Malik – the leaders of the Malikis – has narrated from a trustworthy person
that he heard from Saeed bin Musayyab that:
“Umar bin Khattab deprived the non-Arabs from inheritance, except that he or she should be born among the Arabs.”
Malik says: If a pregnant woman comes from enemy land to Arab lands and
she delivers the child there, it would be regarded as her child and if she dies that
child would inherit her, and if the child dies, the mother would inherit from it,
and its inheritance is specified in the Book of Allah.1
Allamah Amini says: This command is the product of concealed prejudice,
because it is from the needs of religion that inheritance is there for all Muslims,
whether they are Arabs or non-Arabs, wherever they may be born and wherever
they might reside; and the declarations of Quran and Sunnah also prove this point
And generalities of Quran are not restricted, and it is not from the conditions
of inheritance that one should be an Arab or that one should be born among
Arabs. Neither is it necessary to be born among Arabs in order to be able to
inherit and neither is being an Arab a condition of Islam. And such prejudices are
numerous, which destroy social ties and create disunity among Muslims. But it is
not on the basis of statement of Almighty Allah:
إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ
“The believers are but brethren.”2
And:
إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَكُمْ
“Surely the most honorable of you with Allah is the one among you most careful (of his duty).”3
And:
وَلَوْ جَعَلْنَهُ قُرْآنًا أَعْجَمِيًّا لَقَالُوا لَوْلَا فُصِّلَتْ أَيْتُهُ وَ أَعْجَمِيٌّ وَعَرَبِي
“And if We had made it a Quran in a foreign tongue, they would
certainly have said: Why have not its communications been
made clear? What! a foreign (tongue) and an Arabian!”4
Muslims are also like the teeth of a comb (equal) and they are not superior to
each other, except in piety.
This is the message that the great Prophet delivered in his sermon to the
huge crowd when he said:
“O people, indeed the believers are brothers and the property of none of the
believers is lawful for another, except through his inner approval…O people,
your Lord is one and your father is one, all of you are the children of Adam, and
Adam was created from dust, the most honorable among you in the sight of God is one, who is the most pious, and no Arab has any precedence over a non-Arab,
except through piety…”5
It is mentioned in the report of Ahmad that:6
“Know that no Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab and no non-Arab
has any superiority over an Arab; and no black skinned one has any superiority
over a red skinned one and no red skinned one has any superiority over a black
skinned one, except through piety.”
Haithami says:7 “The chain of narrators of the above tradition is authentic.”
The teachings and exhortations of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and restriction
of His Eminence to personalities imbued with different virtues was placed before
the view of everyone; like: “Salman is from us, Ahle Bayt.”8
And: “Even if knowledge were to be placed on the Pleiades, some people of
Persia would access it.”9
And many of his statements are as such.
On the basis of this, it is incumbent on every Muslim to avoid such divisive
views and to not forget the statement of Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.), when he
says:
“One, who invites to racial prejudice is not from us and one, who confronts
through prejudice is not from us, and one, who dies with prejudice is not from
us.”10
Also:
“One, who fights blindly under a standard in such a manner that his anger,
call and help is from the aspect of prejudice, he is killed on the belief of
Ignorance (Jahiliyya).”11