Dear Brothers and Sisters!
28 years ago, on July 11, 1995, a genocide took place in the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia. In 5 days, more than 8 thousand Muslims, amongst them children and elderly, were brutally murdered. This massacre, which went down in history as the Srebrenica genocide and is one of the darkest and most painful events in human history. The sad consequences of the brutal slaughter that caused thousands of people to lose their parents, children or relatives are still being felt.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!
The religion of Islam forbids all forms of racism. Apart from being a crime against humanity, racism is also a disrespect to Allah (swt). People who are equal in terms of being the children of Prophet Adam have no right to claim superiority over each other on the basis of their ancestry. Superiority is not in race, skin colour, language or background, but in the sense of responsibility towards Allah (swt). The Messenger of Allah (saw) said this truth in his famous Farewell Khutba, “All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a White has no superiority over a Black nor a Black has any superiority over a White except by piety and good action.” [1]

Dear Jama’ah
Allah (swt) mentions in the Quran, “And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your languages and your colours. Indeed in that are signs for those of knowledge.”[2]In this verse, Allah (swt) informs us that all these differences, just as people have different languages ​​and different skin colours, are a sign of Allah’s existence as well as His might.

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Throughout history, humanity has paid the bitter consequences of the wars made for the sake of racism. Thousands of Rohingya people, who were exposed to racism because they were Muslims in Myanmar, were massacred, expelled from their homes and forced to seek asylum in other countries. Until recently, “whites” in South Africa were superior to “blacks” and carried out a racist policy called “The Apartheid”. Unbelievable atrocities in East Turkestan are, of course, sad examples of racism. As a result, orphaned children and helpless people who have been separated from their homes and families are left behind. To prevent such disasters from happening again, people and institutions with compassion and conscience, regardless of their race, religion or background, should act jointly. In fact, to remain silent to these massacres against the whole of humanity means to approve these tragedies.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!
We must never stop remembering the victims of racism crimes all over the world to ensure that our future generations can be sensitive to the damages of racism. Our Prophet (saw), who opposes all kinds of racism, states the following in a hadith: “Indeed when people see an oppressor but do not prevent him from doing evil, it is likely that Allah will punish them all.”[3] According to this hadith, a Muslim’s silence in the face of oppression and his failure to object to the oppression draws the anger of Allah (swt) upon us. That’s why, while we are remembering those who lost their lives in Srebrenica, we also say ‘NO’ to all kinds of racism and object those who call for racism. On this occasion, we pray for Allah’s mercy upon our brothers and sisters who lost their lives in the Srebrenica genocide and various racist attacks and we pray for strength and patience to those left behind.

[1] İbn Hanbel, V, 411

[2] Surah Ar-Rum, 30:22

[3] Ebû Dâvûd, Melâhim, 17

Khutba