The Reason for Differences

The Reason for Differences Men, We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that you might get to know one another. The noblest of you in God’s sight is the most righteous of you. God is Wise and All-knowing. (Quran, 49:13) P eople appear to be quite different from one another, but all of them have descended from one pair of parents—Adam and Eve. When God decreed that a creature such as man should come into existence, he created an archetypal couple—a male and a female, in order to initiate human procreation. As the numbers of humans increased, they began spreading over different parts of the globe, until the entire world, over a long period of time, came to be inhabited by men and women. Geographical conditions vary in different places, in some parts being very hot, in others very cold. Eating habits also vary from place to place, in some parts non-vegetarian food forming the staple diet, in others, vegetarian food, etc. Such geographic and cultural differences resulted gradually in variations in people’s skin colour, features, height, temperament etc. In this way, some were black or brown, others white, and distinctive racial characteristics developed. Yet all these differences are relative, not real. These are only for the sake of identification, and are not meant to form the basis for discriminatory practices or the establishment of superiority. Most of the evil in this world is caused by people having come to regard apparent differences as real ones. That is why they begin to discriminate between people, thus producing unending prejudice and the injustice that goes with it. As a matter of origin, all human beings are equal. If there