Perseverance — Page 27
Part II – My Life as a Muslim 27 these circumstances, the majority of the people in the Indian Subcontinent valued people with lighter skin color, as it was a quality of the rich; who also had the means to attain higher education and descended from renowned families. I had none of these. I was the exact antithesis of everything valued in the Indian Subcontinent. I was viewed as a man of black skin, with no education and no home. I had no family outside of my friends in the street, and regarding my ancestors, they were most likely slaves of no standing. In the eyes of the world, I am, quite frankly, a “nobody. ” However, Islam enlightened my soul with a very different message: “Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is he who is most righteous” (Qur’ ā n 49:14). The most socially endeavored trait in Islam is righteousness, and that can’t be seen physically in any way, outside of a light that emits forth from one’s being after surrendering to the Will of the Lord. Islam views this as beauty, and we have the practical example of the Holy Prophet saw to corroborate it. Similar to material wealth, this spiritual wealth is concentrated in the chosen few, enabling this spiritual beauty to also maintain its rarity. They Holy Prophet saw kept a vigilant eye towards the socially neglected. It was he who asked about the dark skinned woman who used to clean the mosque, whose death people didn’t think was important enough to tell the Holy Prophet saw. He personally led her funeral prayer as just one of hundreds of examples he left as his legacy. The constant emphasis in Islam to care for those often neglected by society is all too strong. The Qur’ ā n and the example of the Holy Prophet saw repeatedly admonish us to be watchful over the orphan,