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Good Morning.

Our television screens have recently been filled with the distressing images of waves of human beings on the move, uprooted from their homes, cut off from their families and totally dispossessed of everything because of war and conflict.  In Syria alone, the numbers are utterly shocking – over 7 million displaced internally with some 4 million in refugee camps in neighboring countries  - and now in the European Union.  This has been described as the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. 

The Qur’an informs us that God ‘has bestowed dignity on the children of Adam […]’ (17:70).  Human dignity is inherent, irrespective of one’s religion, ethnicity, economic or social standing.  A holy tradition informs us that on the day of Judgement, God will ask:

‘O son of Adam, I asked food from you but you did not feed Me. He would say: My Lord, how could I feed Thee whereas Thou art the Lord of the worlds? He said: Didn't you know that such and such servant of Mine asked food from you but you did not feed him, and were you not aware that if you had fed him you would have found him by My side?
When I see images of border guards beating refugees with batons – I see the smashing of a part of our collective human dignity and shutting of gates on our common humanity.
May God bless those who feed and water the hungry, and offer shelter to the destitute.  Ameen.