Islamic Unity, the Crying Need of the Hour

Today, while Muslims worldwide are making sincere efforts to foster unity, the enemies of the Ummah, such as the US and the Zionist entity, have not stayed silent and are busy trying to sow seeds of disunity, as is evident by their hold over the Arab reactionary regimes to create divisions.

The Ummah is passing through one of the crucial phases of its history. Islamic unity is the crying need of the hour, yet those styling themselves Muslim leaders and claiming to be custodians of Islam’s holiest shrines, are not just the promoters of sectarian terrorism of the worst ever kind, but shamelessly worshipping at the altar of the ringleaders of Islamophobia.

Today, while Muslims worldwide are making sincere efforts to foster unity, the enemies of the Ummah, such as the US and the Zionist entity, have not stayed silent and are busy trying to sow seeds of disunity, as is evident by their hold over the Arab reactionary regimes to create divisions.

We are, however, confident they will not succeed in their nefarious efforts, and Islamic unity will prevail all over the world, thanks to the foresight of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), in focusing on the significance of the birth anniversary of the Seal of Messengers, Prophet Muhammad (Ṣ), to knit the ranks of the Ummah.

His farsighted move in bridging the slight gap between the two dates of the month of Rabi‘ al-Awwal which are regarded as the birth anniversary of the “Mercy unto the creation” (The Holy Qur’an 21:107) was a dynamic move to bring on a single platform Muslims of all denominations, who are unanimous in their belief in the indivisible unity (monotheism) of the One and Only God, face the holy Ka’ba as the focal point for the five-times-a-day ritual prayers, adhere to the one single holy Qur’an as the Revealed Word of God (unlike Jews, Christians, and others, whose sects have differing versions of their sacred texts), fast in the same month of Ramadhan, perform Hajj on the same days of the month of Dhil-Hijjah, believe in the Day of Resurrection, and before that of the advent of the Mahdi from the progeny of the Prophet to establish the global government of peace, prosperity and justice.

Rabi‘ al-Awwal 12 is considered to be that blessed date by Sunni Muslims on the basis of the narrations of the Prophet’s companions, who had no acquaintance with him before his formal declaration of his universal mission of Islam at the age of 40. Shi’a Muslims, however, attach more importance to accounts of the Prophet’s birth from the Prophet’s family and regard 17th Rabi‘ al-Awwal as the date of birth of the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger.

Since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Iran has spared no efforts in fostering Islamic Unity through promoting practical interaction among scholars of the different schools of jurisprudence, holding joint congregational prayers, and forbidding factors that create disunity. This is the reason Global Arrogance and its clients in the Muslim World are insipid with rage at Islamic Iran, to the extent the policies and names of Imam Khomeini and his worthy successor, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, are abhorred by these forces of darkness.

Their efforts, however, are bound to fail in view of the glorious personality of Prophet Muhammad (Ṣ), whose genuine legacy the Islamic Republic of Iran endeavors to spread and regarding whom God Almighty says in verse 21 of Surah Aḥzāb:

“In the Prophet of Allah there is certainly for you a good exemplar, for those who look forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remember Allah greatly.”

Indeed, the Prophet removed all ethnic, lingual, color and class barriers, saying there is no difference between a Qurayshite nobleman and a black African slave. He appointed Bilal the Abyssinian as the Muezzin or official caller to the daily prayers, even though this non-Arab Muslim couldn’t correctly pronounce certain Arabic alphabets.

If the Roman refugee Suhayb had the honor of becoming his companion, he hailed the Iranian Salman as “Minnā Ahl al-Bayt” (from us the people of the house) – an honor no Arab companion ever achieved.

He next initiated bonds of brotherhood amongst 740 of his close companions, pairing together every two of them on the basis of their characteristics, sharing of habits (whether good or bad), and above all their natural inclinations and friendship towards each other.

For instance, Salman Farsi and Abu Zar Ghffārī were paired as brothers, while another pair was Miqdād ibn Aswad and ‘Ammār ibn Yāssir – because of their lofty degrees of faith and firm adherence to the path of truth which would become manifest both during his lifetime and after him when these four would stand firmly beside his divinely-decreed vicegerent.

Of the others paired together were Zubayr and Ṭalḥa; Abu Bakr and Umar ibn Khaṭṭāb; and Uthmān ibn ‘Affān and Abdur-Raḥmān ibn ‘Auf, etc. The brotherhood accord was so firm and binding that when one such pair was martyred in a battle the infidels had imposed upon Muslims, he instructed the two to be buried in a single grave.

This pairing was on the commandment of God, and after it was over, he grasped the hand of his dear ward and cousin, Imam Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib (AS), in his own hands and declared him his brother in this world and in the hereafter.

Then years later, before his departure from the mortal world, after completion of his 23-year mission on earth, Prophet Muhammad (Ṣ) spelled the supreme formula for a monolithic Muslim ummah by saying:

“I am leaving among you the two weighty things; the Book of God (the Qur’an) and my progeny the Ahl al-Bayt. Hold fast to them and you will never go astray for the two will never part with each other even when they return to me at the Pool (of Kawthar on Judgement Day).”

What a wonderful legacy did the Prophet leave behind! It is now for us to do some real soul-searching and find out whether we have remained loyal to the instructions of our Prophet; and if not, what has made us drift away from either the holy Qur’an or from the Infallible Ahl al-Bayt (AS).

The article was written by Sayyid Ali Shahbaz and first published in kayhan.