The Qur’aan and Hadith point out to us a golden rule for the success of Muslims: Unity.
The Qur’aan commands that Muslims turn to Allah in repentance all together so as to be successful. Likewise, Allah commands that Muslims all hold firm to the Rope of Allah and not be divided.
HOW
How do we maintain unity? Let us look at some examples:
A Musjid was built in the time of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), ostensibly for Allah’s worship. Actually it was built to cause dissension among Muslims. Allah commanded the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) never to read Salaah there. All to keep Muslims united.
Uthmaan (Radhiallahu anhu) had copies of the Qur’aan other than the standard ones burnt. This was so Muslims wouldn’t be divided over what was the Qur’aan as the Christians were. The present Bible was only standardised 300 years after Jesus (Esa) alaihis salaam left the world.
When Musa went to meet Allah he left Haroon (alaihimas salaam) in charge of the Israelites. The Israelites turned to the worship of a calf. On his return, Musa asked Haroon (alaihimas salaam) why he had not stopped the Israelites from this evil and Haroon replied that had he done so, then Musa (alaihimas salaam) would have said that he had split them and created disunity among them.
AVOID
To maintain unity we need to avoid those things that will bring about bad blood. Many Islamic laws of business are engineered to avoid dispute between people, thus keeping them united. For example: one is not allowed to make an offer when two people are in the process of conducting a sale. This has the potential to sour relations between the parties.
If a boy sends a wedding proposal for a girl, someone else is not allowed to send a proposal until the first is accepted or rejected. If two best friends send proposals to the same girl, one can imagine that they will not remain friends very much longer. Again, the emphasis on unity.
DISUNITY
The Qur’aan clearly mentions that if Muslims have infighting then they will lose their strength. Do all Muslims need to act the same? No. Look at the Plains of Arafaat in Hajj: millions of individuals with all their differences, united in one purpose: the worship of Allah.
Sahaaba had differing opinions on certain things Islamic but maintained cordial relations and worked together for Islam. On the occasion of Hajj, Uthman (radhiallahu anhu) read 4 rakaats in a Salaah while Ibn Masood was of the opinion that it should be 2. Yet Ibn Masood read 4 Rakaats behind Uthman (radhiallahu anhuma).
Sticking Together
