The Meaning of the Hadith: There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab, nor for a white person over a black person, except by taqwa

The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta

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Fatwa No. ( 4046 )
Q: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab, nor for a white person over a black person, except by taqwa
لا فضل لعربي على عجمي ولا لأبيض على أسود إلا بالتقوى
. So, if there are two people, one Arab and the other non-Arab, and each is a scholar who acts in accordance with the Sunnah, does the Arab have superiority because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was from among them, and the Qur'an was revealed in their language?
A : Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) says:

Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you

إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ

[Al-Hujurat 49:13]

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And from Abu Mas'ud 'Uqbah ibn 'Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

The one of you who is most versed in God’s Book should act as imam for the people; but if they are equally versed in reciting it, then the one who has most knowledge regarding the sunna ; if they are equal regarding the sunna , then the earliest of them to emigrate; if they emigrated at the same time, then the oldest of them. No man must lead another in prayer where the latter has authority, or sit in his place of honour in his house, without his permission.

يؤم القوم أقرؤهم لكتاب الله، فإن كانوا في القراءة سواء فأعلمهم بالسنة، فإن كانوا في السنة سواء فأقدمهم هجرة، فإن كانوا في الهجرة سواء فأقدمهم سنًّا، ولا يُؤَمَّنَّ الرجلُ الرجلَ في سلطانه، ولا يقعد في بيته على تكرمته إلا بإذنه

Mishkat al-Masabih 1117

And in another wording:

And a man must not act as imam for another in his own family.

لا يؤمن الرجل الرجل في أهله ولا سلطانه

Mishkat al-Masabih 1117

It was narrated by Ahmad and Muslim . And from Ibn 'Umar : When the first of the Muhajireen arrived, they settled in (al-'Asabah) - a place in Quba' - before the arrival of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Salm, the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah, would lead them in prayer, as he was the most knowledgeable of them in the Qur'an. And among them were 'Umar ibn al-Khattab and Abu Salmah ibn 'Abd al-Asad. It was narrated by al-Bukhari and Abu Dawud.

Source www.alifta.gov.sa

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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