Race to Social Justice
Islam through commandments in the Quran and teachings of prophet Muhammad (PBUH) forbids treating people differently based on Race, Color, Nationality or Lineage.
“O Mankind! We created you from a single pair of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes so you may know each other. Verily the most noble of you in the sight of God is the most righteous of you and God is all knowing and all acquainted” [Quran 49:13].
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “All mankind is from Adam and Eve. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab and a non-Arab has no superiority over an Arab; a white has no superiority over a black and a black has no superiority over a white except by piety and good action”. Muslims are commanded to establish Social Justice without any regards to race, nationality or social status.
“God commands you to hand back your trusts to their rightful owners, and when you judge between people, to judge with fairness… [Quran 4:58].
“Believers, be steadfast in the cause of God and bear witness with justice. Do not let your enmity for others turn you away from justice. Deal justly; that is nearer to being God-conscious… [Quran 5:8].
“Believers, be strict in upholding justice and bear witness for the sake of God, even though it be against yourselves, your parents, or your kindred. Be they rich or poor…Do not, then, follow your own desires, lest you swerve from justice… [Quran 4:135].
“God commands justice, kindness… and He forbids… injustice and transgression… [Quran 16:90]
Malcolm X – From Darkness to Light
Born in poverty and obscurity on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm Little rose to become one of the most dynamic Black Nationalist leaders of his time. In his 20s, he became a member of
Nation of Islam and in 1964, he embraced the mainstream Muslim faith.
After performing Hajj, the required once in a lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca, he wrote to Alex Haley: “Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and such overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races… in the Holy City of Mecca… There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue eyed blonds to black skinned Africans… displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that… never could exist (in America).”
“America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, even eaten with people who in America would have been considered white, but the white attitude had been removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen such sincere and true brotherhood, practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their color.”
“I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the oneness of God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality the oneness of man- and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm others in terms of their “differences” in color.”
What better testament could there be to the unifying power of Islam, the faith of over one billion people that could rid the world of the evils of racism? Islam rejects the ideas of inherent racial or nationalistic superiority. In Islam, a person is judged only by the strength of his character and the actions performed by him to help others in the society by establishing Social Justice, and not by his birthright.