In every society exists a social stratum, whether legally enforced or not. Examples of legally enforced social strata can be found in societies which follow Hinduism, such as India. The kingdoms of ancient Indonesia also adopted this social stratification, up until other religions were introduced, such as Buddhism and Islam, which offered equality opposed to stratification. This social stratification based on Hinduism is called caste.
When people are divided into groups based on their socio-economic conditions, injustice is bound to happen. Whether it’s the old caste system in Hinduism, or the class system in Japan before the Meiji restoration, people at the higher class who have privilege, will most definitely oppress the ones at the bottom part of the strata. Perhaps, it’s in the animalistic human nature to want to dominate over others. Thus, it results in revolutions and revolts by the oppressed group, as it is also in human’s nature to understand truth and justice.
Nobody, no matter how rich or powerful has the license to humiliate or take the lives of those who are less fortunate, opposing colonialism, oppressive slavery, and the likes. In fact, in the Islamic tradition, when one kills a person without any just reason, it is as if he has killed the whole of humanity. Unfortunately, even in this era which is claimed to be the era of “democracy and equality”, we can still find discriminative treatments based on socio-economic backgrounds.
If only we were able to look beyond the sight of the physical eye, we would be able to see the value of every single human being. If only we were able to see with our hearts, be able to perceive the truth beyond what the physical eye sees, we would understand how amazing everyone is with their own uniqueness. Nobody is below anybody else, as opposed to the belief of many. In fact, as the Qur’an would say, “Truly, the children of Adam are exalted!” every single one of us without exception.
When people are divided into groups based on their socio-economic conditions, injustice is bound to happen. Whether it’s the old caste system in Hinduism, or the class system in Japan before the Meiji restoration, people at the higher class who have privilege, will most definitely oppress the ones at the bottom part of the strata. Perhaps, it’s in the animalistic human nature to want to dominate over others. Thus, it results in revolutions and revolts by the oppressed group, as it is also in human’s nature to understand truth and justice.
Nobody, no matter how rich or powerful has the license to humiliate or take the lives of those who are less fortunate, opposing colonialism, oppressive slavery, and the likes. In fact, in the Islamic tradition, when one kills a person without any just reason, it is as if he has killed the whole of humanity. Unfortunately, even in this era which is claimed to be the era of “democracy and equality”, we can still find discriminative treatments based on socio-economic backgrounds.
If only we were able to look beyond the sight of the physical eye, we would be able to see the value of every single human being. If only we were able to see with our hearts, be able to perceive the truth beyond what the physical eye sees, we would understand how amazing everyone is with their own uniqueness. Nobody is below anybody else, as opposed to the belief of many. In fact, as the Qur’an would say, “Truly, the children of Adam are exalted!” every single one of us without exception.
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