Hating an entire race who are non-Muslims
Fatwa No: 246793

Question

Asalamu Alaykum, My question is about disliking whole races of people. I used to work for an organisation where many workers from a specific country and they were rude, arrogant and racist to people not of their background. I have since found it hard to like anyone from that background because of my experiences with a few of them. Is it permissible to not like a whole race of people based on my experience with a few of them? They are not Muslims, and the country they originate from has no Muslims. Jezek Allah Khair

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

There is no race or country that does not have both good/bad-mannered people. To make generalizations based on certain situations is not fair. What is obligatory is that a Muslim does not wrong anyone in his dealings.

As regards the natural love and inclination, a Muslim is not obliged to love the people of a particular country and he is not sinful if he does not love them.

What is obligatory in Islam is to achieve an Islamic love; meaning that a Muslim loves his fellow Muslim according to the extent of the latter's faith and righteousness, and that he hates a non-Muslim according to the extent of his disbelief and disobedience.

For information on Islam's stance on racism, kindly refer to Fataawa 84769 and 86205.

Allaah Knows best.

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