Articles 13-15

These articles relate to nationality, freedom of movement and residence, and asylum. From the standpoint of Islam the scope and effect of these articles, by virtue of the underlying implications, are restrictive of the freedom of the individual rather than enlarging and protective.

For instance, the first paragraph of Article 13, though expressed in wide and general terms, is subject to the implied condition that the person claiming the right must either be a national of the State within the borders of which he wishes freely to move and reside, or must have obtained admission to its territory in compliance with its laws and regulations pertaining to such admission.

The second paragraph spells out the right to leave a country, but, with the exception of a person’s own country, does not concern itself with the right of entry into a country.

Thus the operation of the article is circumscribed by the immigration laws of different States and their regulations concerning passports, visas, and entry and exit permits. In today’s conditions that is perhaps unavoidable but it is none-the-less regrettable. The world seems at the moment to be held firmly to the pattern of a conglomeration of national States, with all the divisive, disruptive, disturbing and dangerous policies, tendencies and consequences thereby generated and maintained in a state of intensive ferment.

The dangers and threats inherent in this pattern are being realized and appraised more and more widely, and movements towards closer relations, regional and continental, are developing. In the meantime one must, one supposes, reconcile oneself to the prevailing pattern and make the best of it.

The primary function of religion is to create and strengthen faith in a Beneficent Creator and in the hierarchy of values within the purview of religion, where the moral and the spiritual must take precedence over the rest, though Islam seeks to bring about beneficent adjustment in all spheres of life.

Islam, while taking note of the diversity of tongues and colours and describing them as Signs from which those who possess knowledge may draw lessons (30:23), does not treat this or any other diversity as creating a division among mankind. It addresses itself to the whole of mankind and the form of address is “O mankind” or “O people,” the Arabic expression in both cases being the same i.e. annas. ‘Specific commandments and directions are addressed to those who have pledged allegiance to Islam. They are addressed as “O ye who believe.” The attitude of a Muslim is, therefore, that of a true universalist, or vis-a-vis today’s political pattern, that of an internationalist, rather than that of a narrow nationalist. It is realized, however, that progress towards Internationaism and an International Community is in today’s conditions, which are a legacy of the immediate past, possible only from the starting-point of national sovereignty and independence. A people must be in possession and enjoyment of national independence and sovereignty before, even from the juridical point of view, it can pool any portion thereof for common purposes, whether regional or International.
It is against this background that we may attempt a useful and profitable appraisal and appreciation of these articles of the Declaration.

Islam does not contemplate any restriction on freedom of movement and residence, whether within a State or beyond its borders. Indeed the Quran accounts facilities for easy and secure travel as a bounty of Allah, neglect or nonappreciation of which might attract its own penalty. Of the people of Saba it says: “We placed, between them and the towns that We had blessed, other towns that were prominently visible, and We fixed easy stages between them: Travel between them night and day in security. But they said: Our Lord, make the stages of our journeys longer. Thus they wronged themselves” (34:19-20).

One of the major obligations ordained by Islam, for those who can afford to discharge it is the Pilgrimage to Mecca, which was first instituted by Abraham. “We assigned to Abraham the site of the House, and said: Associate not anything with Me, and keep My House pure for those who perform the circuits and those who stand up and those who bow down and fall prostrate in Prayer, and proclaim unto mankind the Pilgrimage. They will come to thee on foot and on every lean camel, travelling by every distant track·’ (22:27-28). This implies the right of free movement across continents and oceans. In the succeeding verses and elsewhere in the Quran are spelt out the benefits, spiritual as well as material, that flow from the Pilgrimage.

Travel sharpens understanding and promotes appreciation of moral and spiritual values, through observation and the acquisition of knowledge and information. “How many a city have We destroyed, because it was given to wrongdoing, so that it is fallen down on its roofs; and how many a deserted well and lofty castle! Have they not travelled in the earth that they may have hearts wherewith to understand, or ears wherewith to hear? Verily, it is not the eyes that are blind, but the hearts which are in the breasts that are blind” (22:46-47).

Valuable lessons could be drawn from the contemplation of the histories of peoples who have passed away. “Surely, there have been many dispensations before you; so travel through the earth and see how evil was the end of those who treated God’s Messengers as liars” (3:138).

Pondering over evidences of the process of creation would facilitate faith in the assurance of the spiritual revival of a people and the life after death. “See they not how Allah originates creation, then repeats it? That surely is easy for Allah. Say: Travel in the earth, and observe how He originated the creation. Then will Allah provide the later creation. Surely Allah has power over all things” (29:20-21).

Attention is invited through travel to the rise and fall of peoples, some of them stronger, more powerful and more advanced than those who succeeded them, and the causes thereof, so that those reminded may take heed and mend their ways in time. “They know only the outer aspect of the life of this world, and of the Hereafter they are utterly unmindful. Do they not reflect in their own minds? Allah has not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between the two but in accordance with the requirements of wisdom and for a fixed term. But many among men believe not in the meeting with their Lord. Have they not travelled in the earth that they might see how evil was the end of those that were before them? They were stronger than these in power, and they cultivated the soil and populated the land more and better than these have done. Their Messengers came to them with manifest signs; Allah would not wrong them but they wronged their own souls. Then evil was the end of those who did evil, because they rejected the Signs of Allah and mocked at them” (30:8-11).

Travel thus widens horizons, increases knowledge, promotes understanding, stimulates intellect and deepens appreciation of Divine purposes. It fosters moral and spiritual values which are the primary concern of religion.

“He shows you His Signs; which then of the Signs of Allah will you deny?

“Have they not travelled in the earth that they might observe the end of those who were before them? They were more numerous than these, and mightier in power and in the traces that they left behind them in the earth. But all that they earned was of no avail to them.

“When their Messengers came to them with manifest Signs they exulted in the knowledge which they possessed, but that at which they mocked encompassed them” (40:82-83).

The purposes of travel and movement which the Quran stresses are wider and more comprehensive than those that underlie Article 13; those that are aimed at by the article are included among those emphasized by the Quran. While, however, the Quran proceeds on the assumption that it is open to all God’s creatures to move freely in the earth and to sojourn therein at choice, the article confines and limits the right to be exercised “within the borders of each State.”
It is worthy of note that prior to 1914 the right to freedom of movement was much wider and less restricted than it is today. It is an irony that so long as the means of travel were restricted, travel itself was freer; when the means were improved and travel became faster, man’s freedom to avail himself of these facilities was subjected to arbitrary, vexatious and irritating restrictions. In this respect there has been visible retrogression, temporarily justifiable, and perhaps even necessary, particularly during periods of war, but which is tending to become a permanent and normal restraint upon free human intercourse. International travel is becoming more and more a privilege rather than a freedom.

Were international travel free and unrestricted the right to seek and enjoy asylum (Article 14) would lose the greater part of its significance. Subject to the provisions of Treaties regulating Extradition, everyone could go where he liked without let or hindrance.

Islam strongly supports the right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution. All forms of persecution are affronts to human dignity, but from the point of view of religion the worst is persecution in respect of matters of faith and conscience.

In the early years, Islam and the Muslims were subjected to bitter and cruel persecution by the Quraish in Mecca. As life began to be made insupportable for them in Mecca the Prophet counselled some of them to leave Mecca and to seek asylum across the Red Sea in Ethiopia, where they might find conditions more endurable under the rule of the Christian Emperor. A small party, under the leadership of a cousin of the Prophet, went across, but were followed by a delegation of the Quraish, who demanded that the fugitives be delivered over to them. The Emperor heard both sides and rejected the demands of the Meccans, assuring the Muslims that they could dwell in the land without fear of molestation.1 Later, as persecution continued to mount in Mecca and a number of the people of Medina had accepted Islam and had expressed their willingness to receive and afford assistance to their harassed and persecuted brethren of Mecca, the Prophet directed that those who could do so should migrate to Medina.2 When almost all who were free to do so had migrated to Medina, he himself received the Divine command to leave Mecca and to proceed to Medina. He performed the journey at great hazard, in the company of Abu Bakr, one of his earliest and most devoted followers.3

Since their foremost obligation, the upholding of moral and spiritual values as a community, had been made impossible for them in Mecca, emigration from Mecca was made obligatory upon them, “except in the case of such weak ones among men, women and children as are incapable of adopting any plan or of finding any way” (4:99). For the strong and able-bodied, who were not prevented by force majeure from departing and who chose to stay on, any default in the discharge of their obligations would not be excusable on the plea that they were in too weak a position to uphold the values of their faith in the midst of so much hostility and such bitter persecution. “Verily, from those whom the angels cause to die while they are wronging their own souls they will enquire: What were you after? They will reply: We were treated as weak in the land. The angels will retort: Was not Allah’s earth vast enough for you to emigrate therein?” (4:98).
So that in the situation in which the Muslims found themselves in Mecca, the seeking of asylum was not merely a device to which they could have recourse for the purpose of obtaining relief from persecution, it became a duty and an obligation. In a similar situation anywhere, at any time, the duty and the obligation would be revived, so that moral and spiritual values should have the opportunity of flourishing under conditions of reasonable freedom and should not be placed in peril of being suppressed by hostility and persecution. For those who are forced to leave hearth and home so that they may be able to uphold their consciences and do their duty to their Maker in utter sincerity, there is the promise of Divine support and succour.

“Whoso emigrates for the sake of Allah will find in the earth an abundant place of refuge and plentifulness; and whoso goes forth from his home, emigrating in the cause of Allah and His Messenger, and death overtakes him, his reward lies with Allah, and Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful” (4:101).

Those who subordinate all other considerations to the cause of righteousness and are steadfast, putting their trust in their Lord, will find a sure support in Him, both here and Hereafter. “Those who have migrated from their homes for the sake of Allah after they had been wronged We will surely provide them with a goodly refuge in this world, and truly the reward of the Hereafter is greater if they but knew-those who are steadfast and put their trust in their Lord” (16:42-43).
“Surely, thy Lord-to those who migrated from their homes after they had been persecuted and then put forth every effort in support of righteousness and remained steadfast-aye, surely, after that thy Lord is Most Forgiving, Merciful” (16:111).
Those who flee from persecution may not survive their search for a place of refuge; even so, if their effort was in the cause of righteousness it shall not have been in vain. “Those who migrate from their homes for the sake of Allah, and are then slain or die, Allah will surely provide for them a goodly provision. Surely Allah is the Best Provider. He will surely cause them to enter a haven with which they will be well pleased. Allah is indeed AllKnowing, Forbearing” (22:59-60).
To welcome those who have left their homes for the sake of righteousness is highly meritorious and opens the way to prosperity. “Those who had established their homes in this city before them and had accepted faith, love those who come to them for refuge, and find not in their breasts any desire for that which is bestowed upon the newcomers, but prefer them to their own selves even though they themselves are poor. Whoso is rid of the covetousness of his own soul-it is these who will prosper” (59:10).

So much for asylum against persecution of conscience when men may be forced to leave their homes and whatever they hold dear-lands, properties, occupations, relations, associations and a whole set of social and cultural values-in the effort to preserve that which they hold above everything else, namely, their duty to their Maker. But there may be other cases in which asylum can be legitimately requested and granted. Islam recognizes the need of and makes provision for asylum even during the progress of hostilities.

“If anyone of the (warring) idolaters ask thee for asylum, grant him asylum so that he may hear the Word of Allah; then convey him to his place of security. That is because they are a people who lack knowledge” (9:6).

The doctrine of nationality is a result of the division of mankind into political groups on the basis mainly of geographical boundaries. Social, cultural, economic, lingguistic and even religious considerations may intrude themselves into the concept, but the major element is furnished by territorial limits. So long as the current political patterns and divisions are maintained, considerable value and importance must continue to be attached to nationality and the right to a nationality must be recognized and safeguarded. Many factors may make it desirable for an individual, or for a group of individuals, whether members of the same family or not, to give up one nationality and acquire another in its place. The provisions of Article 15, therefore, are in today’s conditions almost axiomatic. A person without a nationality, or a stateless person, would find himself seriously handicapped and circumscribed. Yet nationality, the laws regulating nationality and the privileges, duties and obligations pertaining to nationality are not in all cases and in all circumstances an unmitigated blessing. Trends are already perceptible towards the recognition of a bond of human fellowship transcending nationality. In many respects the bond of nationality is beginning to be felt as too restrictive and confining, and some of the demands that it makes upon an individual as a constraint upon the free development of personality.

Islam aims at universality and addresses itself to the whole of mankind as constituting one fellowship. It recognizes only two broad divisions within that fellowship, based not upon region, country, sex, race, colour, language or the like, but upon moral standards and the lack of them, beneficence and non-beneficence, righteous conduct and wrong-doing. Apart from legal sanctions designed to restrain such wrongs as are deemed offences or crimes, its sanctions are also moral and spiritual. Its purpose is to save and not to destroy, to join together and not to put asunder.

The Quran opens with the words: “All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all the worlds, the Gracious, the Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment” (1:2-4), and it closes with the prayer: Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind, the King of mankind, the God of mankind, from the evil of the sneaking whisperer, who whispers into the hearts of men” (114:2-6).
Its usual form of address for purposes of exhortation is: “O mankind,” while commandments, injunctions and directions are addressed to those who profess allegiance to it as: “O ye who believe.”

The expressions “ummah” and “qaum,” which in the present age are employed as equivalents of “nations,” are used in the Quran as meaning simply “people.” Other expressions are used for tribes, sub-tribes, groups and sections, but there is no expression employed to connote or denote “nation” or “nationality” in the sense in which these terms are used in Article 15 of the Declaration.