Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Times of India Blog | June 19, 2020

The world has been witnessing the outbreak of violent protests across the United States of America following the death of Mr. George Floyd, an African American man, who died during a police arrest in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020.

According to an article in TIME magazine, "demonstrations have erupted in scores of cities across the country as veteran activists and newfound allies alike rally to the cause of racial justice." (Why the Killing of George Floyd Sparked an American Uprising, June 2020) An incident like this brings back the focus to the much debated question of 'equality of man.'

In pre-Islamic Arabia as in other societies of the world, the Arab people were also obsessed with colour and other differences among people. They discriminated against those who were apparently inferior to others. This was not only an Arab phenomenon: it was universal in that age. With this background, God Almighty revealed this verse of the Quran:

"Mankind! We have created you from a male and female, and made you into peoples and tribes, so that you might come to know each other. The noblest of you in God's sight is the one who fears God most. God is all knowing and all-aware." (49:13)

From this we can understand that the importance of a person or group will be judged solely on merit. The basis of classification between people is only one and, that is, merit. Merit-based classification cannot be termed discrimination. It is a sound method of categorizing people. As such, it is a source of motivation and creates an atmosphere of healthy competition. It is a guarantee of social development on a real basis.

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The last sermon of the Prophet was a practical illustration of this principle where the first time in ancient history, he eliminated all sorts of inequality and discrimination. The Prophet of Islam said:

"No Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab, and no non-Arab is superior to an Arab. No black is superior to a brown or red, and no red is superior to any black." (Shuab ul Iman by Al-Bayhaqi, Hadith No. 4774)

This guidance from Prophet Muhammad led to the dawn of a new society. The message was that all the human beings in this world were born of one man and one woman. All human beings were thus equal, being each other's brothers and sisters. They might differ in respect of appearance, but in terms of respect, there was no difference between them.

It is a fact that there are differences between people in terms of colour, etc. But these differences have nothing to do with the superiority or inferiority of different individuals or groups. There are natural differences and they exist for the sole purpose of people being able to recognize each other without any difficulty.

According to the Quran as well as biological research, all men and women have a common ancestor. Thus, all men and women are blood sisters and blood brothers to each other. The whole of mankind is a global family.