Step 1: Changing Yourself
Changing yourself begins with understanding racism as injustice and our responsibility against injustice. We read in the Quran:
{O believers! Stand firm for justice as witnesses for Allah even if it is against yourselves, your parents, or close relatives. Be they rich or poor, Allah is best to ensure their interests. So do not let your desires cause you to deviate ‘from justice’. If you distort the testimony or refuse to give it, then ‘know that’ Allah is certainly All-Aware of what you do.} (An-Nisa’ 4:135)
Racism or anti-blackness is injustice. It is not just injustice when a policeman shots or kills a black person. It is injustice when people ridicule a black child for his/her hair. It is injustice when you or a family member use the word “3BD” to refer to a black person.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had no tolerance for injustice of any kind. So as a Muslim, ask yourself, are you tolerating it? Are you more concerned with defending yourself when someone calls out a racist thing you do or say? Or are you humble enough to say “I’m doing something haram. I was not careful enough. I have no right to disrespect Allah and His creation.” I could go on forever, but to hear more of my reflections, a podcast episode can be found here.
Step 2: Educating Yourself
If you haven’t done the work of understanding how ِAllah hates anti-blackness and racism, education won’t lead to change. That’s why it’s step two. I’d like to introduce you to three Muslim-created resources with their links.
The first is MuslimARC, an Islamic anti-racism organization with many resources to educate, tools to empower and opportunities to engage.
The second is the Family and Youth Institute, which has a valuable toolkit on uplifting black Muslim youth. This is a great resource especially if you work at any institution like a school or a mosque.
The third is the book of Centering the Black Narrative by Dawud Walid and Ahmad Mubarak which educates on the history and contributions of black Muslims in and around the Prophet Muhammad’s time.
📚 Read Also: Seerah Of Prophet Muhammad – Conversions Of Omar & Hamza Plus Boycott
This is valuable for all families to shed light on important and often sidelined Islamic history. This is especially true since many of us aren’t even familiar that some Companions (besides Bilal ibn Rabah) were black!
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