The Race Crisis
and Islam
By M. Dawud Alcox
Allah Most High has created the human being in the best
of forms. He has painted us in different colors and shades
demonstrating His boundless creativity and capability. He
says: “Among His signs are the creation of the heavens and
the earth and the differences in your languages and colors.
Verily, in that, are signs for those of sound knowledge”
(30:22). Like an artist who paints with a few basic colors,
producing a gallery of masterpieces, Allah exhibits His
greatness with His creative capacity. This display of unparalleled
artistry should captivate our minds and fill us with
marvel moving us to reflect on the diversity in His creation.
But, has the human race misunderstood the function and
purpose of this variation? Have we begun using it as a tool
to gauge and assign societal value?
Racist and prejudicial ideologies have been used as political
fodder for ages. We see that certain groups will use tribe,
skin color, or language to score political ends. It will be
used to justify genocide one day, then flipped and used as
a campaign slogan to “unite with diversity” the next. Give
it some time and it will rehash into a counter narrative as
a strategy to defeat racism with racism. All these changes
occur and are justified within a single philosophical paradigm.
It is only natural living in a community consisting of billions
that we would develop different perceptions of reality
and normativity. We are easily swayed by narratives and
counter narratives.
If we rewind to the creation of man, we will see that a similar
type of prejudice surfaced. When Allah commanded
the angels to prostrate before Adam e, Iblis refused. His
reasoning was quite simple, he had a certain bodily compo-
10 May – June 2021 | AL-MADINAH