The Simple Blueprints of Islamic Unity 1

Islam can never and will never be united with so called “muslims” today. The reason is so simple and intuitive. Firstly, what is a religion? What is unity? Let’s think about these terms.

Religion is essentially a core set of shared beliefs that a certain people agree to believe. One of the dictionary definitions of this term is the following:

a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

dictionary.com

Unity is a concept where a group of individuals connect together through a commonality that supersedes all of their individual differences. One dictionary definition is as follows:

a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one.

dictionary.com

How could every muslim in the world consider themselves as part of the same religion when the sacred tenants that grant one membership are widely different. The majority of muslim sects today are disunited, and in fact many consider each other enemies or disbelievers. How could one muslim consider another a disbeliever? We must first define, what makes a muslim a believer?

You have to believe that there is only one God, Allah, who created the entire universe, and that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is his final messenger on earth.

Islamic Shahada

Now what does Allah swt in the Quran mandate that we must believe?

O believers! Have faith in Allah, His Messenger, the Book He has revealed to His Messenger, and the Scriptures He revealed before. Indeed, whoever denies Allah, His angels, His Books, His messengers, and the Last Day has clearly gone far astray.

4:136 – يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ ءَامِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ وَٱلْكِتَـٰبِ ٱلَّذِى نَزَّلَ عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِۦ وَٱلْكِتَـٰبِ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ مِن قَبْلُ ۚ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِٱللَّهِ وَمَلَـٰٓئِكَتِهِۦ وَكُتُبِهِۦ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَـٰلًۢا بَعِيدًا

These are the five pillars of belief to be a muslim. This is essentially the Islamic Creed. 1. Belief and trust in Allah, 2. belief in the Quran, 3. belief in the messenger, 4. belief in angels, and 5. belief in the Last Day. This is what is required to be a muslim. To be a believer, but non-muslim you must believe in 1. Allah, 2. his angels, 3. his books, 4. his messengers, and 5. the last day. The people of the book are considered believers if they believe in these things.

As for muslims, we are have a similar requirement but this focuses on the Quran and the prophet Muhammad (saws), as being the main difference. These two beliefs do not contradict necessarily the people of the book, however it clarifies the message through Allah directly communicating to humanity. Meanwhile the people of the book had several scriptures that were passed down from the prophet. In Islam we have the Quran as our one and only scripture.

Beyond this, I have not discovered any other creed that one would be required to believe in order to become a muslim. In fact, we see that every single muslim today, in theory accepts and believes in these concepts. This was in the past enough to unite all muslims, through the miracle of the Quran. If Muslims can be united under this concept, and consider only this sacred, they can and will all unite under the clear message of the quran. If someone strays, those who are more knowledgeable about the contents of the Quran can then remind the deviators of the Quran’s words, and they will realize their mistake and back down or lose credibility. We saw this occur in early Islaimc history when Imam Ali reminded Mu’awyia of the creed of the Quran.

So why are Muslims divided? That is because most Muslims today belong to a sect. Allah swt in the Quran states:

Yet the people have divided it into different sects, each rejoicing in what they have.

22:53 and 30:32

However, Allah swt has made it clear that we are directed and ordered by Allah to be united:

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.

3:103 – وَٱعْتَصِمُوا۟ بِحَبْلِ ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًۭا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا۟ ۚ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَآءًۭ فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِۦٓ إِخْوَٰنًۭا وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلنَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ

Here, Allah swt makes it clear that we were united under the simple and clear message of Islam he gifted to us. Before this, the arabs were all tribes, constantly at war with eachother. Today, “Muslims” have reverted back to a time that existed before Islam. We are all divided.

If we revert back to the simple quranic teachings of the Quran we will be saved. Remember, Allah swt has indicated that each sect divides itself by rejoicing in what they have. This could be a certain emphasis in an aspect of faith, that it has taken as an addition to the simple Islamic creed. For example, there are certain muslims that take Allah’s command for us to respect the prophet (saws) as a necessary requirement of faith. In fact, there are several examples we see in every sect. I will list the parts of our deen, that certain sects have taken rejoiced in, and made an additional part of the requirement to become a muslim:

1. Respect the prophet: this has transformed into the perceived requirement that we must emulate and be in love with the prophet, and anyone who does not is a kafir.
2. Respect the Sahaba: anyone who fails to respect or fall in love with any sahaba is now considered a kafir.
3. Respect the Ahlul Bayt: now anyone who fails to respect, follow, and fall in love with all members of the ahlul bayt is a false muslim or kafir.
4. Follow Ahlul Bayt: now anyone who does not believe that Allah swt appointed Imam Ali and his progeny as successors to the caliphate are kufars.
5. Follow the prophet: now anyone who doubts any fourth hand account of something the prophet said or did is a kafir.
6. Follow the concept of Shura: now anyone who does not believe in the Islamic concept of Shura is a kafir.
7. Follow those among you that are knowledgeable: now anyone who follows a leader that is not considered the most knowledgeable is a kafir.

Each and every single one of the above notions and dictates, are actually found in the Quran. And each sect holds onto that message of Allah, in order to justify the beliefs of their sect. In fact, all muslims are required to believe and follow the first statement in the above list. However, following these doctrines are not required for one to be a muslim. There is one command that is more clear and supersedes all of these quranic requirements. That is the requirement that we stay united with other muslims. So, perhaps Imam Ali was the most knowledgeable, best sahaba, who is a member of ahlul bayt. However, 1. the Shura didn’t elect him, and 2. fighting for his leadership would go against our requirement to unite. In order to justify their divisions, they will say, well that person is not a muslim, so I don’t have to unite with them. However, I defined what makes a muslim above, and every sect meets that requirement.

However, if one becomes too sectarian, they risk either leaving Islam or becoming a bad muslim. If you reject Allah’s requirement that we are meant to follow the Quran, and the Quran requires clearly that we are to be united, then you are committing a major sin.

Muslims should respect each other’s differences and simply remind each other with the Quran. If we were to do this, we would see it become very easy to unit with our muslim brothers. We simply need to readjust what we think it means to be muslim.

How do we pick this muslim leader? Who must be the central authority? Does this have to be a learned scholar? A politician? A military general? Or a divinely appointed leader?

I have an idea. Copy the system of government of Iran, with slight differences (more free market). This will be explained in another post.