Immigration between the Quranic Sharia Legislations and Man-Made Legislations
Published in January 30, 2018
Translated by: Ahmed Fathy
Introduction:
1- We have been pained by an online article, in Arabic, about the poor Algerian youths who try to illegally immigrate by crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, under the motto that it is better for them to be eaten by fish than by worms! Most of them drown actually and do not make it to the EU. Within this online article in Arabic, we have read that the so-called supreme Islamic council of Algeria has issued a fatwa to prohibit illegal immigration in an attempt to combat this increasing phenomenon that has taken a heavy toll of Algerian youths who drowned; the spokesperson of this Algerian supreme Islamic council has quoted this verse: "...and do not throw yourselves with your own hands into ruin..." (2:195).
2- We have received this question via email, by one of our fellow Arab Quranists, about illegal immigration: (... I'm asking you, Sir, about illegal immigration of the poor, unemployed youths who try to cross the Sea to the EU and risk their lives as they mostly drown and even those who make it to the other shore are deported and/or imprisoned ... Very few of them settle and work illegally in Europe; is this OK as far as Islam is concerned?! What about the Quranic command to immigrate as God's earth is vast? But the risk these youths are taking is too high and it does not worth the pains, because they are not fleeing religious persecution. If they are broke and unemployed, they must demand their rights in their native countries, I presume ... What do you think? ...).
3- Because it is an issue of vital importance now in the West and in the Arab countries alike, we write within the following points our own Quranist vision regarding immigration; we implore the Almighty Lord God to guide all of us.
Firstly: about the earth and human beings in general:
1- The resources of earth are of two types: renewable permanent, ones (e.g., the wind, the seas, the oceans, and the solar energy) and non-renewable, temporary ones (e.g., minerals, metals, oil, gas, and underground water). God has created these resources of earth to be available for all human beings as the right of those who seek and exert efforts to get them: "He placed stabilizers over it; and blessed it; and planned its provisions in four days, equally to the seekers." (41:10). The phrase (equally to the seekers) indicates the right of those who exert efforts and spend money to use the resources in any time and place. The human beings die eventually and their bodies decompose to become part of resources of the earth, and these resources remain for those in the next generations as they were available to the older generations who are gone now.
2- All human beings are the descendants of Adam and his wife; they are equal in this origin and they are to know one another in peace within piety and justice; God will decide who are really the pious ones among them on the Last Day, as the best people before the sight of the Omniscient Lord God are the pious ones and not the most powerful, the most beautiful, or the richest: "O people! We created you from a male and a female, and made you races and tribes, that you may know one another. The best among you in the sight of God is the most righteous. God is All-Knowing, Well-Experienced." (49:13).
3- God commands us to roam the earth to seek sustenance and earrings: "It is He who made the earth manageable for you, so travel its regions, and eat of His provisions..." (67:15), and this roaming is part of applying the verse 49:13, and this means that immigration to seek a living is optional and never obligatory; i.e., if one is content with one's homeland and never immigrates to seek a living, this is OK and one is not committing a sin at all in this case.
4- Yet, leaving one's homeland via immigration and settling elsewhere becomes a religious duty in case one is suffering from severe religious persecution; those who suffer religious persecution and have the means and power to immigrate while affording it but never seek to immigrate are thus risk dying as disbelievers who deserve Hell: "While the angels are removing the souls of those who have wronged themselves, they will say, "What was the matter with you?" They will say, "We were oppressed in the land." They will say, "Was God's earth not vast enough for you to emigrate in it?" These-their refuge is Hell. What a wretched retreat! Except for the weak among men, and women, and children who have no means to act, and no means to find a way out. These-God may well pardon them. God is Pardoning and Forgiving." (4:97-99). The earth is a round planet, shaped without an end/edge; people are on it like ants on a giant watermelon and they can roam it without reaching any edge until they die. One's lifetime is limited and predestined before one is born; one must never spend this lifetime duration submitting to religious persecution anywhere while we can move and settle elsewhere: "O My servants who have believed: My earth is vast, so worship Me alone. Every soul will taste death. Then to Us you will be returned." (29:56-57).
Secondly: about the concept of (the State) in general:
1- The human beings live in different countries, States, and (democratic or tyrannical) regimes that have certain borders and control the resources that lie within these borders. We make the following points which we derive from the Quranic sharia legislations.
1/1: Any resources and money in any given country/State are originally owned by the Lord God: "...And give them of God's money which he has given you..." (24:33). God has given us prosperity, wealth, money and possessions as a test; He has commanded us to spent from it on those who deserve, among the needy and the poor, and for God's sake and to further His cause; i.e., to spread, propagate, and call for the facts of Islam and Quranic higher values (e.g., peace, absolute religious freedom, direct democracy, justice for all, mercy, cooperation for the welfare of everyone, piety, charity, tolerance, human dignity, and human rights). This way of spending money within this test is expressed further in this verse: "...and spend from what He made you inherit. Those among you who believe and give will have a great reward." (57:7).
1/2: The nation's citizens in any given country/State are deputized by God as temporary inheritors of money/resources created by God and they must preserve such resources; i.e., their ownership of resources is NEVER absolute, as it is restricted and limited by increasing and preserving it for the welfare of all citizens; this is exemplified in this verse about the money of immature persons in any society: "Do not give the immature your money which God has assigned to you for support. But provide for them from it, and clothe them, and speak to them with kind words." (4:5).
1/3: The ownership of money by the State is expressed in the phrase (your money which God has assigned to you for support) in the verse 4:5. Hence, the State is the assigned body to preserve, keep, and invest the money and to spend it on citizens, especially the immature ones in the case of the verse 4:5 as per the phrase (But provide for them from it). It is a totally different case when the inheritance money is being distributed; those who do not have inheritance shares and the poor and the needy may be given some of the inheritance money and not from its being invested: "If the distribution is attended by the relatives, and the orphans, and the needy, give them something out of it, and speak to them kindly. " (4:8). This is expressed in the phrase (give them something out of it) in the verse 4:8.
1/4: It is noteworthy that orphans who come of age and are reasonable/rational must receive their money: "Test the orphans until they reach the age of marriage. If you find them to be mature enough, hand over their properties to them...When you hand over their properties to them, have it witnessed for them..." (4:6), and money here is ascribed to them, unlike the case of the immature persons mentioned in 4:5.
2- Countries/States are of two types: democratic and tyrannical.
2/1: The democracies are owned by the nations/citizens, and governments there fear and serve citizens; citizens are represented in parliaments that protect the wealth of the nation and check the executive authority – this system is nearer to the Islamic Shura direct democracy mentioned in the Quran.
2/2: The tyrannical countries are owned and controlled by tyrants and their affluent retinue members and cronies within media networks, military armies, security forces, and clergymen. Tyranny is always directly linked to corruption; the Moses' Pharaoh-like tyrants assume they must own and monopolize all power, authority, and wealth. Citizens in that case are divided into two categories: the minority of the affluent, corrupt ones and the vast majority of the poor, the needy, and the oppressed middle-class members, which is, in fact, a class that is thinning gradually with the passage of time worldwide.
2/3: Tyrannical rulers never think rationally as they never heed the future (in this world and the next one) as long as they are settled in their thrones in spite of frustrated citizens. Tyrants are sucked into a vicious circle of injustices and constant fear; they are enslaved by their nightmares and they never trust the nearest ones inside their inner circle. Thus, they are engaged into a struggle for existence against all citizens, until they are deposed, overthrown, abdicated, or assassinated or until they die naturally. When tyrants die, their hoarded ill-gotten US$ billions will be of no use to them and will not allow them to avoid Hell. In contrast, presidents in democracies know that their posts are temporary, and after leaving office, they live in peace and security, walk through markets and eat food, etc. like any other ordinary human beings.
2/4: Immature, reckless, irrational persons harm no one but themselves; but when they are tyrannical rulers, they harm and wrong millions of citizens. God commands nations not to give money for the ordinary, immature ones as per the verse 4:5, let alone giving money/wealth of the nation to the immature, reckless, irrational tyrants who will waste this wealth as per their whims or monopolize, amass, and steal it? There are tyrants who lost the wealth of their nations like Saddam Hussein and Kaddafi, and there are tyrants like the Saudi royal family members who monopolize and confiscate the wealth of the nation of the Arabian peninsula and spend it extravagantly in all sorts of carnal lusts, luxuries, and absurd wars. Moreover, there are those tyrants who diligently and incessantly steal and hoard the wealth of their countries/nations.
Thirdly: about immigration now:
1- Within the countries/States of corruption and tyranny, some people have no other choice but to immigrate to democracies; yet, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants turn themselves into fish-food as they drown in oceans/seas, because they risk their lives, while hoping to be saved from their despicable life conditions, as they cannot resist tyrants who worsen their miserable life conditions. It is silly that tyrants will not leave them be; they urge the corrupt clergymen to shamelessly issue fatwas to prohibit immigration, while quoting the verse 2:195. Clergymen do this instead of facing the unjust tyrants and telling them that they are the direct cause of such crisis of illegal immigration.
2- In fact, the clergymen are worse than tyrants, as they use their earthly religions (ascribed forcibly to the name of Islam) to justify corruption, injustices, and tyranny. The clergymen of the Muhammadans are qualified to be the slaves serving tyrants by the fact that they are mere hypocritical ignoramuses who flatter tyrants. This is exemplified by the Algerian clergymen who have quoted 2:195 to prohibit immigration. The phrase in 2:195 comes in the context of sharia legislations of self-defense jihad fighting in 2:190-195. God says in the Quran: "And fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not commit aggression; God does not love the aggressors...The sacred month for the sacred month; and sacrilege calls for retaliation. Whoever commits aggression against you, retaliate against him in the same measure as he has committed against you. And be conscious of God in piety, and know that God is with the righteous ones. And spend in the cause of God, and do not throw yourselves with your own hands into ruin, and be charitable. God loves the charitable." (2:190-195). Thus, the pious ones are to spend money (as part of charity donations) for the sake of self-defense endeavors to avoid being massacred by the aggressive enemy.
3- Tyrants within the countries of the Muhammadans employ and enlist the aid of the clergymen to control the gullible masses among the citizens; hence, people are taught via media, mosques, and education the myths of the dominant earthly religion and its laws. Within such dominant earthly religion, the political opposition would emerge and mix religion and politics in as much the same ways as adopted by the tyrants. The struggle between tyrants and their foes drive many of their theocratic foes (e.g. Wahabis) to immigrate to the West while hating the West from the bottom of their hearts and conspire to perpetrate terrorist attacks and suicide bombings that kill some citizens of the West, though these theocracy-seekers or opposition figures live in security and peace as they are nourished, helped, assisted, and sustained by the laws and the bounties of the West. Sadly, this occurs until now; the immigration waves into the West countries are directly linked to the increase of terrorist attacks by Wahabis living there.
4- It is expected that the West countries will defend their lands, borders, States, and citizens by issuing just and fair laws and by taking measures that might be unjust towards the innocent, honest, legal immigrants.
Lastly:
1- Since God commands us to travel through the earth to seek a living and He makes resources of the earth available equally to all human beings, legal immigration to seek a living is permissible in Islam (i.e., Quranism) as long as one seeks a living in legal, permissible ways. Those seeking to immigrate for God's sake to avoid religious persecution that is inflicted on them are obeying God's command, as it is a duty imposed on them to do so; they are NOT to die as disbelievers who deserve Hell as per 4:97-99.
2- It is unjust that some laws issued and some measures taken by some democracies limit and hinder legal immigrants. In fact, immigrants who seek a living are beneficial to the West countries, especially if they are specialized in certain fields and are geniuses who never had a chance in their native countries but will enjoy equal opportunity in the West democracies; in fact, tyrants in the countries of the Muhammadans reject such qualified experts and employ instead 'trusted' ignoramuses.
3- These peaceful legal immigrants might in some cases violate or manipulate some laws or regulations to get legal permission to stay in the West. They never harm anyone at all by this; they never commit crimes or perpetrate injustices against anyone at all. They desire to remain, work, and earn their bread within legal means and they never harm anyone.
4- Man-made legislations and laws that limit immigration and chase away legal immigrants are filled with loopholes and some lawyers manage to take advantage of such loopholes; it is OK to resort to such lawyers to help someone seeking to live in the West democracies – such man-made legislations and laws are not divine legislations after all; thus, it is OK to resort to such lawyers of immigration. Divine sharia legislations are against all sorts of injustice; many immigration laws are unjust to those honest persons who seek a living within legal means and to serve their new homeland in the West.
5- There are those who immigrate to spread corruption and terrorism; those are cursed by God. This applies to ISIS terrorists and their likes among Wahabi and non-Wahabi terrorists. The existence of such terrorists who seek (il)legal immigration is the cause of making West countries issuing unjust laws and taking unjust measures as far as immigration is concerned, and they are unjust only when applied regarding peaceful, innocent ones who seek better life conditions and seek a living within legal immigration.