Amal Al-Sibai
The number of Syrian refugees fleeing their war-stricken homeland has soared to over 4 million. Syrian refugees are flooding into neighboring countries: Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq. Others with nothing left to lose except their lives are risking just that, their lives to sail, walk, crawl, run, or ride into any of the European countries accepting refugees and asylum seekers.
“This is the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation. It is a population that needs the support of the world but is instead living in dire conditions and sinking deeper into poverty,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, in a UNHCR report.
I am not going to tell you what you already know about the living conditions of the displaced Syrians. We have all seen the pictures, heard the cries, and read about the suffering.
Even if I did try, what should one write about – starving elderly – a generation of children with no education – contagious diseases spreading in refugee camps, diseases that were supposedly eradicated by modern medicine – more than 80,000 who have lost a limb and will live with permanent disability – orphaned children – or infant malnutrition?
No. As I give my seven-year-old daughter a steaming cup of hot cocoa and then tuck her in bed under two fleece blankets because it’s cold outside, I think of the Syrian children. I realize that ink would go dry and we would not be able to adequately express or feel the pain of a scared child, muddy tears streaming down her face, wearing a torn pajama, barefoot, eating stale bread, sleeping on the ground, shivering in the cold.
It is no longer time for words, it is time for action.
What I would like to do is remind us all of our duty, as Muslims to help in whatever way we can to alleviate their suffering. There is more than one way to help.
Find out, in your country, about reliable and reputable relief organizations that deliver humanitarian aid: medicines, food, clothing, blankets, books, toothbrushes to the Syrian refugees, and donate what you can. Give generously.
The beauty of our faith is that by giving, the giver actually gains more than the recipient. Muslims are promised such abundant rewards by their Creator if they give in charity that they should be competing with one another to give more and more.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Clothing an under-clad Muslim, entitles you to a garment from the Paradise; feeding a hungry Muslim will make you eligible (by Allah’s will) for the fruit of the Paradise, and if you provide water to a thirsty Muslim, Allah will provide you with a drink from the Sealed Nectar.” (Mishkat Al-Masabih)
By donating only a portion of our wealth to help those who have nothing, we will be dressed in silk, eat luscious fruits, and drink from the rivers in Paradise, by the will of Allah.
It is not only our money or our children’s outgrown clothes that the Syrian refugees need; they also need our companionship, friendship, and emotional support. Many Syrians are being resettled in European or other countries, and they arrive as strangers to an unfamiliar place; they do not know the language, and often all they own is the clothes on their backs.
According to a CNN report by Michael Martinez, Germany has opened its doors to 98,700 Syrians, Sweden 64,700, France 6,700, UK 7,000, Denmark 11,300, Hungary 18,800, and the US 1,500.
Whether you live in the Arab world or in the West, ask around in your city if there are newly arriving Syrian families that you could meet and help. Visit them, talk to them, and offer to help them with transportation. Buy toys for their children, invite them out for dinner, and take them to the local mosque to pray and meet the Muslim community. Make them feel welcome, ask about their families, and call them on the phone to check up on them.
Find out what is missing in their apartments from furniture to books for the kids to clothes or kitchen utensils and rally up your friends and community members to collect the needed items. We should not leave our Syrian brethren to rely only on governmental assistance, which can be meager and does not cover their needs.
Our current situation of the stable Muslim residents living comfortably and the influx of impoverished, exhausted Syrian refugees arriving in our countries of residence, brings to my mind the Ansaar (Helpers) and Muhajirun (Emigrants) at the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). How did the Muslims in Madinah greet the refugees and immigrants fleeing from Makkah?
The Helpers in Madinah greeted the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Emigrants escaping from Makkah with open arms, open doors, and open hearts. Of course their jubilation was due to the arrival of the Messenger of Allah, but they were also extremely generous and hospitable to all of the Emigrants.
The families of Madinah waited on the outskirts of the city under the hot sun, for hours, to be there to welcome the newcomers. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) and a slow trickle of Emigrants started to arrive, the Helpers vied with one another to invite the noble visitors in their homes. The women wanted to cook the best meals. The girls chanted beautiful poems to welcome the Messenger and his companions.
The Muslim society in Madinah was founded on brotherhood in faith. Their belief in Allah and in the Messenger made them brothers.
Muhammad Al-Ghazali explained the brotherhood in Madinah; he said, “Brotherhood in faith was holding subordinate every distinction of race and kindred and supporting the Islamic precept: none is superior to the other except on the basis of piety and God-fearing.”
The Emigrants left everything they owned behind in Makkah. The Helpers of Madinah gave selflessly to the Emigrants. They treated them as if they were their real family, wanting to share with them everything they had. The Helpers provided the Emigrants with accommodation in their homes, they shared their food with them; they even wanted to divide their orchards and share their property rights with them. However, the Prophet (peace be upon him) instructed the Helpers to share the products and fruits of the fields, but to maintain their property rights.
Saad bin Ar-Rabi’ of Madinah, was assigned as the brother of the Emigrant, Abdur Rahman bin Awf.
“I am the richest man among all of the Helpers, so I will divide my property into two parts between me and you, half and half,” Saad told his brother in faith.
Wholeheartedly Saad wanted to give half of his home, wealth, and property to Abdur Rahman, but Abdur Rahman said, “May Allah bless your family and property for you; where is your market?”
Abdur Rahman borrowed a single dinar from Saad and he went to the market to trade and work, and he soon became a prosperous businessman and he got married.
Such examples point to the spirit of sacrifice, altruism, and love that the Helpers had for the Emigrants.
Can we treat the Syrian refugees as the Helpers treated the Emigrants?
