Is Islam only a Middle Eastern religion, or is it also for Black people?

Islam belongs to all people. The Holy Qur’an presents it as a message for the whole of humanity, and the diversity of skin colours is a sign of God, not a reason for ranking people.

The question itself draws a line that should not exist. Black, white, red or yellow are artificial dividing lines between people. Black is not a worse colour and white is not a better one. Whoever accepts this division has already, deep down, accepted a false verdict about themselves.

A simple picture helps. Think of hens that are black, white, red and yellow. No one would despise a hen just because it is black. Every colour has its own beauty. This is exactly how the Holy Qur’an speaks of the diversity of colours in the second verse above. It is a sign of God, not a reason to raise oneself above others.

That many Black people still feel like outsiders has its reasons. For a long time they were deprived of political and economic power and of the wealth of their own lands. Out of this disadvantage grew, in some, the false idea that they were worth less. Many false ideas about religion also go back to the colonial era.

The Holy Qur’an itself does not present Islam as the property of one region. The first verse above calls the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) a Messenger to the whole of humanity. The third verse says that in the sight of God only righteousness counts, not origin or colour.

Whoever wants to bring Islam closer to people of Black heritage therefore does not need to offer them a foreign identity. They can show them that this message belongs to them just as much as to anyone else.