How to Achieve Muslim Unity By Dr.

Muhammad Haroon

Every Muslim says they want unity. The aim of this article is to show how Muslim unity can be achieved, and to show especially how Muslim unity will not be achieved. Unity to the Muslims is desirable for many reasons, the more the Muslims are divided, the weaker they are, and if the Muslims are split up into small roups. There is the dan er that the small roups wilt drift away from !slam and cease to e"ist. #lso !slam must be a movement showin the True $eli ion to the whole %orld, and for that reason the Ummah should be as bi and as widely spread as possible. #nd for all these reasons Muslims must seek unity. !t is best to be in by showin the way not to achieve Muslim unity. Unfortunately these methods are very widespread these days, and are the reason there is no unity. &irstly, Muslims will never achieve unity if they are asked to all unite under one leader, in one movement, under one 'aliph. #s soon as one person puts himself forward as leader, a whole host of other individuals sprin up who say that they are the ri htful leader, and not the one claimin to be 'aliph. There are busloads of people claimin to be the sole %orld leader for the Muslims. #ll they achieve is to make disunity worse. The different roups (uarrel bitterly with each other, and end up fi htin each other, and in places like #f hanistan this means actual war. Unity doesn)t mean all followin one centre. !t means the e"istence of an Ummah with many centres, which accept each other)s e"istence, and tolerate each other. But while there are many centres, there is a real love for the Muslims amon these different roups, and a love for the Ummah. Unity won)t come from the competition of different roups, but from all the different roups learnin to accept and tolerate each other. # model of how this was done in the past is the *ufi Tari(as. Each roup was separate, and had its own rules of membership and beliefs. But these tari(as were all able to e"ist alon side each other and accept each others ri ht to e"ist. #nd when it was necessary, all the different members of the Tari(as could come to ether and cooperate in, for e"ample, military operations in defence of the Muslim 'ommunity to which they all belon ed. *econdly, Muslims will never unite because a Muslim *cholar, usin his own !+tihad, develops a sin le *hariah which Muslims everywhere can follow. !n the Modern # e, many Muslims have thou ht that the ,ate of l+tihad should be re-opened. #nd a new sin le *hariah developed which is .suitable for today)s needs/. !n fact the Muslim %orld is littered with the results of this use of !+tihad. The trouble is that every scholar who does this fancies himself as a reater enius than any other scholar, and so you +ust end up with a hu e (uarrel between the various scholars who claim to do this. They are all merrily tryin to rewrite, for e"ample, the *hariah in relation to the life of women. %hat you end up with is +ust one hu e (uarrel, and the whole idea of the *hariah is undermined. #ll these new *hariah are +ust lost and for otten as time passes. These people who wish to reopen the ,ate of l+tihad don)t realise that the ,ate was closed precisely to preserve unity. - # man who claims the ri ht to practise !+tihad is claimin the ri ht to know better than all the other Muslims and so to be able to develop a new *hariah, to replace the e"istin one. This problem was solved in the past by havin more than one *chool of the *hariah. There were &our *chools of 0aw, and if people found one of them inade(uate in some way, they could turn to the other three for somethin more suitable. There were also methods used by the body of Ulama to develop the *hariah to cope with new situations. #bove all, no one *cholar could chan e or develop the *hariah in any way. The final verdict on the *hariah was the l+ma of the Ulama, the consensus or a reement of all the Ulama. This traditional *hariah system made it possible to have differences over the *hariah without the need to resort to violent (uarrellin , or to clam the ri ht to dictate to the rest of the Muslims. This traditional *hariah system

lasted for over a thousand years, copin all alon with the many challen es that the Muslims faced. The &our *chools of 0aw provide the model for how to cope with disunity of the Muslims. Thirdly, it is absolutely ridiculous to ima ine that the Muslims will be brou ht to Unity by one sect convertin all the Muslims in the %orld111 Today there is no limit to the (uarrellin amon the sects. The most mis uided of all is to attack other Muslims as Mushriks, preachin reater hatred of their fellow Muslims than of the nonMuslims1 These sects are +ust out to build their own little empire in the Muslim 'ommunity. !n the past the problem was solved by simple toleration, within widely drawn limits. Different Muslim roups were allowed to fit themselves into the &our *chools of 0aw, and Muslims could be outside the &our *chools, and be re arded as a sect, but they were still re arded as Muslims. &ourthly, Muslim unity will never be achieved by settin up an .!slamic *tate/, by means of an .!slamic $evolution/. 2othin 3is more divisive of the Muslims than a bid for power by an or anised roup. #ll the other or anised roups take up arms to compete for who will control the *tate. Many Muslims are already in positions of power in the e"istin states, and they fi ht to prevent themselves losin control of the *tate, and of all the benefits the *tate brin s them. !n the past this problem was solved by the Muslim 'ommunity not takin over the *tate, but instead e"ertin its influence on the holders of power to make sure that !slam and the *hariah were respected and upheld. The real Muslim influence on the *tate was the body of Ulama, but these Ulama didn)t wield power directly, or as a privile ed roup, but acted to restrain the actual holders of power. &ifthly, Muslim unity will never be achieved if the *tate in Muslim lands tries to run the life of society in all its aspects, and seeks to provide privile es to any particular section of the population. This produces stru le for command of the *tate. !t is the real reason for the rise of attempts to set up an .!slamic *tate/, when roups of Muslims seek to make themselves the privile ed roup. #nd it is the source of vicious nationalism. The citi4ens of one of these *tates re ard themselves as the only people deservin of a ood life, and re ard Muslims from all other countries as hated rivals. This is the secret of the way, in the ,ulf, the #rab citi4ens of places like Dubai or 5uwait are treated as a privile ed elite, while all other Muslims are re arded as inferior be ars. Thus in *audi #rabia the *audi nationals are the elite, while the 6akistanis who actually do all the hard work are re arded with contempt. This rantin of privile es by the *tate to the chosen few is the root of the problem of nationalism dividin the Muslims. These tiny states, such as 5uwait or Bahrain, are not, in themselves, the cause of divisive nationalism. %hat causes this is the *tate in those countries takin such reat control over the economy and society that it can ive an easy life to any of its citi4ens it chooses. !n the past the solution to this problem was to have a small *tate, which concerned itself almost entirely with military and police affairs, and collectin the ta"es needed to pay for those thin s. #s a result, althou h there were many overnments in the Muslim %orld, there was no nationalism, and Muslims were free to move about the Muslim %orld completely freely. Because a Muslim could o anywhere in the Ummah, Muslim unity really meant somethin . The true homeland was the Ummah. Enlar ed states, which dominate society, put an end to this. !n eneral any attempt to pursue Muslim unity via the *tate will be a disaster. !f, for e"ample, you look at the actual effects of the !ranian $evolution, you can see that it +ust added one more rivalry to the host of rivalries that tear up the unity of the Muslim %orld. !mmediately the Muslims are divided into those who are for, and those who are a ainst, !ran and its revolution. *i"thly, Muslims will never achieve unity if the Muslims become very strict in enforcin ood behaviour, or some idea of the .correct/ !slam. !n *audi #rabia we have a re ime which has a hu e, strict police force to uphold this idea of the *hariah, and which also re ards many Muslims as Mushriks, and tries to stop them doin

the thin s that are .incorrect/, #ll this strictness, of course, +ust produces a lot of hypocrites, and everybody knows that in *audi #rabia you can do all the forbidden thin s, if you know a member of the royal family, or the chief of police1 But more important, it drives Muslims away from !slam, and certainly away from anythin that is like the *audi version of !slam. %hat you end up with is a police state and what is in fact anti-6akistani racism, as the only people who actually et their heads cut off are 6akistanis. !n the past the Muslims avoided this kind of intolerant police state. *upervision of morals wasn)t in the hands of a hu e police force but was enforced in a kind and understandin way, by the Muhtasib, a fine old entleman. The slo an was reli ion is easy. The public opinion of the 'ommunity was the setter of the standards. &or e"ample when coffee arrived in the Muslim %orld, the Ulama condemned it as forbidden, as somethin similar to alcohol. But the 'ommunity accepted it, and so the Ulama ave way1 The basis of this approach is the idea that the Muslim who is not very ood, who is la", is still a Muslim, and it is more important to keep the 'ommunity to ether than to +ust please a lot of people who would like to be police, #nd, of course in traditional !slam, no Muslim was defined as a Mushrik. #nd *ufism was not only tolerated, but formed the basis of most institutions in this society. This kept Muslim society happy, preserved Muslim unity, and enerated an atmosphere of liberty in the Muslim %orld. The *audis, as soon as they con(uered #rabia be an to suppress *ufism, label ordinary Muslims Mushriks, and to divide the Muslims down the middle. Traditional !slam did all it could to prevent Muslims bein turned a ainst Muslims. These are, then, a few of the ways not to achieve Muslim unity, and we have seen that, in every case, these mistakes were avoided in the past. This tells us then how to achieve unity. The path to unity lies in a return to traditional !slam, and to the beliefs and practices of #hle *unnah in particular. This is no accident. Traditional !slam concentrated, for over one thousand years, on keepin the Ummah to ether. The Ummah was re arded as a holy thin , and preservin it and its unity was re arded as the key to everythin else. #nd everythin was interpreted so as to lead to unity. #nd for that reason Traditional !slam produced the &our *chools of 0aw, the closure of the ate of !+tihad the tolerance of *ufism and all the other features which we have seen that make for unity . !f we desire unity we must study traditional !slam and there we will find everythin we need to produce !slamic Unity from the political theory, to the theory of the *hariah, to theolo y and to the penal system. #ll Muslims call for unity. !f they mean it, they must return to traditional !slam, and that means the beliefs and practices of #hle *unnat. !n so short an article as this we have only had space to touch on a few of the more important features of traditional !slam. The, way forward is to produce Ulama who can carry out the study of traditional !slam and compare it with modern conditions of disunity, and draw up, then, a list of practical proposals. The path to unity can be found by careful study of the past1 !n conclusion, thou h, we can look at what is the key mistake that causes disunity, and what is the key to achievin unity. !f you look at the si" ways we have listed in which unity was harmed, we can see that in every case the mistaken people thou ht that unity should be achieved by be innin from the centre. These mistaken plans always be an with a leader, a leadin roup or sect, a party or political movement, a overnment or a state. Their idea was that first the centre should. 7r anise itself, and then all the Muslims would be athered in around the centre. They start from a roup of people who think they should be the leaders. #nd the Muslims are looked down on as a lot of lost sheep, who need to be rounded up and put behind a fence. The obvious reply is the Hadith which says that if someone wants to be a leader, for that reason he is not fit to lead. The aim of these people cannot be unity because the main result of their activities %ill be their own power and importance. The key to success in unitin the Muslims must be to be in, not from the centre, but from the 'ommunity. To unite the Muslims you must love the Ummah, and you must love the Muslims. #nd you don)t o beyond what the 'ommunity itself will tolerate. The model here is the e"ample of coffee referred to above. #nd you stress above all freedom and tolerance.

&irstly you build up the 'ommunity, drawin it to ether. 7nly at the end does the 'ommunity be in to influence the centre. #nd then the centre, whether it be communal leadership or a overnment, won)t lead, but will reflect the influence of the Muslim 'ommunity that has been built. The aim isn)t a central leadership or overnment. The aim is a lar e 'ommunity of Muslims, actually e"istin , and actin as a unified people. %hen we describe the achievement of unity in this way, we suddenly find that the path to unity is, today, the famous 898: &our-6oint 6lan of !mam #hmad $a4a,mu+addid-e-deen-o-millat. !n the 898: 6lan the whole aim is to be in from the bottom, and slowly build up the 'ommunity as an island in society. !mam #hmad $a4a aimed to do this by developin an - !slamic economy, which would draw the Muslims to ether into a unified roup. He aimed to make this unified roup independent of a central state, with its leaders bein Ulama and #wliya, and with its own independent !slamic culture. This is the actual buildin of Muslim Unity #nd, of course, !mam #hmad $a4a would have taken for ranted that this Muslim island would follow the teachin s of the Ulama of #hle *unnat. This Muslim island would be under a loosely or anised roup of Ulama and #wliya. There would be no ri id central leadership hierarchy. This Muslim island would be followin the &our *chools of 0aw, not some scholar practisin l+tihad. The Muslim island would be one of all the Muslims, not +ust the achievement of one sect. The island would be built (uite independently of overnment or state, but would, in time, as it rew in power, influence any overnment or state. The Muslim island would be above all a free community, in which the people ran their own affairs, not dependent on central state control. #nd, of course, there would be no despisin the Muslims as Mushriks on lmam #hmad $a4a)s Muslim island. But, above all, the 898: 6lan would mean that the ordinary Muslims themselves, in their millions, would be the ones who built up the unified Muslim 'ommunity. This 898: 6lan depends on the self-action of the Muslims, and on the self-action o the 'ommunity as a whole, and the leaders have no role to play e"cept to publicise the basic ideas ;but the ordinary people. can publici4e these ideas +ust as well1<. %hat else is Muslim Unity but a community of Muslims that draws to ether, and rows bi er and bi er, and more and more aware of itself as Muslim= #nd what else is that but the 898: 6lan= %e have looked at various ways of buildin !slamic Unity, and we have concluded that the only one which will work will be the 898: 6lan of !mam #hmad $a4a. The obvious comment to make is that the mistaken plans we have looked at have claimed to be plans for !slamic unity, but in fact have only been plans to et power and wealth by those who propose them1 These people who want to lead and dominate may talk of unity, but their real aim is power and dominance. But one thin is clear. !f those people really did wish to build !slamic unity, then eventually they)ll be forced to follow the $a4a 6lan. That)s the only one 6lan that will work. The reader mi ht ask> How lon will it take to built unity by this 6lan of $a4a)s= The reply is that some results would come (uite (uickly. But the other obvious reply is that there will never come a time when it isn)t important to build unity. #s time passes there are always new challen es to the unity of the Muslims. # thousand years a o it mi ht have been the !shmailis. !n the last few years it has been the %ahhabis. But the future will hold many surprises. #nd traditional !slam itself rew and developed as a series of different threats of unity appeared. The history of #hle *unnat wal ?amaat is the history of the different challen es of unity. The real point is not how lon it will take, but that the Muslim must have an attitude that will lead back to unity, no matter what happens.

Today the Ummah is sadly disunited. But we must not et downhearted. !f the Ummah was to achieve some kind of unity, that would be an enormous pri4e. !f imam $a4a)s 6lan was to succeed over most of the Muslim %orld, what you would have would be, an Ummah that littered more bri htly than the U.*.#., in all parts of the %orld1 !n a short time the whole %orld would be won over to !slam11 !n a way, it is all very simple. To unify the Muslims into one Ummah we must love the Muslims, love the Ummah, and do what is needed to build a unified Ummah. The ulama of #hle *unnat, and especially !mam #hmad $a4a, knew the way and have tau ht us the way today1 #nd the basis of it all is the reatest love and respect for our beautiful 6rophet ;*all #llahu #laihi wasallam<.