Islam, Race and Justice:
Reconciling the Irreconciliable

Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq

[This article was published in the Message International, June/July 2001]

The pace of change in this contemporary modern society has become fast. Real fast, like in a race. But toward what is this increasingly faster race? As human race are we really any better, or even different? Where are we in the race against racism? How do Islam and Muslims fit into this race? How does the Western civilization fare on the racism issue? Despite so much negative stereotyping of Islam, how is it the fastest growing faith in the Western world, especially in the U.S.? These are some of the issues briefly explored here.

Race and The Western World

During the last few centuries, coinciding with the emergence of the western civilization as the dominant one, mankind has come along a long way in terms of scientific discoveries, technological advancements, enhancements in standard of living, probe into space, life-saving medical advancements, and so on, positively touching so much of human life. But there is another side to it, which also coincides with: (a) one of the most concerted and systematic epoch of domination of one group over another in the form of western colonization of the rest of the world; (b) several of the worst genocides in human history (the holocaust in Nazi Germany; Serbian ethnic cleansing in Bosnia; Russian ethnic cleansing in Chechniya; (c) the ugly and shameful apartheid in South Africa or the Zionist regime in Israel; (d) the first introduction of nuclear weapons in human warfare; and (e) commercial genocide by the mono-logic, profit-seeking forces that promote tobacco products, which is  expected to kill 500 millions of people worldwide among those who are alive today [1999 World Bank Report].

Of course, how the current world is depends on the perspective of the respective viewers. Ask the people of Palestine, and the world they know is still full of racism. Talk to the Indian Americans, and many of them don't hide their true feelings. How do the African-Americans feel about, though somewhat latent, the continuing presence of racism in America is hardly a secret. But from a somewhat dispassionate vantage point, we all know better. The humanity is moving ahead, though somewhat like walking on a spinning wheel. The Berlin Wall has come down and it is reassuring. The white apartheid in South Africa has come to an end. African-Americans can now vote on a one-man-one-vote basis and it gives us hope. The Europe that as a hotbed of nationalism fought two World wars is now bridging the gap as the European Union, and it is a clearly positive sign that they are growing up and growing out of "out of control" nationalism (and even racism). But humanity has a much longer walk ahead. Unfortunately, it seems that the world always needs a nemesis to move ahead, even if it is concocted or imaginary one. The need of that nemesis has not disappeared in the post-cold-war era.

Islam: The Newly Anointed Nemesis

The cold war was actually a proxy war of the two superpowers that used the rest of the world to advance their own ambitions or protect their own interests. Each of them needed a nemesis as the raison d'eter of their expansionist and domineering agenda. As the red Soviet bear bade farewell and went into a permanent hibernation, the need of a nemesis of the other superpower was not gone. Islam conveniently fell in place to fit the shoe of the old nemesis.

"Islam as other" has a long-standing history and background. As Karim H. Karim explains in the introduction of Islamic Peril: Media and Global Violence (Black Rose, 2000), "The images that have developed of each other over millennia necessarily influence current perceptions. Many medieval Europeans believed Islam to be a false religion, tending to see Muhammad as a fraudulent prophet and his followers as the agents of impiety and disorder. For hundreds of years, the armies and navies of Muslim rulers posed a genuine threat to European states. This resulted in the proliferation of narratives that painted Islam in dark colours. Even when Muslim societies entered a period of decline and Europe a period of ascendancy, fear of Mohammedanism remained latent. Through continual reinforcement of the notion that the Muslim Other was essentially a savage in need of civilization, it was possible to justify the colonial control of her land and person." 

Thus, stereotyping and demonization of Islam in the West are hardly new. According to Professor J. A. Progler at CUNY (in The Utility of Islamic Imagery in the West), "Most people seem to be familiar with stereotypes and negative imagery of Arabs and Muslims - indeed, some are so firmly entrenched that the consumers of these images are unable to distinguish them from reality." Even before Islam has been promoted to the status of the new nemesis, "the West has consistently constructed and perpetuated negative images of Islam and Muslims." 

The high priests of the modern West, religious and secular, have a straightforward take on Islam as candidly articulated by William Lind of Free Congress Foundation, which is a key backer of Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition, "[The] Russian army in Chechnya is fighting for us, too, and for everyone who does not want to live under the oppression of Islam." [IANAR Daily News, November 24, 1999] Anyone who does not view Islam as merely a religion of personal faith or mysticism is dubbed as belonging to fundamentalist Islam. Daniel Pipes (The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 16, 1994) writes: "With the decline of Marxism-Leninism, fundamentalist Islam now stands as the world's leading anti-American ideology." Thus is the anointment of the new nemesis.

Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilization" framework provided a newer foundation and impetus for understanding Islam. Bernard Lewis has elevated that framework of antagonism, where, for example in The Roots of Muslim Rage, Islamic revivalism and Muslims, are presented in its relationship with the West, in terms of rage, aggression, hate, and irrationality. [Atlantic Monthly, September 1990] The message is simple: The world must be saved from the threat and evil of Islam! Islam is the sole surviving nemesis of the world and humanity, i.e., the West.

On the race issue, the West seems to view itself in the mirror as standing tall in light of all the progress it has made. It wants the world inside the West to recognize and the world outside to understand that the non-western world needs to follow the beacon of the West and save themselves from the pitfalls of Islam. After all, what does Islam really have to offer during our contemporary, enlightened period, especially on the race issue?

Race and the Muslim World: A Reality Check

It is generally recognized that Islam and racism are like antonymous. Yet, the milieu of the contemporary Muslim world stands sharply in contrast with the heritage of universalistic Islam. Within the Muslim world, the dominant political pattern is authoritarian as in most Arab countries and dysfunctional as in other countries, such as Pakistan and Bangladesh. Even though racism is not the problem on the surface, the ruled and rulers seem to be institutionally segregated in terms of power. So is the segmentation between the small class of rich and the vast majority of the poor, where the problem of poverty and deprivation remain intractable. Human rights is at a pitiful level. Even at the national level, oil rich Arab countries treat their poor Muslim brethren like in a hierarchical caste. The treatment meted out to the less educated migrant workers of South Asian countries by the citizens and the system of Saudi Arabia is not just shameful, but also an insult to Islam. Even in Hajj (annual pilgrimage), which is the supreme example of Islam's universalism, is now compromised by the way the elites of the Muslim world are given privileged treatment compared to the commoners.

Muslims in pluralistic West are significantly better or improving. But one can easily identify the undercurrent of deep dissatisfaction among many African-American Muslims in regard to the way they are treated compared to their white Muslim brethren. Based on their experience, many African-American Muslims prefer to have their segregated mosques, even though things are improving. Concerned Muslims need to face the reality of the deeply rooted unislamic cultures as explained in a Soundvision (http://www.soundvision.com) article Muslims in the Mirror - Prejudice in the Muslim community, "'I never considered a non-Arab equal to me,' a sister once remarked. 'I know it's wrong, but in the place I grew up in, that was how we grew up thinking.' She had grown up in a country considered 'Islamic'."

It is a worth reading article that forthrightly and conscientiously points out how probably unconsciously and inadvertently prejudicial attitudes and even policies are prevalent in many Muslim countries as well as Muslim communities in the West. Such prejudicial treatment covers laws and customs,  employment and land ownership, marriage and education, and attitudes and words.

How does one then explain why Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world, the West and in USA, especially among those who have been on the receiving end of racism, discrimination and oppression for centuries? [See read two ABCnews.com reports,  http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Park/6443/Fastest/abc.html; http://www.muslimcoalition.com/ABCNewsart.htm] 

Why Islam is one of the fastest growing faiths in the world and America?

It is probably a sad fact that if one would take a dispassionate look at the landscape of the Muslim world, there is more to find distasteful than palatable. A faith that teaches that seeking knowledge is incumbent upon ALL Muslims also has one of the highest percentages of illiteracy. A way of life that elevates cleanliness to half of faith also has its adherents across the Muslim world under the most primitive kind of sanitations. A religion that teaches consultation (shura) as the foundation of all levels of decision making - individual/family, social/political - also has autocracy, monarchy, military rule, totalitarianism as the dominant system of governance. Out of all the people who die of famine, hunger and deprivation, a disproportionately large number of them are in the Muslim world. Women in the Muslim world remain deprived of even their basic Islamic rights.

Add to the above reality the capable role of the Western media and institutions in stereotyping and demonizing Islam and Muslims, and one has to wonder how in the world Islam can be the fastest growing faith in the USA. It is all that remarkable that among the people turning toward Islam are two groups that constitute the largest percentage: the African-Americans and the women. What can really account for this, including women, white and black, embracing Islam, in the face of the reality of the Muslim world and so much propaganda against Islam regarding race and gender-related issues?

Race: Reconciling the irreconcilable

The answer is simple. Despite all the problems and anomalies in the Muslim world, Islam has some plain and simple strength that no amount of propaganda, stereotyping and demonization can hide or has succeeded in hiding. Once a person is persuaded to take a close and honest look at Islam, the result is almost predictable.

Islam teaches, unequivocally, one humanity under one God. "O Mankind! Most certainly, it is We who have created you ALL from a single (pair), of a male and a female, and it is we who have made you into nations and tribes, that ye may recognize each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you." [al-Qur'an/49:13] That is the ONLY criteria of superiority for any human being. Islam does not recognize any superiority whatsoever based on race, color, status, gender, language or nationality. Indeed, all such notion of superiority, which culminates in racism, is rooted in human arrogance. People who consciously and conscientiously embrace Islam also commit to free themselves from such false pride and arrogance. The Prophet Muhammad categorically taught: "He who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of pride/arrogance shall not enter Paradise." [Sahih al-Bukhari, V.1/Chapter 40/#164; note that pride here should not be confused with self-respect or self-consciousness]

Despite deep malaise within the Muslim communities, the openness of mosques as an organizing and unifying institution for people opens many a person's eyes. A closer look at the Hajj and the experience is almost universally similar to the one that turned the anti-white Malcolm X into the universalist-humanist Malik Shabazz. "Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and the overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practised by people of all colours and races here in this ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammed, and all the other prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colours." [The Legacy of Malik Shabazz by Ama Shabazz] It does not take much for the Kunta Kinte's to recognize the road to true freedom and dignity, even though their fellow Muslims, including in the heartland of Islam Saudi Arabia, might be standing in their way. The same is the case with gender issue. Many men and women might be seriously discouraged, and in some cases, repulsed by the general conditions of the Muslims, but they simply need to be able to look past Muslims and face Islam.

Muslims have been going for a very long time through their internal struggle to develop a framework that can help them reconcile their own identity and the conflicting tensions of human life and civilization. So far they have fared quite poorly. There are some "Fundamental challenges facing the Muslims" (read one of my articles) that they must address and overcome. However, even though Muslims must become problem-solving oriented, Islam is more than just the problems of this world, and therefore people who take a closer look at Islam in an unprejudiced and conscientious manner, the attraction to Islam is almost irresistible. Can Muslims effectively harness their energy and ability to effectively benefit from the guidance of Islam? After all, they believe that they are "created for the humanity" [al-Qur'an/3:110]! But people who seek the truth are able to see past the failings of the human beings vis-a-vis the faith these fellow human beings proclaim to follow. At least, on the issue of race question, Islam has such pristine decisiveness that it simply can't be ignored.

Islam's stance on the issue of race is not based on centuries of struggle of oppressed and enslaved people. It is a fundamental and quintessential statement of God on true humanism. Indeed, Islam's position on universality of humanity and race rests on the solid foundation of justice. "O ye who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do. [al-Qur'an/4/an-Nisa/135] Unfortunately, Islam's song and message of equality are not being sung on the chords of humanity's heart as it should be. The hearts of Muslims should become the minaret of that message. As Kazi Nazrul Islam, the Rebel poet of Bengal, proclaimed in his famous poem The Egalitarian (Shammyobadi): "I sing the song of equality/where all status and class become triviality." Referring to the sacred heart/soul of human beings, he wrote: 

"At this altar the desert's prince 
used to hear the divine call; 
from this throne, he also sang 
Quran's message of equality of all."

Even conscientious, non-Muslim scholars don't have any reservation about this particular aspect. This is an area where even the West needs Islam, according to H.A.R. Gibb, one of the most eminent  western, non-Muslim scholars of twentieth century. "But Islam has a still further service to render to the cause of humanity. It stands after all nearer to the real East than Europe does, and it possesses a magnificent tradition of inter-racial understanding and cooperation.  No other society has such a record of success uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity, and of endeavours so many and so various races of mankind. The great Muslim communities of Africa, India and Indonesia, perhaps also the small community in Japan, show that Islam has still the power to reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and tradition.  If ever the opposition of the great societies of East and West is to be replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition.  In its hands lies very largely the solution of the problem with which Europe is faced in its relation with East.  If they unite, the hope of a  peaceful issue is immeasurably enhanced.  But if Europe, by rejecting the cooperation of Islam, throws it into the arms of its rivals, the issue can only be disastrous for both."  [H.A.R. Gibb, WHITHER ISLAM, London, 1932, p. 379.]

Muslims are thus challenged by one of the foremost modern historians in regard to one of their historic responsibility. "The extinction of race consciousness as between Muslims is one of the outstanding achievements of Islam and in the contemporary world there is, as it happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic virtue..." [A.J. Toynbee, Civilization on Trial, New York, p. 205; this book is considered one of the masterpieces and listed under Great Books and Classics at [http://www.grtbooks.com/toynbee.asp?idx=2&sub=2]

Believing in the Unitarian and unifying message of Tauheed (oneness of God) also entails believing in the universality of humanity. Are the Muslims in tune with the clarion call "Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: They are the ones to attain felicity."? [al-Qur'an/3/ale Imran/104] Instead of blaming others, would Muslims be caring and capable to stand up to this challenge as articulated by Toynbee and Gibb?

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