Excerpts:
“You are empty (i.e. you have no moral leg tostand on.) ...Bilal.... on the other hand, ....is better and more honourable than any of you.”
“O mankind, We have created you from a male and afemale and made you into races and tribes, so that you
may identify each other. Surely the noblest of you,in Allah’s sight, is the one who is most pious of you.
Surely Allah is All-Knowing, all-Aware.”
"The underlying Divine wisdom in such a division is mutual identification."
" The current verse of Surah Hujurat proceeds to set down the basis of an all-comprehensive and all-pervading principle of human equality. It has firmly laid the axe at the false and foolish notions of superiority...,"
".. all people are the descendants of Adam and Hawwa Alayhis salaam and have been declared equal in the sight of Allah."
" The entire human race is but one family. "
"This verse was revealed on the occasion of the conquest of Makkah. When it was time for prayer, the
Holy Prophet..Bilal ... call the adhan."
“You are empty (i.e. you have no moral leg to stand on.) ... Bilal .. on the other hand, ...is better and more honourable than any of you.”
"Taqwa of Allah is the basis of Honour"
" This verse made it plain that human beings can earn honour on account of their faith and righteousness."
" “O people! Allah has removed from you the pride of Jahiliyyah and its arrogance."
"Therefore, no one should be given preference just because of sub caste. Respect should be given because
of ilm and taqwa."
CASTE SYSTEM IN ISLAM
Posted by: "Saba Khan" kuchkhawaab@yahoo.com kuchkhawaab
Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:34 am (PST)
QUESTION
1)There are different subcastes in islam like
KHAN,PATHAN, SHAIK etc.so now what i want to know is
who made these castes or who divided the people in
these castes.since people says with proud that they
belong to highest subcastes?
2)our prophet muhammad(saw) belongs to which
subcastes?
Allah Hafiz
Answer
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh
1) Allah states in the Holy Quran:
“O mankind, We have created you from a male and a
female and made you into races and tribes, so that you
may identify each other. Surely the noblest of you,
in Allah’s sight, is the one who is most pious of you.
Surely Allah is All-Knowing, all-Aware.”
[Surahtul Hujurat ]
The Quran in this verse has made it clear that Allah
has created all mankind from a single mother and a
single father, and made them into a single
brotherhood. But He has divided them into different
tribes, nations, races, lineage and
language-speakers/ linguistic groups. The underlying
Divine wisdom in such a division is mutual
identification.
For example:
If there are two people bearing the same name, they
could be differentiated by family name.
It can also show the near and remote relations. Their
Shar’i rights can be fulfilled on the basis of near
and distant lineage. It is incumbent to determine the
near and remote agnate heirs when applying the law of
succession or dividing the estate of a deceased.
In short, reference to one’s lineage for the purpose
of identification is not deemed to be pride and
conceit.
The current verse of Surah Hujurat proceeds to set
down the basis of an all-comprehensive and
all-pervading principle of human equality. It has
firmly laid the axe at the false and foolish notions
of superiority, born of racial arrogance or national
conceit. All men have been created from a single male
Adam Alayhis salaam and a single female Hawwa Alayhis
salaam as human beings. Therefore all people are the
descendants of Adam and Hawwa Alayhis salaam and have
been declared equal in the sight of Allah.
No one is allowed to take pride or degrade others on
the basis of his skin, wealth, rank, social status,
descent or pedigree, but by his moral uprightness and
the way he discharges his obligations to Allah and
man. The entire human race is but one family.
Division into nations, tribes and sub-tribes of all
sizes, and races is meant only to give a better
identification of one another.
Cause of Revelation (Shaani Nuzul)
This verse was revealed on the occasion of the
conquest of Makkah. When it was time for prayer, the
Holy Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam asked Sayyidna
Bilal Radiyallhu anhu to call the adhan. One of the
pagan Quraish cynically remarked: Thank God my father
died before this happened, and he did not have to see
this bad day. Harith Ibn Hisham remarked: could
Muhammad not find anyone better than this black crow
to sound the adhan in the Sacred Masjid! Abu Sufyan
said: I do not wish to utter anything for fear that
the master of the heavens will inform him. Thus
Jibrail Alayhis salaam came down and informed the Holy
Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam about this
conversation. The Holy Prophet Sallallahu alayhi
wasallam called them and asked them about it. They
admitted. At this, the current verse was revealed.
Taqwa of Allah is the basis of Honour
This verse made it plain that human beings can earn
honour on account of their faith and righteousness.
The immediate application of the verse was to
Sayyidina Bilal Radiyallahu anhu, and therefore the
Holy Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam said to those
people: “You are empty (i.e. you have no moral leg to
stand on.) Sayyidina Bilal Radiyallahu anhu, on the
other hand, is equipped (with high moral qualities);
and he is better and more honourable than any of you.”
Sayyidna Abudullah Ibn Umar Radiyallahu anhu reports
that on the day when Makkah was conquered, the Holy
Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam performed tawaf
(circumambulation of Ka’bah) in the state of riding on
his she-camel, [so that all the people could see him].
Then having completed his tawaf, he delivered a
sermon in which he said:
“O people! Allah has removed from you the pride of
Jahiliyyah and its arrogance. People are of two
types: a man who is righteous, fearful of Allah and he
is honourable to Allah; or a man who is sinful,
wretched, and he is disgraced and little to Allah.”
[Tirmidhi and Baghawi]
Then he recited the current verse.
Sayyidina Ibn Abbas Radiyallahu anhu says: For people
“honour” lies in wealth, whilst in the sight of Allah
it lies in righteousness.
Overall, people needed a way to introduce and
recognize each other all along in the history of
mankind.
Looking back in history, we can see how mankind
divided into subcastes:
Nuh Alayhis Salaam had three sons- Sam, Ham, and
Yafith. The children of Ham are ‘Haamiyun Nasl’- e.g. mostly
the Middle Eastern tribes. The children of Sam are ‘Saamiyun Nasl’- e.g. the
tribes of ‘aad and thamud, etc. The children of Yafith are the ya’jooj ma’jooj (Gog
Magog).
We can also see how certain tribes are popular with
certain qualities.
For example:
A tribe that consists of pious people who practice
good akhlaaq and deeds will become known as “a good
tribe.”
Moreover, knowing reference to a tribe can help us
draw some conclusions.
For example:
A family may be known for good hospitality and one can
expect it from them. Another family may be known for
bravery, and so on.
I.e. Knowing the tribe can help us get a clue about
what a person may be like.
However, it is clear from the Quran that the
underlying Divine Wisdom of the lineal, national and
linguistic division of mankind is identification.
Therefore, no one should be given preference just
because of sub caste. Respect should be given because
of ilm and taqwa.
2) Our Nabi Sallallahu alayhi wasallam was from the
respected tribe of Quraysh, and from the most honoured
family of Banu Hashim.
And Allah knows best
Wassalam
A Female Alima from US
Student Darul Iftaa
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah
Bismillah, FYI
Peace,Curtis Sharif
Houston, Texas
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