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Fatwa CenterRuling on mocking Arabs
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. Is it Kufr (disbelief) to insult the breed of someone who is Arabic. Sometimes, I would make a joke about the Arabs or insult and say bad things about the Arabic breed. I am trying to stop doing this and lose this habit. I do not target the Prophets, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, by it. However, someone told me that this is an act of Kufr and that I have to make Ghusl (ritual shower) and repeat my Shahadah (testimony of faith)?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Making jokes about Arabs is not an act of Kufr; however, it is impermissible for the Muslim to mock anyone, be he an Arab or otherwise. Allah, The Exalted, says (what means): {O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule (another) people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule (other) women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by (offensive) nicknames. Wretched is the name of disobedience after (one's) faith. And whoever does not repent - then it is those who are the wrongdoers.} [Quran 49:11]
The Muslim's time is too precious to be wasted as such; he should devote his time and effort to carrying out beneficial deeds. Mocking people is of no benefit at all; rather, it is pure evil. If you are sincerely determined to give up this bad habit, then Allah, The Exalted, will save you from its evils. When a person is sincere with Allah, He fulfills his wish.
It should be noted that there are reported ahaadeeth indicating the superiority of the Arab breed. For instance, Waathilah ibn Al-Asqa’ 
reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, "Allah chose Kinaanah from the children of Ismaa‘eel (Ishmael), and He chose Quraysh from Kinaanah, and He chose Banu Haashim from Quraysh, and He chose me from Banu Haashim." [Muslim]
Moreover, Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, "When Allah created the creation, He sent down Jibreel (Gabriel) and divided people into two groups, Arabs and non-Arabs, and in the Arabs were the best of them. Then he divided the Arabs into two groups: the Arabs of Yemen, the Arabs of Mudhar, and the Arabs of Quraysh, and in Quraysh were the best of them; then he placed me in the best of what I descended from." [At-Tabaraani in Al-Mu‘jam Al-Awsat] Al-Haytami 
wrote, "Its chain of narration is good." [Mablagh Al-Arab]
This does not mean that each and every Arab person is superior to other people; rather, it means that the Arabs were collectively made superior to others in a general sense (being the nation from whom Allah, The Exalted, chose His final Messenger). Verily, the ultimate criterion of superiority by which people are regarded as superior to others is piety. Allah, The Exalted, says (what means): {Indeed, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.} [Quran 49:13] Some of the most wicked disbelievers were Arabs, such as Abu Lahab and Abu Jahl.
Allah knows best.
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