Islam is a religion of peace and it presents mankind’s complete submission to the will of Allah Almighty alone. It gives lessons of peace, unity, brotherhood, justice, truth, and purity. Being a religion of peace and unity, it came to unite the world and deliver humanity from exploitation, oppression, and injustice.

The word ‘Muslim’ means someone who surrenders to the will of God and his last apostle Prophet Muhammad. The early period of Islam teaches us the message of unity among Muslims.

The Holy Prophet (PBUH) has said:

“My followers will not go astray if they remain a united body. Therefore, remain a united body.”

In the time of the Prophet, Muslims used to live together peacefully. All of them were bound to follow the commands of the Holy Prophet. None of them disagreed over what was told by the Prophet to them.  Unfortunately, the Muslim World is facing its defeat at several levels. One of the reasons for this decline is the growing disunity among Muslims.

In Surah al-Imran, God says:

“Hold firmly to the rope of Allah and be not divided (into groups and sects).”

This is heartbreaking that today Muslims have forsaken the golden message of the Qur’an. The Qur’an commands us to live as Muslims and be not divided into Shias, Sunnis, Wahabis or other sects. Living as a Muslim means having a sense of brotherhood with every Muslim.  Unity of the Muslim Ummah is essential to maintain its freedom, progress, stability, survival, and regain its past glory and prestige. All obstacles and hindrances in the way of Muslim unity should be studied and removed.

The Muslim world must have its financial organizations, defense production units, welfare organizations, charters, etc. Muslims are not a part of any party but they are those who will bring peace, progress, and stability to this disturbed world. With unity in their ranks, the Muslims will not only become a great nation but also remove exploitation, injustice, ignorance, cruelty, darkness, hopelessness, etc from the world. Their unity will raise their status in the comity of nations.

It is painful to admit that the Muslims Ummah is totally disunited these days. Muslims lack unity, discipline, and harmony in their ranks. They are falling away from Islam. Their pleasure in scholastic quibbles, their negligence to seek knowledge,  their denial of free thought, their distrust on reason, sectarian dissensions, racial and tribal allegiances, political instability, disunity, and corruption have always contributed to their downfall. Internal troubles, externals wars and conspiracies against them intensify their disunity and put them in a quagmire.

Grounds of Divergence among Muslims

The ins and outs behind this scenario are numerous. Two of them are very protuberant.

SECTARIANISM:

Firstly, Muslims are divided into a number of sects. Many of their religious scholars are propagating only their own illumination of the Hadith & Sunnah. They do not tolerate any kind of difference of opinions in religious matters. They begin to call each other ‘Gumrah’ and ‘Fitna’. Some extremists even blamed other of being ‘Murtad’ or even ‘Kafir’. This kind of behaviour additional adds fuel to the fire. Even Muslims living in a single country are not united. Their religious differences have abandoned their solidarity and strength.

COLLUSIONS OF ISLAM’S RIVALS:

Secondly, plans of Islam’s enemies are also averting Muslims to be united. Their imperialistic attitude has declared Islam to be their common rival. They continue their efforts to eliminate Islam and Muslims. Christians and Jews, for example, have overlooked all their differences and working together. Christians claim that Jews are liable to crucify the Christ. But now they have ignored this and are in coalition with the Jews against Muslims. The planting of the seeds of disunity and division among Muslims has been a very effective tool of Jews and Christians. Prejudice, extremism, prejudice, lust for power, and many other materialistic interests are also causing disunity among Muslims.

It is a universally acknowledged fact that a nation cannot endure without mutual unity and harmony between its members. Unity makes a nation strong and unbeatable. Strong economy and unconquerable defense ensure the survival of nations. Poor economy and pathetic defense lead to misery and ultimately to non-existence. Without unity, it is impossible to reach both economic prosperity and strong defense. Unity of Muslim Nation is also essential for the security of all the Muslim countries against the foreign enemies. They should make joint policies for their defense. As their enemies are united, they should also join hands against them. Attack on a Muslim country should be considered an attack on the whole Muslim Ummah. In order to maintain a balance of power with the rest of the world, they need to educate their people, establish latest science laboratories, and prepare latest weapons. By doing so, they can also regain their territories like Palestine and Kashmir.

All obstacles that stand in the way of Muslim unity should be studied and removes. Muslims must have their own financial institutions, defense production units, welfare organizations, characters, etc. Muslims are not directed against any party but they will bring peace, progress, and stability in this distributed world. With unity in their ranks. Muslims will not only become a great nation but also remove exploitation, injustice, ignorance, cruelty, darkness, and hopelessness from the world. Their unity will raise their status in the customs of nations.

Published in The Daily National Courier, February, 16 2023

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