Universal 'Humanityhood':
Islamic Perspective
Islam's manifesto of Universal brotherhood of human beings: Quran
and Sunnah about racism and prejudice
Abdul Malik Mujahid
Quran
Sûrah al Hujurât 49. 13
"O Mankind, We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a
female and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other.
Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God is he who is the most
righteous of you"
Sûrah ar Rûm 30:22
"And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth,
and the difference of your languages and colors. Verily, in that are
indeed signs for those who know".
There are several principles, which these
verses presents:
- This message is not only for Muslims,
Allah is addressing all of humanity. While Muslims are one
brotherhood, this is part of a larger brotherhood of humanity.
- Allah created us from one man and one
woman, we are all the same.
- All human beings are created through the
same process.
- Different does not mean better or worse
than the other, just different.
- Allah is the One who made human beings
into different groups and people.
- These differences are not wrong, rather
a sign from Allah
Note that no word equivalent to race is
used in this ayah or any other verse of the Quran.
Islam, however, limits the purpose of these
distinctions to differentiation and knowing each other. This is not meant
to be a source of beating each other down with an attitude of ‘my group
is better than your group’ or false pride, as is the case with
tribalism, nationalism, colonialism, and racism.
The only source of preference or greatness
among human beings is not on a national or group level, but it is at the
individual level.
One individual who is higher in 'taqwa'
(God-conscious), more conscious of his Creator and is staying away from
the bad and doing the good is better, no matter what nation, country or
caste he is part of. Individual piety is the only thing that makes a
person better and greater than the other one.
However, the only criterion of preference,
Taqwa, is not measurable by human beings. Indeed Allah is the One Who
knows and is aware of everything so we should leave even this criterion to
Allah to decide instead of human beings judging each other.
These are the deeply embedded ideals of
Islam which still bring people to this way of life even though Muslims are
not on the best level of Iman (faith) today. This is what changed the
heart of a racist Malcolm X when he performed Hajj in Makkah. This is the
power that brought Muhammad Ali to Islam. This is what still attracts the
Untouchables of India towards Islam. This is the theory which convinced
noted historian Professor A.J. Toynbee in 1948 to say that: "The
extinction of race consciousness as between Muslims is one of the
outstanding achievements of Islam, and in the contemporary world there is,
as it happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic
virtue."
Let's ask ourselves if the Muslim Ummah
today, in its individual and collective behavior is striving to adopt and
promote these Islamic ideals?
Hadith
1. Prophet's response to racist comments:
A man once visited the Prophet’s
mosque in Madinah. There he saw a group of people sitting and discussing
their faith together. Among them were Salman (who came from Persia),
Suhayb who grew up in the Eastern Roman empire and was regarded as a
Greek, and Bilal who was an African.
The man then said:
"If the (Madinan) tribes of Aws
and Khazraj support Muhammad, they are his people (that is, Arabs like
him). But what are these people doing here?"
The Prophet became very angry when this was
reported to him. Straightaway, he went to the mosque and summoned people
to a Salat. He then addressed them saying:
"O people, know that the Lord and
Sustainer is One. Your ancestor is one, your faith is one. The Arabism of
anyone of you is not from your mother or father. It is no more than a
tongue (language). Whoever speaks Arabic is an Arab."
(As quoted in 'Islam The Natural Way' by Abdul Wahid Hamid p. 125)
2. Statement of the universal brotherhood
in the last Sermon:
O people, Remember that your Lord is One. An Arab has no superiority over
a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a black
has no superiority over white, nor a white has any superiority over black,
except by piety and good action (Taqwa). Indeed the best among you is the
one with the best character (Taqwa). Listen to me. Did I convey this to
you properly? People responded, Yes. O messenger of Allah, The Prophet
then said, then each one of you who is there must convey this to everyone
not present. (Excerpt from the Prophet’s Last Sermon as in Baihiqi)
3. Don't take pride in ancestry:
The Prophet said: Let people stop
boasting about their ancestors. One is only a pious believer or a
miserable sinner. All men are sons of Adam, and Adam came from dust (Abu
Dawud, Tirmidhi).
4. Looking down upon other people will stop
you from entering the Jannah:
The Prophet said: Whoever has pride in
his heart equal to the weight of an atom shall not enter Paradise. A man
inquired about a person who likes to wear beautiful clothes and fine
shoes, and he answered: Allah is beautiful and likes beauty. Then he
explained pride means rejecting the truth because of self-esteem and
looking down on other people (Muslim).
5. The Prophet's condemnation of Arab
racial pride:
There are many hadith, which repeatedly
strike on the Arab pride of 'jahiliyyah' (ignorance). Arabs before Islam used to look
down upon others specially blacks. The Prophet repeatedly contrasted the
believing Africans versus non-believing Arab nobles.
The Prophet said: You should listen to and
obey your ruler even if he was an Ethiopian slave. (Bukhari).
Source: Sound Vision
http://www.soundvision.com/racism/quran.shtml
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