Courtesy: New Age Islam http://www.newageislam.com/
The problem of caste among Indian Muslims Islamic Society 11 Jan 2009, New Age Islam
1. Book: Hindustan Me Zaat Paat Aur Musalmaan (Caste System In India And The Muslims)
Author: Masud Alam Falahi - Year: 2007, Pages: 640, Publisher: Al Qazi, New Delhi.
http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1108
Literally meaning eligible/suitable/equal, the kufu in its hermeneutical sense, stands for the following: four castes of the ashrafs (Syeds, Sheikhs, Mughals and Pathans) are generally considered suitable marriage partners for each other..
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Another slap on the faces of Mullahs and their Theory of Ashraf and Ajlaf [Elite and Schedule Caste]:
Prejudice is as old as the day Iblis [Satan] complained to Allah, subhana watala, that he was better than mankind. He based it on the nature of his creation (jinn), claiming that jinn are superior to mankind, similar to racial prejudice today, which is based on the principle that, "whatever I am, is better than whatever you are."
Iblis made demands to Allah, subhana wat'ala, for the mere reason that he was made of smokeless fire and that Adam was made of clay. Are we not doing the same today by thinking that our biological features, geographical location, financial status, or organizational ties, make us superior to others? Beware of the shaytaan (satan) who feeds the people lies to cause division!
(Iblis) said: "I am not one to prostrate myself to man, whom Thou didst create from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape." [Al-Hijr 15:33]
(Iblis) said: "O my Lord! Because you misled me, I shall indeed adorn the path of error for them (mankind) on the earth, and I shall mislead them all. "Except Your chosen, (guided) slaves among them." [Al-Hijr 15:39-40]
And behold, We said to the angels: "Bow down to Adam" and they bowed down. Not so Iblis: he refused and was haughty: He was of those who reject Faith. [Al-Baqarah 2: 34]
Racial prejudice is by no means new. The Prophet describes a long history (and future) of people finding fault in other's ancestry in the following hadith.
Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet of Allah said, "There are two things of which my people will never tire: wailing over the dead and finding fault with people's ancestry." [Bukhari , Muslim, Tirmidhi, and Ibn Jarud]
Division is against Islam
And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make His Signs clear to you: That ye may be guided. [Al-Imran 3:103]
The same religion has He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah - the which We have sent by inspiration to thee - and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: Namely, that ye should remain steadfast in religion, and make no divisions therein: to those who worship other things than Allah, hard is the (way) to which thou callest them. Allah chooses to Himself those whom He pleases, and guides to Himself those who turn (to Him). [Al-Shura 42:13]
As for those who divide their religion and break up into sects, thou hast no part in them in the least: their affair is with Allah. He will in the end tell them the truth of all that they did. [Al-An'am 6:159]
And obey Allah and His Messenger. and fall into no disputes, lest ye lose heart and your power depart; and be patient and persevering: For Allah is with those who patiently persevere [Al-Anfal 8:46]
Even though some people encourage division, one thing that we all have in common and cannot escape, is that we all eventually return to Allah swt at the time of death, on the Day of Judgement, awaiting Allah's judgment on our souls!
But (later generations) cut off their affair (of unity), one from another: (yet) will they all return to Us. [Al-Anbiyaa 21:93]
See you not that Allâh sends down water (rain) from the sky, and We produce therewith fruits of varying colours, and among the mountains are streaks white and red, of varying colours and (others) very black. And of men and AdDawâb (moving living creatures, beasts, etc.), and cattle, in like manner of various colours. It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allâh. Verily, Allâh is AllMighty, OftForgiving. [Faatir 35:28 ]
The believers are nothing else than brothers (in Islâmic religion). So make reconciliation between your brothers, and fear Allâh, that you may receive mercy. [Al-Hujurat 49:10]
Racial Prejudice
Narrated Abu Malik al-Ash'ariy
"Four things are among my followers from the traditions of Jahiliyyah which will not leave: pride of lineage, slandering kinship, use of astrology for rain, and wailing" [Muslim] [similar to that is narrated from him by Ahmad, at-Tabaraani, al-Hakim, and al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan]
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah
"Indeed Allah has removed from you the blind loyalties of jahiliyyah and the pride for ancestry. Either be a pious believer or a miserable insolent. (All of) you are children of Adam, and Adam is from dust. Let some men cease to take pride in others, who are nothing but burning coal for the HellFire, it will be easier for Allah to handle them than a dung beetle driving his nose into filth" [Ahmad, Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi]
The Prophet said on the authority of Ubayy Bin Ka'b: "If anyone proudly asserts his descent in the manner of the pre-Islamic people, tell him to bite his father's penis, and do not use a euphemism". [Mishkat Al-Masabih]
Prejudice Based on Financial Status [Read ASHRAF AND AJLAF]
Your financial status does not gain you priviledges in Islam. Some people hate the rich, while others despise the poor. Neither is tolerated in Islam.
If you see your muslim brother giving favors to a person because of his wealth, kindly correct him. Likewise, hatred or jealousy towards the rich is wicked and often involves "evil eye." Meanwhile, the financially poor muslim is to be provided for through zakat as instituted in the Qur'an. We must love for our brother what we love for ourself.
Excerpt - The Prophet's Last Sermon
You know that every Muslim is the brother of another Muslim. You are all equal. Nobody has superiority over other except by piety and good action.
Narrated Al-Bara' ibn Azib in Sahih Muslim
There happened to pass by Allah's Apostle a Jew blackened and lashed. Allah's Apostle called them (the Jews) and said: Is this the punishment that you find in your Book (Torah) as a prescribed punishment for adultery? They said: Yes. He (the Holy Prophet) called one of the scholars amongst them and said: I ask you in the name of Allah Who sent down the Torah to Moses if that is the prescribed punishment for adultery, which you find in your Book. He said: No. Had you not asked me in the name of Allah, I should not have given you this information. We find stoning to death (as the punishment prescribed in the Torah).
However, this (crime) became quite common amongst our aristocratic class. So when we caught hold of any rich person (indulging in this offence) we spared him, but when we caught hold of a helpless person we imposed the prescribed punishment upon him. We then said: Let us agree (on a punishment) which we can inflict upon both the rich and the poor. So we decided to blacken the face with coal and flog as a substitute punishment for stoning.
Thereupon Allah's Messenger said: O Allah, I am the first to revive Thy command when they had cancelled it. He then gave the order and he (the offender) was stoned to death. Allah, the Majestic and Glorious, sent down (this verse): "O Messenger, (the behaviour of) those who vie with one another in denying the truth should not grieve you..." up to "is vouchsafed unto you, accept it" (v.41).
It was said (by the Jews): Go to Muhammad; if he commands you to blacken the face and award flogging (as punishment for adultery), then accept it, but if he gives the verdict of stoning, then avoid it. It was (then) that Allah, the Majestic and Great, sent down (these verses:"...And they who do not judge in accordance with what Allah has revealed, are indeed deniers of the truth" (v.44); "And they who do not judge in accordance with what Allah has revealed--they, they indeed are the wrongdoers" (v.45); "And they who do not judge in accordance with what God has revealed--they are the iniquitous" (v.47). (All these verses) were revealed in connection with the nonbelievers.
Do not Mock, Judge or Hurt Another Because You think You are Better than the Other
O ye who believe! Let not some men among you laugh at others: It may be that the (latter) are better than the (former): Nor let some women laugh at others: It may be that the (latter are better than the (former): Nor defame nor be sarcastic to each other, nor call each other by (offensive) nicknames: Ill-seeming is a name connoting wickedness, (to be used of one) after he has believed: And those who do not desist are (indeed) doing wrong. [Al-Hujurat 49:11]
And swell not thy cheek (for pride) at men, nor walk in insolence through the earth; for Allah loveth not any arrogant boaster. [Luqman 31:18]
Discern People By Piety, Not Prejudice
O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things). [Al-Hujurat 49:13]
Narrated Abu Dharr
Allah's Messenger said to him, "You are not better than people with red or black skins unless you excel them in piety." [Tirmidhi and Musnad Ahmed Bin Hanbal]
Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As,
Allah's Messenger said: The whole world is a provision, and the best object of benefit of the world is the pious woman. [ Sahih Muslim]
The Believers are but a single Brotherhood: So make peace and reconciliation between your two (contending) brothers; and fear Allah, that ye may receive Mercy. [Al-Hujurat 49:10]
Narrated Ubaida:
Ali (R.A.) said (to the people of 'Iraq), "Judge as you used to judge, for I hate differences (and I do my best ) till the people unite as one group, or I die as my companions have died." And narrated Sad that the Prophet said to 'Ali, "Will you not be pleased from this that you are to me like Aaron was to Moses?" [Sahih Bukhari]
Spiritual Mentor of Wahabis Ibn Taymiyyah says:
"Everything which is outside the call of Islaam and the Qur'aan, with regards to lineage, land, nationality, schools of thoughts and ways, then it is from the calls of jaahiliyyah [ignorance]. lndeed, even when the Muhaa jirs (those Companions who migrated from Makkah to Madeenah) and the Ansaars (those Companions who aided and supported those who migrated) argued, such that one of the Muhaajirs said:" O Muhaajirs! (implying; rally to my aid) " And one of the Ansaar said: "O Ansaar!" Upon hearing this, the Prophet said: "Is it with the calls of Jaahiliyyah that you call, and l am still amongst you!" And he became very angry at that." [Al-Bukhari 8/137] {Majmoo ul-Fataawaa3/456}
The Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil: they observe regular prayers, practise regular charity, and obey Allah and His Messenger. On them will Allah pour His mercy: for Allah is Exalted in power, Wise. [Al-Tauba 9:71]
Narrated Abu Huraira
The Prophet said, "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should serve his guest generously; and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should unite the bond of kinship (i.e. keep good relation with his Kith and kin); and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should talk what is good or keep quiet. " [Sahih Bukhari]
You (O Muhammad SAW) will not find any people who believe in Allâh and the Last Day, making friendship with those who oppose Allâh and His Messenger (Muhammad SAW ), even though they were their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their kindred (people). For such He has written Faith in their hearts, and strengthened them with Rûh (proofs, light and true guidance) from Himself. And We will admit them to Gardens (Paradise) under which rivers flow, to dwell therein (forever). Allâh is pleased with them, and they with Him. They are the Party of Allâh. Verily, it is the Party of Allâh that will be the successful. [Al-Mujadilah 58:22]
Narrated Salman
Allah's Messenger said, "Do not hate me and so abandon your religion." He asked how he could hate him when he was the means by which Allah had guided them, and he replied, "By hating the Arabs and so hating me." [Al-Tirmidhi]
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