Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Race and Tribe: Difference between revisions
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==Arabs== | ==Arabs== | ||
===Arab Superiority=== | ===Arab Superiority=== | ||
{{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 69}}|'''Arabs are the most noble people in lineage, the most prominent, and the best in deeds.''' We were the first to respond to the call of the Prophet. We are Allah’s helpers and the viziers of His Messenger. We fight people until they believe in Allah. He who believes in Allah and His Messenger has protected his life and possessions from us. As for one who disbelieves, we will fight him forever in Allah’s Cause. Killing him is a small matter to us.}} | {{Quote|{{Tabari|9|p. 69}}|'''Arabs are the most noble people in lineage, the most prominent, and the best in deeds.''' We were the first to respond to the call of the Prophet. We are Allah’s helpers and the viziers of His Messenger. We fight people until they believe in Allah. He who believes in Allah and His Messenger has protected his life and possessions from us. As for one who disbelieves, we will fight him forever in Allah’s Cause. Killing him is a small matter to us.}} | ||
{{Quote|Ibn | {{Quote|Ibn Taymiyya, Vol. 31, pp. 376-377|"A man married a maid-slave who bore him a child. Would that child be free or would he be an owned slave?" "Her child whom she bore from him would be the property of her master according to all the Imams (heads of the four Islamic schools of law) because the child follows the (status) of his mother in freedom or slavery. If the child is not of the race of Arabs, then he is definitely an owned slave according to the scholars, but the scholars disputed (his status) among themselves if he was from the Arabs - whether he must be enslaved or not because '''when A'isha (Muhammad's wife) had a maid-slave who was an Arab, Muhammad said to A'isha, `Set this maid free because she is from the children of Ishmael.''''"}} | ||
{{Quote|Ibn Sa'd, Vol. 1, p. 12| Ali Ibn Abi Talib, said: Verily the Prophet said: God divided the earth in two halves and placed (me) in the better of the two, then He divided the half in three parts, and I was in the best of them, then '''He chose the Arabs from among the people''', then He chose the Quraysh from among the Arabs, then He chose the children of ‘Abd al-Muttalib from among the Banu Hashim, then he chose me from among the children of ‘Abd al-Muttalib, and from them he chose me.<ref>Ibn Sa'd, Abu Abd Allah Muhammad. Kitab al-Tabaqat, vol i. Translated in English by S. Moinul Haq, Kitab Bhavan, 1784, Kalan Mahal, Daraya Ganj, New Delhi, India, 1972, p12.</ref>}} | {{Quote|Ibn Sa'd, Vol. 1, p. 12| Ali Ibn Abi Talib, said: Verily the Prophet said: God divided the earth in two halves and placed (me) in the better of the two, then He divided the half in three parts, and I was in the best of them, then '''He chose the Arabs from among the people''', then He chose the Quraysh from among the Arabs, then He chose the children of ‘Abd al-Muttalib from among the Banu Hashim, then he chose me from among the children of ‘Abd al-Muttalib, and from them he chose me.<ref>Ibn Sa'd, Abu Abd Allah Muhammad. Kitab al-Tabaqat, vol i. Translated in English by S. Moinul Haq, Kitab Bhavan, 1784, Kalan Mahal, Daraya Ganj, New Delhi, India, 1972, p12.</ref>}} | ||
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So I say that the merit of God-fearingness is what counts, according to the rigorously authenticated hadith, “And he who is slow in doing good deeds, his noble lineage will not quicken him (into entering Paradise).}} | So I say that the merit of God-fearingness is what counts, according to the rigorously authenticated hadith, “And he who is slow in doing good deeds, his noble lineage will not quicken him (into entering Paradise).}} | ||
=== | ===Testimony of Bedouins is Not Allowed=== | ||
{{Quote|{{cite web|url=https://sunnah.com/abudawud/25/32 |title=Sunan Abu Dawud 25:32 |publisher= |author= |date= |archiveurl= |deadurl=no}} See also [https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah/13/60 Sunan ibn Majah 13:60].|Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet said: '''The testimony of a nomad Arab against a townsman is not allowable.'''}} | |||
{{Quote|{{cite web|url=https://sunnah.com/abudawud/25/32 |title=Sunan Abu Dawud 25:32 |publisher= |author= |date= |archiveurl= |deadurl=no}} See also [https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah/13/60 Sunan ibn Majah 13:60].|Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet said: The testimony of a nomad Arab against a townsman is not allowable.}} | |||
==Black People== | ==Black People== | ||
===Racism Against Black People=== | ===Racism Against Black People=== | ||
{{Quote|{{Muslim|10|3901}}|Jabir (Allah be pleased with him) reported: There came a slave and pledg- ed allegiance to Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) on migration; he (the Holy Prophet) did not know that he was a slave. Then there came his master and demanded him back, whereupon Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) said: '''Sell him to me. And he bought him for two black slaves''', and he did not afterwards take allegiance from anyone until he had asked him whether he was a slave (or a free man)}} | {{Quote|{{Muslim|10|3901}}|Jabir (Allah be pleased with him) reported: There came a slave and pledg- ed allegiance to Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) on migration; he (the Holy Prophet) did not know that he was a slave. Then there came his master and demanded him back, whereupon Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) said: '''Sell him to me. And he bought him for two black slaves''', and he did not afterwards take allegiance from anyone until he had asked him whether he was a slave (or a free man)}} | ||
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{{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|87|163}}|Narrated Salim's father: | {{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|87|163}}|Narrated Salim's father: | ||
The Prophet said, "I saw (in a dream) a black woman with unkempt hair going out of Medina and settling in Mahai'a. I interpreted that as (a symbol of) epidemic of Medina being transferred to Mahai'a, namely, Al-Juhfa."}} | The Prophet said, "I saw (in a dream) a black woman with unkempt hair going out of Medina and settling in Mahai'a. I interpreted that as (a symbol of) epidemic of Medina being transferred to Mahai'a, namely, Al-Juhfa."}} | ||
===Islamic Writers and Scholars on Black People=== | ===Islamic Writers and Scholars on Black People=== | ||
Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) was, among other things, an Islamic jurist, Islamic lawyer, Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian, and hafiz | |||
{{Quote|Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah, 14th century|"Therefore, the Negro nation are, as a rule, submissive to slavery, because [Negroes] have little [that is essentially] human and have attributes that are quite similar to those of dumb animals, as we have stated."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | {{Quote|Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah, 14th century|"Therefore, the Negro nation are, as a rule, submissive to slavery, because [Negroes] have little [that is essentially] human and have attributes that are quite similar to those of dumb animals, as we have stated."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | ||
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{{Quote|Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah|"beyond [known peoples of black West Africa] to the south there is no civilization in the proper sense. There are only humans who are closer to dumb animals than to rational beings. They live in thickets and caves, and eat herbs and unprepared grain. They frequently eat each other. They cannot be considered human beings."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | {{Quote|Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah|"beyond [known peoples of black West Africa] to the south there is no civilization in the proper sense. There are only humans who are closer to dumb animals than to rational beings. They live in thickets and caves, and eat herbs and unprepared grain. They frequently eat each other. They cannot be considered human beings."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | ||
Ibn Sina or ''Avicenna'' (980-1037), was, among other things, a Hafiz, Islamic psychologist, Islamic scholar, and Islamic theologian - many said. | |||
{{Quote|Quoted in “Blasphemy Before God: The Darkness of Racism In Muslim Culture” by Adam Misbah aI-Haqq|[Blacks are] people who are by their very nature slaves.<ref name="Islamic Racism2"></ref>}} | {{Quote|Quoted in “Blasphemy Before God: The Darkness of Racism In Muslim Culture” by Adam Misbah aI-Haqq|[Blacks are] people who are by their very nature slaves.<ref name="Islamic Racism2"></ref>}} | ||
Ibn Qutaybah (828-889), was a renowned Islamic scholar from Kufa, Iraq | |||
{{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=43-50|chapter=Ventures in Ethnology}}|They [the Zanj, that is, blacks] are ugly and misshapen, because they live in a hot country. The heat overcrooks them in the womb, and curls their hair.}} | {{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=43-50|chapter=Ventures in Ethnology}}|They [the Zanj, that is, blacks] are ugly and misshapen, because they live in a hot country. The heat overcrooks them in the womb, and curls their hair.}} | ||
Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī (1201-1274), was a Shia Muslim Scholar and Grand Ayatollah | |||
{{Quote|Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Tasawwurat (Rawdat al-taslim):|"If (all types of men) are taken, from the first, and one placed after another, like the Negro from Zanzibar, in the Southern-most countries, the Negro does not differ from an animal in anything except the fact that his hands have been lifted from the earth -in no other peculiarity or property - except for what God wished. Many have seen that the ape is more capable of being trained than the Negro, and more intelligent."<ref name="Islamic Racism">[http://www.colorq.org/Articles/article.aspx?d=2002&x=arabviews West Asian views on black Africans during the medieval era]</ref>}} | {{Quote|Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Tasawwurat (Rawdat al-taslim):|"If (all types of men) are taken, from the first, and one placed after another, like the Negro from Zanzibar, in the Southern-most countries, the Negro does not differ from an animal in anything except the fact that his hands have been lifted from the earth -in no other peculiarity or property - except for what God wished. Many have seen that the ape is more capable of being trained than the Negro, and more intelligent."<ref name="Islamic Racism">[http://www.colorq.org/Articles/article.aspx?d=2002&x=arabviews West Asian views on black Africans during the medieval era]</ref>}} | ||
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{{Quote||[The Zanj (African) differ from animals only in that] their two hands are lifted above the ground,... Many have observed that the ape is more teachable and more intelligent than the Zanj.<ref name="Islamic Racism2">[http://www.nathanielturner.com/racismarabandeuropeancompare.htm Comparative Digests Racism Arab and European Compared] - Nathaniel Turner</ref>}} | {{Quote||[The Zanj (African) differ from animals only in that] their two hands are lifted above the ground,... Many have observed that the ape is more teachable and more intelligent than the Zanj.<ref name="Islamic Racism2">[http://www.nathanielturner.com/racismarabandeuropeancompare.htm Comparative Digests Racism Arab and European Compared] - Nathaniel Turner</ref>}} | ||
Al-Muqaddasi (945/946-1000) was a medieval Muslim geographer | |||
{{Quote|Al-Muqaddasi (fl. 966), Kitab al-Bad' wah-tarikh, vol.4|"Of the neighbors of the Bujja, Maqdisi had heard that "there is no marriage among them; the child does not know his father, and they eat people -- but God knows best. As for the Zanj, they are people of black color, flat noses, kinky hair, and little understanding or intelligence."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | {{Quote|Al-Muqaddasi (fl. 966), Kitab al-Bad' wah-tarikh, vol.4|"Of the neighbors of the Bujja, Maqdisi had heard that "there is no marriage among them; the child does not know his father, and they eat people -- but God knows best. As for the Zanj, they are people of black color, flat noses, kinky hair, and little understanding or intelligence."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | ||
Al-Masudi (896-956), was a Muslim historian and geographer, known as the "Herodotus of the Arabs."<ref>{{cite book | |||
| last = Ter-Ghevondyan | | last = Ter-Ghevondyan | ||
| first = Aram N. | | first = Aram N. | ||
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{{Quote|Al-Masudi, Muruj al-dhahab|"Galen says that merriment dominates the black man because of his defective brain, whence also the weakness of his intelligence."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}}{{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=85-92|chapter=Equality and Marriage}}|“[quoting another source in agreement:] Do not intermarry with the sons of Ham [blacks] for they are the distorted among God’s creatures . . .”}}{{Quote|{{citation|author=Alexandre Popovic|title=The Revolt of African Slaves in Iraq in the 3rd/9th Century|location=Princeton, NJ|publisher=Markus Wiener|year=1999|page=16}}|[The Zanj have:] black complexion, kinky hair, flat nose[s], thick lips, slender hands and feet, fetid odor, limited intelligence, extreme exuberance, [and] cannibalistic customs.}} | {{Quote|Al-Masudi, Muruj al-dhahab|"Galen says that merriment dominates the black man because of his defective brain, whence also the weakness of his intelligence."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}}{{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=85-92|chapter=Equality and Marriage}}|“[quoting another source in agreement:] Do not intermarry with the sons of Ham [blacks] for they are the distorted among God’s creatures . . .”}}{{Quote|{{citation|author=Alexandre Popovic|title=The Revolt of African Slaves in Iraq in the 3rd/9th Century|location=Princeton, NJ|publisher=Markus Wiener|year=1999|page=16}}|[The Zanj have:] black complexion, kinky hair, flat nose[s], thick lips, slender hands and feet, fetid odor, limited intelligence, extreme exuberance, [and] cannibalistic customs.}} | ||
Ibn al-Faqih (9th century) was a Muslim historian and geographer | |||
{{Quote|Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadani, Mukhtasar Kitab al-Buldan, 903 AD|"A man of discernment said: The people of Iraq ... do not come out with something between blonde, buff and blanched coloring, such as the infants dropped from the wombs of the women of the Slavs and others of similar light complexion; nor are they overdone in the womb until they are burned, so that the child comes out something between black, murky, malodorous, stinking, and crinkly-haired, with uneven limbs, deficient minds, and depraved passions, such as the Zanj, the Somali, and other blacks who resemble them. The Iraqis are neither half-baked dough nor burned crust but between the two."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | {{Quote|Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadani, Mukhtasar Kitab al-Buldan, 903 AD|"A man of discernment said: The people of Iraq ... do not come out with something between blonde, buff and blanched coloring, such as the infants dropped from the wombs of the women of the Slavs and others of similar light complexion; nor are they overdone in the womb until they are burned, so that the child comes out something between black, murky, malodorous, stinking, and crinkly-haired, with uneven limbs, deficient minds, and depraved passions, such as the Zanj, the Somali, and other blacks who resemble them. The Iraqis are neither half-baked dough nor burned crust but between the two."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | ||
Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (973-1048), was an Islamic scholar and polymath | |||
{{Quote|Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, India, 1030 AD|"The Zanj are so uncivilized that they have no notion of a natural death. If a man dies a natural death, they think he was poisoned. Every death is suspicious with them, if a man has not been killed by a weapon."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | {{Quote|Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, India, 1030 AD|"The Zanj are so uncivilized that they have no notion of a natural death. If a man dies a natural death, they think he was poisoned. Every death is suspicious with them, if a man has not been killed by a weapon."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | ||
Hudud al-`Alam is a book dedicated to Abu l-Ḥārith Muḥammad b. Aḥmad, a ruler of the local Farighunid dynasty. | |||
{{Quote|Hudud al-`Alam, 982 AD|"Their [Zanj] nature is that of wild animals. They are extremely black." "Among themselves [the Sudan] there are people who steal each other's children and sell them to the merchants when the latter arrive."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | {{Quote|Hudud al-`Alam, 982 AD|"Their [Zanj] nature is that of wild animals. They are extremely black." "Among themselves [the Sudan] there are people who steal each other's children and sell them to the merchants when the latter arrive."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | ||
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{{Quote|Hudud al-`Alam, 982 AD|"As regards southern countries, all their inhabitants are black on account of the heat of their climate... Most of them go naked... In all their lands and provinces, gold is found.... They are people distant from the standards of humanity."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | {{Quote|Hudud al-`Alam, 982 AD|"As regards southern countries, all their inhabitants are black on account of the heat of their climate... Most of them go naked... In all their lands and provinces, gold is found.... They are people distant from the standards of humanity."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | ||
Al Jahiz (781–869), was a famous Muslim scholar | |||
{{Quote|Jahiz, Kitab al-Hayawan, vol. 2|"Like the crow among mankind are the Zanj [African Blacks] for they are the worst of men and the most vicious of creatures in character and temperament."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | {{Quote|Jahiz, Kitab al-Hayawan, vol. 2|"Like the crow among mankind are the Zanj [African Blacks] for they are the worst of men and the most vicious of creatures in character and temperament."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | ||
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{{Quote|Jahiz, Al-Bayan wa`l-tabyin, vol. 3|"They [the Shu`ubiyya] maintain that eloquence is prized by all people at all times - even the Zanj, despite their dimness, their boundless stupidity, their obtuseness, their crude perceptions and their evil dispositions, make long speeches."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | {{Quote|Jahiz, Al-Bayan wa`l-tabyin, vol. 3|"They [the Shu`ubiyya] maintain that eloquence is prized by all people at all times - even the Zanj, despite their dimness, their boundless stupidity, their obtuseness, their crude perceptions and their evil dispositions, make long speeches."<ref name="Islamic Racism"></ref>}} | ||
Ibn Abi Zayd (922–996), was a Maliki scholar from Al-Qayrawan in Tunisia. | |||
{{Quote||It is disliked to trade in the land of the enemy or the land of the blacks. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Travel is a portion of punishment."<ref>[http://bewley.virtualave.net/RisSpeech.html The Risala of 'Abdullah ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani/ 43.16 Trading abroad] - A Treatise on Maliki Fiqh (Including commentary from ath-Thamr ad-Dani by al-Azhari)(310/922 - 386/996)</ref>}} | {{Quote||It is disliked to trade in the land of the enemy or the land of the blacks. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Travel is a portion of punishment."<ref>[http://bewley.virtualave.net/RisSpeech.html The Risala of 'Abdullah ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani/ 43.16 Trading abroad] - A Treatise on Maliki Fiqh (Including commentary from ath-Thamr ad-Dani by al-Azhari)(310/922 - 386/996)</ref>}}al-Ibshihi (1388–1446), Egyptian scholar who wrote an encyclopedia covering Islamic law, theology, mysticism, and some other topics. | ||
{{Quote|{{citation|url=https://app.turath.io/book/23802|page=328|author=Shihab al-Din | {{Quote|{{citation|url=https://app.turath.io/book/23802|page=328|author=Shihab al-Din al-Ibshihi|title=al-Mustatraf fi Kul Fan Mustatraf|publisher=al-Maktaba al-Shamila}}; translated in {{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=92-99|chapter=Image and Stereotype}}|Is there anything more vile than black slaves, of less good and more evil than they'? As for the mulatto, if you show kindness to one of them all your life and in every way, he will not be grateful; and it will be as if you had done nothing for him. The better you treat him, the more insolent he will he; the worse you treat him, the more humble and submissive. I have tried this many times, and how well the poet says: ‘If you honor the honorable you possess him / If you honor the ignoble, he will be insolent.’ It is said that when the [black] slave is sated, he fornicates, when he is hungry, he steals. My grandfather on my mother's side used to say: The worst use of money is bringing up slaves, and mulattoes are even worse and wickeder than Zanj, for the mulatto does not know his father, while the Zanji often knows both parents. It is said of the mulatto that he is like a mule, because he is a mongrel. . . . Do not trust a mulatto, for there is rarely any good in him}} | ||
Shams al-Dīn Muhammad b. Abī Talib al-Dimashqī | Shams al-Dīn Muhammad b. Abī Talib al-Dimashqī (1256-1327), Damascene Imam who wrote on many topics. | ||
{{Quote|{{citation|title=Nukhbat al-Dahr fi Ajaib al-Barr wal-Bahr|location=Leipzig|publisher=Harassowitz|editor=A. Mehren|pages=15-17|year=1923}}; translated in {{citation|author=John Hunwick|title=West Africa, Islam, and the Arab World|publisher=Markus Wiener|location=Princeton, NJ|year=2006|page=81}}|The equatorial region is inhabited by communities of blacks who are to be numbered among the savages and beasts. Their complexions and hair are burnt and they are physically and morally deviant. Their brains almost boil from the sun's excessive heat.. . . The human being who dwells there is a crude fellow, with a very black complexion, and burnt hair, unruly, with stinking sweat, and an abnormal constitution, most closely resembling in his moral qualities a savage, or animals.}} | {{Quote|{{citation|title=Nukhbat al-Dahr fi Ajaib al-Barr wal-Bahr|location=Leipzig|publisher=Harassowitz|editor=A. Mehren|pages=15-17|year=1923}}; translated in {{citation|author=John Hunwick|title=West Africa, Islam, and the Arab World|publisher=Markus Wiener|location=Princeton, NJ|year=2006|page=81}}|The equatorial region is inhabited by communities of blacks who are to be numbered among the savages and beasts. Their complexions and hair are burnt and they are physically and morally deviant. Their brains almost boil from the sun's excessive heat.. . . The human being who dwells there is a crude fellow, with a very black complexion, and burnt hair, unruly, with stinking sweat, and an abnormal constitution, most closely resembling in his moral qualities a savage, or animals.}} | ||
Ibn Battuta | Ibn Battuta (1304-1369) Muslim scholar and traveler who wrote about his journeys across the world. | ||
{{Quote|Ibn Battuta in {{citation|title=Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1981|editor1=J.F.P. Hopkins|editor2=Nehemia Levtzion|page=298}}|[Writing about West Africans:] When I saw it [their reception gift] I laughed, and was long astonished at their feeble intellect and their respect for mean things.}}Al-Idrisi | {{Quote|Ibn Battuta in {{citation|title=Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1981|editor1=J.F.P. Hopkins|editor2=Nehemia Levtzion|page=298}}|[Writing about West Africans:] When I saw it [their reception gift] I laughed, and was long astonished at their feeble intellect and their respect for mean things.}}Al-Idrisi (1100-1165), Muslim geographer, writer, scientist, cartographer from Almoravid Spain. | ||
{{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=50-54|chapter=The Discovery of Africa}}|[The Zanj, that is, blacks] are in great fear and awe of the Arabs, so much so that when they see an Arab trader or traveler they bow down and treat him with great respect [such that the Arab can] lure them with dates, and lead them from place to place, until they seize them, take them out of the country, and transport them to their own countries . . . [They] lack of knowledge and [have] defective minds . . .}} | {{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=50-54|chapter=The Discovery of Africa}}|[The Zanj, that is, blacks] are in great fear and awe of the Arabs, so much so that when they see an Arab trader or traveler they bow down and treat him with great respect [such that the Arab can] lure them with dates, and lead them from place to place, until they seize them, take them out of the country, and transport them to their own countries . . . [They] lack of knowledge and [have] defective minds . . .}} | ||
Said al-Andalusi | Said al-Andalusi (1029-1070) was an Arab qadhi (Islamic judge) living in al-Andalus, Spain who wrote on the history of science and philosophy. | ||
{{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=43-50|chapter=Ventures in Ethnology}}|[The southern ‘barbarians’] are more like beasts than like men . . . For those who live furthest to the north between the last of the seven climates and the limits of the inhabited world, the excessive distance of the sun in relation to the zenith line makes the air cold and the atmosphere thick. Their temperaments are therefore frigid, their humors raw, their bellies gross, their color pale, their hair long and lank. Thus they lack keenness of understanding and clarity of intelligence, and are overcome by ignorance and dullness, lack of discernment, and stupidity. Such are the Slavs, the Bulgars, and their neighbors. For those peoples on the other hand who live near and beyond the equinoctial line to the limit of the inhabited world in the south, the long presence of the sun at the zenith makes the air hot and the atmosphere thin. Because of this their temperaments become hot and their humors fiery, their color black and their hair woolly. Thus they lack self-control and steadiness of mind and are overcome by fickleness, foolishness, and ignorance. Such are the blacks, who live at the extremity of the land of Ethiopia, the Nubians, the Zanj and the like. . . . [they are the only people] who diverge from this human order and depart from this rational association are some dwellers in the steppes and inhabitants of the deserts and wilderness, such as the rabble of Bujja, the savages of Ghana, the scum of the Zanj, and their like.}}Ibn Hazm | {{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=43-50|chapter=Ventures in Ethnology}}|[The southern ‘barbarians’] are more like beasts than like men . . . For those who live furthest to the north between the last of the seven climates and the limits of the inhabited world, the excessive distance of the sun in relation to the zenith line makes the air cold and the atmosphere thick. Their temperaments are therefore frigid, their humors raw, their bellies gross, their color pale, their hair long and lank. Thus they lack keenness of understanding and clarity of intelligence, and are overcome by ignorance and dullness, lack of discernment, and stupidity. Such are the Slavs, the Bulgars, and their neighbors. For those peoples on the other hand who live near and beyond the equinoctial line to the limit of the inhabited world in the south, the long presence of the sun at the zenith makes the air hot and the atmosphere thin. Because of this their temperaments become hot and their humors fiery, their color black and their hair woolly. Thus they lack self-control and steadiness of mind and are overcome by fickleness, foolishness, and ignorance. Such are the blacks, who live at the extremity of the land of Ethiopia, the Nubians, the Zanj and the like. . . . [they are the only people] who diverge from this human order and depart from this rational association are some dwellers in the steppes and inhabitants of the deserts and wilderness, such as the rabble of Bujja, the savages of Ghana, the scum of the Zanj, and their like.}}Ibn Hazm (994-1064) was an Andalusian polymath who wrote on history, Islamic law, Islamic theology, philosophy, and is especially well regarded for his study of the hadiths. | ||
{{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=28-37|chapter=Prejudice and Piety, Literature and Law}}|God has decreed that the most devout is the noblest even if he be a Negress’s bastard, and that the sinner and unbeliever is at the lowest level even if he be the son of prophets.}} | {{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=28-37|chapter=Prejudice and Piety, Literature and Law}}|God has decreed that the most devout is the noblest even if he be a Negress’s bastard, and that the sinner and unbeliever is at the lowest level even if he be the son of prophets.}} | ||
al-Kirmani | al-Kirmani (996-1021) was a famous Persian Ismaili theologian and philosopher. | ||
{{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=54-62|chapter=In Black and White}}|In a philosophical work, he dismisses "the Turks, Zanj, Berbers, and their like" as "by their nature" without interest in the pursuit of intellectual knowledge and without desire to understand religious truth.}} | {{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=54-62|chapter=In Black and White}}|In a philosophical work, he dismisses "the Turks, Zanj, Berbers, and their like" as "by their nature" without interest in the pursuit of intellectual knowledge and without desire to understand religious truth.}} | ||
al-Mutannabi | al-Mutannabi (915-965) was a famous Abbasid court poet from Iraq and one of the most influential poets in the history of Arabic. | ||
{{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=54-62|chapter=In Black and White}}|The slave is no brother to the godly freeman. / even though he be born in the clothes of the free. // Do not buy a slave without buying a stick with him, / for slaves are filthy and scant of good. // I never thought I should live to see the day when a / dog would do me evil and be praised in the bargain, // nor did I imagin that true men would have ceased to exist, / and that the like of the father of bounty, / would still be here, // and that that negro with his pierced camel’s lip / would be obeyed by those cowardly hirelings . . . // . . . Who ever taught the eunuch negro nobility? His / “white” people, or his royal ancestors? // or his ear bleeding in the hand of the slave-broker? / or his worth, seeing that for two farthings / he would be rejected? // wretched Kafur is the most deserving of the base / to be excused in regard to every baseness – / and sometimes excusing is a reproach – / and that is because white stallions are incapable / of gentility, so how about black eunuchs?}}{{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=54-62|chapter=In Black and White}}|More stupid than a slave or his mate is he who makes / the slave his master . . . // . . . One who holds you by his word is unlike one who holds / you in his jail – // The morality of the [black] slave is bounded by his / stinking pudenda and his teeth. // He does not keep his engagements of today, nor remember / what he said yesterday . . . // . . . Hope for no good from a man over whose head the / slaver’s hand has passed, // And, if you are in doubt about his person or / condition, look to his race. // One who is vile in his coat, was usually vile / in his caul. // He who makes his way beyond his merits, still cannot / get away from his root.}}Qadi Iyad | {{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=54-62|chapter=In Black and White}}|The slave is no brother to the godly freeman. / even though he be born in the clothes of the free. // Do not buy a slave without buying a stick with him, / for slaves are filthy and scant of good. // I never thought I should live to see the day when a / dog would do me evil and be praised in the bargain, // nor did I imagin that true men would have ceased to exist, / and that the like of the father of bounty, / would still be here, // and that that negro with his pierced camel’s lip / would be obeyed by those cowardly hirelings . . . // . . . Who ever taught the eunuch negro nobility? His / “white” people, or his royal ancestors? // or his ear bleeding in the hand of the slave-broker? / or his worth, seeing that for two farthings / he would be rejected? // wretched Kafur is the most deserving of the base / to be excused in regard to every baseness – / and sometimes excusing is a reproach – / and that is because white stallions are incapable / of gentility, so how about black eunuchs?}}{{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=54-62|chapter=In Black and White}}|More stupid than a slave or his mate is he who makes / the slave his master . . . // . . . One who holds you by his word is unlike one who holds / you in his jail – // The morality of the [black] slave is bounded by his / stinking pudenda and his teeth. // He does not keep his engagements of today, nor remember / what he said yesterday . . . // . . . Hope for no good from a man over whose head the / slaver’s hand has passed, // And, if you are in doubt about his person or / condition, look to his race. // One who is vile in his coat, was usually vile / in his caul. // He who makes his way beyond his merits, still cannot / get away from his root.}}Qadi Iyad (108301149) was one of the most famous Maliki jurists, also an Imam and qadi in Granada under the Almoravid dynasty. | ||
{{Quote|{{citation|title=al-Shifa bi-ta'rif huquq al-Mustafa|author=Qadi Iyad|publisher=al-Maktaba al-Shamila|url=https://app.turath.io/book/1753|volume=2|page=217, 234}}; translated in {{citation|editor=Aisha Abdarrahman Bewley|Publisher=Madinah Press Inverness|location=Scotland|year=2004|title=Ash-Shifa of Qadi 'Iyad|pages=375, 387|url=https://archive.org/details/MuhammadMessengerOfAllahAshShifaOfQadiIyad}}|[Qadi Iyad repeats this twice:] Ahmad b. Abi Sulayman, the companion of Sahnun, said, 'Anyone who says that the Prophet was black (''aswad'') should be killed.'}}Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani | {{Quote|{{citation|title=al-Shifa bi-ta'rif huquq al-Mustafa|author=Qadi Iyad|publisher=al-Maktaba al-Shamila|url=https://app.turath.io/book/1753|volume=2|page=217, 234}}; translated in {{citation|editor=Aisha Abdarrahman Bewley|Publisher=Madinah Press Inverness|location=Scotland|year=2004|title=Ash-Shifa of Qadi 'Iyad|pages=375, 387|url=https://archive.org/details/MuhammadMessengerOfAllahAshShifaOfQadiIyad}}|[Qadi Iyad repeats this twice:] Ahmad b. Abi Sulayman, the companion of Sahnun, said, 'Anyone who says that the Prophet was black (''aswad'') should be killed.'}}Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani (897-967) was an Arab litterateur, genealogist, poet, and musicologist. | ||
{{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=92-99|chapter=Image and Stereotype}}|[Retelling an anecdote about "an Arab poet known as al-Sayyid al-Himyari (723-89)":] The Sayyid was my neighbor, and he was very dark. He used to carouse with the young men of the camp, one of whom was as dark as he was, with a thick nose and lips, and a Negroid [''muzannajj''] appearance. The Sayyid had the foulest smelling armpits of anybody. They were jesting together one day, and the Sayyid said to him: "You are a Zanji in your nose and your lips!" whereat the youth replied to the Sayyid: "And you are a Zanji in your color and armpits!"}} | {{Quote|{{citation|title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry|author=Bernard Lewis|ISBN=978-0-19-506283-0|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|pages=92-99|chapter=Image and Stereotype}}|[Retelling an anecdote about "an Arab poet known as al-Sayyid al-Himyari (723-89)":] The Sayyid was my neighbor, and he was very dark. He used to carouse with the young men of the camp, one of whom was as dark as he was, with a thick nose and lips, and a Negroid [''muzannajj''] appearance. The Sayyid had the foulest smelling armpits of anybody. They were jesting together one day, and the Sayyid said to him: "You are a Zanji in your nose and your lips!" whereat the youth replied to the Sayyid: "And you are a Zanji in your color and armpits!"}} | ||
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Many passages of the Qur'an and the hadith call for the equality of all peoples in Islam. Yet at the same time, Islamic scriptures contain agitation against the Jews which would be considered today to be anti-semitism (covered in a separate article), and the Arabs and their language are given a superior place in the eyes of Allah and the tradition. Derogatory descriptions of black people, Ethiopians in particular, may also be found in sahih hadiths. Furthermore, overt racism against black people and Arab supremacism are found in the works of many highly regarded Islamic scholars. All in all the picture of race, ethnicity, and what may be called "race-relations" is a complicated on in the Islamic tradition.
Anti-Racism in Islamic Scriptures
It is important to take note of the verses and hadiths that discourage racism (though as mentioned in the introduction, Islamic anti-semitism is covered in a separate article).
O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is Knower, Aware.
The circumstances of revelation (Asbab Al-Nuzul) by Al-Wahidi for this verse says that it was revealed when a person derided another's lineage, and when another person made a racist complaint that a black man (Bilal) had been appointed by Muhammad to make the call to prayer.
(O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female") [49:13]. Said Ibn 'Abbas: "This was revealed about Thabit ibn Qays when he made a remark about the man who did not make room for him to sit: 'What, the son of so-and-so [referring to his mother]'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'Who mentioned that woman?' Thabit stood up and said: 'I did, O Messenger of Allah!' The Messenger said to him: 'Look at the faces of those present'. And when he looked, he asked him: 'What do you see?' He said: 'I see white, red and black people'. The Prophet said: 'Well, you are not better than any of them unless it be through [the good practice of] religion and God-fearingness'. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed this verse". Muqatil said: "On the day Mecca was conquered, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, ordered Bilal to climb on the roof of the Ka'bah and perform the call to prayer. 'Attab ibn Asid commented on this: 'Praise be to Allah, that Allah has taken my father to Him and made that he did not see this day'. Al-Harith ibn Hisham said: 'Did Muhammad not find any other caller to prayer except this black raven?' Suhayl ibn 'Amr said: 'Allah willing, he will change him'. Abu Sufyan, on the other hand, said: 'I am not going to make any comment; I am afraid that the Lord of heaven will divulge what I say!' Gabriel, peace be upon him, went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and informed him about what they said. The Prophet summoned them and asked them about what they said and they admitted it. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed this verse warning them against boasting about their lineages and abundance of wealth and against looking down on the poor".
In a hadith graded sahih by al-Albani[1], Muhammad said the following during the farewell pilgrimage (the word translated "righteousness" is taqwa - piety or reliosity):
Abu Nadrah reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said during the middle of the day at the end of the pilgrimage,“O people, your Lord is one and your father Adam is one. There is no virtue of an Arab over a foreigner nor a foreigner over an Arab, and neither white skin over black skin nor black skin over white skin, except by righteousness. Have I not delivered the message?” They said, “The Messenger of Allah has delivered the message.”
In a sahih hadith Muhammad criticises boasting and reviling based on ancestry, which could be interpreted to apply to tribe and even ethnicity.
Abu Malik al-Ash'ari reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
Among my people there are four characteristics belonging to pre-Islamic period which they do not abandon: boasting of high rank, reviling other peoples' genealogies, seeking rain by stars, and walling. And he (further) said: If the wailing woman does not repent before she dies, she will be made to stand on the Day of Resurrection wearing a garment of pitch and a chemise of mange.
Unfortunately as we shall see in the following sections, such sentiments are somewhat undermined by some other sahih hadiths where we find prejudice against some Arab groups, and black people are used with negative imagery. In addition, some classical Islamic scholars of high repute are guilty of promoting explicitly racist attitudes.
Arabs
Arab Superiority
Arabs are the most noble people in lineage, the most prominent, and the best in deeds. We were the first to respond to the call of the Prophet. We are Allah’s helpers and the viziers of His Messenger. We fight people until they believe in Allah. He who believes in Allah and His Messenger has protected his life and possessions from us. As for one who disbelieves, we will fight him forever in Allah’s Cause. Killing him is a small matter to us.
"A man married a maid-slave who bore him a child. Would that child be free or would he be an owned slave?" "Her child whom she bore from him would be the property of her master according to all the Imams (heads of the four Islamic schools of law) because the child follows the (status) of his mother in freedom or slavery. If the child is not of the race of Arabs, then he is definitely an owned slave according to the scholars, but the scholars disputed (his status) among themselves if he was from the Arabs - whether he must be enslaved or not because when A'isha (Muhammad's wife) had a maid-slave who was an Arab, Muhammad said to A'isha, `Set this maid free because she is from the children of Ishmael.'"
Ibn Taymiyya, Vol. 31, pp. 376-377
Ali Ibn Abi Talib, said: Verily the Prophet said: God divided the earth in two halves and placed (me) in the better of the two, then He divided the half in three parts, and I was in the best of them, then He chose the Arabs from among the people, then He chose the Quraysh from among the Arabs, then He chose the children of ‘Abd al-Muttalib from among the Banu Hashim, then he chose me from among the children of ‘Abd al-Muttalib, and from them he chose me.[2]
Ibn Sa'd, Vol. 1, p. 12
The fact that Allah Most High has chosen the Arabs over other nations is affirmed in rigorously authenticated hadiths of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and give him peace; related by Bukhari and Muslim in their “Sahih” in the beginning of the chapter of merits, # 5897, on the authority of Wathilah ibn al-Asqa` who said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, ‘Verily Allah has chosen Kinanah from the son of Isma`il, and He has chosen Quraysh from among Kinanah and He has chosen Hashim from among Quraysh and He has chosen me from the Bani Hashim.’”
So this hadith is a primary text about the preference of Arabs over others and the preference of some Arabs over other Arabs. And this is what the Imams have chosen from the………of their books, and even in individual books such as the book of Qurb about the merit of Arabs, authored by the great Imam al-Hafiz Zayn al-din al-`Iraqi. And it was summarized by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami and others.
Therefore the preference of Arabs over other nations, and the preference of some Arabs over other Arabs is affirmed in the Sacred Law. Allah has even preferred some months over other months and some days and nights of over others, as well as places. So in the same way, Allah Glorious and Exalted is He, has chosen some men over others, such as the prophets over others and even some prophets over other prophets. Muslims should not have any objection to this, because all of this returns to the wisdom of the Most Wise, Glorious is He, who is not asked about what He does, but rather, they are the ones who are asked. So after a Muslim has believed in Allah as his Lord, the Truth, and that there is no God but Him, then he should know that this is from among His matters, Blessed and High is He, and there is nothing but magnificent wisdom in it that we might see or that we might not see. Either way, we are only responsible for submitting to His rule, Glorious is He. And among His rulings is that Arabs are preferred over others and that some Arabs are better than other Arabs, as the above hadith clearly explained. So it is not appropriate for anyone to disagree in this when the proof is perfectly valid.
And there should be no disagreement in what has just preceded nor any disagreement in what appears in the Magnificent Book and in the sunna where we find that the real source of Allah’s preference is God-fearingness (taqwa) which result in the good deeds that people earn and that they are accounted for. So whoever sends forth good for himself, Allah has preferred him over those who have sent forth evil. As for the preference of an Arab over a non-Arab, and the preference of some Arabs over others, this is not a deed that one can earn. Rather, it is a bounty that Allah gives to whom He wills. So he may will something for these people, and there is no objection to your Lord’s rule. This is like the preference of some days over others, because the mind reasons that all days are the same in and of themselves, and there is no distinction that might appear between them. However, the mind can understand why something is better if there is not ……….. So the Sacred law came and affirmed the preference of some over others, and for some of those things there were reasons and wisdoms, such as the preference of the night of Power over others because the Majestic Qur’an was revealed during it. And in some of these things, the wisdom is not apparent to us and so this falls into the chapter of absolute obedience, such as the number of cycles (rak`ahs) in the prayer.
It is obligatory on a Muslim to believe that Arabs are preferred over other nations because there is a proof for it. However, this is not one of the pillars of our religion such that if someone rejected this, they would be considered outside of Islam. But if one does reject this, one has sinned for not believing in it because it is an affirmed matter according to a clear rigorously authenticated hadith. Also, this issue is not something that is commonly known among most Muslims, so for this, one should not hasten to blame one who disagrees with it. It is necessary, rather, to tell him about the issue.
And the fact that Arabs are preferred over others does not mean that a non-Arab can not have a higher merit in the religion than an Arab, because a person earns the good deeds that Allah has recommended we compete for. This is the highest merit of God-fearingness and this will be the basis upon which things are decided in the hereafter. However, the merit of the Arabs will still remain, in terms of their respect and exaltation being higher than others. And from this some hadiths have come to us about the Quraysh being put first for the caliphate before others, such as the hadith in Bukhari (#3500) on the authority of Mu`awiyah, may Allah be well pleased with him who said, ” I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, ‘This matter of government belongs to the Quraysh. Anyone who takes a hostile attitude to them will be thrown on his face, as long as they are true to the faith.” And Bukhari also related (#3501) on the authority of Ibn `Umar from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and give him peace, that he said, “Government continues to belong to the Quraysh, even if they are (no more than) two.”
So I say that the merit of God-fearingness is what counts, according to the rigorously authenticated hadith, “And he who is slow in doing good deeds, his noble lineage will not quicken him (into entering Paradise)."Arabs preferred over other nations" (archived)
Shaykh Amjad Rasheed, Ustadha Shazia Ahmad (trans.), SunniPath, Question ID:9427, http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=9427&CATE=1.
Shaykh Amjad Rasheed, Ustadha Shazia Ahmad (trans.), SunniPath, Question ID:9427, http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=9427&CATE=1.
Testimony of Bedouins is Not Allowed
Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet said: The testimony of a nomad Arab against a townsman is not allowable.
Black People
Racism Against Black People
Jabir (Allah be pleased with him) reported: There came a slave and pledg- ed allegiance to Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) on migration; he (the Holy Prophet) did not know that he was a slave. Then there came his master and demanded him back, whereupon Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) said: Sell him to me. And he bought him for two black slaves, and he did not afterwards take allegiance from anyone until he had asked him whether he was a slave (or a free man)
'Ubaidullah b. Abu Rafi', the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him), said: When Haruria (the Khwarij) set out and as he was with 'Ali b. Abu Talib (Allah be pleased with him) they said," There is no command but that of Allah." Upon this 'Ali said: The statement is true but it is intentionally applied (to support) a wrong (cause). The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him described their characteristics and I found these characteristics in them. They state the truth with their tongue, but it does not go beyond this part of their bodies (and the narrator pointed towards his throat). The most hateful among the creation of Allah us one black man among them (Khwarij). One of his hand is like the teat of a goat or the nipple of the breast. When 'Ali b. Abu Talib (Allah be pleased with him) killed them, he said: Search (for his dead body). They searched for him, but they did not find it (his dead body). Upon this he said: Go (and search for him). By Allah, neither I have spoken a lie nor has the lie been spoken to me. 'Ali said this twice and thrice. They then found him (the dead body) in a rain. They brought (his dead) body till they placed it before him (Hadrat 'Ali). 'Ubaidullah said: And, I was present at (that place) when this happened and when 'Ali said about them. A person narrated to me from Ibn Hanain that he said: I saw that black man.
Shem, the son of Noah was the father of the Arabs, the Persians, and the Greeks; Ham was the father of the Black Africans; and Japheth was the father of the Turks and of Gog and Magog who were cousins of the Turks. Noah prayed that the prophets and apostles would be descended from Shem and kings would be from Japheth. He prayed that the African’s color would change so that their descendants would be slaves to the Arabs and Turks.
Ham [Africans] begat all those who are black and curly-haired, while Japheth [Turks] begat all those who are full-faced with small eyes, and Shem [Arabs] begat everyone who is handsome of face with beautiful hair. Noah prayed that the hair of Ham’s descendants would not grow beyond their ears, and that whenever his descendants met Shem’s, the latter would enslave them.
A man of B. al-'Ajilan told me that he was told that Gabriel came to the apostle and said, 'There comes to sit with you a black man with long flowing hair, ruddy cheeks, and inflamed eyes like two copper pots. His heart is more gross than a donkey's; he carries your words to the hypocrites, so beware of him.' This, so they say, was the description of Nabtal.[3]
Ishaq:243
"I have heard the Apostle say: 'Whoever wants to see Satan should look at Nabtal.' He was a sturdy black man with long flowing hair, inflamed eyes, and dark ruddy cheeks. He used to come and talk with the Prophet and listen to him. He would carry what he had said to the hypocrites. Nabtal said, 'Muhammad is all ears. If anyone tells him something he believes it.' Allah sent down concerning him: 'To those who annoy the Prophet and say that he is all ears, say, 'Good ears for you.' For those who annoy the Apostle there is a painful punishment."[3]
Ishaq:243
It is your folly to fight the Apostle, for Allah’s army is bound to disgrace you. We brought them to the pit. Hell was their meeting place. We collected them there, black slaves, men of no descent.
Ishaq:450
The black troops and slaves of the Meccans cried out and the Muslims replied, ‘Allah destroy your sight, you impious rascals.’
Ishaq:374
"Abu Darda reported that the Holy Prophet said: Allah created Adam when he created him (sic). Then He stroke (sic) his right shoulder and took out a white race as if they were seeds, and He stroke (sic) his left shoulder and took out a black race as if they were coals. Then He said to those who were in his right side: Towards paradise and I don't care. He said to those who were on his left shoulder: Towards Hell and I don't care. - Ahmad"
Mishkat, Vol. 3, p. 117. Al-Tirmidhi No. 38 (CD-ROM), Alim.org (Archived).
Ahmad ibn Abi Sulayman, the companion of Sahnun said, “Anyone who says that the Prophet was black should be killed.
Ibn Musa al-Yahsubi, Qadi ‘Iyad, p.375
"Ham [Africans] begat all those who are black and curly-haired, while Japheth [Turks] begat all those who are full-faced with small eyes, and Shem [Arabs] begat everyone who is handsome of face with beautiful hair. Noah prayed that the hair of Ham's descendants would not grow beyond their ears, and that whenever his descendants met Shem's, the latter would enslave them."
"Shem, the son of Noah was the father of the Arabs, the Persians, and the Greeks; Ham was the father of the Black Africans; and Japheth was the father of the Turks and of Gog and Magog who were cousins of the Turks. Noah prayed that the prophets and apostles would be descended from Shem and kings would be from Japheth. He prayed that the African's color would change so that their descendants would be slaves to the Arabs and Turks."
Narrated 'Abdullah: The Prophet said, "I saw (in a dream) a black woman with unkempt hair going out of Medina and settling at Mahai'a, i.e., Al-Juhfa. I interpreted that as a symbol of epidemic of Medina being transferred to that place (Al-Juhfa)."
Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar:
concerning the dream of the Prophet in Medina: The Prophet said, "I saw (in a dream) a black woman with unkempt hair going out of Medina and settling at Mahai'a. I interpreted that as (a symbol of) the epidemic of Medina being transferred to Mahai'a, namely, Al-Juhfa."
Narrated Salim's father:
The Prophet said, "I saw (in a dream) a black woman with unkempt hair going out of Medina and settling in Mahai'a. I interpreted that as (a symbol of) epidemic of Medina being transferred to Mahai'a, namely, Al-Juhfa."
Islamic Writers and Scholars on Black People
Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) was, among other things, an Islamic jurist, Islamic lawyer, Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian, and hafiz
"Therefore, the Negro nation are, as a rule, submissive to slavery, because [Negroes] have little [that is essentially] human and have attributes that are quite similar to those of dumb animals, as we have stated."[4]
Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah, 14th century
"beyond [known peoples of black West Africa] to the south there is no civilization in the proper sense. There are only humans who are closer to dumb animals than to rational beings. They live in thickets and caves, and eat herbs and unprepared grain. They frequently eat each other. They cannot be considered human beings."[4]
Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah
Ibn Sina or Avicenna (980-1037), was, among other things, a Hafiz, Islamic psychologist, Islamic scholar, and Islamic theologian - many said.
[Blacks are] people who are by their very nature slaves.[5]
Quoted in “Blasphemy Before God: The Darkness of Racism In Muslim Culture” by Adam Misbah aI-Haqq
Ibn Qutaybah (828-889), was a renowned Islamic scholar from Kufa, Iraq
They [the Zanj, that is, blacks] are ugly and misshapen, because they live in a hot country. The heat overcrooks them in the womb, and curls their hair.
Bernard Lewis, "Ventures in Ethnology", Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry, Oxford University Press, pp. 43-50, ISBN 978-0-19-506283-0, 1990
Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī (1201-1274), was a Shia Muslim Scholar and Grand Ayatollah
"If (all types of men) are taken, from the first, and one placed after another, like the Negro from Zanzibar, in the Southern-most countries, the Negro does not differ from an animal in anything except the fact that his hands have been lifted from the earth -in no other peculiarity or property - except for what God wished. Many have seen that the ape is more capable of being trained than the Negro, and more intelligent."[4]
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Tasawwurat (Rawdat al-taslim):
[The Zanj (African) differ from animals only in that] their two hands are lifted above the ground,... Many have observed that the ape is more teachable and more intelligent than the Zanj.[5]
Al-Muqaddasi (945/946-1000) was a medieval Muslim geographer
"Of the neighbors of the Bujja, Maqdisi had heard that "there is no marriage among them; the child does not know his father, and they eat people -- but God knows best. As for the Zanj, they are people of black color, flat noses, kinky hair, and little understanding or intelligence."[4]
Al-Muqaddasi (fl. 966), Kitab al-Bad' wah-tarikh, vol.4
Al-Masudi (896-956), was a Muslim historian and geographer, known as the "Herodotus of the Arabs."[6]
"Galen says that merriment dominates the black man because of his defective brain, whence also the weakness of his intelligence."[4]
Al-Masudi, Muruj al-dhahab
“[quoting another source in agreement:] Do not intermarry with the sons of Ham [blacks] for they are the distorted among God’s creatures . . .”
Bernard Lewis, "Equality and Marriage", Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry, Oxford University Press, pp. 85-92, ISBN 978-0-19-506283-0, 1990
[The Zanj have:] black complexion, kinky hair, flat nose[s], thick lips, slender hands and feet, fetid odor, limited intelligence, extreme exuberance, [and] cannibalistic customs.
Alexandre Popovic, The Revolt of African Slaves in Iraq in the 3rd/9th Century, Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, p. 16, 1999
Ibn al-Faqih (9th century) was a Muslim historian and geographer
"A man of discernment said: The people of Iraq ... do not come out with something between blonde, buff and blanched coloring, such as the infants dropped from the wombs of the women of the Slavs and others of similar light complexion; nor are they overdone in the womb until they are burned, so that the child comes out something between black, murky, malodorous, stinking, and crinkly-haired, with uneven limbs, deficient minds, and depraved passions, such as the Zanj, the Somali, and other blacks who resemble them. The Iraqis are neither half-baked dough nor burned crust but between the two."[4]
Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadani, Mukhtasar Kitab al-Buldan, 903 AD
Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (973-1048), was an Islamic scholar and polymath
"The Zanj are so uncivilized that they have no notion of a natural death. If a man dies a natural death, they think he was poisoned. Every death is suspicious with them, if a man has not been killed by a weapon."[4]
Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, India, 1030 AD
Hudud al-`Alam is a book dedicated to Abu l-Ḥārith Muḥammad b. Aḥmad, a ruler of the local Farighunid dynasty.
"Their [Zanj] nature is that of wild animals. They are extremely black." "Among themselves [the Sudan] there are people who steal each other's children and sell them to the merchants when the latter arrive."[4]
Hudud al-`Alam, 982 AD
"[inhabitants of sub-Saharan African countries] are people distant from the standards of humanity" "Their nature is that of wild animals..."[4]
Hudud al-`alam, 982 AD
"As regards southern countries, all their inhabitants are black on account of the heat of their climate... Most of them go naked... In all their lands and provinces, gold is found.... They are people distant from the standards of humanity."[4]
Hudud al-`Alam, 982 AD
Al Jahiz (781–869), was a famous Muslim scholar
"Like the crow among mankind are the Zanj [African Blacks] for they are the worst of men and the most vicious of creatures in character and temperament."[4]
Jahiz, Kitab al-Hayawan, vol. 2
"We know that the Zanj (blacks) are the least intelligent and the least discerning of mankind, and the least capable of understanding the consequences of actions."[4]
Jahiz, Kitab al-Bukhala (The Book of Misers)
"They [the Shu`ubiyya] maintain that eloquence is prized by all people at all times - even the Zanj, despite their dimness, their boundless stupidity, their obtuseness, their crude perceptions and their evil dispositions, make long speeches."[4]
Jahiz, Al-Bayan wa`l-tabyin, vol. 3
Ibn Abi Zayd (922–996), was a Maliki scholar from Al-Qayrawan in Tunisia.
It is disliked to trade in the land of the enemy or the land of the blacks. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Travel is a portion of punishment."[7]
al-Ibshihi (1388–1446), Egyptian scholar who wrote an encyclopedia covering Islamic law, theology, mysticism, and some other topics.
Is there anything more vile than black slaves, of less good and more evil than they'? As for the mulatto, if you show kindness to one of them all your life and in every way, he will not be grateful; and it will be as if you had done nothing for him. The better you treat him, the more insolent he will he; the worse you treat him, the more humble and submissive. I have tried this many times, and how well the poet says: ‘If you honor the honorable you possess him / If you honor the ignoble, he will be insolent.’ It is said that when the [black] slave is sated, he fornicates, when he is hungry, he steals. My grandfather on my mother's side used to say: The worst use of money is bringing up slaves, and mulattoes are even worse and wickeder than Zanj, for the mulatto does not know his father, while the Zanji often knows both parents. It is said of the mulatto that he is like a mule, because he is a mongrel. . . . Do not trust a mulatto, for there is rarely any good in him
Shihab al-Din al-Ibshihi, al-Mustatraf fi Kul Fan Mustatraf, al-Maktaba al-Shamila, p. 328, https://app.turath.io/book/23802; translated in Bernard Lewis, "Image and Stereotype", Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry, Oxford University Press, pp. 92-99, ISBN 978-0-19-506283-0, 1990
Shams al-Dīn Muhammad b. Abī Talib al-Dimashqī (1256-1327), Damascene Imam who wrote on many topics.
The equatorial region is inhabited by communities of blacks who are to be numbered among the savages and beasts. Their complexions and hair are burnt and they are physically and morally deviant. Their brains almost boil from the sun's excessive heat.. . . The human being who dwells there is a crude fellow, with a very black complexion, and burnt hair, unruly, with stinking sweat, and an abnormal constitution, most closely resembling in his moral qualities a savage, or animals.
A. Mehren, ed, (1923), Nukhbat al-Dahr fi Ajaib al-Barr wal-Bahr, Leipzig: Harassowitz, pp. 15-17, 1923; translated in John Hunwick, West Africa, Islam, and the Arab World, Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, p. 81, 2006
Ibn Battuta (1304-1369) Muslim scholar and traveler who wrote about his journeys across the world.
[Writing about West Africans:] When I saw it [their reception gift] I laughed, and was long astonished at their feeble intellect and their respect for mean things.
Ibn Battuta in J.F.P. Hopkins; Nehemia Levtzion, eds, (1981), Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History, Cambridge University Press, p. 298, 1981
Al-Idrisi (1100-1165), Muslim geographer, writer, scientist, cartographer from Almoravid Spain.
[The Zanj, that is, blacks] are in great fear and awe of the Arabs, so much so that when they see an Arab trader or traveler they bow down and treat him with great respect [such that the Arab can] lure them with dates, and lead them from place to place, until they seize them, take them out of the country, and transport them to their own countries . . . [They] lack of knowledge and [have] defective minds . . .
Bernard Lewis, "The Discovery of Africa", Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry, Oxford University Press, pp. 50-54, ISBN 978-0-19-506283-0, 1990
Said al-Andalusi (1029-1070) was an Arab qadhi (Islamic judge) living in al-Andalus, Spain who wrote on the history of science and philosophy.
[The southern ‘barbarians’] are more like beasts than like men . . . For those who live furthest to the north between the last of the seven climates and the limits of the inhabited world, the excessive distance of the sun in relation to the zenith line makes the air cold and the atmosphere thick. Their temperaments are therefore frigid, their humors raw, their bellies gross, their color pale, their hair long and lank. Thus they lack keenness of understanding and clarity of intelligence, and are overcome by ignorance and dullness, lack of discernment, and stupidity. Such are the Slavs, the Bulgars, and their neighbors. For those peoples on the other hand who live near and beyond the equinoctial line to the limit of the inhabited world in the south, the long presence of the sun at the zenith makes the air hot and the atmosphere thin. Because of this their temperaments become hot and their humors fiery, their color black and their hair woolly. Thus they lack self-control and steadiness of mind and are overcome by fickleness, foolishness, and ignorance. Such are the blacks, who live at the extremity of the land of Ethiopia, the Nubians, the Zanj and the like. . . . [they are the only people] who diverge from this human order and depart from this rational association are some dwellers in the steppes and inhabitants of the deserts and wilderness, such as the rabble of Bujja, the savages of Ghana, the scum of the Zanj, and their like.
Bernard Lewis, "Ventures in Ethnology", Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry, Oxford University Press, pp. 43-50, ISBN 978-0-19-506283-0, 1990
Ibn Hazm (994-1064) was an Andalusian polymath who wrote on history, Islamic law, Islamic theology, philosophy, and is especially well regarded for his study of the hadiths.
God has decreed that the most devout is the noblest even if he be a Negress’s bastard, and that the sinner and unbeliever is at the lowest level even if he be the son of prophets.
Bernard Lewis, "Prejudice and Piety, Literature and Law", Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry, Oxford University Press, pp. 28-37, ISBN 978-0-19-506283-0, 1990
al-Kirmani (996-1021) was a famous Persian Ismaili theologian and philosopher.
In a philosophical work, he dismisses "the Turks, Zanj, Berbers, and their like" as "by their nature" without interest in the pursuit of intellectual knowledge and without desire to understand religious truth.
Bernard Lewis, "In Black and White", Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry, Oxford University Press, pp. 54-62, ISBN 978-0-19-506283-0, 1990
al-Mutannabi (915-965) was a famous Abbasid court poet from Iraq and one of the most influential poets in the history of Arabic.
The slave is no brother to the godly freeman. / even though he be born in the clothes of the free. // Do not buy a slave without buying a stick with him, / for slaves are filthy and scant of good. // I never thought I should live to see the day when a / dog would do me evil and be praised in the bargain, // nor did I imagin that true men would have ceased to exist, / and that the like of the father of bounty, / would still be here, // and that that negro with his pierced camel’s lip / would be obeyed by those cowardly hirelings . . . // . . . Who ever taught the eunuch negro nobility? His / “white” people, or his royal ancestors? // or his ear bleeding in the hand of the slave-broker? / or his worth, seeing that for two farthings / he would be rejected? // wretched Kafur is the most deserving of the base / to be excused in regard to every baseness – / and sometimes excusing is a reproach – / and that is because white stallions are incapable / of gentility, so how about black eunuchs?
Bernard Lewis, "In Black and White", Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry, Oxford University Press, pp. 54-62, ISBN 978-0-19-506283-0, 1990
More stupid than a slave or his mate is he who makes / the slave his master . . . // . . . One who holds you by his word is unlike one who holds / you in his jail – // The morality of the [black] slave is bounded by his / stinking pudenda and his teeth. // He does not keep his engagements of today, nor remember / what he said yesterday . . . // . . . Hope for no good from a man over whose head the / slaver’s hand has passed, // And, if you are in doubt about his person or / condition, look to his race. // One who is vile in his coat, was usually vile / in his caul. // He who makes his way beyond his merits, still cannot / get away from his root.
Bernard Lewis, "In Black and White", Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry, Oxford University Press, pp. 54-62, ISBN 978-0-19-506283-0, 1990
Qadi Iyad (108301149) was one of the most famous Maliki jurists, also an Imam and qadi in Granada under the Almoravid dynasty.
[Qadi Iyad repeats this twice:] Ahmad b. Abi Sulayman, the companion of Sahnun, said, 'Anyone who says that the Prophet was black (aswad) should be killed.'
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa bi-ta'rif huquq al-Mustafa, 2, al-Maktaba al-Shamila, p. 217, 234, https://app.turath.io/book/1753; translated in Aisha Abdarrahman Bewley, ed, (2004), Ash-Shifa of Qadi 'Iyad, Scotland, pp. 375, 387, 2004, https://archive.org/details/MuhammadMessengerOfAllahAshShifaOfQadiIyad
Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani (897-967) was an Arab litterateur, genealogist, poet, and musicologist.
[Retelling an anecdote about "an Arab poet known as al-Sayyid al-Himyari (723-89)":] The Sayyid was my neighbor, and he was very dark. He used to carouse with the young men of the camp, one of whom was as dark as he was, with a thick nose and lips, and a Negroid [muzannajj] appearance. The Sayyid had the foulest smelling armpits of anybody. They were jesting together one day, and the Sayyid said to him: "You are a Zanji in your nose and your lips!" whereat the youth replied to the Sayyid: "And you are a Zanji in your color and armpits!"
Bernard Lewis, "Image and Stereotype", Race and Slavery in the Middle East: A Historical Enquiry, Oxford University Press, pp. 92-99, ISBN 978-0-19-506283-0, 1990
See Also
- Race and Tribe in Islam
- Category:Race
- Muhammad (Primary Sources) - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Muhammad (Primary Sources)
Reference
- ↑ Islamqa.info
- ↑ Ibn Sa'd, Abu Abd Allah Muhammad. Kitab al-Tabaqat, vol i. Translated in English by S. Moinul Haq, Kitab Bhavan, 1784, Kalan Mahal, Daraya Ganj, New Delhi, India, 1972, p12.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, Translated by A. Guillaume, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, (Re-issued in Karachi, Pakistan, 1967, 13th impression, 1998) 1955, p. 243.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 West Asian views on black Africans during the medieval era
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Comparative Digests Racism Arab and European Compared - Nathaniel Turner
- ↑ Ter-Ghevondyan, Aram N.. Արաբական Ամիրայությունները Բագրատունյաց Հայաստանում (The Arab Emirates in Bagratuni Armenia). Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Armenian Academy of Sciences. p. 15, 1965.
- ↑ The Risala of 'Abdullah ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani/ 43.16 Trading abroad - A Treatise on Maliki Fiqh (Including commentary from ath-Thamr ad-Dani by al-Azhari)(310/922 - 386/996)