Learning

Core Curriculum

Section 1 - God, Religion and Islam: An Introduction

Topic 1.1 - God, Allah and Religion
Topic 1.2 - What is “Religion” and What’s the Point of it Anyways?
Topic 1.3 - Introduction to Islam
Topic 1.4 - A Brief Introduction to the Prophet Muhammad (s), the Prophet of Islam

Section 2 - Foundations of Islam - Theology

Topic 2.1 - Satan, Jinns and Angels: Their Influence in the World
Topic 2.2 - The Islamic Concept of the Nafs: Battling the Human Ego
Topic 2.3 - The Sharīʿa: Purpose and Practice
Topic 2.4 - Nubuwwa: The Purpose of Prophethood in Islam
Topic 2.5 - Tawhīd: The Unity and Oneness of God in Islam
Topic 2.6 - The Usūl al-Dīn: The Fundamental Beliefs of Islam
Topic 2.7 - Adala: Divine Justice in Islam
Topic 2.8 - Entering Islam: The Shahada
Topic 2.9 - Maʿād: The Day of Judgment in Islam
Topic 2.10 - Imāmah or divinely guided leadership in Islam after the Prophet Muhammad.

Section 3 - Foundations of Islam - Obligatory Acts

Topic 3.1 - Accepting Islam: Putting Faith into Action
Topic 3.2 - The Furūʿ al-Dīn: The Fundamental Practices of Islam
Topic 3.3 - Salāt: Obligatory Ritual Prayers in Islam
Topic 3.4 - Fasting in Islam, its Purpose, Dos and Don’ts
Topic 3.5 - The Hajj Pilgrimage
Topic 3.6 - The Purpose of Zakat and Khums in Islamic Law
Topic 3.7 - Jihād in Islamic Law and Spirituality
Topic 3.8 - Commanding the Good and Forbidding Evil in Islam
Topic 3.9 - Tawalla and Tabarra, its Basics and Purpose
Topic 3.10 - The Five Categories of Islamic Law
Topic 3.11 - Niyya: Religious Intention as the Foundation of Islamic Practice
Topic 3.12 - Ritual Purity in Islamic Law: Understanding Tahāra and Najāsa
Topic 3.13 - Other Obligatory and Forbidden Acts in Islam

Section 4 - Prophethood in Islam

Topic 4.1 - A Brief Biography of the Prophet Muhammad (s): The Prophet’s Childhood (PART I of III)
Topic 4.2 - Bio: The Prophet Muhammad as a Prophet of God (PART II of III)
Topic 4.3 - A Brief Biography of the Prophet Muhammad (s): The Prophet’s Character (PART III of III)
Topic 4.4 - The Prophet Muhammad (s) as Messenger and Teacher
Topic 4.5 - The Prophet and his Relationships
Topic 4.6 - The Prophet’s Sunnah and Hadith
Topic 4.7 - Ghadīr and Arafah: The Two Last Sermons of the Prophet
Topic 4.8 - Jesus and Mary in Islam

Section 5 - The Qur'an and Hadith

Topic 5.1 - Islam and Other Religions
Topic 5.2 - What is the Qur’an? A Short Introduction to Islam’s Holy Book
Topic 5.3 - The Structure of the Holy Qur’an
Topic 5.4 - The Quran and Islamic law
Topic 5.5 - The Qur’an, Allah and Humankind
Topic 5.6 - Hadith and Sunnah, difference and variations
Topic 5.7 - The Reliability of Hadiths
Topic 5.8 - A Reflection on Verses of the Holy Qur’an
Topic 5.9 - Hadith al-Thaqalayn
Topic 5.10 - Imam Ali (as) and Nahj al-Balagha.
Topic 5.11 - Taqlid and Tawḍih Al Masail Genre of Literature

Section 6 - Measuring Good and Bad in Islam

Topic 6.1 - Guidance According to Islam
Topic 6.2 - Life and Death in Islam
Topic 6.3 - Heaven and Hell in Islam
Topic 6.4 - The Effects of Our Actions in this World
Topic 6.5 - The Gray Areas of Islamic Law and Morality
Topic 6.6 - Benefits of Islamic Law in this World
Topic 6.7 - Good and Bad Deeds: The Spiritual Consequences of our Choices
Topic 6.8 - The Effect of Culture and Environment in Shaping our Religious Choices
Topic 6.9 - Fate and the Consequences of our Choices in Islam
Topic 6.10 - Trivializing the Harām
Topic 6.11 - Sinning Against Others and their Delayed Punishment
Topic 6.12 - The Three Kinds of Rights in Islam
Topic 6.13 - Major Sins in Islam
Topic 6.14 - Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins in Islam
Topic 6.15 - Kufr in Islam
Topic 6.16 - Why Allah Allows People to Sin

Section 7 - The Legacy of the Prophet Muhammad (s) and his Ahl al-Bayt (as)

Topic 7.1 - Islam and Knowledge: the Importance of Islamic Education
Topic 7.2 - The Ahl al-Kisa
Topic 7.3 - Imamah in the Qur’an
Topic 7.4 - Fatima al-Zahrah (as)
Topic 7.5 - A Brief Look at the Lives of the Imams (Imam al-Hasan until Imam Muhammad al-Baqir)
Topic 7.6 - A Brief Look at the Lives of the Imams (Imam Jafar al-Sadiq until Imam Hasan al-Askari)
Topic 7.7 - A Brief Look at the Life and Importance of Imam al-Mahdi (aj)
Topic 7.8 - Salawat and Atonement in Islam
Topic 7.9 - The Companions (Sahaba) of the Prophet According to the Qur’an
Topic 7.10 - Clerical Hierarchies in Muslim Communities
Topic 7.11 - Mosques in Islam
Topic 7.12 - The Philosophy of Karbala and Majalis
Topic 7.13 - A Brief Biography of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (as)
Topic 7.14 - The Battle of Karbala: A Brief History

Section 8 - Islamic Relationships, Sects and Conflicts

Topic 8.1 - Islam and Rights
Topic 8.2 - Islam and Religious Conflicts
Topic 8.3 - Major Sects of Islam
Topic 8.4 - Sunnism and Shi’ism, beginnings and historical developments.
Topic 8.5 - Misconceptions about Shi’ism

Special Topics

Section 9 - Independent Topics

Topic 9.1 - Muslim Converts – Welcome to Islam!
Topic 9.2 - Basic Dos and Don’ts of Being a Muslim
Topic 9.3 - Halal Food and Zabiha
Topic 9.4 - Modesty in Islam
Topic 9.5 - Family, Parents and Marriage in Islam
Topic 9.6 - Marriage in Islam
Topic 9.7 - Islam and Sex
Topic 9.8 - Women’s Menstruation in Islam
Topic 9.9 - Music, Alcohol, Drugs and Pork in Islam
Topic 9.10 - Islam and Science
Topic 9.11 - A Reading List of Islamic Knowledge
Topic 9.12 - Islam and Sufism
Topic 9.13 - Ritual Prayers and Supplications in Islam
Topic 9.14 - Death & Burial Rituals in Islam
Topic 9.15 - The Battle of Armageddon: An Islamic View
Topic 9.16 - The Muslim Calendar
Topic 9.17 - Muslims and non-Muslims in the Shariah
Topic 9.18 - A Timeline of Major Events in Islamic History
Topic 9.19 - Introducing the Qur’an: Why it is the way it is
Topic 9.20 - The School of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq
Topic 9.21 - Major Fields in Islamic Studies
Topic 9.22 - The Caliphate in Sunni and Shia Islam
Topic 9.23 - The Spread of Islam: After the Prophet until the Ottoman Empire
Topic 9.24 - Islam, Racism and Anti-Semitism

Section 10 - Islam, Religion, and Modern Controversies

Topic 10.1 - Modern Fallacies about God: where Theists and Atheists Agree
Topic 10.2 - Tawhīd: The Muslim God according to the Prophet Muhammad and the Ahl al-Bayt (as)
Topic 10.3 - God’s Existence: The Argument From Being (Wujūd)
Topic 10.4 - God’s Existence: The Kalam Cosmological Argument
Topic 10.5 - God’s Existence: The Argument From Design
Topic 10.6 - The Problem of Evil, Suffering and Pain
Topic 10.7 - Why did God Create Us? The Purpose of our Creation
Topic 10.8 - Why Humans Need Religion according to Islam
Topic 10.9 - Jahl and Spiritual Ignorance in Islam
Topic 10.10 - Faith in Islam: Belief without Evidence?
Topic 10.11 - Do Non-Muslims Go to Hell?

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Islam, Racism and Anti-Semitism

Abstract

Racism, anti-Semitism or misogyny has no place in Islam. Islam believes that all human beings are honored sons and daughters of Adam (as). The only thing that makes a person superior to another in Islam is piety and righteousness.

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INTRODUCTION

Bismillāhir Rahmānir Rahīm, As-salāmu ʿAlaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh. Peace be upon you brothers and sisters.

Welcome back to the Muslim Converts Channel!

One of the greatest tragedies to befall humanity is the disease of racism. Racism has existed on many levels and has come about in many different shapes and forms. In recent history, the racism exhibited by whites against Africans and Native Americans has been noteworthy. Millions of Africans were brought into slavery. In the United States and South Africa, African Americans were discriminated against on every level of society. This still continues to happen today.

The historian David Stannard estimates that over 90 million native Americans were killed in the first three centuries of the invasion of the Americas by European invaders. Up until the 1970s, Native American children were forcefully abducted from their homes in Canada and forced into schools where they were taught to forget their heritage and become “white.”

Another form of prevalent racism is what we call anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism comes in many forms. The most prominent form of anti-Semitism is against Jews. Jews had to face pogrom after pogrom in Europe until it culminated into the widespread genocide committed against them by Nazi Germany.

Unfortunately, no civilization or religious group have escaped racism. Racism, unfortunately, has also existed among Muslims.

In this lesson, we will look at Islam’s position on racism and its promotion of equality, whether it is between races or genders. Our point here is to show that even if Muslims display racism at times, it completely goes against the values of Islam.

BODY OF TEXT

Islam and Racism

Our other lessons usually take the shape of a standard lecture. Here we want to do less of that formal talk and instead let Islam speak through its verses and hadiths. So what we’ll do is quote verses from the Qur’an and sayings from the Prophet (s) concerning racism and give some short commentaries regarding them.

And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference. (Chapter 17, verse 70 of the Holy Qur’an)

The children of Adam refers to the whole of humanity. God is talking about His absolute preference for them over His other creation, including animals and jinn. When God says He “honored the children of Adam” it means that He has honored both men and women, children and adults, and humans of all races and economic and social classes.

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 most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted. (Chapter 49, verse 13 of the Holy Qur’an)

Some people think that God honored all of humankind, but somehow He honored some more than others. They think that He honored whites over blacks, of blacks over whites, or men over women, or women over men, or rich over poor.

The honor, however, is an equal honor that applies to all. The ONLY people are superior to others is in piety, consciousness of God and righteousness. In other words, the closer you are to God, the higher in rank and value you are in the eyes of God.

A hadith from the Prophet Muhammad (s) also confirms this:

The Messenger of Allah said: 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?

Islam and Misogyny

Misogyny, that is, dislike or prejudice again women, has no place in Islam. The Prophet Muhammad (s) once said:

O people, Allah has removed the slogans of ignorance from you and the exaltation of its forefathers. The people are only two kinds: either a righteous, Godfearing believer dignified to Allah, or a wicked, miserable sinner insignificant to Allah. The people are all the children of Adam and Adam was created from dust. Allah said: O people, We have created you male and female and made you into nations and tribes that you may know one another. Verily, the most noble to Allah is the most righteous of you.

The above hadith is also speaking about the equality of all human beings. Both men and women are mentioned. Men and women only surpass each other in righteousness, that’s all. Being equal of course does not mean their responsibilities are the same. Islam has delegated different responsibilities and rights for them, but this does not mean that as humans or in the sight of God that one has more value than the other!

Islam and Anti-Semitism

Islam is also against anti-Semitism, that is, it is against racism against Jews. The Qur’an says:

Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve. (Chapter 2, verse 62 of the Holy Qur’an)

The Qur’an states that Jews also have a chance at salvation, that is, if they are faithful to God and believe in Him, the Day of Judgment and do righteous deeds.

The Qur’an also says:

O children of Israel! call to mind My favor which I bestowed on you and be faithful to (your) covenant with Me, I will fulfill (My) covenant with you; and of Me, Me alone, should you be afraid. (Chapter 2, verse 40 of the Holy Qur’an)

Allah obviously saw some good in Jews when He bestowed His favor upon them. He also sees good in them to the extent that they can even find salvation in God.

Yes, the Qur’an is full of criticisms of Jews, but this in no way justifies anti-Semitism. If the Qur’an criticizes Jews, the Qur’an criticizes Muslims and Arabs even more. In fact, it even criticizes the Prophet’s (s) companions and wives. So these criticisms in no way are restricted to Jews.

If the Qur’an even assumes that most Jews are bad, that’s because the Qur’an also assumes that most humans are bad, so again, it is nothing specific to Jews. Want the proof? Well look at this verse:

And if you obey most of those upon the earth, they will mislead you from the way of Allah. They follow not except assumption, and they are not but falsifying. (Chapter 6, verse 116 of the Holy Qur’an)

Misogyny

prejudice or dislike of women

What does Islam say about racism?

Racism is a sin and may lead a person to hell.

Are all humans equal in Islam?

In terms of value in the eyes of God, yes. However, they have different responsibilities and duties, depending on their social position, gender and age.

Does Islam hate Jews?

No, Islam believes that Jews can be sincere believers in God and can be a source of God’s favor if they are faithful to God and act morally.

Does the Qur’an single out Jews as evil people?

No. If Islam criticizes Jews, it criticizes Muslims and Arabs even more.

Does Islam think women are inferior to men?

There is not a single verse in the Qur’an that suggests that. To the contrary, the Qur’an often mentions both males and females together when offering them advice and addresses them on equal footing.

islam and racism
islam and anti-semitism
islam and gender
racism against Jews
Islam’s position on racism
equality of all human beings
islam and misogyny

"Silence saves you from regret"

- Imam Ali (as) -