يَوْمَ تَبْيَضُّ وُجُوهٌ وَتَسْوَدُّ وُجُوهٌ فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ اسْوَدَّتْ وُجُوهُهُمْ أَكْفَرْتُم بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ فَذُوقُواْ الْعَذَابَ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَكْفُرُونَ
First of all to understand this Ayaah 3:106 you need to read the context which is from 3:105-109 Then you will understand the meaning of ‘bright’ and dark faces.This expression appears in some other Ayaah's of the Quran as well, such as 75:22 & 80:38. In these ayahs several words such as: bayad, sawad, ghabarah, qatarah and nadirah have been used to carry the same sense. According to majority of commentators, ‘brightness’ means the brightness of the light of Faith (Imaan), which is, the faces of the Believers (Muslims) shall be resplendent with the light of the Faith. ‘Darkness’ signifies the darkness of disbelief, which is, the faces of the disbelievers will be covered with the gloomy anguish of disbelief and the added soot of sin and transgression would turn them still darker.
Now let us examine the American Heritage Dictionary for the meanings of the words ‘bright’ and dark:
bright (brºt) adj. bright·er, bright·est. 1.a. Emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts; shining. b. Comparatively high on the scale of brightness. c. Full of light or illumination: a bright sunny day; a stage bright with spotlights. 2. Characterizing a dyestuff that produces a highly saturated color; brilliant. 3. Glorious; splendid: one of the bright stars of stage and screen; a bright moment in history. 4. Full of promise and hope; auspicious: had a bright future in publishing. 5. Happy; cheerful: bright faces. 6. Animatedly clever; intelligent. 7. High and clear: the bright sound of the trumpet section. [Middle English, from Old English beorht. See bher…g- below.] --bright or bright“ly adv. |
dark (därk) adj. dark·er, dark·est. Abbr. dk. 1.a. Lacking or having very little light: a dark corner. b. Lacking brightness: a dark day. 2. Reflecting only a small fraction of incident light. 3. Of a shade tending toward black in comparison with other shades. Used of a color. 4. Having a complexion that is not fair; swarthy. 5. Characterized by gloom; dismal: took a dark view of the consequences. 6. Sullen or threatening: a dark scowl. 7. Difficult to understand; obscure: stories that are large in scope and dark in substance. 8. Concealed or secret; mysterious: “the dark mysteries of Africa and the fabled wonders of the East” (W. Bruce Lincoln). 9. Lacking enlightenment, knowledge, or culture: a dark age in the history of education. 10. Exhibiting or stemming from evil characteristics or forces; sinister: “churned up dark undercurrents of ethnic and religious hostility” (Peter Maas). 11. Having richness or depth: a dark, melancholy vocal tone. 12. Not giving performances; closed: The movie theater is dark on Mondays. --dark n. 1. Absence of light. 2. A place having little or no light. 3. Night; nightfall: home before dark. 4. A deep hue or color. --idiom. in the dark. 1. In secret: high-level decisions made in the dark. 2. In a state of ignorance; uninformed: kept me in the dark about their plans. [Middle English derk, from Old English deorc.] --dark“ish adj. --dark“ly adv. --dark“ness n. |
Conclusion
From the Muslim point of view, also dictionary meanings of the words ‘bright & dark’ you can see that no kind of racist verses are in in the Qur’aan. The term darkness refers to lacking light, and the light is reference to faith.