Recognizing Allah through the diversity in His Creation
“And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colours: verily in that are Signs for those who know.” (30:22). This verse indicates the Magnificent creative power of the Allah, the All-Mighty. Variation and diversity is found and scattered out through His creation.
“O mankind, indeed We have created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.”(49:13)
The reason for this diversity is to recognize one another and strive to become noble in Allah’s sight through piety, for that is the only criterial of honor and nobility.
The Messenger of Allah (sallalahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) had said during the farewell Hajj (pilgrimage) : “O people! Most certainly your Lord is one and your father is one. Listen very carefully; There is no virtue of an Arab over a non-Arab, nor is there virtue of a non-Arab over an Arab. There is no virtue of a light skin tone over a dark skin tone, nor a virtue of a dark skin tone over a light skin tone except through Taqwa. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Have I conveyed? They said: “yes o Messenger of Allah”. He (then) said: Let the one who is present convey it to the one who is absent…(Sahih al-Targheeb)
The Messenger of Allah (sallalahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), also in a narration recorded in Sahih Ibn Hibban, states:
“Indeed Allah does not look at your physical appearances nor at your wealth, but rather looks at your hearts and deeds.”
These are but a few of the many sacred texts that allow us to understand that diversity is all around us. By way of reflection it allows us to gain closeness to our Creator and be wonderstruck at the spectrum of colors and diversity in the created things of our universe. It also emphasizes the fact that the criteria of acceptance with Allah is not through a particular ethnicity, nationality, gender, skin tone, lineage…but acceptance in the court of Allah is solely through Allah consciousness and piety (taqwa).