Assalamu’Alaikum Dear Parents, Staff, Students and RSA Community,
We are quickly approaching the end of the school year, and as Allah (swt) has planned it looks more different than the end of any other school year, alhamdulillah. There is no denying the trials of the past several months, and the particular culmination of the current uprising we are witnessing in our communities. An uprising that has been hundreds of years in the making, an uprising that is shaking off the systemic oppression of our Black brethren.
In light of the current events, one may feel at a loss of words but saying nothing is complacency. As our beautiful Islam teaches us, we should never remain silent in the face of oppression, and there is no differentiation between man but for his deeds. We have all seen the hadith of the Prophet (PBUH):
“There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab, nor for a non-Arab over an Arab. Neither is the white superior over the black, nor is the black superior over the white - except in piety.”
These were the words our beloved Prophet (PBUH) left us with in his last sermon. Imagine? This is the last message he left the Ummah, and as heartbreaking as it may be to acknowledge, we have not lived up to the teachings of our Prophet (PBUH) and we have strayed from the message of Allah (swt). We have remained silent as oppression continued to crop up around us but we have protected ourselves and our community as we focused on socio-economic development within our nuclear community.
It is time for us to sit with this discomfort and acknowledge that although Islam is perfect, we have to work on the imperfection in our hearts.
As a school community it is time to reflect on our actions, or inactions, in which we may have upheld anti-black racism, whether intentional or as a byproduct of ingrained intergenerational prejudices, within our community. We have to listen to our Black brothers and sisters in their time of pain and uplift their voices. It is time for us to assess our role in this nation and how we can contribute and not only take because this is our chosen home. Our Islam guides us to justice and we must do better.
