I continued on my journey, listening to Qur’an reciters. Following the advice of Reza Ismail, I also went to the Dorp Street mosque one night. It was extremely good, as he had promised.
Chapter Hujurat is one of the favourites of the early morning prayer at the Azzavia Mosque close to our home. I have heard verse 11 countless times, but saw the full implications thereof as I listened again on Saturday morning (18 June 2016).
The verse cautions believers not to denigrate, insult or think of others less worthy, less pious or less devout: “it might be that they are better than (those who believe).” Do not, the verse continues, use insulting names or use other forms of evil signification towards a people, men or women. Turn away from such behaviour, it concludes.
The commentator Qurtubi lists some examples of such forms of denigration. He recalls a man who arrived late at prayers, and demanded his usual place in the front row, wanting to eject someone he thought was less worthy. He mentions the companions of the Prophet calling the son of his major enemy, “Son of the Pharaoh of this nation.” And he recalls how one wife of the Prophet was called short, and being made fun of for her dress; another being called a Jew! In the latter, the insults were coming from within the household of the Prophet.
The examples are very specific, and show how deeply the potential to insult and denigrate may infect a society. Qurtubi elucidates the practice of insults in a community that Muslims regard very highly. This is an effective way of addressing insults at a fundamental, but also personal, relational manner.
But the verse’s use of qawm and nisa suggests also collective denigration. And this reference can be applied to stereotyping and insulting groups of people in our time. I could not help but relate this to the current climate of racism accusations and counter-accusations in South Africa, or Islamophobia in the West. These two stand out amidst a general inclination to nativism or ethnic, cultural, religious and civilisational arrogance.
The verse does not call for equality or simply a moderation in insulting another person. The other being insulted may actually be better, it remind the reader! This is in contrast with what we usually think about stereotypes. They are inaccurate, or they are based on generalisation of one encounter. They hide or reveal a fundamental inequality as in South Africa between white and black. Racial slurs reveal and hide a history of occupation, theft and dominance of one group over the other.
These cannot be denied. But the verse reminds a reader that the other who is denigrated may be better. Not equal, but better! It does not call for equality, but suggests a thought that would be difficult to contemplate. What does it take to think of the Other as worthy of more value? Denigration, when it is deep and long-standing, has created a wall of assumptions and preconceptions about the other. The other is regarded as barbaric, stupid, animal-like or inherently violent. It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to start thinking that the other is more valuable than oneself!
But the thought forces one to take another look at both self and the other. Perhaps thinking about the other as more virtuous might be a more concrete and effective way of addressing the scourge of racism. Thinking of the other in this way might be an effective way of breaking a prejudice, even a really deep prejudice.
Qurtubi concluded his commentary with a quoted from a great scholar of North Africa: “The one whose faults are hidden by God should not denigrate one whose faults are exposed by God.” This is an equivalence of a kind that is difficult to reject. It might provide a foundation for addressing prejudice, insults and denigration.
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