The Western world always prides herself as the bastion of civilization where human rights, freedom, and justice and equity are guaranteed and promoted. This claim precipitated the establishment of the United Nations in 1945. With its headquarters in New York, the UN comprises countries around the world, albeit with unequal treatments. But the establishment of the UN came about after many centuries of inhumane treatments melted on the Black race by the Western world. Through slavery and colonization, the West stripped the Black people of their God given dignity and rights to live as free born. Although slave trade and colonization have been outlawed, these ugly phenomena still reign in the Western world in subtle forms. Yet, the West is vigorously championing the crusade of human rights and freedom.
America is a country in the Western world which is most preoccupied with the promotion of human rights in the world. It spares no force to foist democracy on other countries of the world. It appears to be the vanguard for human rights, freedom, justice and equity. But her history of nationhood is replete with racial discrimination against the Black community. Many African-Americans like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X who stood against the menace of racism had to pay a huge price, namely assassination. However, the election of Barack Obama in 2009 as the first Black president was thought to signal an end to racial discrimination in America. But subsequent cases of police brutality of African Americans imply that the disease of racism in America is still as deadly as ever. The most recent case is that of George Floyd who was brutally killed by a police officer in Minnesota on May 25, 2020. Alleged of attempting to spend a fake currency, he was arrested by the police force. Though the suspect was unarmed and didn't resist arrest, he was killed by the police officer who pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck. Despite several distress statements i.e., "I can't breathe", the police officer didn't remove his knee off Floyd’s neck until he died. This case could have been hidden and swept under the carpet if not for the availability of the video footage of the scene which had widely circulated across the globe.
America is not the only country in the West with the disease of racism. France is also notorious for racial discrimination against the Black and Arab communities living in France as citizens or immigrants. This disease of racism reminds one of the Stone Age in the Arab history before the emergence of Prophet Muhammad (saw) in 610 AD. Known as the Jahiliyyah period (the period of ignorance), it was an epoch defined by injustice, social ills, hedonism and discrimination on the basis of race and tribe. The ignorance of the era was so rife that wars were fought between different tribes due to trivial reasons such as the killing of an animal. But with the re-emergence of Islam in 610 AD, Prophet Muhammad (saw) succeeded in reforming the Arab peninsula, purging it of social ills and racial discrimination. This was achieved without force but with persuasive teachings of the Glorious Qur'an which reorientated the Arab society. As long as the teachings of the Qur'an remain ever impactful, its antidote against racism is still efficacious and can be applied to cure the Western world of the disease of racial discrimination.
The Qur'an recognizes the existence of different sexes, tribes and nations. But the purpose of this existence is not for it to serve as a basis for racial discrimination or superiority. Rather the wisdom behind it is to ensure identity and familiarity of human race for mutual solidarity [See Q49: 13].
Racial equality in Islam is neither a mere rhetoric nor a political statement made to score some political points in the global forum such as the UN. It is practically true as it is theoretically sound. Human history is full of amazing cases of racial equality in Islam. Two case of two Black men from Abysinia (now Ethiopia) will suffice here to draw home our point. Both of them enjoyed the Prophet's companionship despite their skin color.
The first one is Bilal whose story is legendary. He was the leading Mu'azzin (the caller to prayer) of the Prophet (saw). A former slave, he was liberated by Abubakr to restore upon him his dignity as a human being. Abubakr had bought him from his masters to protect him against inhumane treatments on account of his skin colour and faith. After the death of the Prophet (saw), Bilal had to leave Madinah and relocate to Sham because he couldn't stand the agony of living in Madinah without his beloved leader (saw). But on one night, he saw the Prophet (saw) in his dream challenging him of not visiting his grave in Madinah. When Bilal got to Madinah and called to prayer with tears, the people of Madinah marched out and were thrown into emotions.
The second one another Black man called Wahshi Ibn Harb. Before he embraced Islam, he was a slave under idol worshippers. Due to his bravey, he was commissioned by his masters to kill Hamzah, the uncle of the Prophet (saw) in the Battle of Uhud to avenge the killing of some notable family members of his masters. As a reward, he was set free. But the Black man was stunned when his former masters continued to discriminate against him on account of the colour of his skin. Unable to withstand the racial discrimination, he therefore took a decisive decision to embrace Islam. He was obviously impressed by how his fellow Black man Bilal, a former slave of Abubakr and a Muslim, was highly regarded by the Prophet (saw) as a companion, enjoying the same status like other prominent Arabs such as Ali, the Prophet's cousin. Despite his previous life, Wahshi was warmly received by the Prophet (saw) when Bilal led him into his house. Thus he became the Prophet's companion too. The status of Wahshi was more enhanced after the death of the Prophet (was). This was during the era of Caliph Abubakr who had faced many challenges, especially that of pseudo prophets. Lo and behold! Wahshi became a hero when he killed Musailamah, the most prominent among the impostors claiming Prophethood.
To further establish the principle of equality in Islam, it is apt to quote the following statement made by the second Caliph, Umar Ibn Khattab:
*How did you take people as slaves whereas their mothers gave birth to them as freeborn!!!*
Umar made the above statement after he had adjudicated on a case that involved an ordinary citizen of Egypt and the son of the governor, 'Amr Ibn al-'As. The governor's son had hit the man after the latter defeated him in a horse race. Then, the case was brought before Umar in Madinah as Amir al-Mu'minin, the President of the Muslim community. As a just leader, Umar did not discriminate against the ordinary citizen to favour the son of the governor. Rather, he gave the victim a lash to beat the governor's son. Thus he beat the hell out of him and only stopped when he became satisfied. In fact, Umar remarked afterwards that he would not stop the man if he also decided to beat the governor because his son only wronged him due to his father's position as governor.
Such was the history of racial equality in Islam as enshrined in the Qur'an and practised by the Prophet (saw) and his companions. The Western society can borrow from this history to rid the world of injustice which ultimately leads to crises. As a matter of fact, some Muslim countries also need to retrace their steps and address racial diacrimination in their countries. They need to relive the shinning examples of racial equality in their rich Islamic history. Racial discrimination is a bad feature of an insane society. If not curtailed, it can lead to total annihilation and wanton destruction of human society.
Another great article pal, I call this the definition of America.