The multi-ethnic society and racial harmony — Islam

What the specification asks for

Paper 1, Section 4, 4.3 (Islam). Assessed on AO1 (knowledge and understanding) and AO2 (analysis and evaluation), weighted equally. Incandio is aligned to this specification. It is not published by, endorsed by or affiliated with Pearson, and it reproduces none of Pearson's indicative content — the point numbers are given so you can check every unit against your own copy.

1 · Understand it

There is a difference between saying that skin colour does not matter and saying that human variety was intended. The Qur'an takes the second road: the nations and tribes exist so that people may know one another. That is not a plea for tolerance. It is a claim about what difference is for.

What it means

The ummah is the worldwide Muslim community, and it is defined by faith rather than by nation or descent. That definition is the resource the specification points at, because it means ethnic hierarchy has no place to stand inside the community: membership is by belief, so ancestry is simply irrelevant to standing.

Prejudice is judging somebody before knowing them, on the basis of a group they belong to; discrimination is acting on it, treating somebody worse for that membership. The Islamic term that reaches further than either is asabiyyah — partisanship for one's own tribe or ethnic group — which is condemned in the Prophet's recorded teaching, and which names the loyalty that produces the prejudice rather than only the prejudice itself.

Two teachings carry most answers. The Prophet's final sermon states that no Arab is superior to a non-Arab and no white person to a black person except by taqwa — and it is worth saying what makes that remarkable in its own context, which was a society organised entirely by tribe. And a Muslim must be just even against their own people, so ethnic loyalty is not a defence.

The examples the wording asks for are specific and worth memorising. Hajj, where every ethnicity wears the same clothing. Bilal, an African companion of the Prophet chosen to give the call to prayer, which is the standard teaching example. The ethnic mixture of an ordinary Friday congregation. And Malcolm X's account of Hajj as the experience that changed how he understood race.

Why believers hold it

The reasoning is that a community whose own definition is universal cannot make descent a criterion without contradicting itself. This is stronger than a prohibition. A rule against racism can be broken while the framework stays intact; a definition that makes ancestry irrelevant to membership means the racist claim has nothing to attach to in the first place.

And giving difference a purpose changes the shape of the argument. Diversity read as something to be tolerated is a concession; diversity read as intended for mutual knowledge is a design. On that reading a society which erased ethnic difference would be failing the verse as surely as one that ranked it, because the point of the difference would have been lost.

Two objections are real. Religious identity can become a new hierarchy — a community defined by belief may simply move the boundary from ethnicity to faith — and the reply is that the tradition has resources against it, since compulsion in religion is forbidden and the sanctity of life applies regardless of faith. And racial harmony does not need a religious basis at all, which is true; the Islamic claim is about motivation and about reaching attitudes that law cannot reach, not about being the only route.

The honest concession is that teaching and practice have come apart. Ethnic division inside Muslim communities is documented, and the sharpest criticism of it comes from Muslims. Saying so is stronger than denying it, because the alternative claim — that there is no racism among Muslims — is contradicted by the tradition's own critics.

Where it comes from

• The Qur'an — Qur'an 49:13 (translated)

  We created you from a single pair ... and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another.

  Human diversity is intended by God, and its purpose is mutual knowledge. The verse also states that the most honoured are the most righteous, not the most powerful.

  What it is doing here: Carries the whole unit: one origin, difference given a stated purpose, and honour attached to righteousness rather than to nation or tribe.

• Hadith — Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Faith (translated)

  None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.

  Faith is measured by how one treats others. One of the most widely cited hadith on social ethics.

  What it is doing here: Makes discrimination a defect in faith rather than in manners, since one cannot wish for another what one wishes for oneself while ranking them by descent.

• The Qur'an — Qur'an 5:32 (translated)

  Whoever saves one life, it is as if he had saved all mankind.

  The sanctity of a single human life, made equivalent to the whole of humanity. The foundation of Muslim teaching on the value of life.

  What it is doing here: Applies the sanctity of life without regard to whose life it is, which blocks the move from religious boundary to differential worth.

Where it bites

It shows most vividly at Hajj, which functions as a demonstration as well as a pilgrimage — millions of people of every ethnicity in identical clothing, which is why Malcolm X's account of it is quoted so often. It shows in Bilal being chosen to give the call to prayer, in the ordinary ethnic mixture of a Friday congregation in Britain, and in Muslim organisations working against hate crime. Naming one of these is what converts a principle into evidence, and the wording of this point asks for exactly that.

It also shows in what Muslims say about their own communities. Mosques with congregations drawn from one ethnic background are criticised from inside the tradition on precisely these grounds, which is itself an example of the teaching being used rather than merely stated.

What people get wrong

People think: A multi-faith society and a multi-ethnic society are the same thing.

Actually: One is about religion and the other about ethnicity, and they are two different specification points examined separately with different arguments. The examiners record this confusion by name, and writing about interfaith dialogue in a question about racial harmony scores nothing however well the paragraph is written.

People think: There is no racism among Muslims because Islam forbids it.

Actually: Ethnic division inside Muslim communities is documented and is criticised most sharply by Muslims themselves. The honest answer separates the teaching from the observance, which is a stronger position than a denial that the tradition's own critics contradict.

People think: The Qur'an says that difference between people does not matter.

Actually: It says something more interesting: that the nations and tribes exist so that people may know one another. Difference has a purpose on this account, so the verse opposes ranking difference without asking anybody to pretend it is not there — and losing that distinction loses the strongest move available on this point.

What the examiner expects you to understand

• Use the universal ummah explicitly, because the specification wording names it as the reference point.
• Name an example — Hajj, Bilal, or Malcolm X's account — since the wording asks for examples in Muslim practice.
• Do not answer this point with interfaith material; ethnicity and faith are separate points and the reports say so.
• Say what makes the final sermon remarkable in its own context rather than quoting it flat.
• Concede that practice has fallen short, and note that the criticism comes from Muslims.

2 · Grade 9 Notes

Core belief / issue

The specification names the resource Islam brings to this question: the universal nature of the ummah. Because the Muslim community is defined by faith rather than by nation or descent, ethnic hierarchy has no place to stand inside it. Qur'an 49:13 supplies the reasoning — difference exists so that people may know one another — and the final sermon and Hajj supply the examples the wording asks for.

Key terminology

Incandio's mark schemes credit the religion's own vocabulary; spelling variants are accepted, a vague paraphrase is not.

Ummah

The worldwide Muslim community, defined by faith and not by ethnicity or nation.

Prejudice

Judging someone before knowing them, on the basis of a group they belong to.

Discrimination

Acting on prejudice — treating someone worse because of that group membership.

Asabiyyah (also 'asabiyya)

Tribal or ethnic partisanship; condemned in the Prophet's recorded teaching.

Taqwa

God-consciousness; the only distinction the Qur'an allows between people.

What Islam teaches

• shared — All human beings come from a single pair, and the diversity of nations and tribes exists so that people may know one another rather than rank one another.
• shared — No Arab is superior to a non-Arab and no white person to a black person except by taqwa — the statement of the Prophet's final sermon.
• shared — Partisanship for one's own tribe or ethnic group against justice is condemned; a Muslim is required to be just even against their own people.
• shared — A Muslim must wish for another what they wish for themselves, which makes racial discrimination a defect in faith rather than merely in manners.

Why it teaches this

The reasoning is that a religion whose community is universal cannot make descent a criterion without contradicting itself. The Qur'an gives difference a purpose — mutual knowledge — which reframes ethnic variety as something designed rather than something to be tolerated. That is a stronger position than 'racism is wrong', because it explains what difference is FOR, and a strong answer makes that move explicitly.

Sources of authority

• The Qur'an — Qur'an 49:13 (translated)

  We created you from a single pair ... and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another.

  Human diversity is intended by God, and its purpose is mutual knowledge. The verse also states that the most honoured are the most righteous, not the most powerful.

  How to use it: Difference is designed rather than tolerated, so racial harmony is God's plan being fulfilled rather than a compromise — that is a stronger claim and it scores better.

  What it does not settle: It does not by itself settle questions about the roles of men and women.

• Hadith — Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Faith (translated)

  None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.

  Faith is measured by how one treats others. One of the most widely cited hadith on social ethics.

  How to use it: It makes belief and ethics inseparable — a Muslim cannot claim faith while wronging a neighbour — which is why hadith is a source of authority alongside the Qur'an rather than an illustration of it.

  What it does not settle: Hadith authority differs between traditions, and the Qur'anists reject hadith entirely — a group the Pearson mark schemes themselves mention.

• The Qur'an — Qur'an 5:32 (translated)

  Whoever saves one life, it is as if he had saved all mankind.

  The sanctity of a single human life, made equivalent to the whole of humanity. The foundation of Muslim teaching on the value of life.

  How to use it: Because one life stands for all, the argument does not weaken as the number of people shrinks — which is why it applies to abortion and euthanasia as strongly as to war.

  What it does not settle: It does not settle when life begins. Muslim scholars differ on abortion, particularly before 120 days, and citing this verse as settling it is inaccurate.

• The Qur'an — Qur'an 2:256 (translated)

  There shall be no compulsion in religion.

  Faith cannot be forced. Cited as the Qur'anic basis for religious freedom and for Muslim engagement in a multi-faith society.

  How to use it: It grounds tolerance in revelation rather than in liberal politics, which makes it a much stronger answer on 4.4 than 'Muslims should be tolerant'.

  What it does not settle: It does not decide how a Muslim-majority state should be organised, and the debate about apostasy is not settled by it.

Different interpretations

• The ummah read as a religious community, and read as a model for society generally; the second is what makes the material usable in a question about a multi-ethnic society.
• Diversity read as something to be tolerated, and read as something Allah intended for a purpose; only the second is Qur'anic.
• Hajj read as a pilgrimage, and read as a demonstration — two million people of every ethnicity in identical clothing, which is why Malcolm X's account of it is so often cited.

Differences within Islam

There is no intra-Muslim disagreement about racial equality as teaching. Where Muslims disagree is about how far ethnic division persists inside Muslim communities in practice — a criticism Muslims make of themselves, and one worth reporting honestly rather than hiding.

The traditions broadly agree here. Saying so is a stronger answer than inventing a division.

Application to the issue

It shows in Hajj, in the ethnic mixture of a typical Friday congregation, in Bilal — an African companion of the Prophet who was chosen to give the call to prayer — as the standard teaching example, and in the account Malcolm X gave of Hajj as the experience that changed his view of race. Naming one of these turns a principle into evidence.

Arguments supporting

• A community defined by faith rather than descent cannot consistently be racist. — Membership is by belief, so ancestry is irrelevant to standing within it. (islam)
  Answered by: Communities have often held inconsistent beliefs comfortably, and ethnic division inside Muslim communities is documented.
• Islam gives diversity a purpose instead of merely permitting it. — Qur'an 49:13 says the nations and tribes exist so that people may know one another. (shared)
  Answered by: A purpose stated in a text does not by itself change behaviour, and the practical question is what institutions enforce it.

Arguments challenging

• Religious identity can itself become a new hierarchy. — A community defined by belief may simply move the boundary from ethnicity to faith. (non-religious)
  Answered by: Qur'an 2:256 forbids compulsion in religion and the sanctity of life applies without regard to faith, so the tradition has resources against that — though the objection identifies a real risk.
• Racial harmony does not need a religious basis. — Secular equality law has achieved a great deal without theology. (non-religious)
  Answered by: True, and the Islamic claim is about motivation and about reaching attitudes law cannot reach rather than about being the only route.

Secular / non-religious perspective

Humanists hold that racism is irrational and cruel: it treats a morally irrelevant characteristic as though it determined worth, and it causes serious harm. They support equality law, education and integration, and would argue that a shared humanity is a sufficient basis without any appeal to a creator — while agreeing with almost every practical conclusion Muslims reach here.

Examinable throughout Paper 1. Nothing here earns a mark on Paper 2.

Evaluation

The hinge: Whether religion is more likely to unite people across ethnic lines or to create a new line of its own. Islam's universal ummah is the best case for the first, and its history supplies material for both.

Defensible conclusions

• The Islamic teaching is unusually strong here because the community's own definition makes ethnic hierarchy incoherent rather than merely forbidden.
• Teaching and practice have come apart, and an honest answer says so — the criticism is made most sharply by Muslims themselves.
• Religious and secular approaches converge almost completely in practice, so the interesting question is which reaches the attitudes that law cannot.

Not defensible

• Confusing a multi-ethnic society with a multi-faith society; the examiners name this error specifically and they are different specification points.
• Claiming there is no racism among Muslims, which the tradition's own critics contradict.

Exam use

• Identify · 3 marks — Three Islamic teachings that oppose racism, or three examples of racial harmony in Muslim practice.
• Outline · 4 marks — Two developed. 'Muslims believe all people come from one pair (1) — so difference of nation or colour cannot make anyone superior (1).'
• Explain · 6 marks — Explain how Islamic teaching promotes racial harmony: the single origin, taqwa as the only measure, the universal ummah, and Hajj as the demonstration.
• Evaluate · 12 marks — 'Religion is the best way to bring different races together.' Use the ummah and Hajj, and answer the objection that religion draws its own boundary.

Common mistakes

• Writing about interfaith relations when the question is about ethnicity — the examiners record this confusion.
• Naming no example, when the specification asks for examples of racial harmony in Muslim practice.
• Quoting the final sermon without saying what makes it remarkable in its own context.

“A multi-faith society and a multi-ethnic society are the same thing.” — One is about religion, the other about ethnicity. They are two different specification points with two different sets of arguments, and the papers examine them separately.

Write instead: A multi-ethnic society contains people of different ethnic backgrounds (4.3, racial harmony, prejudice, discrimination). A multi-faith society contains people of different religions and none (4.4, proselytisation, exclusivism, inclusivism, pluralism). They overlap in practice and prejudice can run along both lines at once — but the terminology the question uses tells you which one is being marked. (Named in the 2022 examiner report for Paper 1.)

Grade 9 insight

Qur'an 49:13 does not say that difference does not matter — it says difference exists so that people may know one another. That is a positive account of diversity rather than a plea for tolerance, and the Level 4 move is to notice the consequence: on this reading a society that erased ethnic difference would be failing the verse just as surely as one that ranked it, because the purpose of the difference would have been lost.

Carry on through Islam

• Previous unit: 4.2 · Equal rights and equal opportunities
• Next unit: 4.4 · The multi-faith society and interfaith relationships
• The multi-ethnic society and racial harmony in the other religions: Buddhism · Christianity · Hinduism · Judaism · Sikhism
• All of Islam · Incandio Religious Studies · The 4RS1 specification