hardship, and just because of that, just because of observing their condition, understand that it's there, right, that he takes care of them? Could anyone be more? Well, you know, Could anyone show more, some more excellence in the

profit slice on them? Or is it possible that the profit slice on them praises something about another person because it's convenient to the Muslims? That's not actually part and parcel of our ethics and how we view the way that we treat people that are seeking protection and that are fleeing from some sort of persecution? So when the Prophet slicin, sent out these people to Mecca and he sent out if you think about the first group of refugees in the Muslim Ummah, included the daughter of the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wasallam. Because he sent out Rokia, his daughter and earth man, may Allah be pleased with them both. They were amongst that first group of refugees that fled to

Kenya and the prophets lie, some trusted that this is a man, that's not going to turn people away, because of his sense of dignity. There's something good about him, that when he sees these people fleeing, even though he might have some accords or some treaty with rice with the Arabs, and that was tested on an island when the US went to avicennia and tried to get the Muslims handed over to him that was tested, that look, we've got gifts, we've got treaties we have, we have an agreement in place. So why would you take in these people that are, you know, heretics and that are that are that are this and they're guilty of this and this and that. And Najafi guarantees them a source of

protection, when I will backyard or the allowance on on who was fleeing persecution. And he was towards the end when Mecca became unbearable for him. He was on his way to add the senior. And this is a long handwritten and Bahati I'm sure I've referenced it in this series. If I haven't,

you know, then then I've referenced it in other places where I will Buckhead was on his way. This is the most prominent of the companions of the Prophet slicin was on out to Abyssinia and he was stopped by a chief by the name of Abner delina. And in Adelina was a chief of his tribe on the outskirts of Mecca. And he said, Where are you going? Now? We usually talk about you know, nothing offering him protection, bringing him back to Mecca. And that stopped our bucket is migration to Abyssinia. But where are you going? And why are you leaving? The words of Mr. Beckett here are powerful and how we understand the subject. He says rajani told me my people ran me out. He says

what would he do and see half an adult what I will do Robbie and so I desire to go out and to explore the land around a sea hopefully or to explore the earth of a lot of the you know, the God given Earth of Allah subhanaw taala

I will I will do Robbie and worship my lord freely if you think about the implications, what's embedded in that sentence alone that I have a right and so you have

to go as I please, wherever I want and to worship as I please.

Right? If you think about that implication, you know, it struck me when we wrote the dreamers rally and imams aid, you know, and when he was speaking, he said that migration is a human right in Islam, the right to migration is a human right in Islam, it's embedded the right to migrate, a co fill out of that a person can go through the land as they please and be granted dignity and protection. That's a human right in Islam. We did we you know, we did not conceive of these borders and these nationalities and passports that assign value to people and who gets to go where and who gets to export what and who gets to import what and who gets to end up here, and who gets to be treated with

this and any, you know, disparity in wealth disparity and rights and obligations, we didn't conceive of any of them. Okay. It starts off with the statement of a double bucket or the allowed side angle, I'm going out because I should have the right to travel through the earth of Allah and to worship My Lord. Right and then the Davina granted him asylum so I guess the word is really asylum and then Davina said that no a person like you approach without your courage, you should not leave nor should you be forced out. You're too valuable to us to leave. Because you're too good to your people to leave. And at the same time, it's not right, that you'd be forced out. So it's interesting because

Davina said that one part of this is justice.

Now Yahushua Raj, one part of its justice, that's not just that you'd be forced out of your lens, this is your lens. This is Mecca is yours. This is where you're from. But the second part is that your value to us as a people, but he had he said, you know, only approach we can't afford to lose you, then it wouldn't be for justice, it would be because Rebecca is particularly a valuable person. But when he says that I approach when you're Frage that you should not leave, nor could you be forced out that he's saying that even if you offered no value whatsoever to society. That's, that's your right, it's a right to your land. And it's a right to, you know, to your home, and this should

not be happening to you. There's a difference between the two because if you think about right now the discussion about refugees and immigrants, well, what do they do for us? Right? What are they bringing to us? What do they do for us and of course, all of that is based in racism, and not in fact about what immigrants contribute to the population what refugees do, in most places that they go to. Okay. But that particular thing that look, even if even if you offered no particular benefit, and you weren't an extraordinary person, it's not right for you to be forced out this way. So he offered him that asylum, he offered him that protection. And he took him back to Mecca, to give him

that this also conceives of not just the way the people deal with with with one another, but also it goes to the states and it goes to leadership.

If you think about the broader frame, and as we come to the last 10 ahaadeeth, you're going to see a lot of these broader frames play out on the prophets lie Selim says hello tourists appunto tune sorona Ilaha ecom Are you given by a loss of $100 victory and spent on meaning given wrist sustenance, except by the way you treat your most vulnerable, right that's a frame that you will be treated as you treat your most weak and your most vulnerable. The Prophet sallallahu wasallam he says, man he man and there is no leader usually called Baba who do not that will help her that there is no person who closes his door to someone in need. Now the prophets lie some says they will hedge

so a person who has any need a general need. Well, hello will mascara so a person who's

in any general need and then the profit slice on specified poverty. So there is no leader who closes his door who shuts his door to a person who is in need, or one who's suffering in poverty Illa of luck Allahu Ababa sama doing doing Akala T one will hire Jesse he will masculinity except that Allah subhanaw taala will shut the gates of the heavens for him when he is suffering from any need or when he himself is in poverty or is looking for any type of assistance. So a lot particularly or the profit slice I'm particularly talking about the leader who shuts the door who turns away the one that is in need and what the implications are for that person in the hereafter. That's also a

headache that's in some Nativity, that's in regards to the individual that when you turn someone away, Allah will turn you away, that if someone comes to you as an authority, or someone who's in a position to to elevate them or to alleviate them and you turn them away, then the doors of the heavens will be shut like you. So if you think about

You know, the shutting of borders to people in need that take place today how many people are earning the Wrath of Allah subhanaw taala as individuals and as nations are shutting borders in the face of people, refugees, and people that are fleeing persecution, many times because of some of the same actions of those governments that are closing those doors, okay?

This Hadeeth should be looked at in the spiritual sense. And then it should be looked at, in the broader sense as well, that when a nation turns people away, when a nation shuts its doors on those who are needy, and those who are in poverty, and those who are looking for a place to live and safety, that that directly will be tied to the loss of their own safety and the poverty of that nation. That's from an Islamic ethics perspective, that the bulk of the blessings of the wealth that's in that for that nation, and their safety will be taken away from them because of the way that they're treating other people. And it's interesting here, because historically speaking, the

scholars mentioned that there was no, there was no person who was more giving to, to all of those that were seeking help than on what have been added, as he's walking along. You look at Islamic history, or what have been, the disease would take in people and grant protection asylum to anyone that sought it. In fact, interestingly enough, Ahmed Ibn Abdul Aziz, he was the governor of Medina, at the age of 25, from 25 to 33. Then he became the halifa, once again at 38. So there's a lot of lost history, usually before his halifa but he made some amazing reforms as the governor of Medina, from 25 to 33, one of the things that he would do is he taken all the refugees that were being

persecuted by a judge by another Muslim leader, okay? And it annoyed Hijaz that I'm going to monopolize these was taking them in and then preventing a judge from harming them in Medina and actually stopped a judge from entering in Medina and took these people and he didn't set up refugee camps. Okay, it was he placed it on the citizens of Medina, to take in those people that were being harmed by hijab and other Muslim lens. So it wasn't like a Muslim, non Muslim thing. And when we talk about the Prophet fly solo, and his companions fleeing to Medina, as refugees and being taken in by the unsought, you know, that's not just a specific situation here, right? There's what Allah

mentions to us about those people, as they took them in is an example for all of us not just to be invoked in fundraisers. Okay, there's something more to it than that. So I'm going to bin Abdulaziz Rahim Allah was someone who was well known for taking care of people that fled persecution for granting asylum to all of those that that sought it. And for and for opening his doors and what happened to the nation have a moment of disease. It was the richest Muslim nation, you know, the most stable Muslim nation that we've ever seen in our history. Truly, I mean, the things that happened in the time of amadablam disease in terms of stability in the oma in terms of the social

welfare and the oma in terms of you know, he dismantled any type of, you know, ahmednagar as he stopped any type of of outside warfare, right, he just wanted to manage the affairs of the Ummah, righting the wrongs of government corruption, getting to a point where it's the car, they couldn't find anyone to collect the car anymore because he was solving all of the problems at a policy level. You know, all of the justice that he's brought to the oma and his short time led to a situation of safety and led to a situation where there was blessing in the wealth of the time of honor bin Abdulaziz Rahim Allah Tada. So those two things are tied justice and blessing in the wealth of a

nation are tied together safety and and how the the poor are treated, are all interconnected in the Islamic connection. Now, we already mentioned that a lot likens a person being forced out of his home to a person being killed. Okay? That it's almost like a person no longer lives if they're if they're being forced out of their home. Therefore, it's more than just offering them a house but they're also emotional needs and all types of special needs that are to be afforded to those that are in that situation. So in sort of the hash of verse nine, where Allah subhanaw taala mentions the unsought literally the supporters those in Medina who took in the migrants who took in those the

Mahajan those who came from Medina, how does Allah describe them? You have bounnam and hardrada ilium. They love those that have migrated to them. This is something that cannot be taught except through faith. Let me give you an example. And it's a very sad example. By the way, what ends up happening in almost any even Muslim land. Let's just take a Muslim land with Muslim refugees, just to just to specifically attach it to this idea here.

Initially, there's a call to humanity, there's a call to take people in. Once refugees come in, and people start to feel the pinch on their society, what happens? They develop a resentment towards the refugees themselves. And it happens everywhere. Okay, there is a resentment that's developed towards those refugees. Why? Because these refugees come into a country. And initially, it's like everyone go out and give them charity and take some food to them and spend your weekends and spend a part of your wealth and their national calls to take care of people then as the situation goes on, refugees needs to find work. They're undocumented. Okay, so they'll take jobs at lower rates, think about

immigrants or refugees, they'll take jobs for pennies, just to be able to eat and drink to anyone that's willing to employ them. Right. And then when someone else who's a national, a citizen of that country is not getting a job anymore, is feeling poor, who did they start to turn their blame and their resentment towards these people that came into our country. So it's not like we're one anymore, the whole universal brotherhood out the window, the whole even oma bond out the window. It's these people took our jobs.

And they are draining those people are draining our nation. So resentment is directed. And that's why I said the entire refugee crisis has to be spoken about, you know, with a broader discussion about just political and social constructs as they exist today. It's heartbreaking. And you want to you know, you start it's disgusting to a person who's not living in that country when you go there. And you actually see that but it happens, right? It happens and it might not have started that way. But that resentment grows. So what is the loss of hundreds Adam mentioned the very first thing Allah says about the outside of the Mahajan in the unsought and the Mahajan in the people of Medina and

the people of Mecca, the unsought don't know the mahogany.

They're not tied to them in any way. All right. These are our brothers and sisters who are fleeing persecution. We are the comfortable people here in Medina. And the very first way Allah describes them is you have bounnam and hijo de la him, they love those that have come to them. They love those that have come to them. Why? What makes the unsalted love those that have come to them.

Because they know that they're earning the pleasure of who in the process of taking care of them. They understand from a faith perspective, that we're earning his pleasure as we take care of them. And so you are instruments of gaining the love of Allah subhanho wa Taala so without even having seen your smile and without ever even having heard your story or why you've been persecuted because the the the mohabbatein are of different levels, right? No matter what did not and could not have been or are not the same. They've got different histories. But you know what, these are people that are coming to us seeking our help, they're giving us an opportunity to take them in. You have Barnum

and hatzalah lay him they love those that have come to them. You're not a drain on me I don't resent you I don't hate you for the persecution that you felt. But instead there's a love that is given towards them. Now as time goes on, though, what ends up happening again that's economic the drain is economics. So what's the second way Allah subhanaw taala describes them

anyone know the ayah?

I guess not. Whether you're doing a feast will do to him has a term in which they have no ill feelings in their hearts of what the immigrants were given. So they're not looking at what they have and what we have or looking at their situation in our situation and starting to feel any type of resentment towards them and Allah mentions while you Fiona and forcing him this is a step further Will you feed on other unforeseen Willow canopy him how Sasa instead they will even give them preference over themselves, even if that puts them in hardship.

Even if that means is going to put me in a hardship I'll actually prefer that person to myself. I mean, you can't you can't get further than that. That touches mental emotional, physical, economic, everything but you know what, not only will I not resent you, I love you and I'll even protect you or I'll even prefer you to myself. So Allah mentions them as being loving towards those that migrate to them selfless and seeking a lot of pleasure indiscriminant Okay, in regards to the situations that are in front of them that they will that they will give them no matter what it is that they are dealing with. Even if that means they will incur hardship themselves. Willow can be him kasasa Okay,

so this is the way that Allah subhanaw taala describes it. And of course a lot talks about goodness Sabine, in particular in the Quran

and ignas, Sabine is the wayfare

Okay the person or Abby to submit as the wayfair it needs to be literally being the son of a street. Okay but a person who's in a strange land and disconnected from their wealth. So those are the two things that are mentioned about this person that used to be a person who's in a strange land so they're not in their homeland and they don't have their wealth. Okay? And a lot stressing that that person actually has a right to your wealth and to your protection and to your to your health. Well, what if someone says well, you know, this is something in the Islamic conception that just deals with the oma on sada Mahajan are Muslims. So this is all about Muslims taking care of Muslims. But

when Allah Subhana Allah mentions in suta Toba and the sixth verse of surah Toba that even if one of the disbelievers is the jarak, seeks protection from you, then you should give that person protection you should give that person that protection that asylum until they hear the words of Allah subhanaw taala. As American I'm a law then that shows that look, Allah mentions the right to asylum in particular, when someone's in a detrimental situation, it doesn't matter what their situation is, that when they seek protection, they are to be given protection. And this is something that is only amplified when you're talking about your Muslim brothers and sisters. And so all of the

Hadith about being in the service of your brother, and what that means in terms of Allah subhanaw taala being in your service, and the nominee ozeri Rahim Allah has a commentary on that verse insert the Toba where he was asked about about tolerable St. Giada that a person who's seeking

or tolerable Jihad a person who's seeking that protection, or St. Java as a human right. Imam of those area was asked, you know, where is his place of security? Or where what if that person like has some serious demands and seeking that

security or looking for that security? What if one of the disbelievers come to you seeking security? What does that mean? And what's the extent of that? So he said, or the moment Ozaki was asked, Do you think if that person says my place of security is Constantinople and it's really interesting here, because a lot does not say just grant him protection. Allah mentions take him to a place of security. So it's not just a temporary protection then be on your way is to try to set them up in a situation where they have security where asylum or protection is long term. So it was you know, it was it was asked, look, do we have to take and what if someone comes to us and says my place of

security is not going to be until Constantinople? Do I have to take him there? At the moment Hosea Rahim, Allah said, well, you should take at least that person to one of their fortresses, or one of their strongholds to where they'll have that security. So you have to assure that he said, What if, and this is now talking about mushrikeen versus, you know, or disbelievers, you know, living in a Muslim country. He says, What if, you know, the Muslim keen are met by a Muslim patrol in their country before they reach their place of security? He said, then the patrols should not stand in their way the Muslims should not stand in their way. So they should make sure that they're able to

reach their land safely. He said, what about the enemy who enters under Muslim land, under a safe conduct, which is valid until his return? Now islamically speaking, there are different different statuses that will be afforded to a person, there's a person who's more ahead, there's a person who's under a treaty, there's a person who's who's a citizen, in the sense that, you know, they're living in that Muslim land permanently. There is a person who comes from a, you know, who belongs to a people that are actually in hostility with the Muslim community at that time. But they themselves are not involved in so they're under a covenant or they're under a treaty, there are different

statuses that exists for a person in this regard. So he says, what about the enemy who enters Muslim lands under a safe contract, which under a safe conduct, which is valid until his return, and then on the way back to his place on the way back to his country, he climbs a mountain within his own territory, but he's forced by strong winds back into the Muslim lens. And then the enemy then says, I am here under safe conduct, what should be done? And he says, Then, even then he's entitled to remain protected. And he's to be taken to a place of security. Of course, the point of that conversation within tafsir was one of the earliest commentators of the court and that if someone

seeking asylum from you're seeking protection, it doesn't matter what their status is, you are obligated to try to give them that. And this is something when you think about asylum in the Islamic conventions, you know, as opposed to modern law conventions. It's very different. So this is a means of tying the entire world together, that when it comes to St. John's are tolerable when someone is seeking

protection or Seeking Safety, that you are to go above and beyond to give them safety and security and to also put them in a situation where they can pursue what you're trying to pursue. So where they end up with the same rights and responsibilities as you once they are granted asylum. And this of course, when we talk about modern refugee law, number one, it doesn't guarantee asylum.

So some refugees are in permanent refugee status. Number two, even those that are granted asylum are not guaranteed any type of livable condition or anything that's going to actually take care of them in the long term. So the concept of a man here the concept of safety, as a right that's to be given to people no matter what their situation is, and that you are to try to assure someone who's lost a home, that they can find another home and that they can find security and they can find their same pursuits, is deeply embedded in our Deen and of course, the panel. I mean, it's it's in the Muslim psyche it's in it's in our, you know, if you think about our MBA our profits, Ibrahim alayhis salaam

has to flee. He's a refugee that has to flee with his family. And then you find you know, Musa alayhis salam having to flee, right? So you have Ibrahim and his family having to flee. And then you have musante celeb having to flee to Medina. And what is the love praise about the way musar Islam was taken care of. He's provided with housing, he's provided with employment, and he's provided with an opportunity to start over, right after he's fled from, from Muslim after he's fled from Egypt. And then of course, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam himself, instructing his oma to flee to India, and then he himself becoming a refugee, with the majority of his followers seeking refuge in

Medina. So this was embedded in our psyche, as a Muslim community, because our NBA, where, for the most part, all refugees, or immigrants at some point left in a land where they did not have those protections where they did not have those things that were guaranteed to them. So again, we talk about our our modern day situation, how do you restructure the entire political social constructs that really tie into modern refugee law? Okay, when we're talking about just notions of citizenship and what they mean, and disparity in wealth, and how that plays into notion, notion of citizenship, think about the discussions between countries as to who gets visa free travel. And it's always tied

to the money, right. And people that don't have certain protections in certain countries just because they're from other countries, and how that ties into all the systems and particularly now, the greatest human crisis, or the greatest refugee crisis in history that we're seeing right now, where people all around you, how many refugees are here in Dallas, you'd be shocked how many people are here in Dallas. And it's not just putting a roof over someone's head?

How many immigrants how many people are living without status, undocumented and not understanding what their future holds that in and of itself, not being assured that I'm going to be safe till tomorrow is a crime islamically it's a crime islamically. Okay, that a person doesn't know that they're going to have safety till tomorrow, just because of their paperwork, or just because of you know, who they are. And they don't have a livable condition to return to, or to go anywhere. Right, and the resentment that's being created towards immigrants and refugees, all in the name of protecting ourselves and protecting our country and protecting this, by the way, it's the same

rhetoric, it's not just, you know, it's not just in Texas, it's not just here in the States. That same rhetoric is employed against refugees and immigrants in any country, where the majority starts to suffer economic decline, and they're told to blame this group of people for for their hardships and for their decline. So this is not something that's unique to the Muslim, or to the United States or to Muslim refugees or anything of that sort, as well. Just one more thing that I'll mention here, what that means for the safety and the buttock of a nation the blessing of a nation. The joshy in Abyssinia faced a major revolt after he took in the Muslim refugees. Okay, not because of that

issue, specifically, but there was a major attempt on his kingdom. All right, on Santa's model, the alarm conventions where they went out and they watched this battle taking place, and they were afraid that joshy was going to lose this place because that would mean that the Muslims, were going to lose their place as well, the refugees their status would be up in the air as well. And Allah subhanaw taala established the joshy in his rule, and put blessing in his rule and further solidified his authority and there was more blessing that was brought to him brought to the fruits of adversity and brought to the wealth of adversity as a result of them taking those refuge.

And that ties into this entire thing that there's Baraka on an individual level blessing on an individual level, when you when you when you use it to take care of someone else, who for no doing of their own, no crime of their own is viewed as less of a human being in the world today. And there is blessing to a nation, when it when it opens its arms to people that are in desperate situations, and uses its resources to empower them that Allah subhanaw taala empowers that nation as a result and empowers that people as a result, as well. So this is a large subject, I'm sorry, if I went all over the place, but it's a very difficult situation.

Or it's very hard to analyze this, you know, just because of all of the differences that we have in our systems today, as opposed to the Islamic,

you know, the Islamic systems, but at the same time, it gives us a, you know, at least an ethical background of how the Quran and the Sunnah, viewed this idea of taking care of the stranger taking care of the immigrant taking care of the refugee, and particularly a person who's fleeing persecution. So the one who's seeking asylum and what that actually means and guaranteeing them protection, as well as showing them love and empowering them to be able to stand on their own two feet. May Allah subhanaw taala not punish us because of the refugee crisis today. And because of the way that immigrants and refugees and people are being treated in our country and around the world.

Today, Allah when you when, you know, if you if you just interact with these with these refugees, you worry, you seriously Worry about yourself, like you seriously Worry about yourself, because it's like, you know, at the end of the day, we can go do our charity for a few days, and we're able to walk back to our comfortable lives. But we have to really start thinking about what we're going to do as a community at the policy level. And as much as we can do as possible for these groups of people. Okay, these large swaths of humanity, and it's just not a sustainable situation, it's only getting worse. It's amazing how these things disappear from the news. And somehow you think that you

know, like, you just have in your imagination that you know, that the Syrian refugees are still seeing refugees, and then you've got some that are being killed right now, in that regard. And remember that the ultimate goal here is to empower those people to get back to their land, because Allah subhana wa tada likens that situation of being forced out of your home to death. So the ultimate good that could be done is to grant a person's safety and you know, to put a person in a situation, were able to secure them back in their homeland. So refugees don't want to stay as refugees for their entire lives. But they must, they'd much rather be in a livable condition,

you know, that an unlivable condition that they are in right now. And then at the same time, trying to put people back in a situation where they're able to live in their homes. There, there have been mass. You know, there, there have been mass

groups of people, large groups of people that have left Syria just in the last few weeks, that are now finding their way to different countries. And in many situations, people are still being turned away, and resentment is being shown towards them. So whether it's the Rohingya or whether it's the Syrians, or whatever it may be, may Allah subhanaw taala, allow us to find a way out for them. And when we're talking about immigrants here in our country that are being treated the way that they're being treated for no crime of their own, nothing that they did right now, the entire dreamers debate, the the uncertainty that they live in, and what that does to you mentally and emotionally,

not knowing if at any moment someone's going to burst, you know, ice is going to burst your door down, and lock you up and take you away from your family and you won't see them maybe for years or ever again, you know, for nothing that you did wrong, even though you're doing everything that you're supposed to do as a person. So May Allah subhanaw taala allow us to be in the service of those people, and protect, protect them and protect us And forgive us when we don't do enough for them and allow us to not only serve them, but to also work ethical policy as much as we can to stop that bleeding. And to to hopefully allow people to return to their lands in full security and in

full happiness Lama amin questions and I'm sure there are probably a lot of questions on the subjects

Yeah.