The Refugees Problem: A Telling Contrast in Response
By Kaleem Kawaja
Washington, DC

In the sixth century as the mighty Roman Empire and its powerful Byzantine Kingdom were crumbling with marked inhumane treatment of the impoverished populace by the rulers, Islam sprang up in the northwest corner of Hijaz in the Arab peninsula.

God sent Prophet Mohammad to preach the revolutionary faith of Islam that debunked the mighty and wealthy and invoked the right of every citizen to justice and fair play. The Prophet and most of his companions were people with modest means. They were neither intellectuals nor skilled in military tactics.

When people asked Prophet Mohammad to show a miracle to prove that God had sent him as the redeemer, he replied that his miracle was the core message of Islam in the Holy Qur’an, the word of God. He asked them to listen to it and reflect upon it to transform the wretched lives they were trapped in. In less than 50 years practicing that powerful message of Qur’an the then followers of Islam took over the centuries old mighty kingdoms of Romans, Byzantium and Persians. As the Christian Bible had predicted six hundred years ago, the meek did indeed inherit the earth.

Today the tyrants in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and ISIS have unleashed a tyranny in the name of Islam to subjugate the population under their control and to claim that they are superior than other Muslims. They also claim the right to annihilate, torture and treat like animals all who do not follow their brand of Islam. The intense violence on ordinary helpless civilians, most of whom are educated professionals, academics and contributors to society, has forced more than 6 million of them to leave their homes, jobs and cities and become refugees. Families with grandparents, women, children are languishing in these camps for over five years with no end to their misery in sight. There are 2 million refugees in Turkey, 1 million in Jordan, 1.5 million in Lebanon, half a million in Iraq, and a quarter million in Egypt.

Most of them are practicing Muslims and they are being waylaid and persecuted by those who claim to be better Muslims and better rulers. Every day they violate the core message of Islam that forbids such inhumane behavior, and yet they claim that everything is fine as they are purifying and improving the Islamic governments. They are indifferent to the continuing misery of 6 million fellow Muslims who are their subjects. The messages of the Qur’an and the Prophet have been blatantly ignored.

Beginning a year ago, the residents of these refugee camps made an effort to move to countries in Europe with stable governments and stable economies. Lacking any options, as the international community stopped paying attention to their plight, they took huge risks in travelling with illegal groups of international smugglers, traffickers and organized crime syndicates. Crossing the Mediterranean Sea in leaky, overcrowded boats they landed on the shores of southern Europe in countries like Greece, Italy and the Balkan states. They started moving towards the countries of northwestern Europe. Many a tragedy happened with infant children and mothers getting killed in the perilous journeys by sea and on land.

A week ago the crisis came to a head as about half a million refugees, including many small children under five years of age, young mothers and aged grandparents in wheelchairs, started trekking on foot after crossing Greece, Serbia and Macedonia on their way to Austria, Germany, Sweden and Norway. While the right wing government in Hungary tried to harass them with police action, Germany and Scandinavian countries offered asylum to the refugees. In France, United Kingdom, Austria and other countries in western Europe ordinary civilians held massive rallies urging their governments to shed their indifference and give asylum to the refugees.

In the name of humanity the governments and ordinary people in the economically advanced countries of Germany, Sweden, Norway and Austria, that are inhabited mostly by Christians, have been most generous in giving asylum and help to the refugees from the Middle East who are predominantly Muslim. It is a breathtaking phenomenon to experience and witness: despite the protests of a few right wing Christians in those countries, most people and governments have willingly accepted and given precedence to the principle of humanity over all other aspects of life and are granting asylum and help to the mostly Muslim refugees. Scenes of ordinary European citizens standing on the roadside, passing food, drink and other supplies and raising welcome slogans to the harried and helpless refugees were unbelievably real.

At the same time the super wealthy Muslim Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait et al. have behaved with atrocious arrogance and inhumanity by totally declining to accept the refugees who are also Muslim and Arab. Although the rulers and peoples in these countries often pride on being Muslim, they have stubbornly declined to accept a single refugee or extend any help to the unfortunate people.

One does not have to be a rocket cientist to say that these Muslim countries have tarnished the image of the Muslim community and Islam. Conversely, the Christian countries of Europe have set a shining example and glorified the name of Christianity and Christians on planet earth. I am aware that some Muslims may criticize me for making such an observation. But I want them to reflect on the core message of the Qur’an and Islam that places huge emphasis on our personal and collective behavior vis-a-vis our obligations to humanity and our accountability on that score. No amount of prayers can compensate for demonstrating inhuman arrogance and brutality to our fellow human beings. So many sublime precepts in Islam are for practicing and not for just repeating like euphemisms. In the Qur’an God has clarified that He is the Sustainer and Lord of the entire mankind from the smallest worm to the mightiest being. (The writer is the executive director of the Association of Indian Muslims of America, Washington DC)