"O Mankind! We have created you from a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honorable of you in the sight of Allah is he who has most taqwa among of you. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware."
-Al Qur'an, Al Hujurat verse 13
"The color-blindness of the Muslim world's religious society and the color-blindness of the Muslim world's human society; these two influences had each day been making a greater impact and an increasing persuasion against my previous way of thinking...
There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue- eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual. Displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America led me to believe never could exist between the white and the non-white."
- Hajj Malik (Malcolm X)
“We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; ..."
-Thomas Jefferson - the Declaration of Independence
What is equality in our world today? Most people believe that equality among people is good. As a muslim, I myself believe that equality is good as Islam doesn't distinguish people in regard to races, wealth, fame, authority, heredity, among others. Malcolm X and Thomas Jefferson seemed going along with the idea. So did the late American president, Abraham Lincoln, who struggled to abolish slavery in 19th century.
However, has equality among people been achieved today? I dare to say that the concept of equality among people is merely a discourse.
I guess all humans want to be respected. Nobody wants to be looked down I reckon. I consider it is good if a person is respected because of his or her good deed or virtue. However, some people are too obsessed to be respected. Many descendants of noble family in Indonesia remain using their title in their name. I don't even know why they still use it as Indonesia is a republic country now and aristocrachy is an old story in this country. The other thing that makes me wonder is the use of "Haji" (usually written H. ) title attached in the name of a person who has done the islamic pilgrimage to Mekkah.What do they attach the title for? Is it for respect? And I wonder about how those people view equality among people.
Many people has vision to create equality among people but what they do is keeping the social gap and inequality and making them bigger and bigger. Can we call it 'mass hypocricy'?
