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Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Emigrating To avoid oppression

The word emigration means moving out from one place to another. Nowadays, emigration from one country to another country is very casual. As a matter of fact, for mostly economic reasons, more than 400.000 Britons have emigrated from Britain since 2006. Another example is the emigration of Carpe Varde citizens to the US due to the hardships they face there.

The reasons for people to emigrate may vary from economy, chances of studying, following a spouse, to avoiding oppression. I'd like to emphasize on the last reason, which is to avoid oppression. Many people in many countries have to comprehend with the oppression they receive, either from their own people, or from invading countries. We can find many kinds of oppressions. Some might not even realize that they are oppressed.

In Indonesia for example, oppression is an everyday meal. The rich oppress the poor, the poor oppress the poorer, the strong oppress the weak, and the weak oppress the weaker. This use to only be the case in big cities such as Jakarta, but nowadays it is beginning to become widespread. There is not much to do though, as the media helps spread and mold this situation. It oppresses the mind of Indonesians through continuous nonsense promoting oppression of others (such as useless comedy, mystisism, gossips, entertainment, violence, etc), for their own financial benefits and ideologies. And the worst part is that people can't get enough of it.

Anyway, there are times when people try to fight oppression, but cannot overpower it due to its overwhelming dominance. At this point, the best option is to retreat, and emigrate to find a better place to uphold justice, at least to a place where there is no oppression towards them.

This is also the case in Islam, as Allah has said in the Qur'an, Surah An-Nisa verse 97-100. The verses say that people who are in the state of wronging themselves (when death reaches them) due to the influence/oppression of their society will be among the ones who are in ultimate misfortune. There is exception to this, which is for those who are weak and do not have the knowledge to devise a plan to emigrate by themselves.

Emigrating in the name of Allah in order to seek justice is praised and is a good deed in Islam. Even Prophet Muhammad had to emigrate from Makkah his home city, to Madina, after his people oppressed and drove him away. But then he came back after building the strength of the Muslims to uphold justice and bring goodness to the city. The Prophet's situation somehow mimic the condition that Muslims face today, especially in the west. Where many Muslims are oppressed, taunted and stripped of their freedom to implement their beliefs.

Emigrating should always be looked as a choice when we feel that we can do more good at another place. Whether if it is to emigrate to a new village, a new city, a new province, or even a new country. We should be strong at heart and head and try to let go of the ties which we call home, nation, etc. All of that is on the earth actually belongs to God, and it is for us to manage and benefit from.

keywords: An nisa 97 98 99 100 emigration hijrah oppression islam

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