How should we respond to the unjust killing of African-Americans by the police in the USA?
Answered by Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid
Assalāmu ‘alaikum,
May Allah reward you for your question. There is no doubt that oppression against a person or a group of people is something that opposes Islam and is totally forbidden in our Religion.[1]
Muslims are commanded with justice in all affairs.[2] As for racism, then it is condemned by Allah and His Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam).[3] America is a society that is riddled with injustice, immorality and disobedience to Allah. The greatest crime and injustice being the abandonment and rejection of the worship of Allah and His guidance.[4]
And it is expected, that based upon this rejection of worship and guidance, other injustices will naturally follow.[5] This was also the case in Makkah (in Arabia) in the time before Islam where there were great injustices such as racism, tribalism, burying of baby girls alive, murder, fornication, robbery, usury, intoxication, and so on.
But once they accepted Islam, worshipped Allah alone, followed the guidance of the Quran and the Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam), these injustices were removed, wrongdoers were punished and society flourished, safe and free from oppression.[6]
And this is why we openly reject the type of da’wah and ideology that aids in the destruction of Islam and Islamic morals.
Furthermore, if street protests were permitted in Islam, then precedence would be given to protect the rights of Muslims (of all colours). But protesting is not from the legislated means of rectification in Islam and it is harām (prohibited).
And even worse, that a Muslim should protest alongside immoral people for causes that are un-Islamic such as supporting the morally corrupt and irreligious agenda of the organisation, “Black Lives Matter” which states on its website under the section, What We Believe:
“All Black lives matter, regardless of actual or perceived sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, economic status, ability, disability, religious beliefs or disbelief…
[We] do the work required to dismantle cisgender[7] privilege and uplift Black trans folk, especially Black trans women[8] who continue to be disproportionately impacted by trans-antagonistic violence…
We make space for transgender[9] brothers and sisters to participate and lead…”
No — that is not what the eradication of racism and oppression means to me as a Muslim, or to any right-minded person of any colour.
And that’s their agenda in the end —the dissolution of Faith, Religion and God-given morality. “Black Lives Matter” is a vehicle to a greater goal.
They know we are outraged at the oppression of people of colour (and African-Americans in particular), so they schemed a plan to rope in an entire race into their deviated agenda.
So we respond to these false calls with the call to Islam ―the religion and way of life that will truly set people free.[10] We invite people to the worship of Allah and to the path of the Prophet Muhammad (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) and to true brotherhood.
Important Notes on Race:
[1] Oppression is forbidden in the Qur’an and the Prophetic Sunnah. Allah (the Most High) stated: “O my servants, indeed I have made oppression unlawful for Me and unlawful for you, so do not commit oppression against one another.” (Sahīh Muslim, no. 2577)
The Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “Oppression will be layers of darkness on the Day of Resurrection.” (Bukhāri, no. 2447; Muslim, no. 2579)
The Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “You should fear the supplication of the oppressed person because there is no barrier between it and Allah.” (Bukhāri, no. 2448)
The Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “Whoever has oppressed another person concerning his reputation or anything else, he should beg his forgiveness today before that Day comes when there will be neither Dinārs nor Dirhams (no currency as compensation).” (Bukhāri, no. 2449)
[2] Justice in Islam extends to every sphere of Muslim life. Allah (the Most High) said: “Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.” (An-Nahl: 90)
[3] Islam is a religion that judges people on their piety, righteous deeds and manners and not the colour of their skin, form or gender. The Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “O people! Indeed your Lord is One and your father is one (Adam). Verily, the Arab is no better than the non-Arab, and the non-Arab is no better than the Arab, and a white person is no better than a black person, and a black person is no better than a white person ― except that the better person is the one who is dutiful and fears Allah. Have I conveyed the message?” They replied: “Indeed Allah’s Messenger has conveyed the message.” (Reported by Ahmad, no 22978 and authenticated by Al-Albāni in Saheehah, 6/199)
Every Muslim who fears Allah despises racism. There was no racism among the Companions of the Prophet. One of the closest Companions of the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam), Abdur-Rahmān bin ‘Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) married his sister to Bilāl bin Rabāh the one who called the Muslims to prayer (may Allah be pleased with him)― she was a Quraishi Arab woman and Bilāl was a freed black slave from Abyssinia (Ethiopia) but that made no difference. Islam gives honour to all that embrace it.
Allah (the Most High) said: “O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.” (Al-Hujurāt: 13) Shaikh Ibn Bāz said: “Allah has made clear in this verse that no one has distinction over another, nor virtue over another in the sight of Allah except due to taqwā, or piety. The noblest of people with Allah are the most righteous, dutiful and God-fearing. The Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) was asked regarding the noblest of people, so he replied: “They are the most righteous of them.” (Bukhāri no. 3353, Muslim no. 2378)”
The Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “Allah, Most High, has removed from you the pride of the pre-Islamic period and its boasting in ancestry. A person is either a pious believer or a miserable sinner. You are all children of Adam, and Adam came from clay. Let the people stop boasting about their ancestors and tribes. They are the fuel of Hell or they will have less worth with Allah than the beetle which rolls dung with its nose.” (Abu Dawud, no. 5116 declared authentic by Al-Albāni)
Allah (the Most High) said: “And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your languages and your colors. Indeed in that are signs for those of knowledge.” (Ar-Rūm: 22)
[4] Allah (the Most High) said: “And recall when Luqman said to his son when he was advising him: ‘O my son! Join not in worship others with Allah. Verily! Joining others in worship with Allah is indeed a great injustice.’” (Luqmān: 13)
[5] Allah (the Most High) said: “But whosoever turns away from My Reminder (i.e. neither believes in the Quran nor acts on its orders) verily, for him is a life of hardship, and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection.” (Tāhā: 124)
[6] Allah relays the story of the Prophet Noah (Nūh) that he stated: “I said to my people: ‘Ask forgiveness from your Lord, for verily, He is Oft-Forgiving. He will send rain to you in abundance, and He will give you increase in wealth and children and provide for you gardens and provide for you flowing rivers. What is the matter with you, [that you do not fear Allah] and you hope not for His reward.’” (Nūh: 10-13)
The Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said: “Do not associate anything with Allah in worship, even if you are cut and burned. Do not neglect any prescribed prayer deliberately, for whoever neglects it deliberately no longer has the protection of Allah. And do not drink wine, for it is the key to all evil.” (Ibn Mājah, no. 4043)
[7] Cisgender: a person whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex. So they wish to “dismantle” any “privileges” associated with this biological reality.
[8] Trans woman: An adult who was born male but whose gender identity is female.
[9] Transgender is a term used by people who describe their gender differently from the sex they were biologically born with. So, a female decides to identify as a man, or a male decides to identify as a woman.
[10] Allah (the Most High) stated: “Whoever desires a religion other than Islam, then it will never be accepted from him and in the Hereafter, he will be among the losers.” (Āli ‘Imrān: 85)
Islam calls people from the worship of created beings to the worship of the Creator alone; from the narrowness of this world to the expanse of this world and the vastness of the Hereafter; from the oppression of man-made ideologies to the justice of Islam. This is true liberation and a return to the innate nature (fitrah) with which mankind was created.
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