Racial Equality in Prophetic Practices
By Dr
Muhammad Anowar Zahid
16th June
2020
Race is
generally understood as a group of people or a population “related by common
descent or heredity” like “physical characteristics, ancestry, historical
affiliation, or shared culture”. Skin colour is one of such commonalities.
Muslims of all backgrounds pray during the 2019 Hajj, the annual
pilgrimage to Mecca. Fethi Belaid/AFP via Getty Images
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When such a
commonality is believed and used as a yardstick to determine the superiority of
one race over another in the formulation and maintenance of social or political
relations, however, that may be called “racism”. Professor Powell (2008, p.
794) defines it as “the prejudiced belief that motivates a particular bad actor
to discriminate against a particular victim.”
In today’s
world, discrimination on any ground like race, language, or religion is
nationally and internationally prohibited in the enjoyment of human rights. For
example, Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has
attained the status of customary international law, contains such a right of
non-discrimination. It also declares a right to life, security, and freedom
from torture (Articles 3 and 5).
National
constitutions guarantee similar rights. To take the American example, Article
XIV (14th Amendment) guarantees that no “State deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law.” As such, American citizens
regardless of colour, sex, religion or culture are entitled to equal treatment
in the eye of law. America, of course, incorporated this right in the
Constitution in 1868 by the 14th Amendment. Before this, black men did not even
have any citizenship rights.
This reason
for this discriminatory treatment was nothing but their colour, which is given
by Allah. And as such, they were not at fault. The 14th Amendment of the
American Constitution that granted black citizenship and hence equal rights
status was a result of the 1861-1865 Civil War and the later Civil Rights
Movement led by notable figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
However,
even after the constitutional amendment, black Americans have been brutally
treated by the police disproportionately vis-à-vis white Americans. Though
Black Americans constitute 13% of the total population, they “are
two-and-a-half times as likely as the white Americans to be killed by the
police” (Haddad 2020). Only during the period between 2013 and 2019, the police
in the United States killed 7,666 black people.
A very
recent (25 May 2020) victim of such brutality is George Floyd, a 46-year-old
resident of Minnesota. He was killed in police custody while unarmed (Haddad
2020). This incidence has given rise to uproars nationally and internationally.
Now, a
question may be raised as to whether skin colour should be a criterion for
treating people differently. This paper will answer this question from an
Islamic viewpoint
Origin
of Humans
The Holy
Qur’an (4:1) says that the human race started their journey of life with their
father, Adam (peace be upon him- PBUH) and his wife, Eve and that Allah created
Adam (PBUH) from earth that was collected from various parts of the world.
In other
words, Allah created him from a mixture of soil. The mixture was from hard,
soft, black, red and white soil. Because the nature and types of soil were
different, the children that came forth from Adam (PBUH) are also of various
temperament, character and colour. That is why we see people of different
colours and nature. Some people are black, some are white, and some are brown.
In the same way, some people are rough and tough, some are soft and humble,
some are good and some are bad. The following Hadith of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)
gives us this truth in the following words:
“Indeed,
Allah, the Most High, created Adam (upon him be peace) from a handful (of soil)
which He took from the whole of the earth; so the children of Adam are in
accordance with the earth: some of them are red, some white, some black, some a
mixture (of them), and (again) some are simple, some rough, some bad and some
good” (Tirmidhi Shareef Book 47, Hadith 3213).
Biological
Process of the Creation of Humans
With the
origin with Adam (PBUH), humans are born from the “mixed fluid” of their parents
(Qur’an 76:2). The fluid passes a few stages over a period of time. It remains
first at a clinging (‘alaqah) stage. Then, it turns into a chewed flesh
(mudgah) with bones (‘izoma) growing. This is followed by flesh (lahm) that
clothes the bones.
To quote
the Qur’an (23:14), “We turned the thing that clings into a chewed lump of
flesh and We turned the chewed flesh into bones and We clothed bones with
intact flesh.” After 120 days of pregnancy, according to the Prophet (peace be
upon him-PBUH), the foetus receives the soul (Sahih al-Bukhari 7454). The
foetus develops over time and is born, when mature, as a human child.
From the
above, we understand that it is Allah Who creates the human body with a
particular skin color and puts a soul inside, and then sends him/her as a human
to this world.
Purpose
of Human Life
Allah sends
humans for a limited period of time to this world for a test. And that is to
see who worships Him and does all good actions (Qur’an 51:56 and 67:2). And
life after death is the final destination. So, whatever we have in this life is
not to be proud of. If a black person pleases Allah by good deeds, s/he will go
to Paradise. On the other hand, if a white person fails to do so, s/he will
fail in the afterlife.
That is why
Allah says that He has created people with various colours, languages and races
just for the signs of His greatness and also for their identification (and not
for discrimination) (Qur’an 30:22 and 49:13). In other words, these things are
not the standard of human superiority over one another nor can they make them
dear with Allah. Nothing but piety can endear humans with Allah (Qur’an 49:13).
That is why
the Holy Prophet (PBUH) says, “Verily Allah does not look to your faces and
your wealth but He looks to your heart (your faith and love for Him) and to
your deeds” (Muslim 2564c).
Implementation
of Racial Equality in Prophetic Practices
In his own
life, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) set examples of how to treat people regardless of
any racial identity. For instance, his adopted son, Zayed bin Harithah (Allah
be pleased with him), was a black slave whom he freed and adopted as a son and
let him live with him. He took Zayed as his companion on different occasions
including his journey to Tayef where the Prophet was tortured and Zayed tried
his best to shield him.
During his
boyhood, Zayed’s father and uncle came to take him back home. The Prophet
(PBUH) gave him an option to follow his father or remain with him. Zayed opted
to stay with the Prophet (PBUH) saying, “How can I prefer anybody else to you?
You are everybody for me, including my father and uncle” (Huzaifah n.d.). The
Prophet appointed him the head of the army to fight Romans at Mu’ta. He laid
down his life in that battle.
Zayed’s
son, Usamah who was black by colour, was also a beloved one to the Prophet
(PBUH). Most of his upbringing took place in his (Prophet’s) house with his
contemporaries, Hassan and Hussain (Allah be pleased with both of them), the
grandchildren of the Prophet (Muslim Matters 2015). The Prophet made Usamah the
general of the Muslim army to fight the Romans. The army included all frontline
Sahabas (Companions of the Prophet) from the Quraysh (Muslim Matters 2015).
This was probably an unprecedented fact in human history.
Another
glowing example was Bilal ibn Rabah (Allabe be pleased with him), who was a
black slave. After his acceptance of Islam, he underwent untold sufferings at
the hands of the disbelievers of Makkah, especially his own former master,
Umayyah ibn Khlaf. The Prophet (PBUH) confided him with the positions of his
private secretary, the minister of Bayt al-Mal (Treasury), and the first caller
to prayer (Mu’azzin) (Momodu 2019). “Islam raised him to the status that one of
the strongmen of like Omar bin Khattab addressed him as Saiyydana (our leader)”
(Hijazi 2015).
Conclusion
From the
foregoing, it is understood that all human beings are born free and equal.
Their racial marks like white skin or black skin are distributed by Allah alone
in the biological process of creation in which humans do not have any choice.
And these marks are only for their identification and definitely not for
discrimination.
So, taking
pride in the racial marks is nothing but ignorance because actually all humans
have the same origin, namely a drop of mixed liquid from father and mother
(Qur’an 86:5), which was not a thing worth mentioning (Qur’an 76:1). The only
way they can excel one another is being good servants of the One Who created
them, namely Allah, by having faith in Him and obeying His Commands.
Mankind was
clearly reminded of this truth by the last Prophet, Muhammad (PBUH), in his
parting advice (his last pilgrimage sermon) in the following words:
“O people, your Lord is one and your father
Adam (Peace be upon Him) is one. There is no virtue of an Arab over a
foreigner, (non-Arab) nor a foreigner (non-Arab) over an Arab, and neither
white over black nor black over white, except by righteousness” (Musnad Ahmad 22978).
And this
advice of the Prophet (PBUH) has been entrenched in Article 1 of the Cairo Declaration
of Human Rights in Islam 1990 as follows:
(a) All
human beings form one family whose members are united by their subordination to
Allah and descent from Adam. All men are equal in terms of basic human dignity
and basic obligations and responsibilities, without any discrimination on the
basis of race, colour, language, belief, sex, religion, political affiliation,
social status or other considerations. The true religion is the guarantee for
enhancing such dignity along the path to human integrity.
(b) All
human beings are Allah’s subjects, and the most loved by Him are those who are
most beneficial to His subjects, and no one has superiority over another except
on the basis of piety and good deeds.
References
Primary
Sources:
The Holy
Qur’an
Collections
of Hadith:
Musnad
Ah?mad 22978 found here.
Sahih
al-Bukhari 7454 found here.
Sahih
Muslim 2564c found here.
Tirmidhi
Shareef) Book 47, Hadith 3213 found here.
Secondary
Sources:
A.
Huzaifah (n.d.), ‘Tomb of Zaid-bin-Haritha’ found at
https://www.islamiclandmarks.com/jordan/tomb-of-zaid-bin-haritha-ra (06 June
2020).
A.T.
Hijazi (2015), ‘Bilal ibn Rabah: The symbol of human equality’ found at
https://www.arabnews.com/islam-perspective/news/689996 (06 June 20120).
John A.
Powell (2008), ‘Structural Racism: Building upon the Insights of John Calmore’,
86 North Carolina Law Review. 791 (2008).
M.
Haddad (2020), ‘Mapping US police killings of Black Americans’ found’ at
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2020/05/mapping-police-killings-black-americans-200531105741757.html.
Muslim
Matters (2015), ‘7 Luminous black companions of the Prophet’ found at
https://muslimmatters.org/2015/02/20/7-luminous-black-companions-of-the-prophet/.
S. Momodu
(2019), ‘Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi’ found at
https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/bilal-ibn-rabah-al-habashi-580-640/
(06 June 2020).
An
acclaimed scholar of international business and Islamic law, Dr Md (Muhammad)
Anowar Zahid is a Professor and the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Eastern
University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. With the degrees of PhD (Manchester, England),
LLM (Dalhousie, Canada) and LLB (Honours) & LLM (Dhaka University), he has
extensive teaching and research experiences both at home and abroad (Canada,
Malaysia and UK). Immediately before joining the Eastern University, Professor
Zahid was the Director of the Centre for International Law and Siyar (CILAS)
and an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, National University of Malaysia
(Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia-UKM).
Original
Headline: Racial Equality in Islam
Source: The Muslim Vibe