Unity of the Ummah Muslims Muslim Village

"And hold fast to the Bond of Allah, together, and do not scatter.
Remember the Favor of Allah bestowed upon you when you were enemies,
and how He united your hearts, so that by His Favor you became brothers."
(Ali Imran 103)

It is amazing, that an Islamic project like the Medinah-Project gets so much positive response from all different kinds of groups and even from non-believers! The goal of building up a place far away from "modern life", an oasis, where there is peace and brotherhood in a natural environment, seems to be a dream of many.

But of course, such a dream has to stand the test of reality! What we want to establish here is not the microcosms of today's situation of the Ummah, but we want to reach the ideal state of the Ummah, which is not an Ummah haunted by sectarianism but an Ummah of unity!

The Muslims experienced already the dreadful result of falling apart in different groups and not obeying the commandment of Allah Most High not to scatter such as when the Muslims were defeated in Spain because of falling apart in different kingdoms; or the "Arabic uprising", when the Muslims joined the disbelievers in attacking the khalifah, rendering their own Ummah into a body without a head, thus making it an easy prey for the disbelievers. The strategy of the disbelievers, and especially the movement we call Dajjal, was and is to further promote disunity:

"When the unity of Muslims is broken and the common sympathy among them is impaired, their forces will be dissolved and thus we shall easily destroy them. The Muslims' weak points are as follows: sectarian divisions, illiteracy, and poor hygiene making them vulnerable to disease. They are ruled by unjust dictatorships, there is poor infrastructure, general disorderliness, where rules of the Koran are almost never put into practice. In order to undermine the Muslims' strong points, to popularise their other shortcomings, according to the following methods: foment discord and publish literature to further incite controversies. Obstruct education, and encourage forms of otherworldliness like mystical Sufism. Encourage oppressiveness among emperors. Encourage secularism, or the need to separate religion from state affairs. Aggravate economic decline through sabotage."

Since then, the situation did not become much better. Every group is rejoicing in what was given them from Allah and efforts to re-establish unity seems to be hardly existent. Too far seem the differences to have escalated.

From Jaabir ibn 'Abdullah (radiyAllahu 'anhu) who said that Allah's Messenger s.a.w. said:

Although certain groups deem themselves to be the very opposite of each other, they have often the following in common:

As for those who are expecting unity to come by others joining their respective group (thus believing they belong to the one group of the 73, which is the rightly guided one) or do not have any intention to reconcile with other Muslims by giving up things which divide the Ummah, this project is not the right place for them! The reason is very logical and easy to understand:

The Prophet s.a.w. commanded us to stick to the main body of the Ummah and its Amir. In case there is no Jamaat and no Amir, we should separate from all these sects! He further said, that from the 73 groups there exist, only one group is the rightly guided one, the one who is on his way and that of his Sahabas.

The Prophet s.a.w. and the Sahabas did only call themselves Muslims and nothing else! So obviously (at least for me), all those groups, who use different labels other than Muslim, cannot be on the way of the Salaf even if they use their names! The Sahabas also had an Amir! So where is the Amir of the Salafis for example? Is he the Saudi king, or if you are American, Barack Obama maybe? How can you be Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah when this so called Jamaah has no Amir? On the other hand, the Sahabas did not practice all these innovations we see nowadays under the label "Sufism". So although Sufis have an Amir, for me it is also not possible that one of them is the elected group ...

But if I am wrong, then the others should separate themselves from me because logically I must belong to one of these sects on the wrong path! If you believe your group is the rightly guided one you may not join us as this would contradict the commandment of the Prophet s.a.w.!

Please build up your own Sheik Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahab fan club village, Sheik Nazim Efendi 'al-Haqqani' fan club village, Maulana Muhammad Ilyas fan club village and so on. Fight each other as much as you like and let us alone!

are willing to give their hand to their brothers and sisters and try to understand them thus shunning general accusations!

are willing to make sacrifices for the sake of unity!

believe, that Allah will only help those who make efforts towards a goal, so most probably Allah will only unite our hearts if we make efforts to seek unity!

Unity does not mean that we all have to have the same ideas and opinion! Naturally we all have our own ideas and beliefs, and there is nothing wrong with it as long as the ideas are according to Qur'an and Sunnah and as long as there is tolerance among the Muslims.

"And we have not given you of knowledge save a little ..."
Unity implies humbleness towards others,
knowing, that we do not know much!

We may not scatter by name:

We may call ourselves only by the name given us by Allah and nothing else, and that is Muslim!

We may not scatter by different practices:

We may only practice what is firmly established in Qur'an and Sunnah! We may not practice innovations like Maulid (even if it should be a "bid'ah hasanah"), unless the innovations are for the protection or the understanding of the original Islam and the vast majority of the Muslims agreed already upon it (like the invention of Tashkîl; the establishment of schools of jurisprudence etc.). When there is doubt, keep it out of the public, do not invite others to it and do not start discussions about it! Bai'at is strictly reserved for Amir ul-Mu'minin!

We may not scatter by debates:

We may not try to impose our interpretation of shariah on others, as long as the others have a support in Qur'an and Sunnah or legal opinion of a mazhab. We may also not call any 'tertib' not backed by Qur'an and Sunnah a bid'ah. Tolerance is a must!

InsyaAllah, if we have make efforts for the sake of unity, Allah will unite our hearts! Striving for unity is Jihad because without unity there can be no victory! If we succeed in building up a community out of different groups, who re-establish brotherhood by giving up things which divide the Ummah for the sake of Allah, insyaAllah it will become an example for the whole Ummah and we will be among those who are paving the way for al-Mahdi!

How can we pretend to love the Prophet s.a.w. if we do not care for his Ummah? On the day of reckoning when humankind will be resurrected, all other people will call "Nafsi, Nafsi!", but the Prophet s.a.w. will call "Ummati, Ummati!" So much does he love his Ummah, that at the time of the greatest terror, when a mother forgets her own child, he alone remembers his followers! How much must he suffer to see his Ummah in a state of animosity and diversion rather than in love and brotherhood towards each other?

And if two parties or groups among the believers fall to fighting, then make peace between them both... [Al-Hujurat 10]

So if for example Salafi and Sufi fight each other, do we have not then the obligation of trying to reconcile them, even if this looks impossible? I believe it is possible! Because I am able to talk to all groups since entering Islam! Probably they feel, although I might bounce against them sometimes, that I love them as my Muslim brothers and sisters.

Did Muhammad s.a.w. not say, that the believers (the real ones) are like one body, so if one part of the body is sick, the other parts suffer too?

If so, then come and stand together now as one Ummah! Let us make Islam victorious again and the Muslim village a success!