The modern world of today consists of hundreds of countries and millions of tribes with different languages, cultures and skin colors and this should not come as a surprise to us as Allah, our creator has said this diversity is a sign from Him(Surah Ar Room 30:22). A sign from our creator for us to think and ponder deeply on our different tongues with different tribes, that there is nobody capable of doing this except the creator himself. But are we really reflecting on this sign from our Rabb?

But it is quite sad and disheartening today that the beautiful reason for this diversification is almost lost in our societies due to the filth of tribalism and nationalism. Daily basis on social media and internet platforms, we found our youths engaging in tribal ‘e-wars’ with one another. Whenever a news surfaces that a person or a group of people was involved in some certain vices in the society like duping, rape, money laundering, money ritual, money embezzlement etc, what we see is people checking names or tribes, pointing fingers and saying ‘As expected, such tribe is well known for this certain vice’ or ‘They are at it again, thank God I am not from such tribe’, and even here on Nairaland, they have coined a name for themselves and tagged themselves “Name Checkers Association of Nigeria (NCAN).

Whenever any of the cited news example above occurs, what we see is that these set of people are checking names and the tribe such a culprit comes from and they take pride in it and the most disheartening thing is that our Muslim youths aren’t left out of this filth.

[size=14pt]But they have forgotten that vices are NEVER the monopoly of any tribe or nation, evil men with bad characters spread across all nations and tribes.[/size]


Our so-called leaders or politicians are not left out of this mess of tribalism. During the period of electing people into various offices and they, quite knowing that a candidate is not qualified and capable of a position, they will still go ahead to aid his incompetence saying ‘He is from our tribe, let our son do it’. Even when there’s another person that is more competent than their so acclaimed son? The Prophet (Peace upon him and his household) was reported to have said on the “Authority of Abbad bin Kathir Ash-Shami narrated a woman among them, called Fasilah, that she heard her father says ‘I asked the Prophet (Upon him be peace); O Messenger of Allah, is it tribalism if a man loves his people? He replied: “No, rather tribalism is when a man helps his people to do wrong” (Sunan Ibn Majah, Book 36, Hadith 4084).

That is to say, knowing the incompetence of a person and still aiding him is tribalism and what do you expect from such leadership except mismanagement, misguidance and chaos.

It would have been a little bit ‘better’ if this filth has been left to the political scene but this is not case as it has crept into our deen! SubhanAllah! I read of lately of some people from countries in Asia and the gulf blaming Muslims in Africa for misfortunes befalling the Ummah. Where is our Imaan? Have we forgotten that whatever befalls the Ummah is because of what man has sent forth and Allah’s will (Surah Al Anfal 8; 51, Surah Al Hajj 22; 10 Surah Ar Room 30; 36)?? May Allah have mercy on our souls (Ameen).

Coming down to the tribal level, it is the same as we have seen some people claiming that a certain tribe are better Muslims than another tribe. Is Taqwa now based on tribe or your personal relationship with Allah? Some even claimed they can’t offer their prayers in a certain mosque because it belongs to a certain tribe. Let me remind you of the hadith of our Prophet that was “Narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr that the Prophet says ‘Whenever the time of prayer comes upon, offer the prayer for all the earth is places of prostration for you”. Then why the discrimination when there is no language barrier in our mosques?



Our homes and families are not left out of this filth as we’ve seen some parents advocating that their wards must marry from their tribe or nothing else. Has tribe becomes the fundamental criteria in Nikkah? The Prophet (Upon him be blessings) was reported to have said that “If a man whose practice of the deen satisfies you, asks for your daughter in marriage, you should marry them; otherwise there would be corruption on earth” (Jamiat At Tirmidhi). The Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) told us to better to better go for the deen in that famous hadith that says “A man should marry for 4 reasons; Beauty, Lineage, Wealth and Deen, marry the religious one or you become losers (Saheeh Al Bukhari Book 67, Hadith 28)”.

This reminded me of a brother I know of who was denied Nikkah just because of tribe. This brother proposed to the sister and she accepted but on getting to the parents’ house and while discussing, the question was posed to him “Which state are you from?” The brother calmly replied and said the name of his state of origin. The next statement that his in-laws to be would say was “You can’t marry our daughter because you are from so and so state”. The brother was dumbfounded! Is this a genuine reason? Does his state defines who he is or his level of Taqwa? SubhanAllah!!! This is among the evils of our society.

The Prophet was a perfect example in inter-tribal marriages as he married women from different tribes.

To cap it all, in order to remove this bigotry of tribalism and nationalism that has eaten deep into our faith, then we have to return to the sole purpose in which Allah said he created us diversely in the glorious Qur’an in “Surah Al Hujurat 49:13-O Mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into tribes and nations, [size=17pt]THAT YOU MAY COME TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER[/size]. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is the one who has [size=16pt]TAQWA (God’s Consciousness, piety)[/size]. Verily, Allah is All-knowing, All-Aware”.

That is to say, the diversity is for us to recognize and appreciate one another and this can be termed as UNIFICATION IN DIVERSIFICATION.

When people speak a language unknown to you, you feel they are saying nonsense right? While it makes perfect sense to them. This is a sign your creator wants you to acknowledge and not this filth that will corrupt and blindfold your reasoning. Learn new languages and cultures of different tribes and nations if possible, as Science has told us that learning new things will enhance the brain. Yoruba language alone has hundred of dialects. My first time hearing Akure’s Yoruba dialect was epic. Though I am a Yoruba yet I became lost they were speaking their own dialect. Isn't it amazing and thought-provoking that you find it hard to understand what a group of people are saying while they are communicating in the best of their manners?!

I would love to end this write-up with a saying of the greatest man that ever walked the surface of the earth, Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), he said “Whosoever fights under a banner of folly, supporting tribalism or getting angry for the sake of tribalism, he dies in a state of ignorance (Sunan Ibn Majah, Book 36, Hadith 4083). Jubair ibn Mut’im reported:The Messenger of Allah(peace and blessings be upon him, said):He is not one of us who calls to tribalism.He is not one of us who fights for the sake of tribalism.He is not one of us who dies following the way of tribalism. [Sunan Abu Dawud,Hadith Number 5102]

Be wise and shun tribalism!

True talk. This is also what led to 6 days war lost to Israel twice by six Arab nations. They fought not for Allah's sake but for nationalism. The result was a complete folly and lost

May Allah bless and reward you for your post.really educating..may he keep guiding us to the straight path.amin

Qur’an in “Surah Al Hujurat 49:13-O Mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into tribes and nations, THAT YOU MAY COME TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is the one who has TAQWA (God’s Consciousness, piety). Verily, Allah is All-knowing, All-Aware”. "

Jazakhallah khair

Of course that's chauvinism! Islam is really against it....even @ d time of the prophet PBUH...Abu Hurayra and Billal had a quarrel nd out of anger, Abu Hurayra insulted him(Billal) saying: "You son of a black woman"...the case was later reported to the prophet PBUH and that led to one of his popular sayings..."No superiority of an Arab Nation over other nations of the world" there's no superiority of arabs over other races.....he proceeds saying; no one is better than the other in the sight of Allah except he who fears Him d most".....
Let's all restrenghten our #Eeman by putting our differences beside,tolerating one another and by believing we are all one irrespective of our races or tribes, just as the Holy Qur'an hath said: Innamal Mu'mineena Ikhwa!

jazakallahu kairan op...
u know almost everyone is guilty of tribalism, nationalism and other vices... may Allah guide us all juma'at Mubarak

THANKS FOR THE LESSON

This is a great calling to all Muslims. In northern Nigeria, the Muslims over there, May Allah let them hear and understand this message.

We need to enlighten our parent out this..... may Allah bless the O.P abundantly

Jazakallah khairan, very short and interesting, educative sermon. Jazakallah khairan, very short and interesting, educative sermon. Jazakallah khairan, very short and interesting, educative sermon.

Jazakumllah Khaeran.. Thanks for this insightful piece

Occurstaem:
This is a great calling to all Muslims. In northern Nigeria, the Muslims over there, May Allah let them hear and understand this message.

Salam alaikum. The poster did not mention any particular tribe in his post. He is speaking to muslims the world over. Why would you single out Northern Nigeria when perhaps we know that tribalism is all over the world including all the regions of the country. You should have just called on Nigerians to shun tribalism fakat.

Jazakallahu khair.
This is really a disease among us.
So many of us are affected by this tribal arrogance, some bring up illogical reasons to make it look okk, but the truth is, it has no place in Islam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrP-NRRFTlM