World Day for Cultural Diversity - 21st May 2023
‘And among his wonders is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the diversity of your tongues and colours: for in this, behold, there are messages indeed for all who are possessed of [innate] knowledge.’ (Quran 30:22)
We, Muslims, are just under a quarter of the world’s population and can be found pretty much wherever there are people on this earth. This is the nature of our brotherhood, our sisterhood. But to understand this we also can gain insight from the following hadith.
On the authority of Abu Hamzah Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) - the servant of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) - that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
"None of you will believe until you love for your brother what you love for yourself." (Bukhari & Muslim)
But this has always been challenging. It is easier to first consider those like ourselves rather than those who are not. The Quran refers to 8 Abyssinian (black) converts as follows:
˹As for˺ those ˹faithful˺ to whom We had given the Scripture before this ˹Quran˺, they do believe in it. When it is recited to them, they declare, “We believe in it. This is definitely the truth from our Lord. We had already submitted ˹even˺ before this.” These ˹believers˺ will be given a double reward for their perseverance, responding to evil with good, and for donating from what We have provided for them. When they hear slanderous talk, they turn away from it, saying, “We are accountable for our deeds and you for yours. Peace ˹is our only response˺ to you! We want nothing to do with those who act ignorantly.” (Surah Al Qasas 52-55)
The deen is for all humanity but for some of us our vision is blinkered both then and now?
It can be hard for us at times to go beyond ourselves – to welcome the stranger, the one that is different. We need to know and truly understand that each of us, every human being is ruh. The highest of Allah’s creation. In this there is no difference between male, female, Arab, Persian, Black or White, these are just some of the tribes and nations in which we have been created. So as to know one another and it is only in knowing each other that we realise that the best of us is the one that is most steadfast in worship of their Lord. This is the basics, the truth we can forget as we create our own dunya, in which we can bury our own hearts with self-importance and arrogance instead of simply being before Allah.
Allah created us in twos so there has to be a difference. In this diversity this multiplicity there is wonder joy and amazement as soon as we see each other and ourselves through each other’s eyes. In this there is humility and the recognition that certainly our own fragile egos are not greater than the Qadr of Allah.
There is learning in difference. If there was only happiness no one would know how happy they are. So our diversity, our experience of it is part of our tarbiyyah, part of the way that we learn and return to our Lord brought by him to our highest potential.
This does not mean that we always learn willingly, we can choose not to see Allah's creation in the other person before us. We can choose to see less than the ruh before us. We have been given than possibility. It is still part of our tarbiyyah but a different path, a more difficult one to the divine.
So as we consider the multitude of who we are in all the ways we can be those people as well as in the knowledge that Allah is not just Rub of all of us but Rub of all the worlds we can reflect; because there are signs for those who do. We have options whether we can embrace the reality of Allah’s creation or not, both will in time lead us to Him.
But perhaps with 23% of the world's population being Muslim in all its diversity, one way will lead us there through joy and wonder.