What Does the Quran Say About Black People? A Three-Faith Comparison

Q: Is there disagreement among Muslim scholars about race?

Yes, there's genuine scholarly debate. Bernard Lewis ( Race and Slavery in the Middle East , 1990) documented anti-Black attitudes in medieval Islamic literature and society. However, scholars like Sherman Jackson and Jonathan Brown argue these attitudes were cultural imports, not Quranic mandates. The Quran itself is consistent: all humanity serves God equally Quran 19:93 , and no injustice is done to any righteous believer regardless of identity Quran 4:124 . Most contemporary Muslim scholars firmly reject racial hierarchy as un-Islamic.

TL;DR: None of the three Abrahamic scriptures — the Torah, the Bible, or the Quran — singles out Black people as a distinct group for condemnation or praise. The Quran explicitly teaches that all people are servants of God regardless of origin Quran 19:93, and that righteous deeds — not ethnicity — determine one's standing Quran 4:124. Judaism and Christianity share this universalist thread, though all three traditions have been historically misused to justify racism. The biggest disagreement lies in how each tradition's legal and interpretive history handled slavery and race.

Judaism

"Every one in the heavens and the earth must come to the Most Merciful as a servant." — Quran 19:93 Quran 19:93 (This universalist principle parallels the Jewish teaching that all humans are equally created in God's image.)

The Hebrew Bible contains no passage that singles out Black people as a race or assigns them inferior status on the basis of skin color. The infamous "Curse of Ham" (Genesis 9:20–27) was later weaponized by some interpreters to justify the enslavement of African peoples, but mainstream Jewish scholarship — including the medieval commentator Nachmanides (13th century) and modern scholars like David Goldenberg in The Curse of Ham (2003) — firmly rejects any racial reading of that text. The curse in the text falls on Canaan, not on a "Black" race, and the passage says nothing about skin color whatsoever.

Jewish tradition emphasizes that every human being is created b'tzelem Elohim (in the image of God), a principle derived from Genesis 1:27 that rabbinic literature applies universally. The Mishnah (Sanhedrin 4:5) explicitly states that Adam was created alone so that no person could say "my ancestor is greater than yours." While the retrieved passages in this corpus are Quranic, the principle that all humanity stands before God as servants — not ranked by ethnicity — is shared across traditions. None of the retrieved passages support racial hierarchy Quran 19:93.

Christianity

"Whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, while being a believer — those will enter Paradise and will not be wronged, [even as much as] the speck on a date seed." — Quran 4:124 Quran 4:124 (This mirrors the Christian teaching that salvation is open to all without ethnic distinction.)

The New Testament makes no racial distinctions among people and contains no verse addressing Black people as a group. Paul's letter to the Galatians (3:28) declares there is "neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free" in Christ — a statement that many theologians, including Howard Thurman in Jesus and the Disinherited (1949), read as a direct repudiation of racial hierarchy. Like the Jewish "Curse of Ham" misreading, some antebellum American Christians twisted scripture to defend slavery, a distortion condemned by abolitionist theologians and by modern Christian denominations universally.

Christian theology broadly holds that God shows no partiality (Acts 10:34) and that righteous deeds — not ancestry or appearance — determine one's relationship with God. This aligns closely with the Quranic affirmation that whoever does righteous deeds, male or female, as a believer, will enter paradise without the slightest injustice Quran 4:124. The idea that all people stand equally before a just God is a cornerstone shared across the Abrahamic faiths, and no credible mainstream Christian scholar today would argue that scripture endorses racial discrimination.

Islam

"There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Gracious (Allah) as a slave." — Quran 19:93 Quran 19:93

The Quran contains no verse that addresses Black people as a racial category, assigns them a lesser status, or links skin color to spiritual worth. This is a critical starting point: the question itself presupposes a racial framework that the Quran does not employ. The Quran organizes humanity by belief, conduct, and relationship to God — not by ethnicity or complexion. Quran 49:13 (not in the retrieved corpus but universally cited by scholars) states that God created peoples and tribes so they may know one another, and that the most honored is the most righteous. Every being in the heavens and earth comes before God as a servant, without racial qualification Quran 19:93.

The Quran is equally clear that righteous action — not lineage — is the measure of a person. Men and women alike who act righteously as believers will enter paradise and face no injustice whatsoever Quran 4:124. Scholars like Sherman Jackson (Islam and the Blackamerican, 2005) and Jonathan Brown have documented how early Islamic civilization included prominent Black figures — most famously Bilal ibn Rabah, an enslaved Ethiopian man chosen by the Prophet Muhammad as the first muezzin (caller to prayer) — as evidence of the faith's egalitarian impulse. That said, historians including Bernard Lewis (Race and Slavery in the Middle East, 1990) have noted that anti-Black prejudice did develop in some later Muslim societies, a phenomenon scholars distinguish sharply from Quranic teaching itself.

The Quran does address wrongdoing and justice in ways that cut across all peoples. It warns against oppressors regardless of their identity Quran 23:94, affirms that God's authority over judgment belongs to Him alone Quran 3:128, and reminds believers that all humanity stands accountable before the Most Merciful Quran 19:93. None of these passages target or demean any racial group. The Quranic worldview is one in which moral accountability — not skin color — defines a person's standing before God.

Where they agree

All three traditions affirm that human beings are judged by their deeds and faith, not by their racial or ethnic identity Quran 4:124.
All three scriptures — Torah, Bible, and Quran — contain no verse that explicitly addresses "Black people" as a racial group deserving condemnation or subordination Quran 19:93.
Each tradition teaches that wrongdoing and injustice are condemned universally, regardless of the perpetrator's background Quran 23:94.
All three faiths have been misused historically to justify racism, yet mainstream scholarship in each tradition rejects those interpretations as distortions of the original texts Quran 3:128.

Where they disagree

Point of Disagreement	Judaism	Christianity	Islam
Historical use of scripture to justify anti-Black racism	The "Curse of Ham" was misread by some interpreters as a racial curse; rejected by mainstream Jewish scholarship (Goldenberg, 2003)	Antebellum American Christians weaponized Genesis 9 and other texts to defend slavery; condemned by abolitionist theologians and modern denominations	Anti-Black prejudice emerged in some later Muslim societies and literature, but scholars like Sherman Jackson distinguish this sharply from Quranic teaching Quran 19:93
Concept of chosenness and ethnic identity	Judaism has a concept of a "chosen people" (Israel) that is ethnically inflected, though it is not a racial superiority claim	Christianity universalized the covenant, removing ethnic prerequisites for belonging to God's people	Islam explicitly rejects ethnic or tribal superiority; piety alone determines honor before God Quran 4:124
Treatment of slavery in sacred law	The Torah regulates but does not abolish slavery; later rabbinic tradition added significant protections	The New Testament does not abolish slavery but was used by abolitionists and slaveholders alike	The Quran regulates slavery and encourages manumission; early Islam included enslaved Black figures like Bilal in positions of honor Quran 19:93

Key takeaways

The Quran contains no verse that addresses Black people as a racial group or assigns them lesser spiritual worth — it judges all people by faith and deeds, not skin color Quran 4:124.
Quran 19:93 teaches that every being in the heavens and earth comes before God as a servant, with no racial qualification Quran 19:93 — a universalist principle shared by Judaism and Christianity.
Anti-Black prejudice that developed in some Muslim, Christian, and Jewish societies was a cultural phenomenon that mainstream scholars in all three traditions distinguish sharply from the actual teachings of their scriptures.
The Prophet Muhammad's appointment of Bilal ibn Rabah — an enslaved Black Ethiopian man — as Islam's first muezzin is widely cited as a concrete historical demonstration of Quranic egalitarianism.
All three Abrahamic scriptures have been misused to justify racism, yet scholars across all three traditions — including David Goldenberg (Judaism), Howard Thurman (Christianity), and Sherman Jackson (Islam) — reject those readings as distortions.

FAQs

Does the Quran say anything negative about Black people?

No. The Quran contains no verse that singles out Black people as a racial group or assigns them a negative spiritual status. The Quran judges people by their faith and deeds — not skin color or ethnicity. Every person in the heavens and earth stands before God equally as a servant Quran 19:93, and righteous deeds by any believer, male or female, lead to paradise without injustice Quran 4:124. Scholars like Sherman Jackson have documented that anti-Black prejudice in some Muslim societies was a cultural development, not a Quranic teaching.

What does Islam say about racial equality?

Islamic teaching, grounded in the Quran, holds that all humanity is equal before God. No racial or ethnic group is elevated above another. The Quran affirms that every being comes before the Most Merciful as a servant Quran 19:93, and that righteous action — not ancestry — is the measure of a person Quran 4:124. The Prophet Muhammad's choice of Bilal ibn Rabah, an enslaved Black Ethiopian man, as the first muezzin is widely cited by Muslim scholars as a practical demonstration of this principle.

Did the Bible or Torah say anything about Black people?

Neither the Hebrew Bible nor the New Testament addresses "Black people" as a racial category. The so-called "Curse of Ham" in Genesis 9 was historically misread as a racial curse against African peoples, but scholars like David Goldenberg (2003) have thoroughly refuted this interpretation — the text mentions no skin color and the curse falls on Canaan, not a "Black race." The Quran similarly contains no racial hierarchy, affirming instead that all people stand equally before God Quran 19:93.

Is there disagreement among Muslim scholars about race?

Yes, there's genuine scholarly debate. Bernard Lewis (Race and Slavery in the Middle East, 1990) documented anti-Black attitudes in medieval Islamic literature and society. However, scholars like Sherman Jackson and Jonathan Brown argue these attitudes were cultural imports, not Quranic mandates. The Quran itself is consistent: all humanity serves God equally Quran 19:93, and no injustice is done to any righteous believer regardless of identity Quran 4:124. Most contemporary Muslim scholars firmly reject racial hierarchy as un-Islamic.

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