The
Shame of the Muslim World - The Rohingya Refugee Crisis
“Allah
commands justice, the doing of good, and liberality to kith and kin, and He
forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, that
ye may receive admonition.”
The
Holy Quran, 16:90
While this blog is not about discussing current events, I felt compelled to
briefly discuss the humanitarian crisis currently unfolding in the Andaman Sea.
The persecution of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar is a well-known story,
garnering media attention the world over, but in the last few days, thousands
of Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees have been stranded in crowded boats off
the coasts of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. They are stuck in a
catch-22. They face discrimination and violence in their native Myanmar,[1]
and are now stranded because no country in the region will take them in,
including so-called “Muslim” countries like Malaysia and Indonesia.
As
a Muslim, I am sickened whenever I see a lack of compassion over the suffering
of innocent human beings, be they Muslim or non-Muslim, but I am even more
sickened at the lack of compassion shown by the so-called “Muslim” countries
over the plight of the Rohingya, their fellow Muslims. Not only is it sickening to see the behavior
of the Malaysian and Indonesian authorities on this matter,[2] it
is also sickening to see the complete lack of attention paid to this crisis by
other so-called “Muslim” countries.
While Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states (which command tremendous
wealth and could easily take in thousands of refugees on humanitarian grounds) would
much rather fight proxy wars in Yemen or provide lip service to the Palestinian
struggle for independence from Israeli oppression, they have nothing to say
about the suffering of the Rohingya Muslims and hardly raise a finger to
alleviate their plight. Where is the
outrage in the Muslim world, the likes of which has been seen because of silly cartoons
published in some French magazine? Why
do we riot like idiots because some person drew a cartoon, but we remain silent
when our brethren suffer? This is the
shame of the Muslim world. Many of us
talk and pay lip service, but when action is needed, we are nowhere to be
found. In fact, it seems that many of us
put our national and ethnic pride before our religious pride. We are willing to spit on our own brethren
because they might be of a different color or a different nationality.
What
will these so-called “Muslims” say to the Almighty when they stand before Him
on the Day of Judgement? What will they
say when they are questioned for not doing anything to alleviate human
suffering, whether that of Muslims or non-Muslims?[3]
Here
are some helpful links to help raise awareness of this crisis:
http://endgenocide.org/conflict-areas/burma/
https://www.causes.com/actions/1666951-stop-the-genocide-of-rohingya-muslims-in-burma