Islam's 1,400-year-old custom of generosity towards people fleeing persecution has had a bigger influence on international refugee law than any other tradition, according to the U.N. refugee chief.
Antonio Guterres says Islamic law and tradition, more than any other historical source, underpin today's legal framework on which the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) bases its work helping millions of people uprooted by conflict.
This includes the right of everyone to seek asylum from persecution and prohibitions on sending those in need of protection back into danger.
"Even though many of those values were a part of Arab tradition and culture even before Islam, this fact is not always acknowledged today," Guterres writes in the foreword to a book published this week by the UNHCR.
"The international community should value this 14-century-old tradition of generosity and hospitality and recognise its contributions to modern law."
The book, commissioned by Guterres and written by Cairo University Law Professor Ahmed Abu Al-Wafa, compares the right to asylum under Islamic law and international law.
Abu Al-Wafa describes how Islam respected refugees, including non-Muslims, forbade forcing refugees to change their beliefs, sought to reunite families and guaranteed the protection of refugees' lives and property.
There are 16 million refugees scattered throughout the world today, according to U.N. figures published last week, as well as an estimated 26 million people who are displaced within their own country.
In the book, Guterres points out that the majority of refugees are Muslim.
"This fact occurs at a time when the level of extremism - ethnic and religious - is on the rise around the globe, even in the world's most developed societies. Racism, xenophobia and populist fear-mongering manipulate public opinion and confuse refugees with illegal migrants and even terrorists," he writes.
"These attitudes have also contributed to misperceptions about Islam, and Muslim refugees have paid a heavy price. Let us be clear: refugees are not terrorists. They are first and foremost the victims of terrorism."
The study, "The Right to Asylum Between Islamic Shari'ah and International Refugee Law: A Comparative Study", was carried out with help from the Organisation of Islamic Conference and Naif Arab University in Saudi Arabia.
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