Principles of Islam
22. Human Equality
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22. HUMAN EQUALITY
According to Islamic tenets, all human beings are
equal. In prayer, all members of the congregation
stand in the same rows together, and on the Hajj
pilgrimage, all the believers belonging to different
countries don identical white seamless robes for the
performance of the obligatory rites. On the occasion
of the Final Pilgrimage, it is noteworthy that the
Prophet of Islam declared that no Arab was
superior to a non-Arab and that no white was
superior to a black. All were equally servants of
God. In Islamic society, everyone is accorded the
same status, his or her being, ideally, no higher or
lower social strata.
How then can we rationalize what are apparently
very great differences in human beings in terms of
colour and race, etc., considering that the concept of
human equality ranks so high in the value system of
Islam? We find the answer in the Qur’an, which
makes it clear that such outward differences are
meant to serve as means of identification and were
never intended as indicators of superiority (or
inferiority). People in different parts of the world
