Race, Privilege, Justice and Muslims
Introduction
 As Muslims, we have to be just
َ ْ ‫ّلِل َو َلوْ َعلَ ٰى أَ ْنفُ ِس ُك ْم أَ ِو ْال َوا ِل َد ْي ِن َو‬
ُ ‫َيا أَيُّ َها الَّ ِذينَ آ َمنُوا ُكونُوا قَ َّوا ِمينَ ِب ْال ِق ْس ِط‬
ۚ َ‫اْل ْق َر ِبين‬
ِ َّ ِ ‫شهَدَا َء‬
 “O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against
yourselves, or your parents, or your kin” (An-Nisa’, 4: 135)
 In fact, need to be just even against enemies!
ُ َ‫يَا أَيُّهَا الَّ ِذينَ آ َمنُوا ُكونُوا قَ َّوا ِمينَ ِ َّّلِلِ ُشهَدَا َء بِالْقِ ْس ِط ۖ َو َل يَْْ ِر َمنَّ ُك ْم َشن‬
‫نُ قَ ْوٍ َعلَىٰ أَ َّل‬
َّ َُّ ِ‫َّللاَ ۚ إ‬
َّ ‫تَ ْع ِدلُوا ۚ ا ْع ِدلُوا هُ َو أَ ْق َربُ لِلتَّ ْق َو ٰى ۖ َواتَّقُوا‬
َُ‫َّللاَ َخبِي ٌر بِ َما تَ ْع َملُو‬
 “Believers! Be upright bearers of witness for Allah, and do not let the enmity of any
people move you to deviate from justice. Act justly, that is nearer to God-fearing. And
fear Allah. Surely Allah is well aware of what you do” (Maida, 5:8)
 How many of us were upset by the situation in Gaza? Brutality of Asad in Syria, Floods
in Kashmir? Many felt concern.
 But what about in our country? In America? Where clear injustice at the hand of the
judicial system? Ask ourselves, did we have the same reaction to case of Mike Brown &
Eric Garner, 12 year old Cleveland kid?
 Some well-meaning people say we don’t have all the evidence, how can we be jury?
 Brief note about grand jury:
o Not like trial jury, not a court – no lawyers/judges present
o Role is to determine if there is need to proceed to full trial
o Very low bar – “Can even indict a ham sandwich”
o To not indict means it is a clear case without needing to go to trial
 If you are African American or perceived as African American (eg Somali) - walking
around, statistically more likely to get picked up by the police than non- African
American
o Young African Americans are killed by police 4.5 times more often than people
of other races and ages.
o One African-American death every 36 hours at the hands of law enforcement.
 Why is it injustice (1) situation, (2) grand jury process, (3) not isolated examples, it’s a
reality of life for most African Americans (regardless of education, income,
neighborhood).
Personal Responsibility
 Are we just with everyone? Do we give every single person their due?
 Or are we unjust, especially with some groups of people, and even justify why we are
being unjust!!!
 We make statements like “They deserve it” – compare this to what people say about
Palestinians being killed by Israelis “They deserve it”. Same sentiment based on similar
underlying misunderstanding or racism!
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 We usually talk about supporting justice for others, participating in rallies, etc.
Absolutely important and we have to do this. But don’t make it a cop-out. “I attended a
rally, I did my part. I’m good, nothing else for me to do”
Internal Bias
 Today, I want to focus on a slightly different angle – I want to bring this personally
home to each and every one of us.
 How much are we contributing to the problem in the first place? Are we part of the
solution towards justice, or do we contribute towards injustice?
 Racism within Muslims is reality – abeed, kallu – as any dark skinned Muslim can attest
 Guilty until proven innocent – we don’t like it when people apply to Muslims; wide
brush - but we apply it against other people, esp African-American (thugs, drug dealers,
criminals, etc).
 Classes existed within Makkan society – the Prophet (pbuh) went all out for justice for
all people. One key reason why the elites of Makkah refused to become Muslims,
because they would be treated the same as the slaves. Both equal in the sight of Allah.
 Classes still exist within our society today – quite apparent just by driving through some
parts of town vs others, the services/treatment some people get vs others, etc.
 Many immigrants want to hang out with Caucasians and be recognized by Caucasians –
“become part of society”, without fully recognizing they are reinforcing a racist society
that was developed over centuries on the backs of others
 We fail to recognize that there is institutionalized racism (by generally Caucasians)
against other minorities, whether it’s Muslims, Latinos, or African-Americans.
 Muslims often compromise on principles for personal benefit – whether we directly
realize or not
 Reinforce and become part of that oppressive class structure, benefiting from the
privileges afforded to higher classes, while ignoring the abuse of others
 But this backfires because at some point, the institutionalized racist structure will turn on
you, as we see in multiple instances. Yesterday, a Somali youth in Kansas City was
purposely struck by an SUV and died. Racists are racists, and will turn on the “other”.
Racism – what is it
 So what is racism? Racism is when you draw conclusions about people based on racial
stereotypes, or believe that some races are better than others, due to socialization or
ignorance.
 Much of our racism stems from ignorance (inshaAllah) and not due to purposeful hatred.
However, this is not an excuse to be tolerated. We should get educated and remove our
ignorance.
 Could we be racist? Let’s ask some questions, sincerely, in our hearts, knowing that we
have to stand before our Lord one day to answer these exact same questions.
 Do you generalize about certain races? “All these people are the same” [both positive
and negative – all X people are good at math, all Y people are bad – both are racist
attitudes]
 When you meet someone, do you pass judgment based on skin color/dress/hair style?
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 When you see certain clothing choice, hair style, mannerisms—how do you react?
Many cringe—but we must realize it is culture. Just like there are certain cultural
Arab or South Asian ways of being, there are certain African-American ways of
being. Why is one culture acceptable to practice and not another? Things that make
you go hmmm ;-)
 Do you notice racial injustice?
o When you don't acknowledge racial injustice, you help perpetuate racism by
ignoring the problem. For example, if you believe that all races have equal
access to education, and that races underrepresented in universities just aren't
trying hard enough to succeed, take a deeper look at the root of the problem.
The reason certain people are able to afford college and graduate with a degree
is often because they have historically had more privilege than others.
 Do you talk to different people (of different races) differently? Do you talk about
different people (of different races) differently (esp when they aren’t there)
 Other indicators of racism
 Do we look for fair/white spouses? Prefer fair children?
 Do we look up to white converts vs black converts?
 What (human) image comes to mind when we think of: beautiful, intelligent, pure,
civilized, rich, honorable, valuable, successful, wise?
 What (human) image comes to mind when we think of: criminals, murderers, drug
dealers?
 May be painful, but needed introspection
What can I do to change?
َّ َُّ ِ‫إ‬
‫َّللاَ َل يُ َغيِّ ُر َما بِقَ ْوٍ َحتَّىٰ يُ َغيِّرُوا َما بِأَ ْنفُ ِس ِه ْم‬
 “Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is within
themselves.” (Ar-Ra’d, 13:11)
 If we don’t know how to make proper wudu, it is an excuse that may be valid for a short
time. After some time though, one will have to ask, are you serious about learning wudu
or not? The resources are easily available around you.
 Similarly, we should ask, are we serious about changing our ignorance about racism or
not? If our behavior is still racist after 1, 2, 5, 10 years – you have to wonder how serious
you are about changing.
Commit to change, to improve:
1. Examine our own biases, our language, our stereotyping.
2. Notice stereotypes when you encounter them. They are everywhere. Sometimes more
hidden, but they are present. Awareness will lead to deeper understanding of their
huge impact, and the understanding will inshaAllah lead to change.
3. Start noticing racial injustice. Once you're aware it exists, you'll see it all around you:
at school, at work, in your neighborhood, and in the way institutions are run. For
example, if you go to a private school and 90 percent of those who attend are
white/arab/south asian, question why more people of color don't attend school there.
What inequalities have led to this issue at your school?
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4. Speak out against racist behavior that you see. You have to become an agent of
change. Often, it’s due to ignorance as we pointed out earlier. Just as we become
educated on this issue, help educate others. They may be holding or acting on racist
attitudes without knowing it.
5. Support Muslim & non-Muslim causes supporting social justice (MAS, CAIR,
MuslimARC, ACLU, etc.)
6. Keep learning and practicing
 Change is not overnight, and remnants may remain. Eg of Abu Dharr (ra) referring to
Bilal as the “son of a slave”. The Prophet’s (pbuh) response? “You have remnants of
jahiliya within you”. This was for people learning directly from the Prophet (pbuh). So
the change (deep change) will take time.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable
network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly,
affects all indirectly.” MLK (Letter from prison, Apr 16, 1963)
We need to seriously think and reflect on our individual lives – are we part of the problem?
Are we racist in any way? Do we help propagate an unjust system, so we can personally
benefit? We need to realize this and take action immediately, before we are taken to account
before our Lord.
Summary
 Sometimes we “compare” injustices – as though it’s ok to have 1 murder but not ok to
have 100 murders? Injustice is injustice and we should speak out against ALL of it.
There is no competition – whether to speak out against one but not another.
 So it is not good/right to say, well, only 1 black kid died, it’s not like the 100 that died in
Palestine or Syria or Burma or CAF. The number doesn’t matter – 1 death is too many!
We need to recognize and speak out against each one.
 Allah swt tells us that – killing of one innocent life is killing of all humanity. There is no
minimum threshold of 100 deaths before it is considered a “problem”
 Taken internally, we need to reflect and really see – how many deaths do we justify and
approve of – how much injustice do we approve of that is right before our eyes?
 Beyond approve, sadly how much injustice do we participate in and propagate!!!
 And rationalize it by saying “well oh, it’s not like Palestine or Syria or ….”
 Institutionalized injustice and racism against African-Americans is evident – reminders
are the recent cases in Ferguson, MO, NYC and also the shooting of a 12 year old in
Cleveland, OH.
 This directly impacts all Muslims as well – Black Muslim Youth face double stigma of
being Muslim and Black (see www.thefyi.org for research study). Large Somali
population is also treated by general public as African-American.
 We need to seriously reflect on ourselves – are we racist?
 Do we practice and propagate racism?
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http://www.nadeemsiddiqi.net
 Theoretically, all of us will answer “no”. But practically, as we discussed in detail, the
answer may be very different.
 We have to be ready to answer to Allah (swt) this exact same question.
 We need to seriously review ourselves, since we will be asked about our deeds very very
soon.
Dua
 O Allah, show us truth as truth and help us to follow it. And show us falsehood as
falsehood and help us avoid it.
 O Allah, help us to be fully aware of the many ways we may be discriminating
against others
 O Allah, help and guide us to reform ourselves, so that we are not of the oppressors
 O Allah, give us the strength and guidance to support and help those who are
oppressed, all around the world
 O Allah, help those who are oppressed, and lift the oppression from them, so that
they may freely and fully be the best of your servants
 O Allah, guide us, and guide others through us
 O Allah, give us the best in this world, and the best in the hereafter, and protect us
from the punishment of the hellfire.
Selected References
 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/25/the-14-teens-killed-by-cops-sincemichael-brown.html
 http://www.wikihow.com/Tell-if-You-Are-a-Racist
 https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-racial-discrimination
 http://www.thefyi.org
Nadeem Siddiqi
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http://www.nadeemsiddiqi.net