1. ISLAM: THE SOLUTION TO CASTEISM AND RASCISM
BY
YAQEEN UL HAQ AHMAD SIKANDER
Racism has indeed brought a lot of disasters to humankind. The hatred which is felt against
other races is responsible for the majority of conflicts, clashes and civil wars around the
world. For instance, "Racism" brought to the Africa Continent for long years violence,
clashes, wars, starvation and misery. Until the 1950s, the people of this continent suffered
from all the forms of violence and racist policies which the imperialist countries imposed.
The concept of Racism suggests that one particular race is, either physically or mentally or
both, superior to another and that it is unnecessary for the superior one to have feelings of
mercy, compassion and respect for the other.
The foundation of the modern Racism was actually laid by the Charles Darwin's theory of
evolution. Some people who have heard of "the theory of evolution" think that it is only
concerned with the biological field. The theory of evolution, however, represents more than
this. Not merely a biological concept, it is the underpinning of many philosophies that hold
the masses under their influence. Darwin's theory had a significant dimension. Darwin based
the development of living beings, including human beings, on the term "the struggle for
survival." According to him, there is a fierce struggle, a constant conflict, going on in nature.
In this struggle, the strong always defeat the weak and thus progress occurs. Darwin
maintained that this "struggle for survival" is also true for human races.
The leaders of Nazism and Fascism were greatly inspired by the Darwin's theory of
evolution. One of the founders and the leader of the German Nazi Party, Adolph Hitler, was
an ambitious and aggressive man who based part of his outlook on life on Racism. Hitler
firmly believed in the superiority of the Aryan "master race" and that this was the race that
would lead all other nations. Also the principle features of Fascism are dictatorial state rule,
and an aggressive foreign policy. But alongside all of these, its really dominant characteristic
is Racism. When we look at the Nazi ideology, in particular, we can see that it is Racism that
makes Fascism what it is. The Nazis set out with the dream of establishing the hegemony of
the Aryan race, which they believed to be superior, over the whole world, an idea on which
all their policies and social measures were based. Racism was also the fundamental
ideology of other fascist regimes, such as those of Mussolini, even if not to the extent it was
in Nazism. Mussolini suggested that the Romans who had governed the Roman Empire were
a "superior race," and that the Italians, as their descendants, also possessed this superior
nature. The conquest of Ethiopia was based on this notion of the superior race, and that the
black skinned Ethiopians need submit to the Italians, in accordance to what was perceived
as a natural racial hierarchy. Franco made similar claims for the Spanish.

2. In the Qur'an, Allah declares that various nations and tribes exist so that "people might
come to know each other." The diversity of nations, races, tribes and languages is a beauty
peculiar to Allah's creation. These peculiarities are all the distinctive creation of Allah with
countless beauties, purposes and subtle secrets within them. The Qur'an mentions:
"Mankind! We created you from a male and female, and made you into peoples and tribes
so that you might come to know each other. The noblest among you in Allah's sight is the
one with the most taqwa of Allah. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware". (Surat al-Hujurat: 13)
The above verse is perfectly clear. No matter by what criteria human beings are judged in
this world, in God's eyes, superiority consists of closeness to Him, and fear of Him. An
individual or group which chooses to see one race as superior, or tries to demonstrate it to
be so, is deceiving itself. Further the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:
"An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab over an Arab and a white
person has no superiority over a black person, nor a black person over a white person -
except by piety and good actions".
Regarding Caste system although there are many movements for caste reform and offenses
against "untouchables" are now banned by law, caste alliances remain a powerful political
and social force in India. And the caste system still retains great strength in the countryside,
where the majority of India's people live. However, Urbanization and industrialization have
increased Indian social mobility and thereby modified the caste system. But Modernization
and economic development have just tended to modify the caste system and has not
eradicated it completely.
But if we want to eradicate the curses of caste and race from our society completely, then it
is only possible by living by the principles of the right religion and making others obey them.
(The Author can be reached at www.yaqeenulhaq.info or can be mailed at yaqeen@ymail.com)