Equality and Islam

Some Thoughts on Equality

by Yusuf Abdul Rahman

Islam enjoins universal brotherhood, right?

Everyone knows the ayat and ahadith which deal with the basic equality of humanity. However, as I began to think over some events and anecdotes of the past few months, I found myself either witness to or knowledgeable of more incidents than I could possibly write about in this article.

When I converted to Islam, I did so with the mistaken idea that all Muslims consider themselves to be brothers and sisters. On the contrary, I have found that in many cases, racism, nationalism, and almost any other ism you can think of takes precedence over Islam. It seems that many of us have baggage left over from our pre- Islam days, be they our own pre-Islam days or those of our forefathers.

Some of this baggage comes from beliefs as alien to Islam as Hinduism and as close as Christianity. For example, in the Hindu caste system, generally the darker you are, the lower your caste. In Christianity, numerous racial ideas and myths are pervasive, one prominent example being the notion that Isa (Jesus) was European in appearance.

I think one of the main reasons such ideas took hold was that someone had an interest to protect. One group had to suppress another, and the easiest way to prevent insurrection was to create religious imagery which justified that oppression.

Of course, I suppose many are sitting there saying, “That’s not me!” However, maybe we should ask ourselves how much of the history of other ethnic groups do we know? How many things do we believe about other groups of people just because we have heard such things on television or heard about them? How often do we interact with someone of a different race? How often do we eat different kinds of food and wear clothes of another culture in order to more fully appreciate it? None of this means that one should abandon one’s own culture and heritage. However, I feel everyone has a certain responsibility to learn about other people and cultures so as not to have mistaken ideas about them.

Finally, I must ask, what place does prejudiced behavior have in Islam? Does being a Muslim justify it? Does it make one any different from the klansman who burns a cross on a lawn, or the Zionist who hates a Palestinian for no other reason than the fact that he isn’t Jewish. The answer of course has to be no.

Earlier, I said that everyone knows the ayat and ahadith which deal with equality in Islam. I guess I was wrong; either that or a lot of Muslims have little or no regard for them.

Originally published in Al Basheer, Spring 1991, and in the Fall 1992 print edition of The American Muslim.