Where are the helpers of our era, who will fling open their doors to welcome those emigrating in fear?
Instead, they respond with arguments contrary to the Quran and sunna, demanding a desperate people stay in harm’s way, lest they lose their lands forever.
If their Book asks them, “Is God’s earth not spacious enough for you to emigrate?” they respond, “But this is a holy land.”
If reminded that many of the prophets fled sacred homelands before them, they respond, “But this case is unique.”
Thus do those who refuse to give refuge respond to an unfolding catastrophe. “Stand firm,” they demand, locking the doors still tighter.
How do the poor people of these lands, made destitute by a war not of their asking, feel about us?
Could we be the problem, setting ourselves up as their representatives, without consulting them on their views?
Might they resent us deciding what is best for them, though we’re not linked to them in any meaningful way, other than via claims to a reading of history and an appeal to a fraternal faith?
In what way are we helpers, helping? Instead, we romanticise them as a steadfast people with unshakable faith, who will stand firm, in place, against the onslaught of a brutal and barbaric enemy.
Could that be because they have been given no other choice, every gate through which they might flee completely sealed? This a people laid seige both by their enemies, supposed brothers in faith, and even their self-declared protectors.
Before this war, the common man rightfully asked why billions were being diverted by their leaders into assets abroad, while ordinary people lived with unimaginable hardship. But that now pales into insignificance.
They have been truly abandoned by an ummah intent on turning their fight for survival into an epic eschatological battle for religion itself.
The question we have to ask ourselves is, “Are any of us really helping?” How does our faith actually ask us to respond? Perhaps if we reflect on our own shortcomings, we might discover many a source of inspiration.
Do not let the hatred of a people who once barred you from the Sacred Mosque provoke you to transgress. Cooperate with one another in goodness and righteousness, and do not cooperate in sin and transgression. And be mindful of God.
From Quran 5:2
Last modified: 9 March 2024
