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Like millions, if not billions, of people, Muslims and non-Muslims, my heart was broken on hearing and watching the news of killing the helpless mother of the 4-year-old boy, Marwah Al-Sherbini, in front of her husband in a German courthouse on July 1. Stabbed 18 times at the hands of a racist man, who has been fined by the court for insulting her, Al-Shirbini breathed her last while defending her legal and human rights.
Worried about minorities' wellbeing and interests, I have become fully convinced that the time has come to establish a new branch of fiqh that could be called the "Jurisprudence of Security" or "fiqh al-Aman". This term signifies, as far as I see, the measures, approaches, course of actions, and laws that could secure people's faiths, lives, lineages, reasons, and properties.
| Jurisprudence of Security is meant to help minorities protect their legal and human rights. |
Protecting the above-mentioned five values, which are the essential objectives of Shari`ah, is the undisputable basis and ground of humans' wellbeing. In his pioneering book, Al-Mustasfa, imam al-Ghazali (445 AH – 505 AH) says,
As for maslahah (wellbeing and interest), it is, in principle, the bringing forth manfa`ah (benefit) and the averting of madarah (harm)... [it] means maintaining the objectives of Shari`ah, namely the maintenance of religion, life, offspring, reason, and property. Anything in conformity with these five objectives is maslahah, and anything contradicts them is mafsadah. (Al-Ghazali, Al-Mustasfa)
Therefore, Jurisprudence of Security is meant to help minorities protect their legal and human rights and, at the same time, enable them to assess the benefits and harms of living in a given community or country.
Minorities in the Muslim State
Non-Muslims living under the protection of a Muslim State enjoy the most human, fair, and just rights that other minorities can hardly find. They enjoy religious freedom. Their places of worship are protected by the State. Their lives, honors, reasons, and properties are secured. Muslims deal with religious minorities co-existing with them on the basis of the well-established juristic maxim: lahum ma lana wa `alayhim ma `alayna "They enjoy equal rights and bear the same obligations of Muslims".
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) gave the minorities of the Muslim state unprecedented privileges and rights by saying, "On the Day of judgment, I shall be the opponent of anyone oppresses a person from among al-mu`ahidun (people who were given a pledge of peace from the State), or infringes on his right, or puts a responsibility on him which is beyond his strength, or takes something from him against his will." (Abu Dawud)
The leading Maliki jurist, imam Al-Qarafi says: "The covenant of protection imposes upon us certain obligations towards ahl al-dhimmah. They are our neighbors, under our shelter and the protection of Allah, His Messenger (peace be on him), and the religion of Islam. Whoever violates these obligations against any of them by so much as an abusive word, by slandering their reputations, or by doing them harm or even help others to do harm, they have breached the Covenant of Allah, His Messenger (peace be on him), and the religion of Islam." (Al-Qarafi, Al-Furooq)
| The rising rate of hate crimes and Islamophobia seriously endangers the spirit of peaceful co-existence that Muslim communities defend and call for. |
Moreover, Ibn Hazm says: If there is a dhimmi, and the enemy comes with force to take him, it is our duty to fight the enemy in arms and to give our lives for him, thus, we maintain the Covenant of Allah and His Messenger (peace be on him). Handing a dhimmi over to the enemy would mean to dishonor that covenant." (Ibn Hazm, Maratib Al-ijma')
No wonder, Islamic Shari`ah is "all about justice, mercy, and welfare. Therefore, any case that brings about injustice, cruelty, evil, and disorder is not part of Shari`ah, even if some people may interpret such cases to be so; Shari`ah is Allah’s mercy and justice for His Servants. Shari`ah is Allah’s wisdom which does prove, beyond any doubt, His existence and the truthfulness of His Messengers.” (Ibn al-Qayyim, I`lam al-Muwaqqi`in)
Hate Crimes vs. Peaceful Co-Existence
Muslim minorities living in non-Muslim countries are always called upon by Muslim scholars and leaders to maintain peaceful co-existence with other factions of the society. Muslims have no problem to cooperate with all communities and groups to promote the wellbeing of the country where they live. Allah Almighty says, (Help you one another unto righteousness and pious duty. Help not one another unto sin and transgression.)(Al-Ma'idah 2:2)
The rising rate of hate crimes and Islamophobia seriously endangers the spirit of peaceful co-existence that Muslim communities defend and call for. Biased media outlets help, in one way or another, spreading hostility among the fabrics of the society.
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Hearts bleed for Marwah.
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Therefore, leaders and intellectuals of various faith communities should spare no efforts to maintain peaceful co-existence for the sake of the country's wellbeing and interest. Peaceful co-existence is the way-out of the crises which multi-faith communities are overwhelmed with owing to the spread of bias, prejudice, extremism, and fanaticism.
The Road Ahead
Actions speak louder. We should "never cry over the spilt milk". The following proposed ideas and workable solutions could help Muslim minorities secure their well-established human and legal rights:
1. Imams and religious figures of Muslim minorities should play a vital role in educating individuals and spreading awareness on their legal and human rights and how to defend those rights via legal channels. Training courses and workshops should be carried out to maintain that goal.
2. Muslim juristic councils and research centers in the West—such as ECFR, ISNA, AMJA—should study the measures that could secure minorities' faiths, lives, lineages, minds, and properties. They should publish brochures, pamphlets, CDs, etc., which spread awareness among Muslim communities in this regard.
3. Muslims living in non-Muslim communities should always be faithful, loyal, active, and work for the public wellbeing of the countries where they live. Positive participation in the public life and social activities help Muslims correct the distorted image that biased media portrays about them. In case of facing any abuse or offences against Muslims, Muslims should resort to legal channels to defend their rights.
4. Muslims living in Muslim countries should spare no efforts to support the legal causes and rights of their fellow brothers and sisters who face discrimination and racism in some non-Muslim countries. Scholars, non-governmental organizations, and intellectual should play a vital role in this regard.
5. Peace-loving and fair people of various communities should cooperate to uproot the causes of extremism and fanaticism. Related studies and researches should be applied in order to maintain peaceful co-existence among the fabrics of the society.
6. Diplomatic representatives of Muslim countries should carry out the duty of protecting and defending the legal rights of Muslim minorities. In case of any violation of the human and legal rights of minorities, diplomatic measures should be taken in order to return the rights to the wronged.
7. States should ratify conventions that protect minorities' rights and wellbeing by securing people's faiths, lives, lineages, minds, and properties. Consequently, due sanctions are to be applied on states that violate those well-established rights under any pretext.
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