A Painful Reminder About Racism Among Muslims

As-salamu alaykum, I’m writing this after seeing something that really upset me. It honestly broke my heart because I know this happens way too often, and what I saw was just one example of a much bigger problem. I’m a black man, so I can’t fully grasp what a black Muslim woman deals with, but I do know the sting of racism. She shared how she faces discrimination from the very brothers and sisters she thought would welcome her. I also remember a story about a black Muslim woman during Ramadan-some Pakistani sisters wouldn’t let her stand in the first row or even next to them. In the masjid, in Ramadan! How will they blame shaitan then? And I know it’s not just Pakistanis, that was just one case. Honestly, the racism I’ve gotten from Arabs and other Asian Muslims sometimes hurts more than what I’ve faced from white people. Maybe because white folks try to act progressive, or maybe it’s the feeling of being let down by my own Muslim family. I’m posting this as a reminder: how you treat someone can shake their iman, whether you mean it or not, and you’ll answer for it on the Day of Judgment. I don’t get why we, as an ummah, don’t take this as seriously as we should. To me, it’s a major sin when you think about it: Shaitan was kicked out for being arrogant and discriminatory. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) made his last sermon about standing against discrimination. We just gloss over that way too easily. I honestly think Allah made it so clear on purpose to show how heavy this is. And that post I saw-about a sister wanting to remove her hijab and maybe even leave Islam because of what she endured-shows the real damage. If you hold racist views or have family who do, I hope this makes you reflect. You might think it’s minor, but it weighs on so many of us. As a man, I deal with some racism, but she probably faces much worse. To every black person, every woman, anyone facing discrimination from fellow Muslims-hold on to hope, don’t give up. Insha’Allah, we’ll have our justice on the Day of Judgment. And whenever we speak up, people brush it off: saying it’s no big deal, everyone’s a bit prejudiced, and we should just accept racism as normal instead of actually fixing it.