How to End Racism!

How to End Racism Recent events remind us that racism remains rampant. Yet we can easily end racism through understanding and education.

People must realize that God created all humans from one couple, thus making the entire human race one large extended family. God says:

“O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord who created you from a single soul (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife (Eve); and from the two of them He spread abroad a multitude of men and women…” (Qur’an 4:1).

Furthermore, we must understand that no race is superior to another. We appreciate a garden having many different flowers because we realize that each adds something to the beauty of the entire arrangement. This is why we do not object to the color of any flower. In a similar way we can see the world as a garden decorated with people of different colors. Let us appreciate that each variety of people contributes something to the spice of life in this world. God says:

“O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that you may know each other. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah[1], is the most pious (righteous) of you.” (Qur’an 49:13) The noblest are the most obedient to God. Such persons may belong to any race or country. What really matters is their conduct and behavior. The prophet Muhammad[2] publicly declared that Arabs are not superior to non-Arabs, and one color is not superior to another. In a day when light-skinned people could not imagine a black person as their leader, the prophet appointed a black person, Usaamah, the son of Zaid, as a leader.

As a result of following these teachings, many people have banished racism from their thoughts and actions. You can still see racial harmony today in the mosques of cosmopolitan cities. You will find people of various colors worshipping together, all with equal status before God. Rich or poor, black or white, king or pauper all line up side by side to worship. No special preference is given to anyone based on color or social status. The leader in a mosque is appointed for his learning in the religious sciences, regardless of skin color. There is no such concept as a ‘black mosque’ or ‘white mosque’. Islam removes such destructive concepts.