Muslims of the world are much more united than they think

Let maine beryllium precise honorable – I americium bushed of proceeding Muslims kick astir disunity. It pains maine greatly to spot truthful galore members of my assemblage exude a consciousness of hopelessness and despondency owed to a mendacious content that the Ummah is divided, and frankincense we are each “losers”.

I cognize this negativity stems chiefly from having to carnivore witnesser to the unit and injustices being inflicted connected our brothers and sisters successful religion crossed a fig of Muslim-majority countries, with perceived impunity, successful the discourse of antithetic geopolitical conflicts.

As Muslims, however, we person a work not to despair. Our religion encourages america to prosecute successful introspection, and to adhere to the Islamic perfect of “al-amr bil ma’rouf and al-nahy anil munkar (enjoining bully and forbidding evil)”.  This requires cautious investigation and – if indispensable – disapproval of the presumption quo. But ne'er dejection.

After the nonaccomplishment of the Khilafa with the autumn of the Ottoman empire successful 1922, a sizeable bulk of Muslims focussed each their attraction and vigor connected uncovering a mode to “reunite” the Ummah. Without a Khilafa, they assumed, Muslims of the satellite would conflict to stay connected the aforesaid leafage connected important issues and endure the consequences. This led to seemingly endless infighting – chiefly betwixt those who sought to support aged spiritual practices and understandings and those who wanted to marque foundational reforms to the religion successful the sanction of reuniting the Ummah. Where did each this bickering and screaming get us? What did each this achieve? It has been a full period since we had a Khilafa, and galore of america are inactive crying astir Muslims being disunited.

Those who became obsessed with the Ummah’s nonaccomplishment of “unity” successful the lack of a shared governmental operation mislaid show of things that proceed to support america agreed – things that tin really assistance our assemblage collectively execute justice, bid and prosperity.

True unity cannot beryllium recovered successful the enforcement of governmental oregon taste uniformity nether a Utopian empire stretching from Morocco to Malaysia. It is already contiguous successful our corporate adherence to Islam’s halfway principles, which are inherently universal. The Quranic message, delivered by Prophet Muhammad, underscores this universality. Islam’s origins arsenic an oral, lived contented made it uniquely accessible to divers societies, from nomadic tribes to precocious civilisations. This accessibility created a unity that is incredibly hard to break.

Today, contempt not having a Khilafa oregon a shared governmental structure, Muslims of the satellite are overmuch much agreed than we ever springiness ourselves recognition for. We are agreed successful our principles, our practices, our values. For america Muslims, recognising this unity, and harnessing its power, is simply a theological imperative. Equally importantly, embracing and cherishing this unity, and not giving successful to misguided narratives of division, is simply a governmental enactment of absorption against the enduring bequest of assemblage and imperial tyranny.

This is due to the fact that our ongoing infighting and pessimism implicit our perceived deficiency of unity is not wholly of our community’s ain making. The mendacious communicative of “disunity” is pushed connected america by outsiders, by tyrannical powers, who person been moving to subjugate america for galore centuries. They privation america to judge that since determination is nary pan-Islamic governmental unity, we are not agreed successful anything. They privation america to get mislaid successful despair, and go genuinely divided, truthful that they tin support dominance implicit our people.

Indeed, the disunity communicative prevalent successful the Muslim assemblage contiguous cannot beryllium disentangled from the scars of Western colonialism and imperialism. For much than 2 centuries, the Muslim satellite was subjected to political, economic, and societal subjugation nether Western imperial powers. The artificial borders drawn by assemblage administrators were designed to fracture Muslim-majority regions, sowing part among our radical and allowing america to proceed to beryllium controlled by them. Today, these imposed boundaries proceed to substance conflicts and strife.

Yet the Ummah’s unity persists successful ways that these “invaders” could not erase. The continuity of Islamic practices – from supplication to pilgrimage – crossed 1,400 years attests to an unbroken metaphysical bond. This unity, rooted successful faith, has outlived countless empires and regimes. Recognising it is not astir ignoring precise existent governmental challenges, but reframing the communicative to item resilience.

A cardinal to knowing this lies successful embracing the diverseness of the planetary Muslim community. The aboriginal Muslim assemblage was multicultural, multilingual, and multiracial. Differences successful governance and governmental approaches among the archetypal 4 caliphs did not undermine unity; instead, they showcased the flexibility and inclusivity of Islamic principles. Similarly, the improvement of aggregate Islamic authorities crossed continents – from the Abbasids to the Ottomans – demonstrates that governmental differences bash not equate to disunity.

In the backdrop of this affluent history, it is simply a precise harmful mistake to conflate unity with uniformity, and presumption diverseness arsenic a weakness and a motion of division. The quality to accommodate differing opinions, schools of thought, and taste expressions is simply a spot that has historically enriched the Ummah. Differences successful supplication practices among Islamic schools of thought, for instance, are not signs of part but reflections of a robust contented that values diverseness wrong a shared framework.

When our radical look oppression, violence, and injustice oregon acquisition decision against a tyrannic extracurricular unit – arsenic we person tragically seen galore examples of successful caller years – our effect indispensable not beryllium decrying “disunity” and falling into despair, but demonstrating resilience and focusing connected each the things that unite us.

The Indian mutiny of 1857 against British assemblage regularisation is simply a poignant illustration of showing resilience successful the look of defeat. After the failed uprising, which resulted successful the slaughter of thousands of Indian Muslim scholars, the ulema of Deoband did not succumb to despair. Despite the devastating intelligence interaction of the losses experienced, they accepted their failure, owned up to it, and instantly began enactment to emergence from their ashes. They did not panic, oregon whine astir the disunity and weakness of the Ummah. They did not go despondent. They decided to determination guardant by protecting Islamic cognition successful British India, knowing excessively good that oppressors tin decision idiosyncratic Muslims, but tin ne'er decision ineffable cognition that unites america successful thing greater than ourselves.

Their proactive effect turned a infinitesimal of decision into a instauration for renewal, starring to the founding of acquisition institutions similar Darul Uloom Deoband, whose output served and strengthened the Muslims of the full subcontinent, if not the world. It was a affirmative absorption to failure, a existent acquisition connected the benignant of enactment Muslims should crave today.

Indeed, astatine this juncture successful clip marked with conflict, inequality and wide injustice, alternatively than fixating connected narratives of failure, our absorption arsenic Muslims should beryllium connected the achievements and enduring bonds that link the Ummah crossed clip and space. The unity of the Muslim satellite is not an unattainable perfect but a surviving world that requires designation and celebration.

Of course, acknowledging the Ummah’s theological unity should not pb to complacency either. The challenges of the modern satellite – from governmental instability to economical inequities and systemic violations of quality rights – request innovative solutions. These solutions, however, indispensable physique connected the existing instauration of unity, not undermine it with pessimistic narratives.

By reframing the communicative and celebrating what unites us, Muslims tin determination guardant with confidence, transforming unity into a unit for renewal and absorption successful a satellite inactive grappling with the remnants of colonialism.

This is not the clip for despondency. It is clip for america to usage our content successful the Eternal powers of Allah and prosecute successful proactive efforts to betterment and refine our Muslim endeavors!

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.