{"id":27433,"date":"2020-06-12T01:28:11","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T01:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/new-wp\/?p=27433"},"modified":"2020-06-12T01:28:11","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T01:28:11","slug":"justice-and-diversity-of-the-human-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/justice-and-diversity-of-the-human-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice and Diversity of the Human Race"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the COVID-19\npandemic takes its toll on lives and the livelihood for many of us, there seems\nto be another challenge to humanity that we see unfolding. The chaos and\nprotests across the United States signals the impact of unwavering concern over\nrace relations by the powers that be. The death of George Floyd during a police\narrest on May 25th<\/sup> triggered these protests and slogans like \u2018no\njustice, no peace\u2019 capture the very essence of deep racial and ethnic divide\nthat has become part of the race relations pattern in the US. A Pew Research\nfindings in 2019 stated that six in ten Americans (58%) say that race relations\nin the United States are bad and most Americans (65%) believes that it is more\ncommon now for people to express racist or racially sensitive views. With COVID-19\nstill a major challenge for the country, the imminent economic recession and millions\nof unemployment, the current chaos unfortunately is what most analysts would\nregard the situation as a perfect storm in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Racism is a\ncancer that destroys the foundation of the human society and if not treated,\ncould bring about collapse to a nation. For a government that belongs to a\ndynamic and multiracial country, race and ethnic relations are crucial aspects\nthat require serious attention and must be managed well. The objective to this\nis not just to ensure no grievances arise caused by inaction by the government,\nbut most importantly is to ensure that everyone enjoys the right kind of\njustice regardless of race, ethnicity or religious backgrounds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diversity\nof humankind is not an alien concept in Islam. God the Almighty says in the\nHoly Quran: \u201cO mankind, indeed We\nhave created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you\nmay know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is\nthe most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.\u201d\n(Al-Hujurat, 49:13). Islam celebrate diversity of the human race as it is one\nof the signs of God\u2019s creation on earth. We embrace this understanding by\nupholding peaceful coexistence and interact positively with one another\nalthough we might be of different race and ethnicity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Islam, the essence of peace in communities characterized by these differences\nin cultures, race, religions and ethnicities is justice. People will feel at\npeace if they feel that they are being treated fairly and justly. Feelings of\ndiscontent and hopelessness arise when people start to feel that they are being\ndiscriminated, prejudiced against and rejected because of the colour of their\nskins, the ethnic and the cultural groups that they belong to or the sounds of\ntheir surnames. In the Islamic worldview, justice signifies positioning things\nin their rightful place. It is also understood as a moral virtue and an\nattribute of human personality. Justice needs to be determined and applied\naccording to the principles and guidelines set by God through divine\nrevelation.  Islam\u2019s approach to justice is all-embracing whereby the\nmeans, procedures, and processes which help to ease, refine, and advance the\nfoundation of justice, and do not transgress the Islamic Law are acceptable and\nsupported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nQuran regards justice as a supreme virtue.  It is a basic objective of\nIslam to the level that it is placed next in order of priority to belief in God\u2019s\nexclusive right to worship and the acceptance of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be\nupon Him). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allah\nAlmighty says in the Quran:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndeed, Allah commands justice, grace, as well as\ncourtesy to close relatives. He forbids indecency, wickedness, and aggression.\nHe instructs you so perhaps you will be mindful\u201d (An Nahl 16:90)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Injustices and inhumane treatment towards others under the claim of\nracial or ethnic superiority must be admonished and condemned. Conflicts occur\nas a result of the inability to understand the essence of diversity among\nmankind and the refusal to practice tolerance towards these differences.\nGovernments need to regulate positive interactions and engagements within the\nsociety as a means to promote peace and harmony. Prophet Muhammad\u2019s (Peace be\nupon Him) leadership in the City of Madinah is the exemplary governance model of\na plural society where justice and tolerance are the principal virtues in\nmanaging diversity of culture, ethnicity, race and religions. The reality of\ndiversity should not be something to be swept under the carpet with the hope\nthat through time, people will learn to live at peace with one another. History\nhas proven that civilization flourished when people are treated justly and\nplurality of cultures are cherished and respected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Malaysia is also currently facing hardship due to the COVID-19\npandemic and its socioeconomic impact, we should not allow the perfect storm to\nform or cloud over our heads. Together, we must remain resilient against any\nforce may it be politically or socially, that tries to break the nation apart.\nIf we fail to do so, we will lose the tranquillity, uniqueness, harmony and\npeace that we have enjoyed and safeguarded for so long. Let us celebrate the cultural and\nracial diversity that exist in our society as something that enrich the nation.\nWe must take the opportunity to discover our cultural differences and learn to\nknow each other better, reject any forms of prejudices and uphold the spirit of\ntogetherness that has become part of our legacy as a multiracial and multicultural\nnation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the COVID-19 pandemic takes its toll on lives and the livelihood for many of us, there seems to be another challenge to humanity that we see unfolding. The chaos and protests across the United States signals the impact of unwavering concern over race relations by the powers that be. The death of George Floyd…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-straits-times","category-139","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27433\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}