Islam for Muslims
- THE FAITH OF MUSLIMS
- GOOD DEEDS IN PERSONAL LIFE
- GOOD DEEDS IN SOCIAL LIFE
The Unity among the Muslims: Why & How?
48: THE UNITY AMONG MUSLIMS -- WHY AND HOW?
Introduction: The unity among the Muslims is recognized as a crucial factor for advancing the legitimate goals of the Muslims as well as Islam. The proverb “United we stand, divided we fall” has hardly any better application anywhere else other than in Islam. Now follows a discussion on why unity is so important for both Muslims and Islam and how such unity can be achieved, maintained and improved.
Importance: The value of unity among the Muslims is reflected in the words of God as He addresses the collective Muslims as “single Brotherhood” and desires to see “your brethren in faith” like a "solid cemented structure” (49:10; 9:11; 61:4). He also adds on “You should remain steadfast in religion and make no divisions therein. If you fall into disputes, you will lose heart and your power will depart” (42:13; 8:46). God warned of “dreadful penalty” if you become “divided among yourselves and fall into disputes even after receiving Clear Signs” (3:105). Five times of daily prayers at mosque, annual Hajj at Mecca, prohibition of cutting blood relation ties are seen as an exercise for cementing bond among the Muslims. Moreover, their numerous uniform cultural practices stich the Muslims together in solidarity.
Power of Unity: Now let us see how the unity among the Muslims can be helpful. In God’s vision, you (the believing men and women) are “protectors, one of other”, as you enjoin virtues and forbid vices (9:71). By means of unity, you can organize and solidify your strength for effective use toward attainment of positive goals at various levels. At the local level, for example, you can turn the mosque into a center of multilateral welfare programs including spiritual, ethical, educational, social, economic, judicial etc. At the national level, your mosque based unity can be federated into a national level organization for carrying forward positive agenda like distributing charity among the nation’s poor etc. At international level, your unity can be channeled for resolving global issues like cooperation on global warming, providing aid to the impoverished nations etc.
Peaceful Unity: It is necessary to clarify the point that the Muslim unity is basically like a self-promotional cooperative association that does not aim against any other peaceful communities. Instead, the benefits from such unity can spill over beyond Muslim community. For instance, the united Muslims can bring into the fold of its responsible mainstream any splintered groups who otherwise could have a violent agenda. Likewise, they can share out their optional charity to the needy regardless of religious identity.
Hindrances to Unity: Despite its over-riding importance, the unity among the present day Muslims faces various setbacks mainly from the following factors:
(1) Spiritual Deviation: One basic reason of occasional disunity among the Muslims is their deviation from the blessed path of the Quran and the Hadith. God urged "Hold fast all together by the rope (Quran and Hadith) which God (stretches out for you) and be not divided among yourselves" (3:103). The essential (fard) rules codified in the Quran and clarified in the Hadith are like the main trunk of a tree while the optional ('nafl') items are like its branches. As long as you focus on these basics (clearly stated in the Quran and Hadith), there is almost ‘0’ chance for significant disunity among the Muslims.
On the contrary, if you give up the basics resembling the main trunk of the tree (as a metaphor) and instead engage in futile disputes about less essential, optional matters, then you may be divided like the plurality of its branches. In this process, the Muslim society may be divided by offering contradictory judgments on various Islamic issues. For example, you should prioritize praying 5 times of ‘fard’ salat along with fulfilling their compulsory components like wearing clean clothes, facing Kaaba etc. In doing so, you should not care much about how you do optional things like holding hands on or above navel, uttering ‘ameen’ silent or loud after reciting sura ‘fatiha’ etc.
You are therefore advised to “refer to (the basics of) God and His Apostle if you differ in anything among yourselves” and seek no “causes of dispute in the Book (Quran) creating big division” (4:59; 2:176). The Prophet also advised the Muslims to bypass any particular optional matter under fear of disorder and disunity. It is therefore good for you to hold fast to the basics of Quran and Hadith in the interest of much-valued unity and thereby value your unity over quarreling surrounding optional but divisive trifles. The Four schools of Thought (Madhab) developed by the four Imams: Imam Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Shafi, and Imam Hanbali should not cause any conflicts among the Muslims. They were simply diverse in their interpretations regarding optional matters as allowed in Islam. They did not insist on following their own brand of rulings which are open to your individual choices.
(2) Prophet’s Tradition Followed Differently: The Muslims are sometimes divided over differential priorities given to diverse aspects of the Prophetic tradition. Accordingly, some specialize in, for example, Islamic movement, some are professional preachers, some choose a career goal of Islamic writing and some devote most of their lifetime to God’s remembrance (‘zikr’) and so on. Out of ignorance or narrow-mindedness, each group proudly “rejoices in” their own practices as superior to those of others (30:32) and therefore engages themselves in vain mutual criticisms and rivalries.
They, however, miss the point that all of their services are valuable to Islam as they are all playing complementary but useful roles. Metaphorically speaking, for producing the harvest of Islam, someone prepares the land, someone else sows seeds, another one waters plant, yet someone else creates protective fence and so on. The combination of their services ultimately produces the valuable fruit named Islam.
Keeping the above example in mind, everyone involved should keep Islam above mutual rivalry and bury the causes of “dividing the religion and breaking up into sects” (6:159). Instead, you should forgive and forget any mutual faults for the greater cause of precious unity. There may be errors in the method of any individual groups toward helping Islam. But keeping in view their good intention and net positive contribution to Islam, each group should appreciate others’ contributions and try to correct mutual faults in a constructive and non-offensive manner. Despite this, if any conflict develops between the two groups, their moderate followers should step in the mediating roles for making “peace and reconciliation between your brothers” (49:10).
(3) Inter-generational Disunity: In the Muslim society, psychological or even real disunity are sometimes found to surface between the western educated relatively younger generation and older generation of conservative Muslims. The former sometimes condemn the latter as fundamentalist often pointing to their beard and Islamic dress code and the latter regard the former as ultra-modern with mindset of going astray. But Islam, being a perfect and progressive religion, can strike a balance between these two extremes. It gives both groups an easy scope for mutual adjustment for coming to the same straight line of Islam, through some revisions in their beliefs and practices.
In fact, Islam is not basically a dry and boring religion and the young generation has no reason to shift away from Islam in quest for fun. If you look for a reliable religion that endorses high level of desirable fun, then there is no better name than Islam. The important point is that you cannot lean toward un-Islamic cultures, misguided by instinct or petty personal interests. Instead, in the greater interest of Islam, you should “keep straight the relations between yourselves” (8:1).
The above generational divide should be bridged in an Islamic way. The youngsters should follow the Islamic culture of respecting the elders while staying away from blaming them as fundamentalist only for being observant Muslims. Nor should they mock them for their beard or Islamic clothing which becomes a new normal as people advances in age toward death. They can be blameworthy only when they prioritize optional matters over essential ones e.g. expelling a young student from the first row of prayer congregation only for wearing a short sleeve shirt. Thus in optional matters, the older Muslims should not unnecessarily make the religion stricter. Instead, they should allow the youngsters full freedom of practices up to the permissible limits of sharia (e.g. wearing short pant that covers more than the prohibited part from navel to knee) and they should treat them kindly like their younger brothers. In this way, both the young and the old can live harmoniously in the Muslim society.
(4) Shia-Sunni Division over Fundamental Beliefs: Sometimes, differences of opinion surrounding fundamental beliefs may also be divisive for the Muslim society. Sunni-Shiite division is a case in point. This type of division among the Muslims was an unknown quantity going back to the days of the Prophet. Nevertheless, later Muslims got themselves divided, slipping from the path of the Quran and Hadith. This was caught up in the verse “(later generations) cut off their affair (of unity), one from another” (21:93). However, you need to realize that whatever sect you are born in, if you lead your life exactly according to the Quran and authentic Hadith, then you qualify to be a Muslim as a single identity, according to definition that is accurate and acceptable to God.
In this process, you could rise above your narrow sectarian identity, disproving any claim for real basis of so-called split among Muslims. Such a Muslim, instead of being faulted by others for the shortcomings of his own sect, deserves honor as a perfect Muslim. It is therefore crucial for you as a Muslim, regardless of your sectarian backgrounds, you should try to identify any basic lapses of your sect through direct comparison with the Quran and authentic Hadith and then try to settle on the track of true Islam. If this becomes a universal practice among the Muslims, then the problems of such sectarianism (like Sunni-Shia or other variants) may cease to exist.
5. The Crises of Unity among Global Muslims: The Muslim countries worldwide occasionally fail to be united on certain global issues. This is mainly explainable by (i) the conspiracy to sow dissension among them by some unfriendly people; and (ii) their self-destructive love for foreign ideologies like communism, capitalism etc. that divide them into camps. It is imperative for you to be on the alert against any conspiracy to blend Islam with foreign ideologies in the face of God’s advice to “enter Islam whole-heartedly” (2:208). Far from being sold out to any foreign 'isms', you should stand firm on Islamic ideology and consolidate your sense of brotherhood with fellow Muslims while maintaining peace within and without. Be reminded that God prohibited you from “taking friends from unbelievers by abandoning the believers" (4:144). In general, Islam does not rule against the legality of maintaining functional relationship with the non-Muslims, as authenticated by the Charter of Medina authored by the Prophet. However, if you (Muslims) make “friendship” with and offer your “love” to the “enemies of (God and His Prophet)” (60:1) who happen to be at unjust war with the Muslims, then that will tip the balance of power against the Muslims. In this background, God said “The Unbelievers are the protectors one of other”; if you (Muslims) “do not do the same (protect each other)”, then there will be oppression on earth and great mischief (8:73).
You should therefore recognize the practical importance of the Prophet’s metaphoric advice: "The Muslim society is like a human body; its members should feel for one another in the same way your pain at one part of the body is felt over other parts." Influenced by this teaching, if the Muslim nations as a whole get themselves united, they can not only see a happy ending of their fratricidal conflicts inside but can also find it easier to undo any aggressive conspiracy from outside. This will make them better prepared to concentrate on their collective wellbeing as well as devotion to Islam.
Conclusion: The importance of the unity among Muslims can never be overstated. They should therefore do everything possible for the sake of unity for collective benefits.