Racism and Tribalism
العنصرية والعصبيةClaiming superiority or showing prejudice based on race, ethnicity, lineage, or tribal affiliation
Hadith
الحديث النبويعَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ لَهُ انْظُرْ فَإِنَّكَ لَيْسَ بِخَيْرٍ مِنْ أَحْمَرَ وَلَا أَسْوَدَ إِلَّا أَنْ تَفْضُلَهُ بِتَقْوَى
Abu Dharr reported:
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Behold! Verily, you have no virtue over one with white skin or black skin, except by favor of righteousness.”
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَلَا إِنَّ رَبَّكُمْ وَاحِدٌ وَإِنَّ أَبَاكُمْ وَاحِدٌ أَلَا لَا فَضْلَ لِعَرَبِيٍّ عَلَى أَعْجَمِيٍّ وَلَا لِعَجَمِيٍّ عَلَى عَرَبِيٍّ وَلَا لِأَحْمَرَ عَلَى أَسْوَدَ وَلَا أَسْوَدَ عَلَى أَحْمَرَ إِلَّا بِالتَّقْوَى أَبَلَّغْتُ
Abu Nadrah reported:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said during the days after the pilgrimage, “O people, your Lord is one and your father Adam is one. There is no favor 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?” They said, “The Messenger of Allah has delivered the message.”
فَقَالَ إِنَّهُ كَانَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ رَجُلٍ مِنْ إِخْوَانِي كَلَامٌ وَكَانَتْ أُمُّهُ أَعْجَمِيَّةً فَعَيَّرْتُهُ بِأُمِّهِ فَشَكَانِي إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَلَقِيتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ يَا أَبَا ذَرٍّ إِنَّكَ امْرُؤٌ فِيكَ جَاهِلِيَّةٌ
Al-Ma'rur ibn Suwaid reported:
Abu Dharr said that he once reproached a man because his mother was a non-Arab. When the matter reached the Messenger of Allah, the Prophet said to Abu Dharr, “You are a person who still has remnants of the days of ignorance in you.” He then instructed him to treat those under his authority as brothers: feeding them from what he ate, clothing them from what he wore, and helping them with burdens beyond their capacity.
فَسَمِعَ ذَاكَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ مَا بَالُ دَعْوَى جَاهِلِيَّةٍ قَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ كَسَعَ رَجُلٌ مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ رَجُلًا مِنَ الْأَنْصَارِ فَقَالَ دَعُوهَا فَإِنَّهَا مُنْتِنَةٌ
Jabir ibn 'Abdullah reported:
A dispute occurred between a man from the Muhajirin and a man from the Ansar, and each called upon his own group for support. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “What is this call of Jahiliyyah?” When the situation was explained to him, he said, “Leave it, for it is detestable.”
اقْتَتَلَ غُلَامَانِ غُلَامٌ مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَغُلَامٌ مِنَ الْأَنْصَارِ فَنَادَى الْمُهَاجِرُ أَوِ الْمُهَاجِرُونَ يَا لَلْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَنَادَى الْأَنْصَارِيُّ يَا لَلْأَنْصَارِ فَخَرَجَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ مَا هَذَا دَعْوَى أَهْلِ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ
Jabir ibn Abdullah reported:
Two young men, one from the Muhajirin and the other from the Ansar, fell into dispute and each called his group for support. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “What is this proclamation of the days of Jahiliyyah?” He then said that a person should help his brother whether he is an oppressor or oppressed: if he is an oppressor, restrain him; and if he is oppressed, help him.
مَنْ خَرَجَ مِنَ الطَّاعَةِ وَفَارَقَ الْجَمَاعَةَ فَمَاتَ مَاتَ مِيتَةً جَاهِلِيَّةً وَمَنْ قَاتَلَ تَحْتَ رَايَةٍ عُمِّيَّةٍ يَغْضَبُ لِعَصَبَةٍ أَوْ يَدْعُو إِلَى عَصَبَةٍ أَوْ يَنْصُرُ عَصَبَةً فَقُتِلَ فَقِتْلَةٌ جَاهِلِيَّةٌ
Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said that one who fights under a blind banner, becoming angry for tribal or family partisanship, calling to it, or supporting it, and is killed upon that, dies a death belonging to the days of Jahiliyyah.
لَيْسَ مِنَّا مَنْ دَعَا إِلَى عَصَبِيَّةٍ وَلَيْسَ مِنَّا مَنْ قَاتَلَ عَلَى عَصَبِيَّةٍ وَلَيْسَ مِنَّا مَنْ مَاتَ عَلَى عَصَبِيَّةٍ
Jubayr ibn Mut'im reported:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “He is not one of us who calls to tribalism. He is not one of us who fights for the sake of tribalism. He is not one of us who dies following the way of tribalism.”
لَيَنْتَهِيَنَّ أَقْوَامٌ يَفْتَخِرُونَ بِآبَائِهِمُ الَّذِينَ مَاتُوا إِنَّمَا هُمْ فَحْمُ جَهَنَّمَ أَوْ لَيَكُونَنَّ أَهْوَنَ عَلَى اللَّهِ مِنَ الْجُعَلِ الَّذِي يُدَهْدِهُ الْخِرَاءَ بِأَنْفِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ أَذْهَبَ عَنْكُمْ عُبِّيَّةَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ إِنَّمَا هُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ تَقِيٌّ وَفَاجِرٌ شَقِيٌّ النَّاسُ كُلُّهُمْ بَنُو آدَمَ وَآدَمُ خُلِقَ مِنْ تُرَابٍ
Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said that people must stop boasting about their deceased forefathers. Allah has removed the pride and boasting of Jahiliyyah in lineage; people are either righteous believers or sinful wrongdoers, and all people are children of Adam, while Adam was created from dust.
أَرْبَعٌ فِي أُمَّتِي مِنْ أَمْرِ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ لَا يَتْرُكُونَهُنَّ الْفَخْرُ فِي الْأَحْسَابِ وَالطَّعْنُ فِي الْأَنْسَابِ وَالِاسْتِسْقَاءُ بِالنُّجُومِ وَالنِّيَاحَةُ
Abu Malik al-Ash'ari reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said:
“Among my people there are four characteristics belonging to the pre-Islamic period which they do not abandon: boasting of high rank, reviling other people's genealogies, seeking rain by the stars, and wailing.”
Statements of the Salaf
أقوال السلفأَبُو بَكْرٍ سَيِّدُنَا وَأَعْتَقَ سَيِّدَنَا
Abu Bakr is our chief, and he manumitted our chief — meaning Bilal.
Verily, we were a disgraced, humiliated people, and Allah gave us honor through Islam. Whenever we seek honor through anything else besides that which Allah has honored us with, Allah will surely humiliate us.
Source: al-Ḥākim, al-Mustadrak ʿalā al-Ṣaḥīḥayn 207
I am Salman, the son of Islam. I was lost and Allah guided me through Muhammad; I was destitute and Allah enriched me through Muhammad; and I was a slave and Allah freed me through Muhammad. This is my ancestry and my lineage!
Source: al-Bayhaqī, Shuʿab al-Īmān 4768
All human beings are equal in stature: their father is Adam and their mother is Eve. If they possess any pride in their lineage, it is ultimately nothing more than clay and water.
Source: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Dīwān ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib 1/45
O son of Adam, you boast of ancestors who are turning to dust under the earth! A person who is saved by his righteous deeds is noble even if he is born of humble lineage, and a person destroyed by his sins is worthless even if he belongs to kings.
Source: Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī, Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ 2/157
Stop! For Allah has stated in His Book: “Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you” [49:13]. True honor belongs entirely to piety, not to crowns or royal blood.
Source: al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 5/133
Statements of Scholars
أقوال العلماءIbn Abi Layla reported that Eisa ibn Musa, who was severe in his tribalism on behalf of the Arabs, repeatedly asked him who the leading jurists of various regions were. Ibn Abi Layla named scholars from Basra, Mecca, Medina, Quba, Yemen, Khurasan, and Syria, and repeatedly explained that they were freed slaves. Eisa's displeasure increased each time until he finally asked about Kufa and was told that Ibrahim al-Nakha'i and al-Sha'bi were Arabs, at which he exclaimed, “Allah is the greatest!” and settled down.
Superiority in the sight of Allah is measured exclusively by faith and piety, not by race, ethnicity, ancestral lineage, skin color, or tribal origins. Whosoever is more God-fearing is superior before Allah.
Source: Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 19/29
The Prophet ﷺ dismantled every trace of tribal arrogance and ethnic bigotry that defined pre-Islamic society, establishing that all humans originate from dust and that no soul holds precedence over another except through righteousness.
Source: Ibn al-Qayyim, Zād al-Maʿād fī Hadyi Khayr al-ʿIbād 3/423
All of mankind are completely equal in their origin from Adam and dust; the only real distinction between people before Allah is their religion and their devotion to His obedience.
Source: Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm 7/386