Islam and Race

[Aisha]

Imagine living, in this day and age, in a world in which people were not judged on the content of their character, but on the color of their skin! Sounds pretty awful, right? To think that in the 21st century, with all our progress as a civilization, we could still be so primitive in our beliefs. No! That must be a thing of the past. To believe that in the year 2000, a good portion of our society could still be so uneducated as to think that the color of one’s skin or the nationality of an individual, could really equate to one being lesser of a person than another. Well that is what I thought. But to my dismay, I realized that a good percentage of our population still, to this day, judges an individual not by their merits, but indeed by the color of their skin.

 

In America, we have in our history encountered our own fair share of racism. However in our society today, we have strived to educate our people that it is wrong to judge someone based on where he or she comes from. Over the years our society has made a great improvement in their thinking. Now however with a new global civilization, we have a whole new set of problems to deal with in regards to racism. We can now through technology, with the touch of a button, communicate with someone clear across the world. In just a half of day’s time, we can find ourselves walking on foreign soil we could only have read about in the past. With these amazing improvements in technology, we have opened the door to a world of options, but also a world of problems. It is now, that we can find ourselves socializing with people from other countries. Here is where the problem lies.

 

In a world in which the children of this generation, will grow up socializing with people from all over the world, it is inevitable that these young adults will be educated enough to be able to see past the color of one’s skin. With this education, new light will be shed when it comes to the prospect of marriage. Now it has become very accessible for young men and women, from other countries, to be able to meet and find many qualities in which they admire in one another. Even to the point in which they would consider one another for marriage. I believe that this is a blessing from Allah. To think that Allah has now opened the doors for us to actually be able to meet someone from another country that could make us feel complete. We are no longer limited to the city or country in which we live to find our companions for life. We now have a whole world of options. What a blessing Allah has given us to be able marry someone in which each of you could bring to the marriage the best parts of each culture, in which you other wise would not have been able to experience. All I can say to this is Humdillilah.

 

However, many Muslim families from all over the world, are everyday making it impossible on their children to enjoy this blessing that Allah has given us. These Muslim families allow the children to go abroad, whether it be for studies, holiday, or business, but yet expect them never to marry anyone from another country, even if he or she is Muslim. This is not Allah’s will. Islam says that we should come together as a Muslim community and leave behind our cultural differences (Surat.6 A. 159; Surat 21 A.92-93). Furthermore, Islam also says that a Muslim can marry with a Muslim, Christian, or a Jew. Also Allah says it is wrong to discourage your children, who are of age, from marrying.

 

Myself being of the Muslim faith, I first and foremost submit to the will of Allah. When I have any question on what is right and what is wrong, I turn to the Holy Quran or the hadiths for wisdom. And just as Allah promised, there it is. The words of wisdom on how one should live and advise others on how to live their lives. So tell me then my fellow Muslims.Which do you put first, your God or your culture and traditions?

 

Furthermore, anyone who professes to be a Muslim should really stop to think about this question. Because if your answer is God, then my fellow Muslims, you must think twice before you forbid your son or daughter to marry someone based on the color of their skin, and not on their character.

 

I write this article for myself and for all the men and women out there in the world, whose families has either made it impossible, or almost impossible for them to marry with someone from another country, even though both of them are Muslims. I ask of my fellow Muslim brother and sister, from this day forward, as parents and as a Muslim society, to stop putting your children and fellow Muslims through agony and heartache simply because they choose to marry with someone from another country. Be open minded enough to realize that just because it wasn’t done in your culture in the past, doesn’t mean that it is wrong. So the next time your son or daughter comes to you with the proposition of marriage, be fair enough to judge your son or daughter’s future spouse not on the country in which they were born, but on the person in which they are.

 

My fellow Muslims, the next time your striving to be the best Muslim you can be by performing salat, giving zakat, fasting, and doing all these other things that makes us good Muslims, lets not forget that being a good Muslim is just that, Being a good Muslim. So lets recognize that no matter what country we come from, or what color of skin Allah may have given us, that we are all Muslims. We should stop segregating ourselves based on our culture and come together as a Muslim community. We need to help each other live a righteous life and set a good example for other non-Muslims as well. If helping each other live the righteous life of Islam happens to mean your son or daughter may want to marry some one from another county, then this is Allah’s will, and who are you to say that Allah is wrong.

 

So my final plea to my fellow Muslims is that this life is hard enough, please, InshaAllah, don’t make it any harder on ourselves by letting race get in the way of us uniting. One day we will all have to answer to our maker. Do you really want to have one more, bad thing written down about your life, all because you were too loyal to your cultural traditions to change? In shaAllah I hope not. In shaAllah, we can all unite as Muslims all over the world, and put our cultural differences aside, and really accept each other in all aspects of life, even when it comes to interracial marriage. You be surprised what you can learn and gain from someone from another culture. If we could only truly put our cultural difference aside and first and foremost be Muslims, we would set an example for everyone across the world, who are not Muslims, and then Islam would really begin to flourish.

 

 

By J. Reddeck

[Aisha]

I though this was an excellent article!! It's a bit old but everything he said is so true! It's full of meaning and depth. Maashallah....

 

Alhamdulilah I'm not a traditional person at all. My parents aren't aswell. If I ever brough home a non-Eritriean guy my parents will happily accept him providing he follows the deen! I don't understand whats all the fuss about when there's an inter-racial marriage!!!

[Blessed]

^You’re an Eritriean sis? MashaAllah, My nieces are ¼ Eritriean :cool:

 

My parents initially had reservations about intermarriage but my sister fought that battle and won. Though half the trouble was with distant relatives that just wanted to create fitnah

 

I think people are just worried about not having full access to the mans (foreign women tend to be more accepted) background, especially with our closed nit communities where you can do an ECR (enhanced character reference) on someone within days.

 

It shows the lack of unity and trust between Muslims. I was watching a discussion about prayers where the brothers were saying that the benefits of the congregational prayer was that it creates a sense of community and brotherhood in the masjid. You pray side by side with the same guys on a daily basis. You all pray to Allah, make the same dua and action in unity – every prayer every day.

 

That inevitably causes love and consideration within the masjid attendees. At the time of the Messenger (sallaAllahu Alaihi Wassalam) the companions (radiAllahu anhum) would notice if a brother missed one prayer. They would enquire about him and see what has kept him from the masjid. It’s difficult to imagine that people who have such a connection would worry about passport details if one of their brothers asks for their sisters hand in marriage. I don’t know about the US but in the UK we have a situation where there are masjids that cater to specific communities. There is no true Islamic unity.

 

I think inter-marriage is good for our community.

[Aisha]

^^Well said. And you get such a beautiful feeling to be united by islam!! The islamic classes I attend has so many sisters from different backgrouds, all having the same goal! You don't even feel different because the unity amongst us is so strong alhamdulilha.