Arabs preferred over other nations

02/04/09 6:35 PM

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Arabs preferred over other nations

Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed Translated by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question:
I saw in the chapter of suitability of marriage that Allah has chosen Arabs over others. The outer purport of this hadith contradicts the sunna, can you explain?

Answer:

The fact that Allah Most High has chosen the Arabs over other nations is affirmed in rigorously authenticated hadiths of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and give him peace; related by Bukhari and Muslim in their "Sahih" in the beginning of the chapter of merits, # 5897, on the authority of Wathilah ibn al-Asqa` who said, "I heard the
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Arabs preferred over other nations

02/04/09 6:35 PM

Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Verily Allah has chosen Kinanah from the son of Isma`il, and He has chosen Quraysh from among Kinanah and He has chosen Hashim from among Quraysh and He has chosen me from the Bani Hashim.'" So this hadith is a primary text about the preference of Arabs over others and the preference of some Arabs over other Arabs. And this is what the Imams have chosen from the.........of their books, and even in individual books such as the book of Qurb about the merit of Arabs, authored by the great Imam al-Hafiz Zayn al-din al-`Iraqi. And it was summarized by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami and others. Therefore the preference of Arabs over other nations, and the preference of some Arabs over other Arabs is affirmed in the Sacred Law. Allah has even preferred some months over other months and some days and nights of over others, as well as places. So in the same way, Allah Glorious and Exalted is He, has chosen some men over others, such as the prophets over others and even some prophets over other prophets. Muslims should not have any objection to this, because all of this returns to the wisdom of the Most Wise, Glorious is He, who is not asked about what He does, but rather, they are the ones who are asked. So after a Muslim has believed in Allah as his Lord, the Truth, and that there is no God but Him, then he should know that this is from among His matters, Blessed and High is He, and there is nothing but magnificent wisdom in it that we might see or that we might not see. Either way, we are only responsible for submitting to His rule, Glorious is He. And among His rulings is that Arabs are preferred over others and that some Arabs are better than other Arabs, as the above hadith clearly explained. So it is not appropriate for anyone to disagree in this when the proof is perfectly valid. And there should be no disagreement in what has just preceded nor any disagreement in what appears in the Magnificent Book and in the sunna where we find that the real source of Allah's preference is God-fearingness (taqwa) which result in the good deeds that people earn and that they are accounted for. So whoever sends forth good for himself, Allah has preferred him over those who have sent forth evil. As for the preference of an Arab over a non-Arab, and the preference of some Arabs over others, this is not a deed that one can earn. Rather, it is a bounty that Allah gives to whom He wills. So he may will something for these people, and there is no objection to your Lord's rule. This is like the preference of some days over others, because the mind reasons that all days are the same in and of themselves, and there is no distinction that might appear between them. However, the mind can understand why something is better if there is not ........... So the Sacred law came and affirmed the preference of some over others, and for some of those things there were reasons and wisdoms, such as the preference of the night of Power over others because the Majestic Qur'an was revealed during it. And in some of these things, the wisdom is not apparent to us and so this falls into the chapter of absolute obedience, such as the number of cycles (rak`ahs) in the prayer. It is obligatory on a Muslim to believe that Arabs are preferred over other nations because there is a proof for it. However, this is not one of the pillars of our religion such that if someone rejected this, they would be considered outside of Islam. But if one does reject this, one has sinned for not believing in it because it is an affirmed
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Arabs preferred over other nations

02/04/09 6:35 PM

matter according to a clear rigorously authenticated hadith. Also, this issue is not something that is commonly known among most Muslims, so for this, one should not hasten to blame one who disagrees with it. It is necessary, rather, to tell him about the issue. And the fact that Arabs are preferred over others does not mean that a non-Arab can not have a higher merit in the religion than an Arab, because a person earns the good deeds that Allah has recommended we compete for. This is the highest merit of Godfearingness and this will be the basis upon which things are decided in the hereafter. However, the merit of the Arabs will still remain, in terms of their respect and exaltation being higher than others. And from this some hadiths have come to us about the Quraysh being put first for the caliphate before others, such as the hadith in Bukhari (#3500) on the authority of Mu`awiyah, may Allah be well pleased with him who said, " I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'This matter of government belongs to the Quraysh. Anyone who takes a hostile attitude to them will be thrown on his face, as long as they are true to the faith." And Bukhari also related (#3501) on the authority of Ibn `Umar from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and give him peace, that he said, "Government continues to belong to the Quraysh, even if they are (no more than) two." So I say that the merit of God-fearingness is what counts, according to the rigorously authenticated hadith, "And he who is slow in doing good deeds, his noble lineage will not quicken him (into entering Paradise). "!"#$%&" '( )*+, -.,/& 0&12 ., 3%41 56789:%& ;7<.=>& !"#$? @A?.B C.:D>& E, )FG"H I*J KGL*% I%.LM N& O.PQR& :K&8S& IPQR& N& TU ": V8W7 )*X1 Y"*J N& I*R N& V8X2 ZAL[X : V.\ ]WX>& E? 6*B&1 EJ(5897) )\G? ^_.`P%& K.ab V1c )d.F ':? E, 'e.PQR&1 5)d.F ':? f7G\ E, IPQR&1 56e.:b E, g.h7G\ IPQR&1 5^"J.[XU i%1 E, 6e.:b ". jab '(1 ^? 5)k9ab l."m '( 6[_>& 02nG\ ., &oF1 5pL? I*J )k`L? KGL%& Z^"`PM1 5)FG"H I*J KGL%& ^"`PM '( qre Z;7is.( .[FG"H1 5'[a"k%& Gt= E?& -uX/& v"h% 02.$aw&1 5'\&GL%& E7i%& E7x y(.s& G"9z%& -.,{% KGL%& ^`( '( K|GZW%& K.azb 5}<GP,. Ye.#9X ^n`( iW( ~Gh%& '( A?.%& ^"`Pa%& K.? '( @6*w&< pL? I*J KGL%& pL? ^"`PM 3%ob1 5)FG"H I*J KGL%& ^"`PM Z6%+,1 Gh9%& pL? I%.LM1 Ye.#9X Y*"`PM g.`7c 3%4 E,1 56:z,>& 3%ob1 5pL? I*J '%."*%&1 -.7>& pL? ^`(1 5pL? I*J 28kh%& pL? )zZs ]D&2 Yn*b T> ~3%4 E, O'd I*J )*+[*% |&GaJ& 1 5pL? I*J "9n:%& |pL? ^n`( ^? 5)FG"H I*J O."9e>& ^n`P( pL? I*J T1d E, Td E, ., Yec )*J1 0G"H Y%U g.W= g.?2 N.? E, Tc iL? Z)*+.( 5T8%+7 )F1 ^LP7 .[J V+Z7 o%& Ye.#9X )"zs& I*J KGL%& Z^"`PM Y,.z=c 6*[D E,1 5Ye.#9+M Y[zs )"*+a%.? @*z, .F.:*kD 1c .F.:[*J 6*"*D 6[z= Y"( Y%1 U I%.LM1 2.9M s& ^"%i%& 6#R iL? Y"( 6P%.& i=> 8+7 u( 528bo& !"#$%& ;7is& Y:"? .[b 5pL? I*J KGL%& pL? ^"`PM1 5)FG"H. 6#"#$%& 6:+%&1 ?L%& K.az%& '( <21 ., ?1 -iWM ., ? |6P%., 1 .k"*J jX.#Z71 ZT.+e/& .k9+az7 'a%& ZV.[J>& 8F 8Wa%.? ^"`Pa%& ]DG, T> 58Wa%.? T8z7 I%.LM N& i:J ^"`Pa%& |]DG, Tc E, Y*n`( Y+P:% G"& -ni\ E[( pL? ^"`PM1 )tL%& I*J KGL%& Z^"`PM .,c .Gh%& -i\ E 0G"H I*J I%.LM N& |&GaJ& u( Ok% 0O.d i\1 5O.h7 E, Y"MZ7 o%& I%.LM N& ^`( 8F ^? 5089+ab& gu[J ':Jc 3%4 YZLDG, "*( pL? I*J KGL%& 5pL? I*J .k`L9% GkM }", 4U ~l&o%& ;"= E, -.7>& O&8aX.? )z#7 Z^WL%.( pL? I*J -.7>& pL? ^"`Pab 5K2.7 3[z= I*J 6*"% ^"`Pab )z=1 @^*J .k`L9% Gk 5pL? T1< pL9% 6*"`P%& A9B( Gh%& O.t( 53%o% ^"#& -iL% ^"`Pa%& V8$= x8t7 Y:z% <&iJc "Lab 5l&i9La%& K.? E, 3%4 G"$"( 5.k`L? '( .:% 6[zs& GkM )%1 5.k"( )"L%& TGW%& V1e j9+? .FG"H I*J 2iW%& }u$%& l.Lb2. ^"%i%& -."W% C.:D>& E, )FG"H E, Z^`(c |KGL%& Tc Z<.WaJ& )*+& I*J ZjD&8%.( 0<.WaJ& -iL% )B7 Y:z% .FZi=.D GPz7 'a%& .::7< V8Rc E, 3%4 "% Ez% 5Y"*J &o% .ka(GL, GkahM . A+"% 6%+& 0oF g.`7c1 5!7GR !"#R ;7i#? A9B G,?
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