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by Rami Mahmoud Elsawah
Reflect on the plight of the african slave since he was first taken onto the ship. From Africa, before they were taken on board the ships, stripped naked and examined from head to toe by the captain or surgeon,then crammed one on top of the other in the bowels of the ship under the most unsanitary conditions imaginable. One in five died of smallpox and dysentery. You would too if your companions were rats.
Olaudah Equiano, was captured and sold as a slave in the kingdom of Benin in Africa. He wrote about his experiences in The Life of Olaudah Equiano the African (1789)
“I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a greeting in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life; so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste anything.
The white people looked and acted, as I thought, in so savage a manner; for I had never seen among my people such instances of brutal cruelty. The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us.
The air soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died. The wretched situation was again aggravated by the chains, now unsupportable, and the filth of the necessary tubs, into which the children often fell, and were almost suffocated. The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable.”
So then what happens?
In 1865 the slaves are ‘freed’ by their masters to live their lives in the ghettos and slums and the dredges of society. If they can’t chain their hands and their legs at least they will be able to chain their minds. They will undereducate them, starve them, segregate them, kill them at the whim of their cheating promiscuous wives.
It takes another hundred years just for segregation to fall. Think about it, 50 years ago in 1954, African-Americans were prevented from going to a ‘white school’ or eating at ‘white restaurants’ for no other reason than the color of their skin. This was fifty years ago!
Racism and prejudice is not some far off thing, it’s an integral sin of human society…and it especially has deep roots in America.
Reflect on this. Thirty-one years ago, in the summer of 1942, 112,000 Japanese-Americans were forced into home grown concentration camps, then titled “assembly centers.” Two-thirds of them were citizens of the United States and held without trial. Apparently, the constitution didn’t apply to these ‘citizens’ of the United States.
Reflect on the genocide of the American -Indians.. The total population of American-Indians was reduced by half every single year. HALF! Before the settlers came, 90-100 million Indians filled North and South America. Less than a hundred years later there were 14 million. We used to practice ancient biological warfare -- blankets infected with smallpox, traded and given as gifts.
Just look at the derogatory words our society has lived on for so many years: ‘coons’ ‘niggers’ ‘chinks’ ‘gooks’ ‘micks’ ‘krauts’ ‘spics’ and most recently ‘rag-heads’. The phrase “Mother F-----” comes the practice of taking the mothers of disobedient slaves and raping them for the displeasure of the son. The slaves would curse them helplessly. Imagine that happening to yourself.
What about now?
In America, the removal of racism and prejudice from society has gotten better. But what good is better when it is still bad?
African-Americans are still living at the dredges of society. American Indians are still being stepped all over…or in the case of Hawaiian Indians, unearthed. What power do they have to stop Walmart if Walmart wants to build a store over one of their ancient burial grounds? Arabs and Muslims are currently being profiled, if not by cops then by ordinary people…afraid to sit next to you because you might be a terrorist. This is not progress; this is a digression of the moral standards shown to us 1400 years ago in Muslim society.
What should we do?
Do we not see that we have to become color-blind, group-blind, and nation-blind in order to move on? We have to start judging by justice and not by our whims. We each belong to some group or another, but we have to be smart and objective and not let these attachments get in the way of our being on right side. Justice does not take sides. We must act and judge by what is true and what is best under what has been deemed to us by Allah subhanna wa taala as being so. Not by groups, not by countries, and certainly not by colors.
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) conveyed to us in his final sermon 14 centuries ago in the Ninth Day of Dhul-Hijjah 10 A.H. in the 'Uranah valley of Mount Arafat' in Mecca.:
“O People, lend me an attentive ear, for I know not whether after this year I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen to what I am saying very carefully and take these words to those who could not be present here today.
<…>
All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over a white - except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not therefore do injustice to yourselves. Remember one day you will meet Allah and answer your deeds. So beware: do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.
O People, no prophet or apostle will come after me, and no new faith will be born. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand my words which I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the Qur'an and my Sunnah and if you follow these you will never go astray.
All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness, O Allah, that I have conveyed Your message to Your people.”
I am sure everyone has already heard on the news about the recent earthquake in Pakistan. Please keep all your brothers and sisters in your dua.
Wasalam
on October 8, 2005 1:05 PMwa'alaikum assalam..
subhanAllah.. we are getting so many wake up calls.. the hurricanes, the mudslide, the floods.. and now the earthquake. i know this kind of news can shake u sometimes.. thats why u may want to listen to sheikh hamza yusuf's "17 benefits of tribulation"..
i have never heard these tragedies explained in such an eloquent and heart easing manner.. alhamdulillah for our teachers..
With regards to this article.. thank u for raising this..definitely food for thought.. JazakumAllahu khayran.
assalamu alaikum
on October 8, 2005 3:54 PMAsalaam Aleikum Warahmatullah Wabarakatu,
I bet you if I change the title to 'Racism and Prejudice in Marriage' I would have a hundred comments.
Why do people not care about social issues like these?
It's a sad truth, but people generally care more about things that concern them. People don't care about the decreasing polution in the air but care about spending money on gas.
Likewise, people won't really care about racism and politics until it starts to affect their lives personally.
:/
on October 8, 2005 8:02 PMMarriage? Did someone just say marriage? I thought I heard someone say the word marriage.
on October 8, 2005 11:59 PMYour mistake was opening the article with words about black people. No one cares about them, Muslim or non-Muslim.
on October 9, 2005 12:14 AMBlame it on the ISRU movie. Movies made by muslims (not talking about bollywood) are always a novelty and suck the muslim youth in like moths.
This was a good article mashaAllah. The reason I think it didnt get too many comments though is because it seems these days people are preferring levity over somber reality. We are becoming bigger and bigger escapists and looking more to drugs that will render us ignorant and unconscientous. Talking about racism (even when it applies to us) is a real downer.
(btw, I am in no way disparaging the ISRU movie. It had an EXCELLENT message mashaAllah.)
on October 9, 2005 12:22 AMJudge not your article by how many comments you receive.
It is not whether people care about such topics, many do... but that is as far as their heart goes.
Only a fraction of that population do the legwork to try to effect positive social change (w/Allah's permission).
The rest either do little to nothing, or work against us (willingly or unwillingly).
'adaawa is an arabic word which is translated as enimty, 'adaawa the word has a connection to the arabic 'aada or 'awda what "return" means. So enmity or enimosity in arabic means "to return" or grab back at things happened in the past as a justification for anger and hostility. Inna Allaha laa yuhibbu AL MU'TADEEN, Verily Allah does not love those who show enimosity(grab back or return to bad things in the past as justification for hostility)
Do not hold bad deeds done in the past as a justification for hostility, they changed and they do try to better the situation in respect of justice even though they had to fight a civil war over it(remember the North always was different then the south when it came to black people)
on October 15, 2005 6:59 AMBy the way, if you look at "projects" which are the poorest neigbourhoods in the US are usually right in the center of cities, but unfortunatly most businesses(jobs) moved to the sub urbs, this is not the fault of the government but the ignorance of people, so what the government now tries to do is spread low "income housing" as much as possible and near places for work as to correct the previous mistake of putting it in the center of cities(with the intention of people being close to job places). Unfortunatly the administration had to directed some of the financing of this project towards the war effort. But thy are trying to better the situation.
on October 15, 2005 7:05 AMThis is a forward.. may interest some..
entitled: "Neglect of African Islam"
-----
As-Salam Alaykum,
It is indeed very saddening to hear of the demise of the great African Islamic scholar and saint Sidna ash-Shaykh Hassan al-Fatih Qarib-Allah of Sudan, Rahmat Allahi Alayh.
I had the honor of taking a walk with him once, only me and him. What a humble man! I remember he asked me to give Salams to my late ustadh and his close friend al-Sayyid Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki (R.A), who incidentally, was a great admirer and appreciator of Islamic scholarship and sainthood in Africa, and
taught us to do that also.
What is more saddening than the demise of Shaykh
al-Fatih though is how this great Shaykh and many
other great African scholars of Islam were and are still not appreciated by the ‘wider Muslim world.’ Like Sidi Jibril wrote, ‘he was unknown in Syria.’
I believe this is a phenomena that needs to be
addressed, i.e. the general apathy, ignorance and
neglect displayed towards African Islamic Scholarship by the so-called ‘mainstream scholarship’, especially in the Arab world. It’s an apathy that is detrimental
to all seekers of traditional Islamic knowledge and wisdom.
I have been pondering over this for a long time and
have identified four main factors for this sad
phenomenon:
1) A general ignorance of Islam in Africa. Many are
totally ignorant that Africa boasts of an authentic
Islamic tradition that goes back to the time of the
blessed Prophet himself.
In fact, his ‘second-mother’ who raised him up was an
African. His beloved “step-son” Zayd was an African.
He (saw) is recorded to have spoken the African
dialect at occasions. The first Mu’azzin was an
African; the first Hijrah was to Africa. He (saw)
married a woman from Africa (Sittana Mariyah). There
were many African Sahabah.
In later times, Africa, especially West Africa, has
been the centre of great Islamic civilizations. Many
are simply unaware of the great Islamic Empires,
Scholars, Sufi Saints, Jihads, Literature, and Culture
produced in Africa. Today, Africa is the only
continent that has a Muslim majority.
In fact, in some maps of the “Islamic world”, great
centers of traditional Islam in Africa such as
Senegal, Nigeria, Mali..etc are not even included?!
Interestingly, Imam al-Suyuti (d.911) wrote a book in
praise of the African nation, called Raf‘ Sha’n
al-Habashah, and the controversial Jahiz (d.255) even
went on to favor them over the fair-colored people in
his Fadl al-Sudan ala al-Bidan!!!
2) A racist assumption of intellectual superiority
over dark-skinned people (forgetting that Ata bin
Abi-Rubah, the Mufti of the Tabi’in in Makkah was a
black skinned African).
Sometimes, this type of racism is very hidden and even
unintentional! It is inherited over generations and
becomes rooted in one’s sub-conscious. One meets an
African scholar and the mind immediately assumes that
‘he probably doesn’t know much.’
On the other hand, in many Arab countries, this kind
of racism is the intentional by-product of secular
Arab nationalism, where false nationalistic pride is
ingrained in the masses. This jahili pride prevents
them from benefiting from any Shaykh or Alim who is
not from their country, especially if he if from a
‘lower nation’, as Africans are perceived.
How the blessed Arabian Prophet of Allah would make
the dark-skinned Usamah bin Zayd sit next to his own
fair-skinned grandson al-Hasan, on his lap, and kiss
them both, is forgotten. How, he one day licked the
blood from ‘little’ Usamah’s wound, when his own wife
(Sittana A’ishah) didn’t feel like doing it, is
forgotten. His words in his Final Sermon to the ummah,
“La Fadla li-Arabiyyin ala Ajamiyyim, wa la Ahmarin
ala Aswadin illa bit-Taqwa,” are forgotten.
3) The narrow-minded Salafi attitude, according to
which, ‘true Islam’ can only be learned from, and is
the sole possession of, the Wahhabi Shaykhs of Najd in
saudi Arabia. All other age-old Islamic traditions,
such as that of Africa, India, Turkey or Java...etc
are considered false and heretical, and must all be
discarded.
In Saudi Arabia, children are indoctrinated from a
young age to not to trust any non-Najdi scholar,
however famous he might be. An ordinary Saudi will
almost always look down upon non-saudi Ulama, even
Arab ones, and more so if they are from black Africa.
Sometimes, this appalling approach can even influence
the ‘victims’! Especially the non-Arabs who go to
study in saudi.
Thus, we find the Sudanese student who cant recognize
Shaykh al-Qarib-Allah, but adores Shaykh bin-Baz and
Shaykh Uthaymin. These kind of people become ‘stooges’
of their racist teachers and are forever undermining
their own traditional heritage in favor of a
narrow-minded Najdi Islam (which, they are brainwashed
to believe, is the Sunnah).
Thus, wahhabis in Africa will always prefer to wear
the najdi attire (extra-short thawb and red scarf)
which looks rather silly on them, rather their own
elegant traditional African Islamic Clothes. Their
women will also discard their beautiful traditional
styles of hijab (accepted by their traditional Ulama
for centuries) for a saudi style black abayah covering
the women from head to toe, a style that nether fits
with their peculiar cultural responsibilities nor with
their weather. It also guarantees the stagnation of
the spread of Islam in that region.
Followers of this approach will also undermine the
Islamic literature in their own indigenous languages
(especially the Azkar and the Madih). They will
discard their traditional Qira’ah of Warsh (the
original Qira’ah of Madinah) and violently teach Hafs
(because that’s what the saudis read). Their fierce
condemnation of the Maliki Mazhab followed in their
land, and the popular Sufi Turuq that brought Islam to
them in the first place, guarantees that they will not
respect any past or present traditional Shaykh of
their land as all of them were and are followers of
Mazhab and Tariqah.
These kind of self-haters in Africa and elsewhere, who
are sometimes mistakenly held in high esteem in other
countries, inevitably and gladly assure that no great
traditional Scholar from their land gets recognition
in Arab countries.
4) One cannot help but sense a cleverly devised
conspiracy by anti-Islamic forces to separate Muslim
Africa from the Arab world. Traditionally there was no
such separation and Arab and African Scholars would
mutually benefit from each other. Even as late as the
first half of the 20th century, there were many great
African Fuqaha and Shuyukh teaching in the Haramayn.
For example, al-Imam al-Shaykh Alfa Hashim, who
migrated from Senegal to Madinah after the French
occupation of his land, was the Maliki Mufti of
Madinah in the 1930’s, and the fatwas he would issue
from there would hold absolute authority over the
whole of West Africa. The French were well aware of
his authority and would constantly send spies,
disguised as hajis, to his gatherings in the Hijaz,
lest he give a secret Fatwa of Jihad against the
Colonialists (this was a serious concern as Alfa
Hashim was the nephew of the legendary West African
Jihad leader al-hajj Umar al-Futi Tal whose Tijaniyyah
armies had halted the French invasion for 30 years)
Shaykh Alfa Hashim was also a great Muhaddith who
would teach the books of Hadith, particularly the
Muwatta, in the Rawdah al-Nabawiyyah al-Sharifah,
while publicly displaying his Tijani Subhah, as he was
a Shaykh of the Sufi Order also (one would be arrested
for doing that in the Madinah today). It is narrated
that when this great African scholar of Madinah passed
away, so many people turned out for his Janazah that
the saudi governor of Madinah at that time commented:
“Madinah has died today.”
Western enemies of Islam are well aware of the great
and dangerous potentials of a unity, even a purely
spiritual one, between Arab and African Muslims. They
cannot risk millions of African Muslims putting their
weight behind their Arab brothers, and millions of
Arab Muslims supporting their brothers in Africa. The
continent is already 60% Muslim, and they are serious
about halting the progress of Islam there.
Therefore, they have their ‘stooges’
on both sides who see to it that no serious exchange
of scholarship and brotherhood takes place between
these two great resources of Islam, the African nation
and the Arab nation. What’s happening in Darfur for
instance is but one example of this false colonialist
created divisions.
The above mentioned reasons especially stand out with
regard to the general masses, and I have personal
experiences of all four. For some of the Ulama
fraternity, there are other reasons also, such as a general lack of communication between scholars from different countries (sometimes due to financial and political restraints), as well as the fact that
African Ulama are mostly Maliki while the ‘rest of the world’ is predominantly Hanafi-Shafi’i-Hanbali, thus the ‘lack of need’ for relations!
In any case, all of these reasons have contributed to
a heavy neglect of and apathy towards African Islamic Scholarship, thus ignoring a great resource of Ilm and Hikmah.
What makes this sadder is that, in this time and age, between the Secular and Salafi (or western and wahhabi) influenced societies in the Arab world and South Asia, traditional Islam remains strongest in Africa!
The annual Mawlid al-Nabawi celebrations in many
African Muslim nations are far greater and exciting
than any in the Arab world. I know of some African
Mawlids where as many as One Million African Muslims
attend, in celebrations extending over a week!
It is taken for granted that the traditional Ulama and
Grand-Shaykhs of the Qadiriyyah and Tijaniyyah
Tariqahs wield more power than governments and armies.
In Africa, they are a major bulwark against the forces of materialistic secularism, Wahhabism and the Christian missionaries.
In fact, nowhere is the affiliation to the Mazhab and
the Tariqah so widespread and strong, as in West
Africa today. The traditional Islamic way of learning(and life) continues to thrive in the lands of
Mauritania, Senegal, Nigeria, Chad, Mali, Ghana,
Sudan, Mombasa…etc. I personally know of a Shaykh in
Senegal who possesses more than 600 Ijazahs in various
Islamic sciences.
In short, there’s a Great Tradition ‘out there, that‘we’ cannot afford to neglect anymore…for our own
benefit.
was salam,
Fakhruddin al-Madani
just read the article and i think this one relates closely to my thinking. there isn't a day when i don't think of racism and prejudice. it's hard not to, like br. rami said especially when your on the bus and everyone is afraid to sit beside you. that's not my main concern, what bothers me most is, like another point mentioned in the article and the post of faz, the segregation of groups within the Muslim Ummah. how arabs stick to arabs, bosnians to bosnians, malaysians to malaysians, etc. it's really disheartening to sense an air of condescendence among Muslims with respect to each other.
on October 31, 2005 1:07 PMBismillah.
Assalamu alaikum
I liked this post. What they did to the native americans was completely whack. They actually built Mount Rushmore on the Black Hills which was considered the holiest site to all native americans. This is, of course, they discovered all of these resources like gold, oil on it and plundered it dry.
Yeah, Western civilization has a lot of dirty secrets.
I suggest people read Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the US".
http://s14.invisionfree.com/Shield_of_Islam/index.php?showtopic=314&st=0&#last
masalama
on October 31, 2005 11:54 PMI LOVE that book.
on November 1, 2005 2:49 AMBismillah.
Assalamu alaikum
Faz, do you have the source for that article on the neglect on african islam? I'd love to read more on the topic.
masalama
on November 1, 2005 12:08 PMAsalaam Aleikum Warahmatullah Wabarakatu,
Can anyone please tell me why people keep using the word "saint" when referring to Muslims who have passed away.
Definition of Saint:
1.
1. Abbr. St. or S. Christianity. A person officially recognized, especially by canonization, as being entitled to public veneration and capable of interceding for people on earth.
2. A person who has died and gone to heaven.
3. Saint A member of any of various religious groups, especially a Latter-Day Saint.
2. An extremely virtuous person.
Bismillah.
Assalamu alaikum
The term awliyah is derived from the term wali which is mentioned in many portions of the Quran and hadeeth.
If one examines the books of aqeedah, such as aqeedah tahawiyyah, the presence of the awliyah is affirmed.
masalama
on November 1, 2005 8:18 PMAsalaam Aleikum Warahmatullah Wabarakatu,
But why is the term "saint" used?
The term Saints, most commonly used in catholicism, means that these people after they die, are "capable of interceding for people on earth."
But we know that after a person dies he cannot help anyone nor help himself.
Wa alaikum assalam
Intercession is granted by Allah (swt) to certan categories of people.
For example:
1. The Prophets
2. The Marytrs
3. The Huffadh
4. "The Wrangler" - A child who dies prematurely
I believe Riyadh us Saliheen has plenty of references of intercession.
If you open the books of aqeedah, their are plenty of references to the awliyah.
In terms of why the term 'saint' is used, allahu alim. The true awliyah of Allah are known only to Him, unlike in Catholocism where saints are recognized by the Church.
Allahu alim.
masalama
on November 2, 2005 11:47 AM"2. An extremely virtuous person."
Thats the second meaning of 'saint'. I am just guessing, but maybe thats the reason people describe a friend of Allah with the word 'saint'.
on November 3, 2005 3:03 AM