Hadith #32: Racism and Tribalism | 40 Hadiths on Social Justice
How the Prophet ï·º dealt with structural racism and tribalism at every level.
Omar Suleiman – Social Justice – Episode 32 – Racism and Tribalism
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the lack of common topics in various topics, including racism, tribalism, and the Prophet peace be upon him. They also touch on the idea of migration airline employees and the importance of human responsibility. The speakers emphasize the need for individuals to live up to their greatest claims and acknowledge their own values and not denigrate others. They also mention the use of "immoral" in the culture of Islam and the importance of asking for marriages.
AI: Summary ©
We are celebrating human kathira.
We have a much smaller turnout today due to the weather, but at the same time, hopefully we can continue the flow of the discussion. Obviously, we're coming now to the last few lectures in this topic. And it gets really difficult at this point to pinpoint which topics make the last cut the last 10. And, you know, it's been very difficult sometimes to try to also bring multiple topics together. So for example, do we address racism and tribalism as different subjects or not? Or do we address nationalism as well as tribalism in the same breath? Last week, we spoke about what
they remember anybody? Or is it just completely different group. Last week, we talked about migration refugees, we talked about immigrants and that concept from an Islamic perspective. And one of the things that happens, or one of the reasons why we find refugees actually get this, you know, their version of the white lash that we talk about is that they are looked at, as outsiders as others they've been dehumanized to where a person who looks at them in a certain way, cannot see any commonality between themselves. And those people. Whether it's because of the color of their skin, and racism does play a part, all of these things are interconnected, right, that if the President
said that he would, he wouldn't mind refugees from Europe, as long as you're not coming from Haiti and other places, right. So racism does play a single, or play an important role in how refugees are viewed as well. So all of these things tend to be interconnected. So I want to be very clear. Before this particular subject, which is looking at structural racism, and tribalism, some of it is repetitive from the very first few classes that we held in this series, where the Prophet sallallahu Sallam talked about justice, but then some of it brings together three different elements, and I'll do my best to bring them together. And one of the things that I noticed about the Hadith, or I
noticed about the traditions of the Prophet peace be upon him when he discusses this issue is that he connected them all to a singular disease. Very interesting. So I looked at the Hadith about racism, tribalism, and I tried to think which one would be the best one to start with, and they are plentiful. And one of the reasons why Islam has been as many, you know, scholars and academics have observed has been an, you know, a beautiful or religion that's attractive to many of the liberation movements that have arisen in many different time periods. Because that it has such an explicit anti racism tradition. It's very explicit in Islam, it doesn't have to be derived from general texts on
equality. It's very explicit. And I thought, you know, what could be the best idea to start the subject off with and I found this hadith which in which the prophets of Allah Harney was sent them, actually uses quite the tone of condemnation, which, as you know, if you read through the Hadith of the Prophet, slice Allah, that's the exception. That's not the norm. The Prophet peace be upon him did not use harsh language, unless he was really trying to deliver a point on a particular topic. So this hadith is an Abu Dawood and I want you to think as I'm going through the Hadith, how many themes are actually tied into the subject? The Prophet sallallahu wasallam. He said, in Allah has no
agenda. uncom rubia telogen li wafra habit other. He said first and foremost, that Verily Allah the Most High as removed from you, the pride of the his pre Islamic period, the pride of the days of ignorance, and the slogans that are paid to its ancestors, the slogans that are paid to its ancestors, meaning when people swear in the name of their ancestors or in pride based on their lineage or where they come from or who they come from. And he said sallallahu wasallam, he continued, he said, mean on tepee, Wofford urine shocky. What exists now is only a pious believer or a miserable sinner, then he continued, and tomb benu. Adam, what are the moment to rob you are all
the children of Adam and Adam was created from dirt? This is a long Hadith but I want you to think about all the themes because I'm going to ask you to tell me what themes you heard and all of these things. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, they are they're unoriginal and fissara humble acquirement the prophets lie Selim said, Let everyone give up all of the boasting that they do in the name of their ancestors. And then he continued, he said, layer Khun layer Khun Juana Allah He minette Jelani la teetered, ferrovie, UNFPA and net, he said some Aloha and he was so long that they are merely actually I skipped some something in them at home. In fact, me Johanna, he said,
they are merely the fuel of the fire of * or they will certainly be of less accounts with Allah than the beetle, which rose
dunk with its nose.
Pretty strong Hadeeth
there are about 10 themes in that one heading. Tell me some of the themes that you heard.
arrogance. Okay, where'd you get that from?
pride, the pride that you take in something else. Okay, what else?
What else do you hear in there?
Yeah.
Okay, so a change a paradigm shift. What exists now is only a pious believer or a wicked sinner, a miserable sinner. Great. So paradigm shift, a monumental change in the way that people are viewed in terms of their quality. What else?
You guys heard nothing, like 10 themes in there?
Anybody? Does the rain make everybody quiet?
Like gloomy weather? Just keep on keep on giving them to me.
Unity very good. You are all the children of Adam. So in the midst of condemnation, the profit slice on reminds you are all the children of Adam see each other as all as the children of Adam, what else?
Everyone made from dirt? What does that convey?
all equal and all very low. At the same time, that from a bodily perspective, there is nothing to take pride in. In regards to our external creation. What beautifies a person is who they are on the inside. Because at the end of the day, we all come from a low place. Anything else stuck out? What about the analogy? a beetle rolling dung in the dirt with its nose.
When you think of arrogance, what's usually used to convey arrogance.
Nose raised high, right? So even especially in the Arabic language, the Arabic expression Voluma unfun, okay, his nose being the dirt. That's what they used to what traditionally Arabs used to say that Latina unfill made his nose being the dirt, which demonstrates the the the utmost humiliation. So this is a long Hadith, and it contains many themes. And I think it's important for us to understand that sometimes we conflate and sometimes that conflation is justified tribalism and racism when we're looking at the Hadith of the Prophet slice on them. Why and there's there's a very good article by Dr. Abdullah Hamid it called Beyond race. And he mentions in the pre modern era,
race and group membership were determined largely by cultural traits, especially language and shared customs rather than by skin color. Most of the Arabs were dark. Alright, so if you read about the Arabs in the time of the Prophet slicin, most of them had a darker complexion. But then there were some that had exceptionally dark complexions, but most of them were darker. But what defined a group of people at that time, people were not defined in Mecca in the seventh century, by the color of their skin. All right, they were more defined by their tribe, their language, their custom, their lineage, their fathers. Those were the things that, that that consisted of groups. And that's why
sometimes you might have multiple descriptions of the same person with different colors, because it wasn't that important of an item for many people. Nevertheless, it falls in. But that's why for example, and I think that a lot of these things we talked about when we did the class on billable the allowance outline, that the man who insulted by that and Colton Yagna so that you son of a black woman was a black man himself was a blue belt, who was a black man himself, and that confuses a lot of people. How can a black man say that to another black man? Well, he was a black Arab blonde was a pacinian. So they're both black what but what he meant by Yemenis soda Oh son of a black woman was
he was referring to the non Arab black Mother of Buddha. So it gets confusing to us now. But back then it was very clear what that connotation was. So these things tie together various things. So the prophets lie Selim, he compared all of this, boasting about your work or finding a sense of superiority in your ancestry, in your lineage, in your, in your in who your father is, in your color. All of these things fall into the same category loosely of Columbia of boasting about something that you should not be boasting about the word is also be okay boasting about something that you should not be boasting about. And so you find many different categories of this and the
prophets lie some called it filth. Right so when he mentioned this beetle, that's that's rolling the dung with its nose and he calls it nuts. The you know, dunk is called nuttin, the profit slice on when he heard people speaking in tribalistic terms. He said, there, leave it and he said for in winnti because it's free.
Filthy, you use the same word. It's It's literally filthy. Alright, and there's another word that I would use, but there are kids in here, but it does have that same connotation. Okay? That's what the prophets lie some called that attribution of tribe or race and using it in a way to denigrate other people, and the profit slice and solve this at every level. So when we talk about societal racism, ie structural racism, it penetrates culture as well. A lot of times when people talk about structural racism, they think about it purely in political terms. But it's also sociological. So for example, the prophets lie Selim came into a society where people regularly swore by their lineage.
And he said, some Allah Hardy was some men can hardly find familiarity for Allah, whoever swears by something, let him not take an oath except by Allah. Were candidates for a steady food, the Abba bacala sadly, for the other econ race was prominent for everyone swearing by their forefathers and the prophets lysozyme said, Do not swear by your forefathers. Also the idea that people might fight under these banners, and this is what ends up happening. A lot of times, you find that people dwell in peace with one another, and then titles and labels and ways to divide them are created, and then people buy into it. And that's the amazing thing about it.
You think about the partition the British partition of Pakistan and India, I'm not going to touch that. Not taking sides here. But look at the amount of death and destruction that it caused. So identities are created, people are divided and they kill each other over those identities. Okay. And that's what ends up happening. So he said, some alaria Sam, whoever fights for a cause that is not clear. advocating also be advocating tribalism and dying for the sake of tribalism, that person has died a death of jelly and they've died a death of ignorance. Dahlia here refers to the days of ignorance ie the days of Kokoda because people used to kill each other over their tribes. That was
what they were prominent for. That's why madonie society the Society of Medina had mostly under 40 year olds, because their dads all killed each other. That's the habit versus the the tribalistic wars that took place in Mecca before the prophets lysozyme was even born. So you think about someone who dies in the name of these isms, tribalism or nationalism, killing someone just because they belong to a different ism. Right. And that person would be deemed noble by his tribesmen or his people, the Prophet slicin said you're dying a death of ignorance. That's a death of ignorance. There's no there's no nobility and fighting under those banners or fighting for those causes. And of
course, the prophet SAW Selim, when he admonished Abu Dhabi for the way he when he called bid on the episode that son of a black woman, he said to us, without that you have within you gently you still have the traces of the days of ignorance. And the prophets lie, some made it clear that this is something that would remain, it would remain in this oma would remain amongst this nation. He said in an authentic hadith in Sahih, Muslim, that there are four traits of the days of ignorance that will always remain in this oma. So four traits of the days of ignorance that will always remain amongst us in some capacity. The first one he said, his boasting about
boasting about your ancestors, boasting about your fathers and things of that sort. So that also be the second one, he said denigrating others on the basis of their lineage. So the first one is your own boastfulness over who you are or where you came from. And whatever you've created, you know, of the past, okay? The second one is actually putting people down on the basis of who they are, or on the basis of their lineage. Then he said, some of it, some of the other two are not related, he said, seeking to be given rain by means of the stars. So this is talking about, you know, superstitious behavior. And the last one was Nia over the dead, which is the the Wailing over the
dead. Of course, crying when someone passes away is permissible, but the the rituals of mourning and, and and wailing over the dead, these are not Islamic in their nature. So these are things that the Prophet slicin said would always remain amongst us. So when you see periods in the past and present, where there are elements of racism or tribalism, this was already prophesized that these are diseases that though ideally, they'd be eradicated, they always would remain in some manifestation. And they switch as people begin to identify with different groups. And the dynamics of racism and tribalism are always in motion. Those the manifestations change, but at the same time,
people remain in those in those same
states of mind. So the prophets lie, some have made it clear, first and foremost, and it starts with this and I want you to remember this when we do the Holocaust and gender equity, that it starts with affirming spiritual equality as a foundation.
Because your intrinsic value is actually who you are spiritually. Your true value is who you are spiritually, right? It's by tequila, right? It's by your piety. The word is tequila, your piety. So the, these, these traditions of the prophets lie, some of which negates tribalism or racism don't just negate the ugliness of tribalism and racism, but they all also affirm spiritual quality, that complete spiritual quality. And Allah made the tie between the two. And of course, as we said, This verse was revealed in response to some of the comments made about Beloved, according to some of the scholars were the Prophet sallallahu Allah subhanaw taala says, Yeah, you are not in a headlock
Nachman Declan will answer, which I'm not sure Ruben wakaba either Lita out of in Chrome and de la casa de la Halima a bit, oh people, Allah has made you into nations and
nations and tribes male and female. Okay, so nations and tribes, ie races, different colors, different ancestries, different lineages, that's one side of it, and then male and female, all of that why Lita out of those let you cooperate and get to know with one another, but barely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah in a kurama coma and the light from the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the one who has the most piety. That's the only thing that makes you a different person. That's the only distinction that you earn, in the sight of Allah, no matter what's being advocated around you, no matter what your color is, no matter who your parents are, no matter what
your passport is, no matter what your class is, the only thing that distinguishes you in the sight of a lot is purely
your faith, your piety, okay? and tuck was encompassing your piety, not just your rich, your rituals, your piety as a whole. And this was a paradigm shift, as you mentioned, and it was interesting, it's interesting that that little habit took time, companions took time to really fully digest what this would look like, in you know, in their society. So who narrates that one time? The people said to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, man acrimonious messenger of Allah who's the most noble of people. So the prophets I send them responded at Polycom. He simply said, the most righteous amongst the most pious amongst you, they said, Lisa, and have a look, that's not what
we're asking you about. We don't mean it like that. We mean nobility in a different form. So the prophets lie. Some said, Well, if you're asking about nobility in a different form, he said, then use of Nabila Joseph, who was a prophet of Allah, the son of a lost Prophet, the son of a lost Prophet, the son of a lost Prophet, that if you're thinking about it from a lineage perspective, Yusuf Joseph, the son of Yaqoob, Jacob, the son of his hat, Isaac, the son of Ibrahim, Abraham, it doesn't get more noble than that. They said, if you're thinking about lineage, if you're really looking for a noble lineage, look at that. And they are noble, not because of who they are in terms
of their, their, their race, or their tribe, they're noble, because they were profits of a lion, you're not going to find a lineage that stacks up like that in terms of prophecy. They said, if that's what you're talking about, then that's the most noble man that ever existed based on that. And they said to the prophets license again, later on, have a look, you know, we're not asking you about that we're asking you about something else, we mean amongst us. Okay, so the Prophet sallallahu wasallam, said, unmanned and allowed to be alone, what you're really asking about is the descent of the Arabs. That's what you're really trying to get to right. So he said to him, Phil De
Leon, Phil is not either happy who he said the best amongst them in the days of ignorance, or the best amongst them in Islam, if they gain religious understanding, meaning the only way that that transition of nobility takes place is if religion and faith and piety are added to it and religious understanding other than that, they get left behind. There's no nobility of Abu lahab there's no nobility of Abuja. There's no nobility of these people, even though before Islam, they would have been considered the most noble of the Arabs, by all by all thresholds. But there's no nobility but only humiliation that exists amongst them. So affirming that that particular spiritual foundation
that everyone is judged by their taqwa first and foremost their piety and what's really interesting is that taqwa tuck what can't be read by anybody.
Right? So this is the very powerful part. Where did the prophets license a tuck well lies. He said, a tuck wahana taqwa on top. wahana he said, piety is here, piety is here, piety is here. So what the only thing that would distinguish you, amongst the people around you, is what is not accessible to any human eye.
So what does that mean in terms of how we treat one another,
exactly equal, not knowing who is higher in the sight of Allah than the other because Allah only distinguishes us by taqwa, by piety, which is not accessible to anybody else. And that's what the prophet slice Allah,
you know, spoke about. So here's some things we can also leave from this and Charlotte's Ah, so I want to move on to sort of human history. The scholar spoke about why the prophets lie, some of them saw this as such a great evil. And if you just think about what
this disease, as it's manifested itself, in many different ways, has led to, it's led to genocide, it's led to ethnic cleansing, it's led to racial massacres, it's led to inquisitions, it's led to Holocaust, it's led to enslavement, it's led to apartheid, our most I think the most evil thing I ever saw was when I was when I was going through South African I was going through the apartheid museum. And the way that that those districts still exist, they had color grading systems, like you literally are deemed higher based on the complexion of your skin, that determines where you stand in line, that determines what neighborhoods you're allowed to live in, that determines what services
you access. So it's not just black and white, it's where you fall on the complexion on the complexion spectrum, that determines your value. That's not a seven century thing. That's like in our parents lifetime,
whites only blacks only, that's in our lifetime. Okay, we've you know, that's, that's we're seeing it play out and more.
Well, we used to say we'd see it play out more implicit ways, it's become more explicit and more ugly and obvious. But at the same time, you know, these are things that take place in our times, these are things that we, that we've witnessed. So the idea is that if you can designate someone as the out group, and that's the idea here, you either designate one group of people in the in group,
to the exclusion of everybody else in the mistreatment of everybody else, okay, or you scapegoat one population and designate them as the out group.
Either way, the imbalance that's created there is unlike any other imbalance.
And when you are able to out someone either as a specific group or all other groups, but one,
then all types of policy and all types of prejudice and all types of discrimination, that enhance the privilege of that one in group or all the in groups to the exclusion of that one out group,
you know, based on the claim of inferiority of those out groups, or that particular out group, all right. So in that case, who is the first racist in history?
shaitan the devil.
The devil is the first racist. Right? Why? Because I am better than him. Because you created me from fire, and you created him from dirt.
Now, when shavon said that when he indicated that, all right, it wasn't just speaking about the external matter of Adam, it has Salaam
that statement, you know, combines all forms of privilege into one.
He wasn't just talking about the superiority of fire over dirt, there was more to it. And usually, racism is not just about the superiority, or it's almost never about the superiority of appearance. Okay, there is so much more behind it. And all of that is socially engineered. Okay, about the discrepancy between groups or the discrepancy between people based on the way that they are created. So it's lazy, and that's why I am one of the great scholars of Islam. Now I am called racism shidduch. It's polytheism its paganism. Okay. You don't have to look further than Dallas. Alright, people would get much more upset if you remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, than if you remove a
statue of Jesus in the public square.
Because what's being worshipped is not Christ, what's being worshipped is whiteness, and that's the representation right there. Okay, so it's everything that's encompassed within the term. It's not about the appearance, it's what's encompassed, paying, you know, homage to our ancestors, and, you know, swearing by them and you know, the the Confederate flag has become the new * right that this is it right this? What is it really about? And what does it really mean in terms of today? Right, there is a connection between all of these things. So on the profit side, some says that tech leaf will be the icon don't swear by your ancestors. What about people now that raised monuments and
statues to the Confederacy IE white supremacy in Texas? Right. What is that really speaking
It's holding on to a sense of privilege and a sense of entitlement and it has present day implications. So what are some of the what are just some some items to take from this number one? When it comes to tribalism and nationalism? Is there a positive form of nationalism and Islam or tribalism and Islam? does there exist a positive manifestation?
Not just yes or no, you got to give your evidences
defending your own land.
Okay, so I'll take that defending your own land. What else though?
Knowing your history, okay.
Is patriotism Islamic?
No.
Because you're supposed to belong to the faith rather than the nation.
That's nationalism. So what's patriotism?
patriotism is more surrounding making your society a better place.
Okay. All right. So let's divide the two really quick on tribalism and nationalism, because I was going to do a whole halleck on nationalism, tribalism, I changed my mind decide, just incorporate it here. If you're if you're speaking about wanting good for your people, ie your own your people in the world and that's a different terminology than your own your own are your Muslim brothers and sisters around the world, your own, your home, or your people. Your people are either those who share your nationality or share your tribe or you know, those who are you're, you're grouped into by some other dynamic, okay? It exists in the Quran, it exists in the pseudonym, if what you mean by
that is bettering the situation of your people, not to the detriment of the others, not through a call of privilege or entitlement, but rather through a call of living up to our best ideals, which means helping others as well. That's all good. Okay. The prophets lie Selim loved his phone, he never stopped being a Hashemite. Even though he was the messenger of a lot to all people, he never stopped being a Hashemite. But his love for his tribe did not mean that he denigrated other tribes, or gave preference to his own tribe in terms of services or humanity or things of that sort. But rather, it denotes a love and a bond. That's appreciated in Islam. So the profit slices allow people
for example, when when battles took place, people fought alongside their families and their extended families he used to call people, or he used to send people to their tribes to call them to Islam, knowing that they would take it from or they were more likely to respond to the call of fate, from a tribesmen from someone who looked like them who spoke like them, then from a foreigner, right, he understood that and that's why he tried to send the most, you know, the most familiar person to people when they would call them to Islam. Similarly, Allah praises this idea of people wanting good for their home their people and speaking to the Prophet speaking to their people as my people,
despite them not yet believing in their faith, wherever believing in their faith, that they're my people. Okay, so, the Prophet slicin validated these things. He validated Osan hozelock. The tribes of the unsought of that historically fought one another he validated those identities, the only time he condemned the identities is when it led to strife and civil war and when people started to use them as calls against the other, otherwise the prophets lie some actually challenge them to live up to their greatest claims and their best ideals. Okay.
And in that is an important lesson so I'll just read a paragraph from Dr. Salah Hawsawi. He said well, Ah, well out which is religious loyalty, and all it entails of love and support for our co religionists does not conflict with national identity, and the love and affection its social bonds naturally generate. We believe that we are part of the Muslim Ummah, you know, the global community in light of our religion, and a part of our respective local societies in light of our citizenry and or human relationships. We do not believe there's an inherent conflict between a religious and national identity, so long as one's country does not criminalize religiosity or curtail the right to
practice one's religion or call to it. We also believe that living together should naturally weave a social fabric between a people of a shared homeland allowing for harm
ammonius coexistence between them, regardless of how different their beliefs may be, this involves an ethos of kindness, justice and security against harm. It also necessitates a reciprocation of social responsibility that is shared by all and observes the sanctity of people's lives, wealth, honor and public spaces which cannot be touched except by the current laws or the governing bodies of the land. The point being is that there's a difference between whether this religious loyalty that you've, you know, you feel towards your Muslim brothers and sisters around the world, and the loyalty that you feel to your people that you share identity with, by whatever virtue it may be,
okay, whatever paradigm it may be, those things do not conflict with with one another. It's not harmful, until it manifests itself in bigotry or discrimination, or denigrating the other. And this is something the profit slice, um, did very well, which is he called tribes to their best values. So, you know, if the people of this tribe were known for their generosity, he called them to live up to their generosity, he validated their culture of generosity. Okay, so live up to your generosity, but don't accept privilege because that privilege no longer exists in a snap identity that brings you together as a people from you know, outside of the religion, your people, that's fine, and you
should want good for your people and love your people.
But at the same time, it cannot lead to
denigrating others.
Now, how does how do you draw the fine line between this and racism? Because oftentimes, racism is disguised as nationalism. Right? ethno nationalism, okay, white nationalism. All right, a nicer word for white supremacy. All right, what's up?
So if you look at preferential treatment, and you can also poke holes in the insincerity of those quote, unquote, nationalistic calls.
Because if the white if the nationalists, the American nationalist, has more wealth, more loyalty to the refugee from the Netherlands than an African American that lives next door or two streets over then that's a false national, and that's really racism. ethno nationalism is really just a fancy way of describing racism. What about religious supremacism?
religious supremacism.
As a Muslim, do you believe that Islam is superior to other religions?
You obviously would not be a Muslim? If I mean, it wouldn't be worth all the struggle, quite frankly, if you didn't believe that your religion was superior. But does that mean that you act intolerant towards those of other faiths? No, or that you deem other people inferior? Okay, so that's also a fine line that has to be drawn. And these are things that can get very tricky.
You know, when when they're played out on the on the grand scheme of things. All right, so now let's get to structural racism. So how does this play out now in terms of our
in terms of our interactions, I'll read to you what Malcolm X wrote when he when he went to Mecca.
Malcolm said America needs to understand Islam because this is the one religion that racist from its society, the race problems,
the race problem throughout my travels in the Muslim world I have met talked to an even eaten with people who in America would have been considered white. But the white attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. So Malcolm understood it wasn't about the complexion, it was about the white mind, it was about what whiteness entailed, to that group of people. I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practice by all colors together by all colors together, irrespective of their color. When Malcolm said Islam is the one religion that does this, Malcolm was calling attention to what a lot of but a lot of liberationists have called attention to, which is
again, the explicit anti racism tradition, the last message of the Prophet slice Allah, not in a place of vulnerability, but rather in a place of strength is there is no superiority of the superiority of the Arab over the non Arab, or have the white over the black, or vice versa. And both of those situations, okay, so it's explicit. And that's something that he mentioned and that explicit nature of Islam is unique and we should take pride in that as Muslims. The explicit anti racism tradition is unique. Are there racist Muslims? Yes, did Malcolm encounter racist Muslims, the man traveled the entire Muslim world you don't think he encountered racist Muslims? You don't think
he saw it? He saw it. But Malcolm was speaking to the philosophy and he saw the potential of it in what he saw in hajj and what he saw with some of the people that he encountered, right, and that's what we're supposed to cling on to. And it's really interesting because even Gandhi, Gandhi, who and I'm not praising all of Gandhi's philosophy, all right, but Gandhi even
He wrote that Islam was superior. He was, of course a Hinduism superior in his mind moreso than Hinduism and its absolutist version of human brotherhood. So when he wrote he wrote Islam's distinctive contribution to India's national culture is the unadulterated belief that in the oneness of God and the practical application of the truth of the brotherhood of man for those who norm nominally within its who are nominally within its fold, I call these two distinctive contributions are in Hinduism, the spirit of brotherhood has become too much philosophize. Similarly, through philosophical Hinduism. Though philosophical Hinduism has no other God but God, it cannot be denied
that practical Hindu Hinduism is not so emphatically uncompromising as Islam. The uncompromising nature of it
is very unique,
particularly when it comes to race, constructs of race and tribe. Now, I do you want to mention that there are times in Muslim history that blackness as a color was disparaged, and black people struggled. But unlike in Europe, throughout Islamic history, black Muslims were able to rise to the top levels in scholarship.
So structurally, the prophets lie some appointing Bilal as the first caller of prayer, penetrated culture in a way that the first Mufti of Mecca could also be a black man who was not an Arab. Okay, I thought I'll be it'll be on. So religious scholarship, they could run dynasties. We found this in our history, the mameluke dynasty, lead armies How many of you have heard of thought a couple Ziad thought it could be Ziad was black and in fact, most of the people that were with him ethnically or from a parent's perspective, were black. So those racist attitudes were overcome in many different parts, or many different periods of Islam and the Prophet slicin and paid very close attention to
it. It's it penetrates
marriage. Okay, so we talked about this when we talked about billaudot, the Alon, the prophet, slice I'm taking Beloved, and Abyssinian
black man, former slave to the most noble families of the Arabs and proposing marriage on his behalf, appointing beloved as has innovated not as the head of the Treasury, making him the first mother then call her to prayer and all three of the holy places, the prophets, it also has an emotional and mental
and organic penetration as well. So what is the effect of seeing the Prophet of Allah calling on Habiba? I'm sorry, not Habiba. Amen. Baraka on amen? What's the effect of seeing the prophet of God calling a woman who was black, who was also a former slave owner, amen. My mother after my mother, that this is actually my mother after my mother and honoring her the way that he did. What's the effect of the first martyr of Islam being a black woman? Okay, so May, Allah who was a black woman, what's the effect of knowing that the first martyr of Islam was a black woman? Or the adopted son of the prophets? lysosomes aids or the Allah Han who was black? Okay, or the first Shaheed of bed that
the first martyr on the day of bed that was a black man mitja or the lavon. So what does this do to the psyche, the ethos of the Muslim community?
tribalism was the bigger problem because it was the bigger construct of their time. But all of those things naturally, naturally seep in and they also remove, they also remove some of the things that would be so much more obvious to other societies. So the first
leader the first commander of the army, after the Prophet slice Allah was Sam ovens a lot of the a lot on
the companions did complain, some of them complained about Osama bin Zayed being appointed that anyone complained because of his skin color.
No, they complained because he was 17. So some of the companions are worried about a 17 year old leading the army.
But no one mentioned his skin color, which some of museo is described in the hadith of Abu Dawood as being as being the blackest of black. All right, no one even thought to say there's something about his skin color, or that he's lower because of his skin color, even though the profit slice includes him like his grandchildren and his children.
But they were worried about him being 17 years old. There's a prominent
incident that takes place, which is about robots, Osama told the allotted time. And regardless of an assignment, or that was one of the first of the onslaught
very dark man. And he's one of Cotabato. He so he's one of the people that the prophets lie some appointed to write revelation. He accompany the Prophet peace be upon him in every battle. And it's really interesting because in the philosophy of armour, Under Armour middle hop,
Roberto was leading an army and they laid seeds to Babylon.
fortress in the year 641, which is actually Coptic Cairo. Okay, where Cairo is today. So it's in Egypt and the leader of Egypt at the time and will focus
you know, he was under siege so he called for a Muslim delegation he said send me or send me your best guy forward he sent the message send me your guy for it. So I'm gonna focus comes out in his, you know, grandiose appearance, expecting to see some, you know, Aladdin looking Arab. And regards to masam, it comes forward. And he looks at Avada. And he doesn't even want to talk to him. He actually says, which shows you anti blackness and how it's playing out. Now mind you, this is in the heat of almost so most of the people there are companions. Right? These aren't this isn't another generation where it takes time to change these attitudes, right? These are Sahaba for the most part,
their companions are the children's of the children of companions. So he sees Avada and rabada standing in front of the whole army and he does he looks at him and he says to the others do I need that he can ask what what Kadima VEDA, Julio kilimani, he said, move this black man away from me and send someone else to talk to me, I'm not going to talk to him.
So, when he said that to the people, the frontline of the companions, or the frontline of the army responded and said, in the habit of not only what and well, that this man is the best of us and knowledge, and the best of us and wisdom. He is our leader, and he is the best of us. And he has been appointed over over us. And our leader, meaning the halifa, honorable hapa has ordered us to obey every one of his commands. And they said, What in us whether will be of our internal Salah white and black to us are the exact same thing. How beautiful like it penetrated their attitudes to the point that they're responding to a foreign leader and saying, No, we don't have a, you have a
problem. With a robot. It's a Muslim at being black. We don't.
Okay, and actually, to us, they made it a point to do some debt with them at the same time. They actually taught us they're both the exact same thing. So my focus says to them, he actually walks up to one of them, he says, How could you accept him to be the leader of you, when he should be the lowest of you? know, he's still trashing or baddest of lasagna dinner, let them know psalmist standing there, patiently, okay. And they said what law he is the best of us, and the foremost amongst us and the most wise of us.
So maracas finally submits. And he goes up to bat and he says, Okay, fine.
He said, speak to me. us what So speak to me Oh, black man. But he said, speak gently because your your darkness scares me.
So he's still insulting about the Masonic the, this is one of the guys that wrote and wrote the revelation, one of the greatest of the companions. Now, Oba This is what's really powerful about that, you know, he's enjoying this right, he's enjoying this fear that macoco has has of him because of his color. So by that what matters is the fact that our last season and how this companions see him, right. So about the terminal summit. He says, Listen, if you're afraid of me, I've left behind 1000 men, and they're all blacker than me.
So he said, if you're afraid of me, I'm going to bring all of them forward. And you'll have to deal with them.
panela he, he understands this, this ugliness that's coming and it didn't faze him, because that was what he found in the community of the Prophet sallallahu wasallam. And that was one of the ways that that was sort of taught, and that was the attitude that the prophets lie Selim put forward. Sometimes you have someone that could also internalize that so you have, you know, we're running out of time. But sadness is what sadness is what, in the time of the Prophet slicin was a man who fought himself to be ugly because of his complexion, his dark complexion and the prophets lie Selim, builds him up, builds up his self esteem, takes him and proposes on his behalf to marry the daughter of
Ahmed Abdul Wahab who was one of the greatest leaders or the most noble of Arabs from Ben without beef. And the prophets lie Selim teaching him
you know to love himself and that's also something that's important because sometimes internalized racism is very dangerous to people as well. And the story of Julie beep right the story of JB where the prophets lie salon you know, looks for this man do they be was a man who was looked down upon for many reasons. Okay. Many reasons, his appearance, his class, gel, a bead means someone who has deformities and his race. He had a very dark complexion. He had no tribe. He had no parents.
He had no one. And the prophets lie some of them used to always, always look on behalf of God be always ask about him, always, you know, put them on a pedestal, always talk him up, always smile at him, he took special care of God made a lot of people pleased with him. And the Prophet slice of him. In fact, he took him. This is a very famous story. It's it's very powerful, because again, it's penetrating at many different levels. He goes to the most noble tribe of Medina, and he says to the Father, in the reader, and that is our job nutsack that, you know, I'm asking about your daughter for marriage, and they thought that the prophets lie some was talking about himself. So they got
excited the prophets lie. Some said, No, no, no. He said, I'm not talking about me that would either had enough see in the in the July VPS, I'm not asking for myself, I'm asking on behalf of gra beep when he said that the woman started to scream de la de la de like, Are you crazy? juolevi No. screams at the prophets lie some of them at the top of her lungs. And she swore by Allah to the Prophet of Allah that will never marry just a beep to our daughter.
But what happened, the daughter came out, the daughter heard the conversation and said, Look, if the prophets lie, Selim said that he's a good fit, he's a good fit.
So she insisted on marrying him
personally alone, who paid his mom, his dowry. And there he was right after that a battle starts. And after the battle is over the Prophet slice Allah is looking around, or he's he's asking the different tribes and this is again, the way that the battle would take place as tribes and family men would get together and they fight in these battles. And he says to them hella tough. Please don't add. Are you missing anyone? And everyone checked out and said, No, we're not missing anyone. He says lacking the athlete he said, but I'm missing JB Where's do they be? Like, he's he's my family man like this. He's from me. So they found Julie be what they allow Tyler and Angela, he was
laying down dead next to seven of the opposing army. And the prophets, Allah lahardee, who was the lamb when he stood over him, he started to cry. He praised his effort and then what did he say? He said, a lot Maha them in the end, I mean, who?
Oh Allah, this one is from me, and I am from him. He is one of he is mine. And I am his, this man who was mistreated his entire life.
How that many what and I mean, who he is of me, and I have him and the profit slice on himself. Think about the scene. Even Amara describes it. The prophets lie some himself, dug his grave, picked up his body and buried.
So you think about assigning value to a person who society did not assign any value to it means something. You go through the list, how do you deal with this structurally? Imagine who was also an Abyssinian woman, who we spoke about before used to clean the mess of the prophets. Why Selim finding her missing one night and then asking what happened to her and they said she passed away and they buried her and the prophets lie, someone's upset. Why didn't you tell me about it? I would have prayed on her. And he goes and finds her grave and read does a prayer for her. Right, not finding her too insignificant and of course Allah sending Jabri sending Gabriel to the Prophet slicin Um, so
he could pray janaza or Najafi, the emperor of Abyssinia structurally How do you deal with this marriage leadership politically, socially, the prophets license squashing attitudes and all of these different spectrums governorship anyone heard of Mohammed Abu muslimah. Mohammed Abu muslimah was black. He was a governor under all of the hula fat under all of the rights as Caleb's served as a governor. That didn't stop him. knafeh molar bin Omar you know, the first Mufti of Mecca as we mentioned, so he didn't a debate, and the list goes on and on and on and on. The point is, is that the prophets lie Selim sought to erase the attitude, the racist attitudes that exists in all of
these different spaces by leading by example himself. And by putting people in positions, religious leadership, political leadership, marriage,
social interactions, family interactions, and also everyone finding their own individual value in their taqwa in their piety, and not denigrating others because they belong to a lower class or because they belong to a different tribe, or a different race. So this is where the prophets lysozyme splits things and he says that the only difference that exists and it goes back to the first Hadeeth mean on sub t with 5g, Ron Shockley would exist today is only a pious
believer or a wicked
sinner, a miserable sinner, may Allah subhanaw taala make us pious believers and allow us to be a part of squashing this disease as it exists in our families as it exists. Some, you know, and it's you would think you would think that, you know, being educated people living where we live that these things wouldn't happen. But they happen every day and they happen from people that you would never expect it from, it penetrates our families. So you have to think about yourself. And I want everyone to be self critical about what would the prophets lie Some say about how I'm view how I view people of different tribes, different races, it's so silly, that sometimes people that share
the exact same language and same race, but they're divided by this border, somehow they're,
you know, can't marry this person, we can't have this happening can't have that happening. We have to all sort of accept this as a part of our own personal obligation to try to squash it wherever we see it. May Allah protect us from this disease, and may allow us to be changemakers and be amongst those who are themselves pious believers, Allah amin, next week, there is going to be no class. I'm not going to be in town.
I do want to mention a few notes. Since we're talking about racism, as it exists today, many of you saw the the the judgment in the case of Alton Sterling today in Baton Rouge, and many of you have heard of the, the man that was assassinated in his backyard in Sacramento, Stephen Clark was actually Muslim. So I'm actually traveling to Sacramento for his janazah the recent convert to Islam, so we asked a lot Have mercy on him, and to grant justice to him and to the families of Jordan Edwards and Alton Sterling and Philando, Castile and all of these families, as they exist today, but it shows you how these things penetrates so many different layers of our identity and who
we are. And this is really, you know, this is an interesting time in America. But it's also an opportunity for us to pose these questions and to lead as a moral example, for people around us with people who are also willing to embrace that same spirit from a an Islamic perspective. So please keep his family
in your in your prayers.
And Charlotte, I'll take questions and I'll make a couple of other announcements.