Abid Jan
“I can’t breathe.”
Out of physical pain, these were George Floyd’s last words.
But in reality, it was not the first time he felt that pain.
If not physically, his soul (like many others) must have felt that pain for most of his life.
The never-ending pain of the victims of systematic discrimination and injustice is no less agonizing than the experience of a knee to their neck.
Unfortunately, we don’t hear those cries for help:
- Because we don’t see them on the ground pinned under a knee
- Because we don’t see them dying of their emotional pain, and
- because they are victims of the less visible forms of the same systemic racism
They continue to live with the pain. They can’t breathe their last to find relief. They become living George Floyds.
1400 years ago, many in Mecca couldn’t breathe either. Inequity there was also rooted in racism.
One day, Prophet Muhammad PBUH dropped a bombshell. His message to one of the most racist societies was that all people were created equal. Those words jolted a society divided by notions of tribal and ethnic superiority, ripe with oppression and systemic discrimination.
Prophet Mohammed PBUH offered Islam’s compressive approach to equality and justice that relieves the victims of hate and injustice in 4 different ways:
1) First, Islam provides a huge psychological boost and laid the foundation for justice and equality with the declaration that all human beings are equal.
The Quran declared: “O humankind! We have made you…into nations and tribes, so that you may get to know one another. The noblest of you in God’s sight is the most righteous one.” (49:13)“There is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, or of a non-Arab over an Arab, and no superiority of a white person over a black person or of a black person over a white person, except based on personal piety and righteousness.”
Prophet Muhammad PBUH outlined the basic ethical ideals of Islam – the religion of all prophets before him. This was the first aspect of justice for the disadvantaged – giving them the status to live as an equal human beings.
2) Secondly, Islam deals with the reality that there are unjust and unfair among us who would misuse their power regardless of any human rights convention or charters in place.
In that case, the message is to not lose hope. This life is ephemeral. So are the pains and pleasures.
The good news is: Inna Ma’al Usre Usran – there is ease after difficulty. The command is: wa ma khalaqtal jinna wal insa illa Liabdoon . This helps us keep the focus on the purpose of your life.
However, a victim might think, “Is this even possible? I am suffering a knee to my neck, how can I focus on the purpose for my life.”
That’s where Islam comes with the third aspect of the relief package: The reward.
3) Thirdly, Islam relieves victims of injustice from losing hope by listing the rewards for actions that would comfort them anyway: That they will be rewarded for their pain, patience and even for forgiving their enemies. To the victims, The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “No believer is pricked by a thorn or more but that Allah will raise him one degree in status or erase a sin.”[3]
Forgiveness is yet another way to reduce pain and get rewarded. (Quran 24:22) Allah says: “…Let them pardon and overlook. Would you not like that Allah should forgive you.” The concept here is: forgive to be forgiving. Although forgiveness is difficult, it is key to remember that even the Prophet Mohammed PBUH had asked people to forgive even the killers of their relatives – just as he did himself.
A victim might think, we need justice – what would forgiveness and patience change for us. That’s where the 4th part of the relief package ensures them that if you forgive, Allah rewards you and your perpetrator is not going scot-free.
4) Lastly, the Quran and Prophet Mohammed PBUH re-assure victims that the unjust, the oppressors and the perpetrators will pay the price – both in this world and the hereafter. Prophet PBUH declared “Beware of injustice, for injustice will be darkness on the Day of Resurrection.[4] And in this world, according to Prophet Mohammed PBUH: “There is no wrong action which Allah is swifter to punish than injustice.”[5]
There is great relief in believing the truth that Allah will balance all scales. The perpetrators will be held accountable on the day of judgement.
To the unjust, the message of Islam in the words of Prophet Mohammed is: “Beware of the supplication of the oppressed, for there is no barrier between it and Allah.”[2]
Prophet Muhammad said that in the hereafter there will be no material possessions to compensate for our injustice to others. The only currency will be our deeds. Our good deeds will be taken and given to those whom we treat unjustly. Otherwise, bad deeds of our victims will be added to our burden before dispatching us into the Fire.[1]
What we face today is no different than the past. At the time of Prophet Mohammed, kinship or lineal descent – “nasab” in Arabic – was the primary determinant of an individual’s privile ged status in society.
The Quran, however, said personal piety and good deeds were the basis for merit, not tribal affiliation.
Long before Prophet Mohammed PBUH, throughout ages, Islam encountered fierce opposition from many elites and Kings, such as Niro or Namrud at the time of Prophet Ibraham, and the pharaoh in Egypt.
Systematic discrimination maintains the status quo for the privileged and the elite. The Quraysh, at the time of Prophet Mohammed PBUH, controlled trade in Mecca. They had no intention of giving up the comfortable lifestyles they’d built on the backs of others, including their slaves brought over from Africa.
Islam’s egalitarian approach was a source of justice for society, including women who were declared to be the equal of men by the Quran.
the approach continues to provide fundamental values for a just society as well as elements that ensure contentment for the oppressed and victims of discrimination.
Many Muslims are taking action, supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and protesting systemic racism. Their actions reflect the revolutionary and egalitarian message that Prophet Muhammad set down over 1,400 years ago as a cornerstone of the Muslim faith.
Ref:
[1] (Source: Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) — Majmoo’ al-Fatawa.): Prophet Muhammad said, “Whoever has wronged his brother with regard to his blood, his wealth or his honor, let him come and set matters straight (with the one he wronged) before there comes a Day (Day of Judgement on the Last Day) on which there will be no dirhams and no dinars (no material possessions), only good deeds and bad deeds, and if he has good deeds (they will be taken and given to the one whom he wronged), otherwise some of the bad deeds of the one whom he wronged will be taken and added to his burden, then he will be thrown into the Fire.”
[2] (Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4090): وَاتَّقِ دَعْوَةَ الْمَظْلُومِ فَإِنَّهُ لَيْسَ بَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَ اللَّهِ حِجَابٌ
[3] Aisha reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “
No believer is pricked by a thorn or more but that Allah will raise him one degree in status or erase a sin.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5317, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2572
[4] (Source: – Narrated by Abu Hurairah)
إِيَّاكُمْ وَالظُّلْمَ فَإِنَّ الظُّلْمَ ظُلُمَاتٌ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ
[5] (Source: Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, Book 2, Hadith 21): “There is no wrong action which Allah is swifter to punish in this world — in addition to the punishment which He has stored up for the wrongdoer in the Next World — than cutting off ties of kinship and injustice.”
حَدَّثَنَا آدَمُ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا عُيَيْنَةُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ أَبِي يُحَدِّثُ عَنْ أَبِي بَكْرَةَ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: مَا مِنْ ذَنْبٍ أَحْرَى أَنْ يُعَجِّلَ اللَّهُ لِصَاحِبِهِ الْعُقُوبَةَ فِي الدُّنْيَا مَعَ مَا يَدَّخِرُ لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنْ قَطِيعَةِ الرَّحِمِ وَالْبَغْيِ