Islam and Human Rights — Page 118
Isl am and Hum an R ights 118 Mecca was made obligatory upon them, “except in the case of such weak ones among men, women and children as are incapable of adopt ing 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 re tort: 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 host ility and persecution. For