{"id":2645,"date":"2021-02-26T06:51:54","date_gmt":"2021-02-26T06:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/?p=2645"},"modified":"2021-02-26T06:51:54","modified_gmt":"2021-02-26T06:51:54","slug":"racism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/2021\/02\/26\/racism\/","title":{"rendered":"Racism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Racism is a form of prejudice and prejudice has existed\nbefore any of us were created. The definition of prejudice is where people are\ntreated differently because of gender,\ncolour, language, religion, etc. Unfortunately, we are living in a time where\ndivision has become almost the norm. People appear to be more divided than ever\nbefore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But this is not\nsomething new. Allah SWT educates us on the origin of Iblees\u2019 downfall in Sura\nSaad when he demonstrated prejudice upon first seeing Allah SWT create man. When\nchallenged as to why Iblees refused to prostrate, he replied and demonstrated\nhis prejudice as well as his arrogance. The imam reminded us of this through\nthe 76<sup>th<\/sup> ayat of this sura which is translated to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He replied, \u201cI am better than he\nis: You created me from fire and him from clay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear brothers, prejudice is something that is a trait of\nIblees and so it has no business being a trait that we possess. Allah SWT has\ntold us that we are different races and that this is part of a divine plan. We\nare also told in Sura Al-Hujarat, ayat 13 what we are meant to do with this knowledge.\nIt\u2019s translated to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>O mankind, indeed We have created\nyou from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one\nanother. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous&nbsp;of\nyou. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Aware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear brothers, our conduct between one another is\nhighlighted here. We are all the creation of Allah SWT and we are created equal\nand it is only our deeds and our acts of worship that should be used to compare.\nAnd even then, they are used to lift one another and to inspire one another,\nnot to be a cause of any negative behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so, with this reminder, we need to be mindful of our\nactions and behaviours. Prejudice on gender, race, background and even\nreligion, does not belong to the characteristic of a Muslim. It leads to\narrogance which is a trait of Shaitaan and therefore we can conclude today with\nthe following practical reminders:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>When dealing with other people, it is OK to be\naware of differences such as race or language. However, this is something you\nshould treat positively. Look at it as a blessing of Allah SWT that he has made\nus differently from one another but made us to appreciate the difference in one\nanother. We all have our individual strengths and blessings and these should be\ncelebrated and a source of positive behaviour, not of prejudice or envy.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>It is only natural to compare. This is human\nnature. However, this human trait to compare should be used to inspire\nourselves to self-reflect and to improve ourselves. The Prophet SAWS told us to\nthat the only time we are permitted to compare is when we are competing to do\ngood deeds and good actions. Again, this is not to have prejudice in one\nanother. No, we ought to be happy for our fellow brothers and sisters in this\nregard, but also use their achievements and their conduct to encourage our own\nselves to become better in our actions and our deeds.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear brothers, we are diverse and different in so many ways.\nThis is part of what makes us human. However, we can use this fact to inspire\none another to greatness or we can use it to demonstrate prejudice and\narrogance like Iblees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our Prophet SAWS set the standard by calling us all his\nUmmah, regardless of our differences. Our role now is to carry this forward and\ndemonstrate what it means to be one community of our beloved prophet SAWS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Racism is a form of prejudice and prejudice has existed before any of us were created. The definition of prejudice is where people are treated differently because of gender, colour, language, religion, etc. Unfortunately, we are living in a time where division has become almost the norm. People appear to be more divided than ever [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_regular_price":[],"currency_symbol":[],"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[381,382,383],"class_list":["post-2645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-prejudice","tag-race","tag-racism"],"blocksy_meta":[],"post_slider_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","post_slider_layout_landscape_large":"","post_slider_layout_portrait_large":"","post_slider_layout_square_large":"","post_slider_layout_landscape":"","post_slider_layout_portrait":"","post_slider_layout_square":"","full":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}