“Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here.” Javed Anand on the Syrian refugees’ new ‘ummah’
NB: A profound but simple truth that needs to be repeated in the ears of all 'true believers', as well as those who think that nationalism is an everlasting idea, and the nation-state the only home of humanity. Please think again. “Ummah does not mean the global community of Muslims; it means the global community of the compassionate, religion and race no bar.” DS
Daddy, please don’t die!” three-year-old Aylan had pleaded
with his father as Abdullah Kurdi struggled unsuccessfully to save his two
children and wife from drowning in the Aegean Sea. In the end, daddy didn’t
die. But he could not keep his family afloat.
Images of little Aylan’s body lying face down on a beach in
Turkey now haunts the world just as the iconic image of a terror-struck little
girl from My Lai in Vietnam, her “napalmed” body aflame, did half-a-century
earlier. It’s no longer possible for decent folks anywhere to pretend ignorance
of the colossal humanitarian crisis that has hit the Arab world.
Abdullah Kurdi’s desperate bid to take his family out of
war-ravaged Syria ended in a gut-wrenching tragedy. Yet, left with little
choice, hundreds of thousands of Muslims continue to vote with their feet. From
Syria mostly but also from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, even Iran, they are
fleeing the conflict-torn regions of Darul Islam (abode of Islam), seeking
safety and shelter in the land of Christians and “infidels”.
With the resources of neighbouring Turkey (1.8 million
refugees), Lebanon (1.2 million) and Jordan (over 600,000 refugees)
overstretched, the hapless refugees are risking their lives hoping to find a
new home somewhere in Europe: Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, UK, wherever.
Anywhere, ironically, except in the afloat-on-petro dollars Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and UAE in their immediate neighbourhood.
You could ask many legitimate questions: Why did baby Aylan
have to die for Europe to recognise that too many people have died? How long
will the crisis of conscience last before the anti-immigrant xenophobes come
howling down the streets of Europe? Why is the king of Saudi Arabia unmoved and
the super-rich sheikhs of the Gulf region unshaken even now? Are the leaders of
the Western world cynically encouraging the mass migration of refugees from
Syria to create a political climate where the need to “take out” Syrian
dictator President Bashar al-Assad becomes a matter of “common sense”?
You could ask these questions or you could suspend reason
for a few minutes and listen with your heart. Listen, to the charity workers
and volunteers in Vienna (Austria), Munich (Germany) and elsewhere chanting:
“Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here.” There’s hot tea and bed
for the exhausted men and women. For the refugee children there are candies and
stuffed toys too.
Listen, to German Chancellor Angela Merkel: “The right to
political asylum has no limits on the number of asylum seekers. Germany won’t
say no to any asylum seeker”. Listen to Pope Francis, issuing a call during his
Sunday Angelus prayer: “Every Catholic parish, every religious community, every
monastery, every sanctuary in Europe should accommodate one family, beginning
with my diocese of Rome.” The Vatican he says will house two refugee
families. Listen to the Finnish Prime Minister, Juha Sipila, and his wife,
telling refugees: “Take my home.”
Why are the refugees heading towards Europe? Again Patrick
Cockburn says: “It’s not because they want to scrounge on our generosity... I
think they know that, deep beneath our carapace of cynicism and materialism and
our lack of religious faith, the idea of humanism is alive in Europe and that
we can be decent, good, thoughtful, honest people”.
The oil-rich kings and sheikhs may not want any refugees in
their midst, but the folks in Iceland (total population 329,100) certainly do.
Listen to the message from over 13,000 Icelander members of a newly launched
Facebook group, “Syria is calling”: “Refugees are our future spouses, best
friends, our next soul mate, the drummer in our children’s band, our next
colleague, Miss Iceland 2022, the carpenter who finally fixes our bathroom, the
chef in the cafeteria, the fireman, the hacker and the television host. People
who we’ll never be able to say to: ‘Your life is worth less than mine.’”
The next time you hear the word ummah, listen to writer
Ziauddin Sardar: “Ummah does not mean the global community of Muslims; it means
the global community of the compassionate, religion and race no bar.”
The writer is co-editor of Communalism Combat and general secretary, Muslims for Secular Democracy
The writer is co-editor of Communalism Combat and general secretary, Muslims for Secular Democracy
