Do Shi’a hadiths advocate racism?

يا أَيُّهَا النّاسُ إِنّا خَلَقناكُم مِن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثىٰ وَجَعَلناكُم شُعوبًا وَقَبائِلَ لِتَعارَفوا ۚ إِنَّ أَكرَمَكُم عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتقاكُم ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَليمٌ خَبيرٌ

O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.  [49:13]

One of the big issues in the Muslim world is the dangerous mentality of Arab superiority. Many people go as far as discriminating other groups and refer to them as being inferior on the basis of their non-Arab lineage. Sunnis in particular seem to struggle with this mentality more than anyone, but somehow claim that Shi’a hadiths are overtly racist and supposedly endorsed by scholars.

In perhaps a moment of self-reflection, it could come to the senses of the Sunnis that these very hadiths they criticise circulate within their own corpus just as much as. The reason academics critique Islam on this matter is not on the basis of it being a Shi’a issue alone, but rather because of the fact such hadiths are apparent in the whole muslim corpus. 

In this article, I will insha’Allah uncover this pathetic argument, and respond to the ignorance spewed by Sunni polemicists who end up attacking their own religion!

Islamic view of racism

Islam has certainly forbidden and outlawed racism in all its shapes. Evidence for this can be found in both the Qur'an & hadiths, we shall mention a few evidences. For example, we read in Kitab al-Kafi, Vol. 8, Book. 1, Ch. 208: .

Salman was seated with a number of people from Quraysh in a Mosque. They started priding over their lineages and ancestry until they reached Salman. Umar b. al-Khattab said to him, ‘Inform me who you are, and who your father is, and what your origin is’. 

So he said: ‘I am Salman, son of a servant of Allah (swt). I had strayed but Allah (swt) had guided me through Muhammad ﷺ, and I was needy so Allah (swt) enriched through Muhammad ﷺ, and I was owned [as a slave] so Allah (swt) freed me through Muhammad ﷺ. This is my lineage, and this is my nobility’. 

So Rasulullah ﷺ [came out and] said: 'O group of Quraysh, the nobility of a man is his Religion, and his chivalry is his manners, and his origin is his intellect, and Allah (swt) has said: O mankind! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you nations and tribes that you may identify yourselves with one another.' {49:13}. Then the Prophet ﷺ said to Salman, ‘There is no virtue over you from any of these ones except by taqwa (i.e., fear of Allah), and if there is piety in you [superior] to them, then you are more virtous [than them].'

In the above hadith, we find that Umar Ibn al-Khattab alongside his “group”, were still in the pre-Islamic mindset of judging the individual based on his lineage and ancestry. This is very important, because a major source of the racist hadiths in hadith literature can be rooted back to Umar as we will see. 

On the contrary, Salman al-Muhammadi (as) recognised that the virtue of an individual does not come from his race, but rather from his own piety and virtue. This serves as a powerful proof against the critics of Islam, who try to accuse the Prophet (saw) of promoting Arab superiority, because why would he favour Salman over other companions and refer to him uniquely as al-Muhammadi (i.e. follower of Muhammad)? Remember, Salman was the only Persian amongst the companions, and so the fact that the Prophet praised him so well and warned the companions of being racist towards him shows that he rejected any form of discrimination towards non-Arabs nor saw superiority in being Arab.  

Moreover, another hadith by Imam Ali (as) recorded in al-Kafi, Vol. 8, H. 204 states:

‘When Ali  became the ruler, he ascended to the Pulpit, and praised Allah (swt) and extolled Him. Then he said, "By Allah, I will not withhold from you a single dirham of your due shares from the gains. I have been hindered in Yathrib (Medina), so let your own souls testify if you see me withholding what is rightfully yours while giving it to myself." So Aqeel stood up and said to him, "By Allah! You will consider me equal to a black man from Medina?". So he said, "Sit down! There was no one here speaking except for you, and your virtue over others is only due to merit or piety."'

In this hadith we find that some companions certainly bore some racist views, however the representative of Rasulullah (saw) and the Imam after him, Ali Ibn Abi Talib (as), clearly admonished him for such a view and clarified that race does not measure value of a person but rather his piety does! 

In another hadith with a Sahih chain it states that the Prophet (saw) said from al-Kafi, Vol. 5, Book 3, Ch. 21, H. # 1:

Today (we say) all people, white and black, those from Quraysh, Arab, non-Arab are all from Adam, and Adam was created by Allah from clay. The most beloved in the sight of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, on the Day of Judgment will be those who are most obedient to Him and most pious before Him. O Juwayabir, I do not see any of the Muslims as better than you except because of his being more pious and more obedient to Allah than you.”

This message is so vital that we see in al-Kafi, Vol. 2, Book 1, Ch. 123, H. # 1 and with a different chain in H. # 2:

Imam al-Sadiq (as) said: “Whoever discriminates or supports discrimination, he has taken off the collar of belief from his neck.”

As it has been shown, with these clear narrations of Ahlulbayt (as), no person has any preference over another by their mere genetics, only by piety. This is the religion of Islam, different communities and races all united upon monotheism irregardless of your skin colour, tribe, ancestry etc... The person who does, will have his faith put into question.

Hadiths indicating racism

Now, we will address the hadiths that allegedly promote racism within the muslim corpus, and respond to both what non-muslim writers have said and Sunni critics of Shi’ism. 

Hadiths about the ‘Zanj’

We read in al-Kafi, Vol. 5, Book. 3, Ch. 28, H. #1:

Ali b. Ibrahim from Harun b. Muslim from Mas’adah b. Ziyad from Abu Abdillah (as) who said that Amir al-Mu’mineen (as) said: 'Be aware of marrying the people of al-Zanj, for they are a distorted creature.'

In H. # 3 in the same chapter:

From Abu ‘Abdillah (as) who said, ‘You must not marry al-Zanj and al-Khazar; they have such wombs that indicate disloyalty.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘And Indians, al-Sind and al-Qand.’ 

The reason why many are concerned about this hadith is because they understand the following hadith to say that black people are a distorted ugly creature that should be abstained from marrying. As we saw above, this understanding contradicts the other hadith where Ali (as) admonishes Aqeel for trying to claim superiority to a black person. So how do we resolve this apparent contradiction?

Are these reports reliable?

Firstly, the hadith condemning racism is sahih, while these narrations are da’if (weak). The second one was graded weak for several problems in the chain. But Allama al-Majlisi graded the second one as sahih (authentic). The answer to that would be that he had a wrong manuscript. This is because his manuscript said ‘Mas’ada Ibn Ziyad’, while other manuscripts say ‘Mas’ada Ibn Sadaqa’. [Source: al-Kafi, Vol. 10, pg. 645 - 646]

The more reliable version says Ibn Sadaqa and that is because al-Tusi, who had original reliable manuscripts of al-Kafi, quotes this same narration in his Tahdhib al-Ahkam, Vol. 7, pg. 467 - 8 with the mention of it being Ibn Sadaqa. This is supported by the fact that al-Najashi & al-Tusi mentions he had a book on Khutbas on Imam Ali (as), this seems to be a portion from that book. 

Now Ibn Sadaqa is unreliable in our corpus, there is no tawtheeq for him hence we see that the Muhaqiq of Tahdhib says in the margin that this narration is ضع (i.e. ضعيف). Al-Sayyid al-Khui' would also weaken this narration on account of there being a disconnection between Ibn Sadaqa, who is a companion of the 5th Imam, and Harun Ibn Muslim, a companion of the 10th Imam. Perhaps this was because a book was passed down, but we have no idea about the reliability of this book due to no tranmission for it being mentioned - and thus it is declared weak.

Alternative interpretations

Now if we were to accept this hadith, it is possible to understand this hadith in a way that does not relate to racism. This is because in the first hadith where Ali (as) admonishes racism, he uses the word أسود which means a black person. In this hadith, the Imam (as) is attributed to say a different word - Zanj. What does Zanj mean? Today it may be used to discriminate against black people, however back in those times the word was used in an entirely separate context; an ethnic minority. 

Let us refer to an Arabic dictionary for clarification, namely, William Lane’s Lexicon Dictionary: Madd al-Qamus, Vol. 3, pg. 1256 where he states;

A certain nation of the blacks; the inhabitants of the country called by us “Zanguebar, " including the “Zingis " of Ptolemy, near the entrance of the Red Sea, and a large portion of inner Africa

This means they were a group of people, not necessarily a reference to a group simply by virtue of being black, but rather due to a common similarity between them. Now why may have the Imam (as) said such harsh things about them? 

One of the duas of Imam Zayn al-Abideen (as) in Sahifiyah al-Sajjadiyyah, pg. 129 - 130, Dua 27 [link in duas.org] sheds some light on this:

O Allāh, send out the Muslims of every region on raids against the idolaters who face them! Reinforce them with angels in ranks from You, till the idolaters are routed by them to the end of the land, slain in Your earth or taken captive, or till they admit that You are Allāh, other than whom there is no Allāh, You alone, who hast no associate! O Allāh, include in this Your enemies in the regions of the lands, the Indians, the Byzantines, the Turks, the Khazars, the Abyssinians, the Nubians, the Zanjis, the Slavs, the Daylamites, and the rest of the idol-worshipping nations, those whose names and attributes are concealed, but whom You countest in Your cognizance and overseas through Your power!

As we can read from the above, the Zanj were a group of polytheists who worshipped idols and stones, and they were certainly a cruel set of people. This does not mean that all people related to them are evil, because otherwise we’d need to claim the same about the Byzantines, Turks, Nubians, Slavs etc… that the Imam mentions in his dua above. However, we all know the meaning of this is in relation to only the people at that time period and not inclusive to all people. Thus, the group of Zanj at that time can be attributed with such harsh remarks.

In Sunni texts

As we mentioned earlier, this same narration can also be found in the Sunni corpus. For example, Abu Na’eem al-Isbihani records in Akhbar Isbihan, Vol. 1, pg. 316;

عَنْ  هِشَامِ بْنِ عُرْوَةَ ، عَنْ  أَبِيهِ ، عَنْ  عَائِشَةَ ، قَالَتْ : قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : تَخَيَّرُوا لِنُطَفِكُمْ ، وَانْكِحُوا فِي الْأَكْفَاءِ ، وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَالزِّنْجَ ؛ فَإِنَّهُ خَلْقٌ مُشَوَّهٌ

Narrated by Hisham bin 'Urwah, from his father, from Aisha, who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: "Choose the mate with good lineage for your offspring, and marry those who are suitable for marriage. Beware of marrying the Zanj, for they are a distorted creation."

Hadiths about Kurds

For example, in al-Kafi, Vol. 5, Book 3, Ch. 28, H. # 2: 

'You must not marry any of the Kurds; they are a species of Jinn from which the cover is removed.'

These hadiths can be found in several sources, but are all weak in chain. It appears they all have a common link too which is a narrator known as: Abu Rabi', Khalid b. Awfa al-Shami. He's a maj'hool narrator who has not been mentioned by the early scholars. Furthermore, as al-Majlisi II mentioned in his Mir'atul Uqool, Vol. 10, pg. 56 that this hadith is mursal (disconnected), making it weak and so unreliable. 

In the rant of the Sunnis, who claim that this hadith has significance for being in our corpus, we refute them on the basis that similar hadiths exist in their books. 

For example, in Tafsir Ibn Kathir, commentary of 48:16:

قال ابن أبي عمر : وجدت في مكان آخر : ابن أبي خالد عن أبيه قال : نزل علينا أبو هريرة ففسر قول رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم :  " تقاتلون قومًا نعالهم الشَّعْر " قال : هم البارزون ، يعني الأكراد

Ibn Abi 'Umar said: "I found in another place: Ibn Abi Khalid narrated from his father saying: Abu Huraira came to us and explained the saying of the Messenger of Allah (saw): 'You will fight against a people with shoes made of hair.' He said: 'They are the prominent ones,' meaning the Kurds."

The Sunni scholar, al-Raghib al-Isfahani, records in his Kitab al-Muhadhrat, pg. 426:

ذكر أن عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه روى عن النبي صلّى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال: الأكراد جيل الجن كشف عنهم الغطاء

It has been mentioned by Umar b. al-Khattab that Rasulullah (s) said: The Kurds are a species of Jinn. The cover has been removed from them

There is no justification for claiming the Shi'a hold to this view, as the narrations are weak for this. If our opponents want to use weak mursal narrations against us, then they should be consistent and also accept this weak mursal narrations within the Sunni corpus.

Hadiths about Black people

In a narration recorded in Illal al-Shara’i, vol. 1, pg. 62 - 63 by al-Saduq, and other books:

حدثنا علي بن أحمد بن محمد رضي الله عنه قال: حدثنا محمد بن أبي عبد الله الكوفي قال: حدثنا سهل بن زياد الآدمي قال: حدثنا عبد العظيم بن عبد الله الحسني قال: سمعت علي بن محمد العسكري عليه السلام يقول: عاش نوح عليه السلام الفين وخمسمائة سنة، وكان يوما في السفينة نائما، فهبت ريح فكشفت عن عورته فضحك حام ويافث، فزجرهما سام عليه السلام ونهاهما عن الضحك، وكان كلما غطى سام شيئا تكشفه الريح كشفه حام ويافث فانتبه نوح عليه السلام فرآهم وهم يضحكون فقال ما هذا؟ فأخبره سام بما كان، فرفع نوح عليه السلام يده إلى السماء يدعو ويقول: اللهم غير، ماء صلب حام، حتى لا يولد له إلا السودان، اللهم غير ماء صلب يافث فغير الله ماء صلبهما، فجميع السودان حيث كانوا من حام، وجميع الترك والسقالبة ويأجوج ومأجوج والصين من يافث حيث كانوا، وجميع البيض سواهم من سام، وقال نوح " ع " لحام ويافث: جعل الله ذريتكما خولا لذرية سام إلى يوم القيامة، لأنه بربي وعققتماني، فلا زالت سمة عقوقكما لي في ذريتكما ظاهرة وسمة البر بي في ذرية سام ظاهرة ما بقيت الدنيا.

Ali b. Ahmad b. Muhammad (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated, saying: Muhammad b. Abi ‘Abdillah al-Kufi reported to us, saying: Sahl b. Ziyad al-Adami narrated to us, saying: ‘Abd al-‘Azim b. ‘Abdullah al-Hasani said: I heard Ali b. Muhammad al-‘Askari (as) say:

“Nuh (as) lived for 2,500 years. One day, while on the Ark, he was asleep, and a wind blew, uncovering his private parts. Ham and Yafith laughed, while Sam (as) scolded and forbade them from laughing. Whenever Sam tried to cover his father’s nakedness, the wind would uncover it, and Ham and Yafith would continue to mock. When Nuh (as) awoke and saw them laughing, he asked, ‘What is this?’ Sam informed him of what had happened.

Nuh (as) then raised his hands to the sky and supplicated: ‘O Allah, alter the fluid of Ham so that his offspring will only produce those with dark skin. O Allah, alter the fluid of Yafith.’ Allah altered their fluids. Thus, all dark-skinned people originate from Ham, and all the Turks, Slavs, Gog and Magog, and the Chinese originate from Yafith, wherever they may be. All other fair-skinned people descend from Sam.

Nuh (as) then said to Ham and Yafith: ‘Allah has made your offspring subservient to the offspring of Sam until the Day of Judgment because he was dutiful to me, while you both disobeyed me. The mark of your disobedience to me will remain apparent in your progeny, just as the mark of Sam’s dutifulness to me will remain evident in his progeny, for as long as the world exists.’”

Firstly, this narration can be doubted in terms of authenticity, as some narrators are placed in doubt such as Sahl Ibn Ziyad & Muhammad Ibn Abu Abdullah al-Kufi who are weakened by some scholars. Assuming it is, the hadith is not saying black people are inferior to white people. 

The hadith essentially says: God knew that white people would unjustly oppress black people. Which is true. Historically they have. And God knew that white people will be more powerful and dominant than black people.  To hurt and punish Sam for his sin, God made blacks from his progeny. This doesn’t mean whites are better than blacks, but it was to punish Sam because knowing your progeny being oppressed is painful to hold for most people. 

Racism of Umar b. al-Khattab

As we mentioned above, ‘Umar Ibn al-Khattab was known to be racist, especially towards ajam (non-arabs), hence we see that he discriminated against Salman al-Muhammadi (as). These reports are not limited to Shi’a hadiths, for the same can be read from Sunni works too.

For example, in Musannaf Ibn Abi Shayba, Vol 14, pg. 409, H. # 2764 we read;

حدثنا وكيع عن أبي هلال عن ابن بريدة قال: (قال) عمر: ما تعلم ‌الرجل ‌الفارسية إلا (خب) ولا (خب) إلا نقصت مروءته

Wakee narrated from Abu Hilal that Ibn Buraydah said: Umar said, "(A man) does not learn Persian except for (deceptive) plotting, and not (for the sake of) plotting except that his courage is diminished."

Umar’s enmity to Persian people is very clear to any researcher. He was so racist in fact he refused to allow any Persian, even if he was a muslim, into Medina! Musannaf Abd Al Razzaq, Vol 5, pg. 474:

عبدالرزاق عن معمر عن الزهري قال : كان عمر بن الخطاب لا يترك أحدا من العجم يدخل المدينة

Abdulrazaq – Mu’amar – Al-Zuhri said: ‘Umar bin al-Khattab didn’t allow any one of the non Arab to enter Medina.’

If Sunnis want to speak about racism, let them first condemn Umar before they try to speak about our hadith corpus, because the Ahlulbayt (as) have made it extremely clear that this sort of behaviour is condemned and so any hadith that contradicts it and the Holy Qur’an is to be discarded. 

Conclusion

It has been established that the reports inciting racism within the Shi'a corpus are not reliable and so cannot be advanced as evidence especially when the evidence prohibting racism is mass-transmitted without a doubt from the Ahl al-Bayt (AS). However, most of these reports were also transmitted by the Sunnis themselves, and can be reintepreted or understood to not refer to racism, and this is most probably the case, and God knows best.