Islam Rejects Racial and Ethnic Discrimination
According to majority of historians, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was always drawing the attention of his followers to the following statement:
“All of you are children of Adam and Adam is from dust; Arab cannot claim superiority over non-Arab except on the basis of piety and good deed.”[1]
Also, in another tradition attributed to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), he says:
“Those who are proud of their ethnicity must abandon it; they must know that their pride will bring them nothing except the fire of the hell and if they do not stop it, they are even inferior than cockroaches which carry dirt by their nose.” [2]
In addition, prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “being an Arab is not having an Arab father; it is only in words; the one whose actions and deeds cannot give him dignity, his lineage would not grace him, either.
The holy Prophet then told those people who were all from Quraysh: “what do you mean by blood? What do you mean by race, ethnicity or lineage? Everyone must be proud of his religion; one’s fairness includes his behavior and character, and one’s origin is his wisdom and insight.”[3]
Can you find any race or lineage higher than wisdom?! In other words, it means, you must be proud of your religion, your wisdom and perception instead of those rotten bones. Indeed, there is reasonable remark than the abovementioned one regarding race and ethnicity.
The holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) always emphasized that ethnic and racial prejudices were baseless and it had a deep influence on Muslims’ hearts especially among non-Arabs. In fact, all Muslims- Arabs and Non-Arabs- regarded Islam as inseparable ingredient of their community not a strange religion or belief. Thus, the racial and ethnic prejudice by Umayyad caliphs could not undermine Muslims’ faith in Islam. The Muslims, relying on the teachings of the holy Prophet, realized that the actions and practices of the caliphs were not congruent with Islam and they were always protesting the un-Islamic practices of the governments.[4]
Notes:
[1] Tohaf Al-Oghul , P. 34; Ibn Hesham Hagiography, Vol. 2, P. 414
[2] Sunnan Abi Dawoud, Vol. 2, P. 624
[3] Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 21, P. 137
[4] Collections , Vol. 14, P. 73-75
Source: Mohjat-al-Beyza by Fayz Kashani
Translated by: Sadroddin Musawi
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