Post by Brother Andrew on Apr 30, 2005 8:31:39 GMT -5
Winning the War against RACISM!
Each year for the annual pilgrimage Muslims in great multitude of approximately 2 million people travel from every corner of the globe to gather together, Men, Women and children, Black, yellow and white, Arabs, Iranians, Turks and Malays etc, both rich and the poor stand shoulder to shoulder in unity, faith and spirit. Dressed in two white seamless sheets showing no marks of distinction symbolising the great message that every human being regardless of worldly status, skin colour and ethnic background are all-equal before their Creator. Muslims of all races gather together with one common purpose, to worship the One and Only God. Infact Islam is the only faith on the face of this planet that has united 1.4 billion people from different races as one nation.
What does the Qur’an say about Racism? "O mankind We created you from a single pair of a male and a female And made you into nations and tribes, so that you may (get to) know each other (and not despise each other).Verily the Most Honoured of you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most righteous of you (in piety, believe and good works) {Holy Qur’an 49:13}
In this verse from the Holy Qur’an Allah addresses the whole of mankind, men and women of all racial backgrounds to remind us we all came from one man and one women (Adam and Eve) and we all stem from the same family tree and that over a great period of time Allah had branched us out into to different nations and tribes and our differences are not in anyway superior to each other. Allah in His Glorious word encourages us to know each other meaning we must try to live in peace with each other and not let racial pride get the best of us and keep us divided. We as human beings have no right whatsoever to class ourselves better than anybody else due to any reason, Only Allah knows what righteousness we hold and it is indeed Allah that can only judge who is better than who and it is Allah alone who Exalts one man/woman over another, and it is only our righteousness, faith and humbleness that earns this Exaltation from Ar-Ra-fi'u (The Exalter).
The Prophet Muhammad said in his last sermon: "O people, remember that your Lord is One, An Arab is not superior over a non Arab and neither is a non Arab superior over an Arab, Likewise a Blackman is not superior over a White man and neither is a White man superior over a Black man, Except by piety, righteousness and by good conduct, Indeed the best amongst you is the one with the best character, therefore take heed, have I made this message clear enough for you? The people around the Holy Prophet replied:" Yes O Messenger of Allah” The Holy Prophet (s) then said: “then each one of you who are present must convey this message to those who are not present". {Sahih Muslim, Musnad Ahmad, Baihiqi, Baloogh ul Amani part 12, pg. 226}
The Holy Prophet (s) also said in his last sermon: "O, people, listen to my words and understand them well, know therefore that all Muslims are brothers unto one another, and you constitute one brotherhood".
The Holy Prophet (s) also condemned those who hold racial and tribal pride in their hearts when he said: ”Let people stop boasting about their ancestors, one is only a pious believer or a miserable sinner, All men are from the sons of Adam and Adam came from the dust" {Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi}
Ibn Umah (r) narrates that the Holy Prophet (s) said: "Establish straight lines (in prayer) Verily the Angels (pray) in lines. Stand shoulder to shoulder and do not leave any gaps for the shaytaan to come between you" {Ahmad, Abu Dawud, an Nasaa'ee, also see Sahih ul Jaami # 1187}
The satan that The Holy Prophet was talking about here was the satan of a persons racial pride and a person who takes pride in their wealth which causes satan to whisper " I don’t want to stand next to this poor man" or "I don’t want to stand next to this black man". Islam does away with this satanic concept of thinking that causes us to think we are better than other people.
The Holy Prophet even became angry after hearing about somebody making a comment with racial intent, it is very rare that the Holy Prophet became angry but how the Holy Prophet reacted displays the best of characteristics to be found in a man: A man once visited the Holy Prophets (s) Mosque in Medina and there he saw a group of people sitting and discussing their faith together, Amongst them were Salman (a Persian) Suhayb (a Greek) and Bilal Ibn Rabah (r) (a Ethiopian). The man said: "If the Madinian tribes of aws and khajaz support Muhammad (s) they are his people (Arabs like him) but what are these people doing here?" (Pointing towards Salman, Suhayb and Bilal). Upon hearing this the Holy Prophet (s) became angry and straight away the Holy Prophet (s) went to the Mosque and summoned the people and delivered a Khutba (speech) to them saying: "O, people know that your Lord and Sustainer is One, your ancestry is one (referring to Adam and Eve), your faith is one, the Arabism of any of you is not from your mothers or fathers, it is no more than a tongue (language). Therefore know that whoever speaks Arabic is Therefore an Arab". {Islam the natural way by 'Abdul Wahid Hamid}
Each year for the annual pilgrimage Muslims in great multitude of approximately 2 million people travel from every corner of the globe to gather together, Men, Women and children, Black, yellow and white, Arabs, Iranians, Turks and Malays etc, both rich and the poor stand shoulder to shoulder in unity, faith and spirit. Dressed in two white seamless sheets showing no marks of distinction symbolising the great message that every human being regardless of worldly status, skin colour and ethnic background are all-equal before their Creator. Muslims of all races gather together with one common purpose, to worship the One and Only God. Infact Islam is the only faith on the face of this planet that has united 1.4 billion people from different races as one nation.
What does the Qur’an say about Racism? "O mankind We created you from a single pair of a male and a female And made you into nations and tribes, so that you may (get to) know each other (and not despise each other).Verily the Most Honoured of you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most righteous of you (in piety, believe and good works) {Holy Qur’an 49:13}
In this verse from the Holy Qur’an Allah addresses the whole of mankind, men and women of all racial backgrounds to remind us we all came from one man and one women (Adam and Eve) and we all stem from the same family tree and that over a great period of time Allah had branched us out into to different nations and tribes and our differences are not in anyway superior to each other. Allah in His Glorious word encourages us to know each other meaning we must try to live in peace with each other and not let racial pride get the best of us and keep us divided. We as human beings have no right whatsoever to class ourselves better than anybody else due to any reason, Only Allah knows what righteousness we hold and it is indeed Allah that can only judge who is better than who and it is Allah alone who Exalts one man/woman over another, and it is only our righteousness, faith and humbleness that earns this Exaltation from Ar-Ra-fi'u (The Exalter).
The Prophet Muhammad
The Holy Prophet (s) also said in his last sermon: "O, people, listen to my words and understand them well, know therefore that all Muslims are brothers unto one another, and you constitute one brotherhood".
The Holy Prophet (s) also condemned those who hold racial and tribal pride in their hearts when he said: ”Let people stop boasting about their ancestors, one is only a pious believer or a miserable sinner, All men are from the sons of Adam and Adam came from the dust" {Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi}
Ibn Umah (r) narrates that the Holy Prophet (s) said: "Establish straight lines (in prayer) Verily the Angels (pray) in lines. Stand shoulder to shoulder and do not leave any gaps for the shaytaan to come between you" {Ahmad, Abu Dawud, an Nasaa'ee, also see Sahih ul Jaami # 1187}
The satan that The Holy Prophet
The Holy Prophet