Islam requires believers to assist and protect vulnerable people and offers a number of mechanisms for their care and support. According to Islamic migration law (hijrah), individuals have the right both to seek and to be granted asylum in any Muslim state. Furthermore, it is the duty of Muslims to accept and protect refugees for as long as they seek protection. In comparison to modern refugee law, hijrah offers a broader definition of a refugee, and gives individuals, rather than states, the right to determine asylum. However, despite its significance in Islam, hijrah is rarely invoked by Muslim states today. The promotion of Islamic teachings on refugees could encourage Muslim states to widen their acceptance and protection of refugees.

In Islam, asylum is a right of anyone seeking protection. Asylum is in fact regarded to be an integral part of the Islamic conception of human rights. Islam embraces people of different races, nationalities and ethnicities. Islamic ideas of asylum and refugees reflect the inclusiveness of this religion. The Holy Qur’an, speaks explicitly about the issue of asylum-seekers and refugees:

وَإِنْ أَحَدٌ مِّنَ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ ٱسْتَجَارَكَ فَأَجِرْهُ حَتَّىٰ يَسْمَعَ كَلَـٰمَ ٱللَّهِ ثُمَّ أَبْلِغْهُ مَأْمَنَهُۥ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَّا يَعْلَمُونَ
And if anyone of the disbelievers seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the word of Allah, and then escort him to where he will be secure. (Surah 9:6)

The Holy Qur’an also has numerous references to justice, particularly the importance of creating a just society, and provides a framework for justice in inter-personal relationships, towards the poor and needy, and connections between communities and nations. It speaks specifically to issues of justice surrounding asylum and refugee protection. These concepts were integral to the spread of Islam. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ fled persecution in Makkah and sought refuge in Madinah. This hijrah, or migration, came to symbolize the movement of Muslims from lands of oppression to those of Islam. Moreover, the hospitable treatment of Muhammad ﷺ by the people of Madinah embodies the Islamic model of refugee protection contained in the Qur’an.

Islam obliges host societies to give asylum-seekers a generous reception, for which the hosts will be rewarded. Islamic law affirms the practice of providing sanctuary to persecuted persons and the sacredness of places, such as the Holy Kaaba in Makkah. Anyone who sought refuge in a masjid or in the home of a companion of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was safe and secure.

Asylum should be provided without discriminating between free persons and those who are enslaved, between rich and poor, men and women, or Muslims and non-Muslims.

Migration may be necessary if one’s life or beliefs are threatened and the Qur’an requires that the Believers also follow up on any agreements and treaties that they have signed on the rights of refugees

The concept of aman, which is intrinsic in Shariah, encompasses the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers and the duties incumbent upon their hosts. Aman also refers to the refuge and safety offered to non-Muslims, even if they are in conflict with Muslims, and requires that host populations facilitate the voluntary return of refugees to their places of origin when considered safe.

The Holy Qur’an provides a set of instructions in dealing with refugees and migrants, praising those who go to the assistance of people in distress and requiring the faithful to protect refugees. It entitles refugees and internally displaced persons to certain rights and to humane treatment and it condemns people whose actions prompt mass migration.