What does Islam teach about racism?

Islam explicitly and repeatedly rejects racial superiority as contrary to its core theology. The Quran teaches that human diversity is intentional and good: 'O mankind, We created you from a male and a 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' (49:13) — nobility is tied to conduct, not lineage or color. The Prophet Muhammad reinforced this in his Farewell Sermon, declaring that no Arab has superiority over a non-Arab, nor a white person over a black person, except by piety, addressing the tribal and racial prejudices of pre-Islamic Arabia directly. Early Islamic history includes prominent companions of diverse origins — such as Bilal ibn Rabah, an African companion freed from slavery who became the first caller to prayer — held up as models of honor based on faith and character. While Muslim societies, like all societies, have not been free of racial prejudice in practice, the scriptural and prophetic teaching against racism is unambiguous, and reformers have consistently invoked these texts to challenge discrimination within Muslim communities themselves.

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