The Obligation of Unity
When we speak about the obligations of Islam, we often focus on the ritual aspects such as praying and fasting, or the aspects of material responsibility such as providing for one’s family etc. There is however a major obligation which we as Muslims have unfortunately become negligent of, an instruction found throughout The Quran and the prophetic tradition of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the obligation of unity.
Allah, The Almighty, says in The Quran: {And hold firmly together to the rope of Allah and do not be divided. Remember Allah’s favour upon you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts, so you—by His grace—became brothers. And you were at the brink of a fiery pit and He saved you from it. This is how Allah makes His revelations clear to you, so that you may be ˹rightly˺ guided.}. [1]
In Arabic this verse not only instructs us toward unity but explicitly emphasises the point. The word ‘hold,’ in Arabic is used in the plural variation (i’tasimu), which indicates the responsibility of holding firmly to the rope of Allah is one to be engaged in collectively. Allah then further emphasises the collective aspect of this instruction by using the word ‘together/collectively’ (jami’an). This explicitly stresses the point of unity as well as implicitly as the word (jami’an) can actually be considered supplementary (za-id), i.e. the meaning of the verse comes across without it (in Arabic an additional word in a sentence which can suffice meaning-wise without the presence of that additional word places emphasis on the meaning indicated by that additional word!). Allah then follows this by explicitly instructing us not to be divided (wa la tafaraqu), but this prohibition is not explicitly necessary as an explicit instruction toward unity is also an implicit prohibition on disunity, which again shows that Allah is placing additional importance on the point of unity and avoiding disunity. In total the point of unity is highlighted or emphasised three or four times, Allah then reminds the believers of how they were once disunited and the blessing of the unity He graced them with, again emphasising the point of unity.
In Surat al-Anfal not only does Allah explicitly instruct us toward collective unity but He, The Exalted, also prohibits us from that which leads to disunity and dispute. He says: {Obey Allah and His Messenger and do not dispute with one another, or you would be discouraged and weakened. Persevere! Surely Allah is with those who persevere.} [2]
Weakness Due to Disunity
In Surat Anfal, Allah also says: {As for the disbelievers, they are guardians of one another. And unless you ˹believers˺ act likewise, there will be great oppression and corruption in the land.} [3]This verse clearly informs us that unity is not only an obligation, but without it there will be severe and explicit consequences, the like of which we are seeing today: the mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Muslims, unchecked aggression and oppression of innocents. The consequences are not only restricted to Muslims, but also non-Muslims. Islam is a vanguard of morality and Islam sets out to protect all humans, not only the Muslims, and in fact holds all life to be sacred. Without a united Muslim front, the wicked and corrupt evil doers of this world can freely partake in their evil and sow corruption wherever they go. The manifestation of this is becoming clearer by the hour, taking place before our eyes especially with the recent revelations regarding the leaks of global networks of corruption and exploitation.
Muslims in Their Unity Are Guardians for One Another
Our unity as an ummah is not just unity on the pulpit, lip-service and slogans but rather we are to be united in heart, united in celebration, united in suffering, and united in vision. The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘The Muslims are like one body of a person; if the eye is sore, the whole-body aches, and if the head aches, the whole-body aches.’ [4]
We are also to be united in protecting one another, guardians of our ummah, Allah says: {Your only guardians are Allah, His Messenger, and fellow believers – who establish prayer and pay alms-tax with humility.} [5]. The Prophet ﷺ in fact associated protection of other Muslims from one’s own harm as a distinguishing feature of the Muslim personality, he ﷺ said, ‘The Muslim is he from whose tongue and hand the Muslims are safe, and the Emigrant is he who abandons what God has prohibited.’ [6]. He also informed us that we are to protect from the oppression of others, and others from the oppression of their own selves, he ﷺ said, ‘Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or he is an oppressed one.’ People asked, ‘O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ! It is all right to help him if he is oppressed, but how should we help him if he is an oppressor?’ The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘By preventing him from oppressing others.’ [7].
Partisanship, Education, and The Predicament of Knowledge-based Disagreement
The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘The person who calls to partisanship is not from us, and the person who fights due to partisanship is not from us, and the person who dies in a state of partisanship is not from us.’ [8]. This hadith is general, and so any form of partisanship can be included, Salafism, Ikhwanism, Deobandism, Sufism, Asha’rism… Allah calls us to His worship collectively as Muslims, and explicitly warns us that if we disunite, we will suffer. There is no harm in labelling a set of opinions and outlining a framework within Islamic academia for the sake of clarity and definition, in fact this can be helpful as it aids a student in taking a systematic approach to his or her studies and provides coherence in the process, but when these labels become a means of disunity and dispute within the ranks of Islam, it is a problem, and when these labels become a means of judgement and discernment of status or proof of righteousness then they become an even bigger problem.
Jabir ibn Abdillah – Allah be pleased with them – narrates, ‘we were in a battle and a man from the Muhajirin struck the back of a man from the Ansar, upon which the man from the Ansar called out: ‘O Ansar!’, and in reply, the man from the Muhajirin called out: ‘O Muhajirin’. Upon hearing these calls, the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Why can I hear calls of ignorance (jahiliyah)?’ They said, ‘O messenger of Allah, a man from the Ansar struck the back of a man from the Muhajirin.’ The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Leave off such calls, for they are rotten.’ [9]. Is it an issue for the companions to refer to themselves or each other with such terms based upon their origins or tribes? Is it an issue for us to refer to ourselves or others based upon tribe or origin? No, but the issue here is that these terms of definition or categorisation were being used in a way that caused partisanship-like difference. The terms were being used between the companions in a way that could have sowed discord between them, and so likewise when terms of definition or categorisation amongst us as Muslims are used in partisanship-like ways they become a problem.
Unity Does Not Require Uniformity
Unfortunately, a common obstruction of unity within our Ummah, especially amongst the learned class, is the notion that to be a united nation, we must have uniformity of views and opinions, whether theologically, jurisprudentially, or politically but this isn’t the case. In fact, we have never had uniformity of views and opinions throughout the entirety of our existence and history, except during the time of the Prophet ﷺ. Allah explicitly tells us {And be not as those who divided and differed among themselves after the clear proofs had come to them. It is they for whom there is an awful torment.} [10]. This verse shows us that knowledge (clear proofs) can become a means of disunity, even though knowledge itself is praised throughout The Quran and prophetic traditions, here the clear proofs, i.e. knowledge became a means of difference which is also a theme found throughout the Quran. Currently, instant access to knowledge, and the ability to instantly impart knowledge (and sometimes opinions passed off as ‘knowledge’) has become a major hurdle in the path toward unity, and this should not be the case.
The Companions Remained United
Even during the period which followed the death of our beloved Prophet ﷺ differences emerged, but the companions persevered with a united front. During the time of Abu Bakr – Allah be pleased with him – the companions fought against those who refused to give zakat, (who cited it was only obligatory during the time of the prophet) ﷺ Umar – Allah be pleased with him – initially questioned the war against the Zakat-refusers, but eventually followed Abu Bakr’s approach and they ultimately achieved unity of action under the leadership of the Khalifah. During the time of ‘Umar prominent companions were removed from their positions such as the Sword of Allah, Khalid ibn Walid. Even though such prominent figures were demoted, the ranks of the Muslims remained united! During the time of ‘Uthman – Allah be pleased with him – with the emergence of the Khawarij, he sacrificed himself and forbade the companions from fighting on his behalf as he did not want to set a precedent of strife and bloodshed within our Ummah. During the time of ‘Ali – Allah be pleased with him – other major differences started to appear but despite them the companions set out to establish a unified face. The differences that emerged during such times have continued to shape views and opinions within our Ummah until today, but like the companions we must persevere as a united front.
Unity Over Tending to The Prophet ﷺ
Unity was in fact deemed so important by the companions that they tended to its matter over tending to the immediate washing of The Prophet ﷺ upon his death! Immediately after the death of the Prophet, ﷺ some of the companions assembled with S’ad ibn ‘Ubadah – Allah be pleased with him – in the shed of Bani Sa’idah [11]. their intention was the election of a new leader. Upon hearing this Abu Bakr and ‘Umar – Allah be pleased with them – , fearing that splits of old amongst the Arabs would re-emerge, immediately joined the assembly and the famous incident of Abu Bakr’s – Allah be pleased with him – eventual election took place, once again uniting the Muslims under stable leadership.
Together Let Us Stand, Together Let Us Move Forward
In a hadith which defines the parameters of unity, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Whoever prays our prayer and faces our Qibla and eats our slaughtered animals is a Muslim and is under Allah’s and His Apostle’s protection. So do not betray Allah by betraying those who are in His protection.’ [12]. With the obligation of unity so clear, and the parameters upon which we are to unite so simple and straight-forward, why do we continue to disunite and dispute amongst ourselves? Whether in the name of Islam and following the correct opinion or being a part of the ‘correct’ and ‘saved’ group, or in the name of nationalism and tribalism or any other such ism… we continue to sever our ranks, and in doing so weaken our presence as an ummah. All the while we stand and witness the slaughtering and oppression of Muslims across the globe whilst shedding tears for their suffering. It is time we acknowledge that due to our disunity we are a part of the problem, and the time has come to transition into being a part of the solution, a united Ummah.
Let us make our guiding manifesto for the unity of our ranks going forward a simple one, as the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘whoever prays our prayer and faces our Qibla’ then together let us stand and together let us move forward. Let us come together regardless of our schools of thought, theological or jurisprudential, and unite upon the vision of establishing that which is pleasing to Allah. We agree on more than that which we disagree on, so let us focus on those agreements, and put our disagreements aside.
Imam Ashraf Dabous
[1] The Quran, Al-‘Imran, verse 103
[2] The Quran, Al-Anfal, Verse 46
[3] The Quran, Al-Anfal, verse 73
[4] Muslim
[5] The Quran, al-Maidah, Verse 55
[6] Bukhari
[7] Bukhari
[8] Abu Dawud
[9] Bukhari & Muslim
[10] The Quran, Al-‘Imran, verse 105
[11] Bukhari
[12] Bukhari