On 26th June, the media widely publicized the picture of the tragic death of the South American immigrant, Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez who drowned in the Rio Grande River with his 2-year-old daughter while trying to cross the US-Mexico border. The young father left El Salvador, a desperately poor country, to seek a better life for himself and his family. Unable to enter the US by land, due to the country’s hostile anti-immigrant border policy, he tried to swim across the river and was swept away by a current with his 23 month-old daughter.
They say a picture paints a thousand words. So what story does this heartbreaking image tell the world?
– It tells of yet another father and his child who are victims, not only of a heartless president but the heartless CAPITALIST system which Trump and this callous hostile anti-immigration policy (which is a legacy of previous US administrations) is a product of…..a system where everything is viewed through the lens of the dollar, and where protecting the finances of a country is prioritised over the sanctity of human life and dignity.
– It tells of an immoral NATIONALISTIC system, embraced by states the world over, which dehumanises those of other races and nations, and where politics is coloured by selfish national economic interests, making those who govern, indifferent and blind to human suffering and need; a system that has a myopic world-view, seeing people from other nations as an economic burden on the state rather than a positive resource for their land.
– It tells of an inhumane system where the most desperate, poor and helpless of people are treated like criminals, simply for fleeing war-torn and violence-ridden states, or for wanting a better quality of life for themselves and their families.
– It tells of a system that has NO moral authority to define the politics of the world or to lecture other nations how they should govern their lands.
– It tells of a Capitalist Nationalistic world order today that has no conscience…..where political decisions are shaped by financial gain rather than basic decent human values such as helping those in need.
Indeed, this heart-wrenching picture of the death of this young father and his infant daughter is symbolic of the inevitable demise of the capitalist system and the nation state model of politics which has failed humanity.
It paints the picture of a world that is in desperate need of an alternative system….a system which truly cares for humanity and whose purpose is to lift oppression from mankind; a system which will dismantle the Western-imposed divisive nationalistic borders between the Muslim lands and unite the wealth, resources and people of the region; a system which rejects the corrosive concept of nationalism and nation state politics, and which will instead provide citizenship, sanctuary and a good life to anyone who wishes to live under it’s just rule – regardless of race, nationality, ethnicity or religion; and a system where financial gain will never override the protection of human life and dignity.
This is a system which ONLY the Lord of the Worlds, Allah (swt), the All-Knowing, the All-Wise has the ability and knowledge to construct. This system is the Khilafah (Caliphate) based upon the method of the Prophethood which is the guardian for the oppressed and needy, and which implements the just laws of Islam that have come for the whole of humanity. It is this Islamic leadership which once led the world in its humanitarianism and moral calibre, and it will once again Insha Allah upon its establishment.
The English writer, H. G. Wells, wrote the following regarding the justice of the Khilafah: “They established great traditions of just tolerance. They inspire people with a spirit of generosity and tolerance, and are humanitarian and practical. They created a humane community in which it was rare to see cruelty and social injustice, unlike any community that came before it.”
Allah (swt) says,
الَر كِتَابٌ أَنزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ لِتُخْرِجَ النَّاسَ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ إِلَى صِرَاطِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَمِيدِ
“Alif Lam Ra. This is a Book which We have revealed to you that you may bring forth men, by their Lord’s permission from utter DARKNESS INTO LIGHT – to the way of the Mighty, the Praised One.” [Ibrahim:1]
Dr. Nazreen Nawaz
Director of the Women’s Section in The Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir