Refugee Status in Islam

With the subject of immigration and refugees never far from the headlines and currently the hottest topic of political debate in Europe, this book provides a refreshing antidote to perfunctory secular commentaries on migration, delivering a comprehensive account of Islamic traditions and protocol towards protecting migrants and refugees. Comparisons are made to the 1951 Geneva Convention and attendant 1967 Protocols, assessing where compatibility lies between them in relation to the Islamic tradition. The research is significant because it appears to represent the first in-depth and systematic attempt to marry the interface of international law with the Islamic tradition, determining the similarities and differences between the two approaches. The material for this immensely rewarding book is provided by Arafat Shoukri’s PhD thesis, awarded in 2007, by the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, which was subsequently published as the text under review. However, despite the passage of four years, from the completion of the thesis to its subsequent publication, bibliographical sources do not appear to have been revised or updated.