Theme: Unity, Development of Community, Inclusion (honoring brothers and sisters)
Purpose: Highlight early black muslim history and community shortcomings in inclusion using Sunnah and characteristics of the Prophet SAW that go against modern-day habits. Bringing to light the struggle of early black muslims as well. Spreading an overall knowledge of history while equipping Imams and Masajid with tools to combat exclusion and build unity.
** Mentioning the importance of the Israeli aggression against Iran is in the example khutbahs below. We demand transparency and justice as an Ummah.
Key Themes and Objectives:
- Obligation of standing for justice whenever and wherever- We know we have an obligation to justice as a slave of Allah SWT, and betraying the word of Allah brings terrible consequences. Any oppression toward a Muslim is to be fought against until all options are exhausted.
- Getting to know each other – Allah SWT has made us part of different tribes and nations so that we may come to know one another. To divide ourselves in our Masajid by various groups, nationalities, etc., is to engage in pre-Islamic practices related to the pagans of before.
- Challenge materialist/supremacist mindsets – The value of a person, especially a Muslim, is not equivalent to wealth or status. This should not be a barrier between you and your brothers and sisters. Superiority can only be based on Taqwa, and only Allah SWT knows what is in the heart.
- Loss of unity is how we lose our strength as an Ummah- Regardless of race, color, and nationality, we must unite under one leadership. Unity can never be achieved as long as the disbelieving West controls the Muslims and their resources. We lose strength and valuable time by remaining divided.
Quranic References
{O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.} [Quran 49:13]
[Satan] said, “I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay.”} [Quran
7:12]
And among his wonders is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the diversity of your tongues and colours: for in this, behold, there are signs indeed for all who are possessed of [innate] knowledge! (30:22)
{And do not be like the ones who became divided and differed after the clear proofs had come to them. And those will have a great punishment.} [Quran 3: 105] Allah also says what means: {..and do not dispute and [thus] lose courage and [then] your strength would depart…} [Quran 8: 46]
Hadith
The Prophet SAW said: “The piety is here, (and while saying so), he pointed towards his chest thrice. It is a serious evil for a Muslim to look down upon his Muslim brother. All things of a Muslim are inviolable from his brother in faith, his blood, his wealth and his honor (should be respected).” [Sahih Muslim]
The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said in his last sermon: “There is no preference of an Arab over a Non-Arab, or a white over a black, or a black over a white, except by the (degree) of piety.” [Ahmad]
Arrogance was defined by the Prophet SAW by saying: “Allah is Beautiful, He loves beauty. Arrogance means ridiculing and rejecting the Truth and despising people.” [Muslim]
Historical Context
Islam arrived in America centuries ago, carried by enslaved African Muslims who were forcibly brought to the continent through the transatlantic slave trade. Historians estimate that between 15-30 percent of enslaved Africans in America originated from Muslim communities across West Africa. Despite facing unimaginable hardship and oppression, these Muslims steadfastly preserved their faith—secretly practicing Islam, reciting the Qur’an from memory, and quietly passing on their religious heritage. Figures such as Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, Omar ibn Said, and Abdul Rahman Ibrahima exemplify this legacy through their resilience, scholarship, and dignity in the face of immense adversity. Later, African American Muslims like Malcolm X revived and deepened this heritage by using Islam’s universal message to advocate strongly against racial injustice and for equality. Today, recognizing and honoring this rich legacy helps foster unity within the diverse American Muslim community, reminding all Muslims of the shared Islamic commitment to justice, perseverance, and brotherhood.
Messaging Guidelines
1. Emotional Connection and Relevance:
Engage emotionally with your listeners through meaningful stories, quotes, or examples from African American Muslim figures (e.g., Malcolm X, Bilali Muhammad, Omar ibn Said). Relate these historical narratives to contemporary experiences of injustice, resilience, and community unity.
2. Balance and Inclusivity:
Ensure balanced messaging—highlight historical contributions of African American Muslims without inadvertently marginalizing other Muslim groups. Reinforce the universal message of Islam: brotherhood, sisterhood, equality, and standing against oppression and racism everywhere.
Sample Khutbah
First Khutbah
Alḥamdulillāh, we praise Allah, the One who created all of humanity from a single soul, and who made us into diverse nations and tribes not for conflict, but for recognition. We bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad ﷺ is His final Messenger and servant.
Dear brothers and sisters,
This week, many in our country commemorate Juneteenth, the day when enslaved African Americans in Texas were finally informed of their freedom—two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. It marks both the end of legal slavery in the United States and the long, painful delay of justice. And while it is a secular holiday, it offers Muslims an opportunity to reflect deeply on our own values—especially the values of justice, equality, and anti-racism that are rooted in our dīn.
Allah says in the Qur’an:
“O mankind, We created you from a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another. Verily, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you. Truly, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.” (Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt 49:13)
This verse levels every barrier we use to exalt ourselves above others—tribe, nationality, language, race.Allah says explicitly that, yes, He created us differently and put us in different groups, but that the purpose of that difference is so we may get to know one another. As we say, “variety is the spice of life.” These differences were never meant to provide people with reasons to treat each other unfairly. No, not at all. Allah drives the point home by declaring that the best people to Allah are the most pious, that is the criteria, that’s the rubric, not your lineage, not your skin color. Allah then reminds us that He is the one who is knowing and informed about everything, not us, including who is most pious.
What we do know, with 100% certainty, is that Islam is for justice and against racism or prejudice.
In contemplating our Islamic duty toward justice, we must courageously affirm support for Iran amidst Israeli aggression against it, recognizing the vital importance of Iran’s position as a resistance force against oppression and occupation in the region. However, such support must be principled and balanced, openly acknowledging and condemning Iran’s history of unlawful interventions, particularly its role in destabilizing Syria, contributing to severe humanitarian crises and prolonged suffering. This nuanced stance reflects Islam’s commitment to uphold justice universally—standing firmly with the oppressed, while holding all accountable, including allies, when they perpetuate injustice. Only by doing so can we embody a genuinely Islamic approach to liberation and resistance.
The Prophet ﷺ, in his Farewell Sermon, made this message abundantly clear:
“O people! Your Lord is One and your father is one. There is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, nor of a non-Arab over an Arab; nor of a white person over a Black person, nor of a Black person over a white person—except in righteousness.” (Ahmad)
Some may think that Islam’s clarity on the issue of race and racism means that we don’t need to talk about it. This is a mistake. To draw an analogy, We know what Islam says about the importance of prayer. The fact that Islam is clear on the issue doesn’t mean that we don’t need to talk about it, especially if we were in a community where few people prayed.
What decides whether we need to talk about something isn’t how clear Islam is on an issue, but instead, how are we doing as a muslim community when compared to what Islam clearly says about that issue? And that is the relevant question here, how are we doing as a community compared to Islam’s clear stance on racism?
Do racial stereotypes still persist in our community? Maybe we know better than to voice these stereotypes in public, but at dinner with our families or when we’re with our friends do we make negative comments about an entire group of people with skin darker than our own? “They’re no good, they’re lazy, they’re this and they’re that?”
What are our attitudes toward people darker than ourselves? Would we approve if our child’s best friend, or our child’s preferred marriage partner, had darker skin? How many shades darker would we be willing to tolerate?
This isn’t a witch hunt, it’s not about cancelling anyone. It’s enough to know that the issue of racial supremacy and supremacy according to lineage was something the companions had to deal with. The Prophet warned us that 4 problems won’t leave his ummah alone. This was one of them.
“4 things found in my nation from the period of pre-Islamic ignorance they won’t stop: pride in lineage and insulting people’s lineage.”
If that wasn’t enough, we live in a nation, the United States of America, that existed officially as an apartheid state for a long, long time. Unofficially, apartheid has lasted much longer depending on what part of the country you’re in. This sort of unofficial apartheid assigns a race to people who come here even from other places in the world. You become racialized, and that can affect how you’re treated. Those of us with lighter complexions are racialized as white, those of us on the darker side are racialized in a different way and are more likely to be treated with suspicion.
It was the late El-Hajj Malik al-Shabazz, better remembered as Malcolm X who saw Islam as the solution for racism in America. In an interview conducted after he returned from Hajj he said, “it would probably do America well to study the religion of Islam and perhaps it could drive some of the racism from this society.”
What we want to do is understand the solution that Islam provides, and make sure we’re living according to it, so that we’re able to present that solution to the society around us.
This means going beyond rhetoric, just as the early Muslim community did. They practiced what they preached. Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ, a formerly enslaved African man, became the Prophet’s muezzin—his personal choice to call the believers to prayer. And when another companion, Abū Dharr, once insulted Bilāl with a racist remark, the Prophet ﷺ rebuked him immediately, saying:
“You are a man still affected by jāhiliyyah (ignorance).” (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)
Abū Dharr, realizing the gravity of his words, humbled himself—placing his face on the ground and insisting Bilāl place his foot upon it to seek forgiveness.
Second Khutbah
Dear believers,
Juneteenth reminds us that injustice may be legal before it is ever moral, and that freedom delayed is justice denied. Islam teaches us that justice is not just a legal concept, but a moral obligation.
Allah commands in the Qur’an:
“Indeed, Allah commands justice, good conduct, and generosity to kin, and forbids immorality, injustice, and transgression. He admonishes you so that you may take heed.” (Sūrat al-Naḥl 16:90)
Our duty as Muslims is not only to be non-racist—but to be anti-racist. To speak out against structural oppression. To support those whose dignity is trampled. To educate ourselves and our children about both the history and the present realities of racism in our society, including within our own communities.
Let us take inspiration from examples in our own tradition. When the Caliph ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb appointed ʿAtāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ—a Black scholar and former slave—as the leading muftī of Mecca, it wasn’t a token gesture. It was a recognition of knowledge, righteousness, and merit over lineage or wealth. This was a society striving to live out the Qur’anic vision of human equality.
We too must strive. Whether we are Black, Arab, South Asian, white, or anything else, we must ask ourselves: Are we perpetuating the very hierarchies that Islam came to dismantle? Do we treat every believer with the same dignity, regardless of skin color or social background?
Supporting the struggle against oppression requires both conviction and ethical consistency. In this light, we recognize the critical role Iran plays today in resisting Zionist aggression and Western domination—an alignment that carries weight in the ongoing pursuit of regional justice and dignity. At the same time, we must not ignore Iran’s prior involvement in violence in Iraq, Syria, and beyond, which inflicted lasting harm on civilians and disrupted the region’s fragile social fabric. To be truly grounded in Islamic principles, our solidarity must transcend selective politics and reflect a full embrace of accountability. We support Iran’s resistance efforts, but we do so while demanding integrity, transparency, and an unwavering commitment to justice for all people.
On this day, let us not only acknowledge Juneteenth as a historical milestone, but renew our own commitment to being a community of justice. Let us revive the prophetic legacy of standing up for the oppressed, and let us model a community where the color of your skin is never an obstacle to leadership, respect, or love.
May Allah purify our hearts of arrogance, lift the burdens of the oppressed, and make us among those who strive for justice in all that we do.