I know most of you reading this have listened to or at least heard of the recent terrible comments by Hamza Yusuf on the subject of race at the 2016 RIS conference and maybe you are shocked someone you’ve maybe loved or followed for years could speak these words, perpetrate these racially charged and yes racist myths.
Now I’ve been wanting to write an article about the racism of many white revert Muslims for a while now, so rather than devoting a whole article to trashing someone who has already been thoroughly rebuked by so many powerful voices in the Muslim community over the years as well as more recently I want instead to use this incident to ask another more general question about are his views somewhat typical of white Muslim attitudes…
Everyone has the ability to be racist in some context if we let ourselves. I would like to say that I never generalize anyone but none of us are perfect and we all have to constantly work on ourselves
"White reverts are treated sometimes as status symbols by the Muslim community, so when a Masjid wants pictures of reverts to put on a fundraising brochure to go to the gulf, who gets called upon to help out?"
I think you have hit the nail on the head in this one brother.
It is a given fact that white privilege exists. There are those who are in denial of it and dismiss it. This white privilege was created by the European colonists when they ruled the world. Britain ruled the wold for a few centuries and then the other European nations came. When you have centuries of white people ruling over you, telling you white is better and the lighter you are from your people the more you will be favored. This centuries of bondage and occupation left a lasting impact on the psyche of the world. Not only did the White Europeans taught ethnocentric superiority to the world, they themselves believed this and taught it to their kids. If you go to any corner of the world, whether the people of pakistani, saudi, Filipino, or any colored nation that has been occupied and colonized, you will realize the same pattern. They all suffer from inferiority complex from centuries of bondage and oppression. And even the physical colonization ended , the mental colonization still exists. Still people of color see themselves as inferior and the European western nations have set up the world as such that even today the whites see themselves as superior and better. They all won't say it but Trump brought a lot of them out in the open.
And sadly, we see this in the ummah as well. The Muslims who put themselves down and the converts up by saying they are like the "sahabas" ignorantly dismissing themselves and their efforts of bettering themselves. No one is like the sahabas, no one. The converts get their slate wiped and get a refresh start, but then so do other Muslims who go do hajj, and those who sincerely repent. Do they know not that one who repents is like the one who has not committed the sin?
Your article brought out the uncomfortable truth that many are not willing to accept and many will try to deny or defend against. And those who speak out about that topic will also be shunned as "racist" or some other label, unless the person voicing this is a white person, like yourself. Then they cannot dismiss you as a "jealous" colored person.
But to answer your question, I don't think we can label whole group of people as racist. There exists racism in all groups, be it outward towards other groups or inwards towards their own. But for the most part I believe racism does exist in the white reverts. Because quite frankly , many reverts come from a racist white favored society where they see themselves as better. To think of themselves as equal as non-whites after reverting is not an easy task. One has to truly shed themselves of the ugly aspects of their cultural baggage to be free of racism and rarely do we see that.
Then again I don't like that hamza guy anyway. This is the same guy who said people go to do Jihad after watching too much porn. And that all those kuffars who died on 9-11 are shaheed while the Muslims killed who allegedly were behind it are not. Maybe it was his prejudice white bias talking or pro-western pleasing.
..i dont see them that way, the last white muslim i saw..
i assume he was a revert.. and assumption is a dangerous thing..
well he pulled out a wallet to pay for something and it was a well known alcohol company wallet.
mind goes...
lol alcohol you been bad, you this and that..
i go.. shaddap yo face..
so thats how it is.
as for the video in the link..
i absolutely agree that ignorance is the problem.
and those that propagate it are not racist, they are deceivers at the heart of it..
they propogate a false world view and heres the joke, it may be entirely reflective of what they have experienced and what they have been put through..
their truth.
...but it is not how the world has to be.
ironically even if you think of the future and how we all have hopes pinned on jesus as and the madhi.. or the 12th imam or whatever else i dont know about.
the only way to change tomorrow is dispelling ignorance.
and educating people who have not yet encountered the lives we claim to have lived.
ironically, everything is with allah swt..
but you get what you work towards.
its not going to happen overnight.
probably.
i dont run from the police because im innocent.
and if you ask me to shave of my beard i probably would..
it grows back given enough time.
its not the way most people live, they love whats behind them the most..
How all these people popping up on youtube turn in "sheikhs" is beyond me. It's not just Hamza Yusuf but many others. It would be better to read traditional Islamic literature and of course listen to those scholars who have been trained traditionally within the madrasah system, which is largely in place in the Asian subcontinent but also in the middle east and to a lesser extent africa.
Then all issues, racism or otherwise will be made clear to you. What I'm basically saying is dont put too much faith in one internet "sheikh" or other.
Salam Aleikum brother. Maybe it is because of my bad English I don't know but I absolutely heard nothing racist in this speech. He spoke against racism from the begining till the end. What he says, after seeing all those racism within Arabs, their rising up against white racism is a sick idea. Yes he should not have made a generalization about Arabs, as there are racist and non-racist Arabs as it is in every nation. I think he refers to the racist ones. But He is not making a racist comment here.
As for the question..It really makes no sense to make such a generalization..This is an equation with three unknowns..There are white muslims who are racist and white muslims who are not and the list goes like that..If you were a racist person before convertion to Islam, you are supposed to leave it as it is against Islam. But, as it is mentioned by another member sometimes it is not that easy to leave such a habit in which you were born to..Some racist people just go on to be racist regardless of their faith because of their cultural heritage.. Also, racism is not only the problem of "whites"-by the way even this term is racist term considering the white colour is purer than the other colours. There is not a white race. It is a name given for the Germanic races. Every skin has some colour unless they are not fully albino-but it exists in all nations. There are many racist people here in Turkey.
@anatolian you have to see what he said in the context of what is going on in the west, especially in the US in regards to police brutality towards the minorities, especially black and the similarities in his speech and that of white right wing groups.
@anatolian you have to see what he said in the context of what is going on in the west, especially in the US in regards to police brutality towards the minorities, especially black and the similarities in his speech and that of white right wing groups.
Salam bro. I have listened to it again and I again could not find a racist statement in it. A white policeman shoting a black man without a proper reason is a crime obviously. But we simply cannot say it is because of racism. It might be but it may not be as well. He says that there are black policemen shoting white people also. He states that there is a counter racism under the mask of anti-racism and I am completely agree with this. He says this exists in our own community. Yes many Muslims who have different ethnicities are making their own racisms.
I read the link. It complains about him too but I just could not find because which words of him they blame him. Is it becaues of the same speech?
Salam bro. I have listened to it again and I again could not find a racist statement in it. A white policeman shoting a black man without a proper reason is a crime obviously. But we simply cannot say it is because of racism. It might be but it may not be as well. He says that there are black policemen shoting white people also. He states that there is a counter racism under the mask of anti-racism and I am completely agree with this. He says this exists in our own community. Yes many Muslims who have different ethnicities are making their own racisms.
I read the link. It complains about him too but I just could not find because which words of him they blame him. Is it becaues of the same speech?
Bro if you can't see it then this is something that would require a lengthy discussion to show the underlying message of these things. Someone one living here in the west understands and sees it from a mile away because they have the current and historical context of it.
Bro if you can't see it then this is something that would require a lengthy discussion to show the underlying message of these things. Someone one living here in the west understands and sees it from a mile away because they have the current and historical context of it.
I am open for the further clarifications. I just came across with Hamza Yusuf in YT. He sounds a wise man. But if there is an underlying message beyond it which I am not able to see, it is sad. So what is your stance, are you not going to trust white people even the Muslims? Are you living in the US btw?
I am open for the further clarifications. I just came across with Hamza Yusuf in YT. He sounds a wise man. But if there is an underlying message beyond it which I am not able to see, it is sad. So what is your stance, are you not going to trust white people even the Muslims? Are you living in the US btw?
Bro, I've stated in my very first post on this thread that we can't generalize and say that all are of the same kind. But at the same time we also have to realize that such a thing does exist. And yes, i'm in the US.
format_quote Originally Posted by Snow
Isn't labeling white Muslims in a negative way racist?
This goes full circle.
Stop caring about race so much.
No, this is discussing whether there are white muslims who are racist. a question stemmed from what hamza stated regarding race issues. And the OP himself is a White Muslim bringing this issue on the table to discuss. We can't hide behind labeling this or that to avoid discussing the issues.
Are white Muslims racist? Well, not any more or less than Muslims, or anyone else, from any other race or ethnicity. Being racist isn't particular to any group, it's an ideology that can afflict anyone, white or not.
I think with Hamza Yusuf, his comments were taken a little out of context. I don't agree with what he said, it might be a matter of him having a little too much faith in the police force and playing down certain incidents.
But it would be nice if we as a Muslim community overall stopped focusing so much on the colour of your skin or nationality. I do believe these are important in the sense of identity, but our collective sense as an Ummah should override any of those considerations when it comes to the bigger picture.
No, this is discussing whether there are white muslims who are racist. a question stemmed from what hamza stated regarding race issues. And the OP himself is a White Muslim bringing this issue on the table to discuss. We can't hide behind labeling this or that to avoid discussing the issues.
Of course there are morons that happen to be white, just like there are morons in every race.
I just don't see the point in focusing on one being worse than the other - as that is the definition of racism.
I think the biggest issue is Islam is supposed to take away the race issue. But we are still stuck with it. Is it cause we haven't let Islam level the playing field and us all look at each other as equal brothers and sisters. Wanting the best for our entire community . Or is everyone trying to cater Islam to their own agenda. Which takes away the beauty of Islam .
"O people! Indeed, your Lord is one and your father is one. Indeed, there is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, nor of a non-Arab over an Arab, nor of a white over a black, nor a black over a white, except by taqwa.
Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
When you create an account, we remember exactly what you've read, so you always come right back where you left off. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and share your thoughts. Sign Up
ruglifeTX liked this post
Hide
Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks