racism

Despite the "progress" in culture, science and technology, racism, tribalism, nationalism, colonialism and the caste system have been mainly responsible for the death of over 62 million human beings in the last 100 years.

Sound Vision interviewed Sipes about his former racism, what brought about his change and why he ultimately chose Islam. This is an edited version of that interview.

The Muslims who had left Makkah were called Muhajirs, migrants who had left their homes for the sake of Allah. They were now homeless and more or less penniless in Madinah. They needed help. Enter the Muslims of Madinah. They became the Ansars (helpers) of their Muhajir brothers and sisters in faith.

Alhamdu lillah, all masjids in America pray for Muslims everywhere. Muslims from America, of all backgrounds, have donated millions of dollars each year for their brothers and sisters throughout the world. In a way, the pains of our brothers and sisters in the Ummah unite Muslims.

‘I never considered a non-Arab equal to me,' a sister once remarked. ‘I know it's wrong, but in the place I grew up in, that was how we grew up thinking.' She had grown up in a country considered "Islamic".

Today, America's Muslims are enjoying the fruits of the civil rights struggle and its impact on the country's immigration laws. Were it not for the sacrifices of African-Americans and their supporters, it is highly unlikely that discrimination based on color and ethnicity would have changed in America. 

One Muslim African-American woman's account of discrimination on the basis of her headscarf. This convert sister describes her experiences with Hijab in public.