MUSLIM UNITY

In the recent victory of Azerbaijan over Armenia in Nagorno Karabagh , we saw Muslims there raising not only Azeri flags but also Turkish and Pakistani flags. The call for Muslim unity is one that has been made for a long while and is a desire of Muslims the world over . Previous attempts have lead to the formation of the OIC for example which has shown itself to be a forum for disunity rather than unity.

Many Muslims view that unity between Muslims should come on the basis that we are Muslims and share the belief in Allah (swt) and his Messenger (saw). Is this enough to unite Muslims simply sharing a belief in a creator and how to worship him?

Some Muslims understand Islamic unity to be the same as unity amongst other religions. Many Sikhs for example would wish to establish the state of Khalistan to share with others who have the same ideas of spirituality. In the past the Roman Empire took on Christianity that later broke into catholic and orthodox.

Simply sharing a religious view point, a spiritual bond cannot really bring cohesiveness in a society. For example those Sikhs that want establish a state khalistan, what would form the khalistani view point on economics, ruling and education. In all likelihood they would implement capitalism. The dark ages in Europe for example, showed the failure of having a purely spiritual bond to unify people- it is not enough. It shows that the bond based upon sharing a view point on a creator and how to worship is not enough to unify people.

So what of Islamic unity? Amongst Muslims there are many that still view Islam as a common religion much in the way of other religions. They see that Muslims believe in Allah (swt) His Prophet (saw), Jannah , Jahanum and akhira and that’s all it means to be Muslim. Muslims often fail to see beyond that – i.e the true nature of Islam being a comprehensive way of life. This is why Muslims talk about forming blocks. Recently, there was talk of Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia forming an Islamic block. Many Muslims welcome this and indeed it is encouraging that Muslims are seeking unity.

What they must call for to unify upon is not blocks of nation states due to having the same religion. Rather they have to reunify on the basis that they believe in the shariah that establishes the norms , the laws, their rights and responsibilities as citizens of a state. The rules about these matters are what the Messenger (saw) brought and are common to all Muslims that follow Quran and Sunnah. Muslims must view Islam as a complete deen.

So the unity that we need to call for amongst Muslims is not just based upon having a shared belief in Allah (swt) but also a shared belief in how life should be lived. This needs to be clear in those that are attempting to unify Muslims.

Muslims must unify under one state and calls for unity must include a call for the implementation of shariah , not just joining together on the basis of spiritual belief alone. This approach maintains the existing ruling systems of nation states and what colonialism has imposed on Muslims. Muslims must unify under the khilafah system and implement one law for all Muslims and bring their lands under one leadership and live according to how the prophet (saw) wanted them to live.