“O people! Your Creator is one; you are from the same ancestor; all of you are from Adam, and Adam was created from earth.” (Sahih Muslim)
This hadīth is an extract from the Last Sermon of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him). It underlines the unity and equality of human beings. The hadīth employs two arguments to make the point home. One argument is that the Creator of all human beings is one. Another argument is that all human beings trace their ancestor in the first man, Adam, who was created from earth. That is, there is no question of being high or low on the bases of birth and lineage. And therefore there is no sense of outraging the dignity of any fellow being.
In the same Sermon, the Blessed Messenger said that greatness lies in one’s having been nurtured the quality of taqwa. That is, the more one does good deeds and the more one keeps from bad deeds, the greater one is in the eyes of Allah.
This much is about man irrespective of his caste or creed or colour. As for the sanctity of the believer, the Blessed Messenger said: “I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) performing tawaf around the Ka’bah, saying (to the Ka’bah), ‘How pure you are! And how pure is your fragrance! How great you are! And how great is your sanctity! By He in whose hands lies the soul of Muhammad, the sanctity of a believer is greater with Allah than even your sanctity (i.e. the Ka’bah). That is (the sanctity) of his wealth, his blood and that we think nothing of him but good.’”