Page 159 - Solution, the values of the Qurʼan

The Treatment the Disabled Receive

∫
In the early 1900s, world-wide propaganda
was launched. This propaganda, initiated by
Ernst Haeckel an evolutionist biologist, aimed to
speed up the so-called evolutionary process of
societies. According to Haeckel, the immediate
killing of disabled children at birth would
ensure the rapid evolution of the race. Haeckel
went even further to say that the disabled,
cancerous patients and the mentally disturbed
Ernst Ha ec kel
should also be executed secretly since their
existence was a major burden to society. Consequently, he asserted, they are a hindrance to the
evolutionary process of societies. One contemporary repercussion of these views backed by the
Darwinian notion of "struggle for survival" is the way the disabled are treated in the society.
In many countries, the disabled are subject to separate
treatment. However, everyone deserves due love and respect
and this fact does not change when one or two organs of a
person are impaired or he is not endowed with a whole body.
What makes a human being a person is the way he
carries himself in his character, his fear of
Allah and his meticulousness in
complying with the commands of Allah.
Allah relieves the disabled of their
responsibilities and holds them
responsible only for obedience and
virtuous conduct. One needs to approach
these slaves of Allah with compassion and
understanding, for Allah feels compassion
for them and grants them ease in their
servitude to Him.
There is no constraint on the blind, nor on
the lame, nor on the sick. We will admit all
who obey Allah and His Messenger into
Gardens with rivers flowing under them.
But We will punish with a painful
punishment anyone who turns his back.
(Surat al-Fath: 17)

In many societies, disabled children are isolated from
society. (Above) A disabled child with his hands tied.