MPF statement on the recent claim by an UMNO Supreme Council member and ex Minister that racism is justified in Islam

MPF statement on the recent claim by an UMNO Supreme Council member and ex Minister that racism is justified in Islam

17 September 2015

PRESS RELEASE: ISLAM ABHORS RACISM


At the recent red shirt rally, a speaker was reportedly quoted as saying that he is a racist and that Islam allowed racism.

We are surprised and taken aback by this statement and would like to reiterate and remind everyone that Islam abhors and rejects racism.

The Quran states emphatically,

"O Mankind, We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God is he who is the most righteous of you" (Quran 49:13).

The prophet too reminded us in his last sermon,

"An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a black has no superiority over white, nor a white has any superiority over black, except by piety and good action (Taqwa)..." (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ahmad)

It is evident that the most righteous in Islam is determined by God consciousness and good deeds. And clearly not lineage, colour or ethnicity.

The speaker is reported to have used tribalism as a justification for his racism. Tribalism or asabiyah is explicitly forbidden in Islam and cannot be a justification for one race claiming superiority over another.

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, "He is not one of us who calls for asabiyyah, (tribalism) or who fights for asabiyyah or who dies for asabiyyah." (Abu Dawud)

There are numerous other Quranic and Hadith injunctions forbidding racism. Islam is a religion for all mankind and no one group or individual can lay claim to its exclusivity or superiority over another. To do so would be going against the very basic tenets of Islam.

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