Disability in Islam: Fully Enabling Our Community

In the history of Islam, there was a man who accepted Islam one day after Abu Bakr. He was known for his righteousness, his piety, his demeanor, and his humility. He was one of the foremost governors of Abu Bakr and Umar and his rule was so just, that there were even Christian tribes that converted to Islam, based on what they saw of this man while he was ruling. Upon his death, Muadh ibn Jabl said about him, “O people, you are stricken by the death of a man. By God, I don't know whether I have seen a man who had a more righteous heart, who was further from all evil and who was more sincere to people than he. Ask God to shower His mercy on him and God will be merciful to you.”

His title was Ameenul Ummah (The Trustworthy of the Ummah) and his name was Abu Ubaydah ibn Jarrah – one of the ten who were promised Paradise, and a man about whom Caliph Umar said, “If he were still alive today, I would appoint him to be Khalifa after me.” He led armies to open Syria to the Muslims and was even put in charge over the renowned warrior, Khalid bin al-Waleed.

Yet, from all the stories we know about him, there is one interesting fact that is acknowledged, but then glossed over. By modern standards, he would have been considered disabled, walking with a limp that was pronounced enough to be noticed. Yet, today, we don’t remember him as a “limp” man who defied all the odds to become Ameenul Ummah. Instead, we know him simply as one of the most obedient servants of Allah – one that may very well have been Caliph, had he not returned to his Lord before Caliph Umar.

This story – and the many others like it in our history – show us something very interesting: men and women were not defined by their handicaps. In fact, in Islam, there was no such “all-encompassing” word as “disabled”. One could be blind, or deaf, or walk with a limp, but this in no way implied that they were to be looked at as a mistake, downtrodden, or unfortunate. Rather, their “perceived” disadvantages may have actually ennobled them in the sight of God. There is a story from the Prophet’s time ﷺ of a man named Amr Ibn al-Jamooh. He could not walk straight and had a pronounced limp – he was shaheed in the Battle of Uhud and the Prophet said about him that he would enter Paradise with his limp. Imagine that for a moment – honored with Paradise and honored by the limp.

Disability Awareness Month recently passed and it would behoove us for a moment to think about how Islam and Muslims view individuals with disabilities. There are specific conditions such as blindness, deafness, etc. that can lead to certain disadvantages – but it is up to our society to ensure that those individuals are not “disabled”. As a community, we have to ensure that every man, woman, and child is afforded the appropriate opportunities to excel based on their innate abilities. We shouldn’t hamper others based on their outward handicaps. A classic example of this is from the time of Umar ibn Abdul Aziz in which he took a census of the Muslims with special needs in his area and assigned people to look after them from the Muslim treasury. Our obligation is to make sure that those in our community who may have certain handicaps are not disabled, but rather ENABLED to reach their full potential.

Many people don’t realize how pervasive disabilities and handicaps actually are:

• Over 1 billion people around the world have some type of disability. At least 350 million persons with disabilities live in areas where disability related services are not available.

• At least 25% of the population in a given country is adversely affected by the presence of some form of disability. As many as 80% of people with disabilities live in isolated rural areas in developing countries.

• Of the 105 to 115 million children who are not in school, 30 to 40 million have disabilities. $1.71 – $2.23 trillion are lost from the global GDP because of the presence of disability.

• Over 54 million people in the United States have some form of disability. Out of 70 million families, 20.3 million have at least one family member with a disability.

• Over 90 million people in India have some form of disability. Less than 1% of them go to school. Of the 520 school districts in India, 300 have no facilities for people with disabilities.

• Canada, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt reported to have 4 million, 17 million, 8.8 million and 7 million people with disabilities, respectively 1-3-4-5.

• 1 in 88 American children has some form of autism spectrum disorder, CDC says. That’s a 78% increase compared to a decade ago. For boys it’s 1 in 54.

The Quran is replete with commandments to respect one another and treat one another with honor – it does not discriminate between those who have certain disabilities and those who do not. In fact, we all know the story of the revelation of Surah Abasa. The Prophet was engaged in giving dawah to the leaders of Quraysh when an old blind man came to him asking advice about Islam. The Quran recounts this incident with a rebuke by mentioning that “He frowned and turned away…” Allah honored the individual who was blind but had faith and sincerely sought His Pleasure – whereas those who were “healthy” but were arrogantly rejecting the message were condemned. This same blind individual (Abdullah bin Umm Makhtum) was later put in charge of Madinah while the Messenger ﷺ was away on an expedition.

Allah speaks about the believers as one Brotherhood – one that makes amends between one another. Verse 11 of Surah Hujuraat states, “Believers – Let not some men among you laugh at others – It may be that the latter are better than the former; nor let some women laugh at others – it may be that the latter are better than the former; Nor defame nor be sarcastic to each other nor call each other by offensive nicknames…”

Allah mentions that the latter may be better than the former. Many people used to laugh at Abdullah ibn Masud. In one instance, some companions were laughing at how skinny his legs were. The Prophet stopped them and said, “What makes you laugh? For the legs of Ibn Masud are heavier on the scale of Judgement Day than the mountain of Uhud.” The seerah and sunnah are replete with instances of the Prophet ﷺ honoring those who others may have pushed aside in society. There’s even a hadith about the one who is madfu’an bil-abwaab – he is turned away from the doors – and yet if he were to raise his hands in dua, Allah would accept his prayers.

So, as Muslims in a modern context, how are we to understand all of this? Based on examples from our own history, it’s quite evident that having a “disability” does not mean that a person is disabled – rather, it means that that individual is simply enabled in a manner that may be different from you or me. Their contributions to humanity can be as much as or more so than individuals who do not have any ostensible disability per se. The Prophet ﷺempowered and enabled his community members in a manner in which everyone was able to benefit from their genius. Thus, our role as a vibrant Muslim Ummah should be to empower every individual in our community – to give us the ability to benefit from their genius. There may be individuals in our community that have a physical disability, but this by no means should indicate to us that they are disabled. We need to cultivate a community atmosphere in which even those with special needs are fully enabled to reach the full potential that Allah has decreed for them.

(In Part 2 of this series, I plan on discussing a particular disability that affects all of us, regardless of whether we or not are physically or mentally handicapped: Spiritual Disabilities.)