In Islam, asylum is a right of anyone seeking protection.

CHAPTER 1
Muslims as Refugees and Asylum Providers

In early 2002, there were 19.8 million people of concern to the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, the equivalent of one out of every 300 people on earth (UNHCR, 2002, p. 2). Approximately nine million of those refugees and internally displaced persons were Muslim. As Table 2 in the Appendix shows, the United States is now receiving and resettling more Muslim refugees than at any other time in its history.

Muslim refugees share a fundamental understanding of hijra, or migration, which includes migration in search of refuge and protection. The Islamic calendar begins, not at the time of the Prophet Muhammad’s birth or the first revelation from Allah, but at the time of hijra when he migrated from Mecca to Medina to avoid persecution.

According to the Islamic concept of hijra, all Muslims who are not free to exercise their basic rights within their state have a duty to flee elsewhere if it is impossible for them to resist oppression. The concept of hijra has two components, a practical component related to hijra as a movement from one location to another (either by choice or under duress), and a philosophical component of al-hijra as an internal migration from the land of humans to the presence of Allah, as practiced by the Sufi traditions.

In Islam, asylum is a right of anyone seeking protection. The Prophet Muhammad stressed the need to grant protection and to have humanitarian attitudes towards both forced and voluntary migrants. Asylum for forced migrants is supported by the Qur’an, and shari‘a law (revealed law) affirms the practice of providing sanctuary to persecuted persons and the sacredness of some places, such as Al-Kaaba (the house of God in Mecca that Muslims face in prayer). Anyone who sought refuge in a mosque or in the home of a companion of the Prophet was safe and secure. However, asylum according to shari‘a law is not confined only to sacred places, religious people, or followers of Islam. Asylum is also granted in homes and designated communal places under the protection of Islam, and should be respected by outsiders. Asylum should be provided without discriminating between free persons and those who are enslaved, rich and poor, men and women, or Muslims and non-Muslims. The medieval theologian Ibn al Arabi suggests that asylum is obligatory from states where there is injustice, intolerance, physical persecution, disease, and financial insecurity (Eickelman & Piscatiri, 1990).

Asylum is also a duty of the political leaders of Islamic communities. As a Muslim and a religious leader, one is obliged to provide protection to anyone who seeks it indiscriminately and unconditionally. Islam provides protection to asylum seekers because of its belief that this is their right.

Shari‘a law counsels that when an Islamic community finds it difficult or impossible to grant protection to an asylum seeker at the place where he or she seeks refuge, another refuge should be found in another Islamic community. A person who has been granted protection cannot be attacked after asylum is granted. His or her life, property, and freedom should be safeguarded. He or she is not obliged to follow Islamic rites and rituals or become a Muslim. He or she is free to follow his or her religious practices during the period of temporary asylum or refuge. Islamic laws also call for extension of asylum to family members for family reunification. Protection may also be granted to a tribe. Excluded from protection are warriors (even though they may be family members) and criminals who, if under protection, should be made to surrender and then be brought to justice.

The protection status is temporary. Historically, refuge was granted for a period of one year. After that, the refugees were expected to leave their place of refuge, seek another place of refuge, return home, or become permanent members of the Islamic community.

An understanding of migration as an essential part of the life experience of the Prophet Muhammad, and the perception of asylum as a right and an obligation, underlie some Muslim refugees’ understanding of their own migration experiences. Recognizing this larger perspective can help service providers identify opportunities and address concerns in ways that cohere with Muslim refugees’ worldview.

The Cultural Orientation Project--http://www.culturalorientation.net, for more information contact sanja@cal.org
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