Revisiting Disabilities in view of the Sunnah: Roles of the Disabled in National Sustainable Development
摘要
This study revisits the issue of disability, as the deformation in one’s physical and mental state, and the world’s sustainability through the lenses of the Sunnah (prophetic traditions) through comparisons to contemporary discussions on disabilities. Using dedicative extraction and analysis, we sort through the Qur’an and Sunnah injunctions that relate to visual impairment, hearing and speech impairment, physical impairment, intellectual disability, mental illness and so forth. We attempt to understand the extent to which the Sunnah dispositions are better than or at par with contemporary declarations on solving disability issues. We affirm that the concept of disability is well established and grounded in the Sunnah compared with modern discussions. This makes sense because the Sunnah precedes contemporary struggles on this issue. Our findings further reveal that economic, cultural, social, and political disabilities are not direct disabilities; rather, they are consequences arising out of physical and mental disabilities. We found that following Sunnah injunctions would not lead to disabilities; rather, it elevates or distances one from deformation of all kinds. Nevertheless, modern society and Sunnah are unified in identifying the problems. However, Sunnah is more generous towards people with impairments because they place responsibilities on the larger society rather than the micro-community. Therefore, sustainable development would not be attained in the current situation. Rather than isolation of modern struggles on disability, we recommend the unification of Sunnah dispositions with modern efforts to optimise the provision of the best policies and practices to elevate the condition of people with disabilities.