Islam and Prejudice: Special Reference to Gordon W. Allport’s Contact Hypothesis

This study explores the Muslim perspective on human interaction, relationshipsand prejudice. A survey of the literature recognises Islam’s fundamental acknowledgementof human diversity, drawing on a dynamic theological, moral, spiritual and legal philosophyrevolving around the preservation and sustainment of non-prejudiced human contact. Thisstudy discusses the Muslim perspective of human contact, non-prejudice, and accordingly,revisits Gordon W. Allport’s “Theory of Contact Hypothesis” in an effort to compare andcontrast it with the Muslim perspective on related issues such as racial prejudice, genderinequity, age prejudice, disability discrimination, social status and classism. This researchconcludes that Islam has developed a framework necessary for cultivating religiosityand morality without risking the value of effective and harmonious human relations.Further empirical studies on the interplay between Muslim theory and practice on contacthypothesis and prejudice are required to further interpret the dynamics of Muslim values inworking settings, and the viability of translating religious ideals into reality.