UNITY IS A NECESSITY

Unity is Power O Muslims! May Allah have mercy on you, be aware that Unity is part of the lessons derivable from the Migration displayed in the sealing of ties of brotherhood done by the prophet (pbuh) between the Migrants and the Helpers until the Muslims were strengthened. It is a unanimously agreed fact among people of wisdom that gathering and coalition is an indispensable requirement for a nation seeking to be successful. The Islamic law also affirms and secures this fundamental. Be aware also that differences in opinions and position on issues are inevitable realities among man. However the differences among Muslims today have gotten widened stretching beyond the rational boundary. {O ye who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam. And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make His Signs clear to you: That ye may be guided.} { If thy Lord had so willed, He could have made mankind one people: but they will not cease to dispute. Except those on whom thy Lord hath bestowed His Mercy: and for this did He create them: and the Word of thy Lord shall be fulfilled: "I will fill Hell with jinns and men all together."} (As for the those who earn the mercy of Allah, they will not be involved in any form of disagreement that could harm them)- Tafsir Ibn Jarir 12/134. It was also related from Ibn Abbass (RA) thus: (He created them as two groups: one group is merciful and will not differ and the other group do not show mercy but differs, this is the meaning of His word- “among of those (gathered) some will be wretched and some will be blessed” )- Tafsir Ibn Jarir 12/134. This is the unity for which Allah instructed prophets who were callers to the oneness of stand and collective opinion. Imam Baghawiy said: “God sent all the prophets for the establishment of religion, creation of familiarity, congregation, and to shun factionalism and dissension” (Ma’aalimu-t- Tanzeel 4/122) {(Moses) said: "O Aaron! what kept thee back, when thou sawest them going wrong, "From following me? Didst thou then disobey my order?" (Aaron) replied: "O son of my mother! Seize (me) not by my beard nor by (the hair of) my head! Truly I feared lest thou shouldst say, 'Thou has caused a division among the children of Israel, and thou didst not respect my word!'} (TaHa: 92- 94) Had such happened in our time, you could have seen someone who could have accused Haroon of being silent at the committal of polytheism-shirk, describe the case as an ideological defect and a deviation from the curriculum of the religion … disagreement happened regardless of the more appropriate of the two opinions and each one of them excused the other. { And Dawood and Sulaiman when they gave judgment concerning the field when the people's sheep pastured therein by night, and We were bearers of witness to their judgment. To Solomon We inspired the (right) understanding of the matter: to each (of them) We gave Judgment and Knowledge; it was Our power that made the hills and the birds celebrate Our praises, with David: it was We Who did (all these things). } The two also differed in the case of the two women who argued over a boy, but the difference neither caused faction nor dissension. There was also a disagreement between Angels of mercy and Angels of torture over the case of the one who killed 100 persons when he died between the two villages. (At- tirmidhi) Proofs from the Sunnah There have been repeated calls in the sunnah over the concern for assembly and unity with repeated prohibition against factionalism and dissension, some of the reported narrations are: Ibn Umar (R. A) reported: The prophet (pbuh) said: “Verily Allah approves three (things) for you and abominates three (others). He approves of you to worship Him and not to associate partners with Him at all, and that you congregate together do not be separated, and to advise those Allah the Almighty Has put in charge of your affairs. He abhors for you idle talk, persistent irrelevant questioning, and wasteful spending.” (Bukhari & Muslim). Ibn Umar (R.A) reported: Umar admonished us at Jaabiyah- a village in Damascus, he then said: “O people! I stand among you the way the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) stood among us and he said: “I advise you with regards to my companions, then those that follow them, then those that follow them, then falsehood will be spread such that a man will constantly swear without being demanded to do so, a witness will bear witness without necessity, be attentive! A man would not be in seclusion with a woman except that the devil be the third of the two (parties), remain with the congregation and beware of factionalism, surely the devil is with the single individual but further away from the two, whoever long for the paradise should adhere to the congregation, and a believer is the one who is made happy by his good actions and feels sad over his evil actions.” (At-Tirmidhi & Ahmad) The situation of the prophet’s companions (pbuh). The prophet’s companions attached a great attention to this issue, they used to have disagreements despite this their minds were purely clear. Al-Hafiz related the statement of Qurtubi in Al-Fathi: “Whoever reflects on the friendly reproach and apology recognition that happened between Abubakr and Ali, coupled with the justice demonstrated in that would come to know that one section of the companions recognizes the merit of the other. Their hearts is in united on honour and love, eventhough the human nature prevails at times but the religion rejects that (human nature).” (Fathul- Baari) Here, Ibn Abbas (R.A) pays tribute to Ibn Zubair despite what was between them. Ibn Abi Mulikah said: There was an issue between them i.e Ibn Abbas and Ibn Zubair, then I went to Ibn Abbas and said: “Do you wish to fight Ibn Zubair and legitimize the prohibition of Allah?” He replied: God forbid! Allah decrees Ibn Zubair and the tribe of Umayyah as sacred, and by Allah, I shall never legitimize it. He said: People said, “Pledge Allegiance to Ibn Zubair” And I replied: “How can he be for this matter? But for his father he was a disciple of the prophet (pbuh)- he meant Zubair, as for his grandfather, he was the companion at the cave- he meant Abubakr, his mother was the possessor of the belt- he meant Asmaa. And his Maternal Aunt was the mother of the faithful- he meant Aisha, as for his Paternal Aunt she was the prophet’s wife- he meant Khadijah. The prophet’s paternal aunt was his great grandmother- he meant Sofiyyah bint Abdul- Mutallib. He was purely modest in Islam and a (Good) Reciter of the Qur’an.” (Iytharul- Haq ‘Ala-l- Khalq: 119) Ibn Mas’ud disagreed with Umar bn Khattab (R.A) on a hundred (100) issues as mentioned by Ibn Qayyim in I’laam-ul- Muwaqqi’een. Despite this, when two people came to Ibn Mas’ud, one of them learnt Qur’an from Umar and the second learnt from another person. Then the one who learnt from Umar said: “Umar bn Khattab read it for me” Suddenly Ibn Mas’ud burst into tears till the pebbles became wet by his tears and he said: “Read, the way Umar read for you, because he was a fortified fortress for Islam, people came in through him but never exit through him, and when Umar was murdered, the fortress became defiled.” Umar (R.A) said described him by his popular statement thus: “An enclosure filled with knowledge” These were souls that were pure vying to excel one another, self desires find no chance among them and when issues that happen among humans happen among them, that never prevent them from justice or lead them to following mistakes and running after missteps. Gathering is part of the characteristics and attributes of Ahl- Sunnah- the group Congregation and getting- together is part of the characteristics of Ahl- Sunnah, they are the most passionate persons about it and most concerned to call to it because they are the group and the majority. At-Tahaawi said: “we surely view the group as true and right, and factionalism as pervassion and torment “ (Al-Aqeedat-ut- At-Tahaawiyyah) An- Nawawi commented on the hadith: “Verily Allah approves three (things) for you … “: As for his statement (pbuh): “and be not divided” it is an order to stay with the Muslim’s Congregation and the affinity of a part of it with the other and this remain one of the principles of Islam” (Nawawi’s commentary on Bukhari, 12/ 11) Second Sermon Be aware that the heart corrodes as metal corrodes, it suffers thirst as the plant does, it dries the way the udder dries. Therefore, it needs intimate brushing and sprinkling which will remove the thirstiness. Man is surrounded by enemies from all angles; his evil commanding soul, supplying him with resources towards doom, likewise his self desire and the devil, he is in serious need of what will protect him, reassures tranquility, calms his fears and reassures his heart. And verily of what mostly removes these maladies and protects against the enemies is the remembrance of Allah and the proliferation of that for its creator and its lord. It (remembrance) is the polish of the hearts, its medicine when the diseases overspread. Ibn Qayyim said: I heard Ibn Taymiyah saying: “Remembrance of Allah is to the heart what water is to the fish, how would the fish be when it leaves the water?” Islam encourages the Muslim to be connected with his lord in order for his mind to be living, his soul purified, and to obtain help and exactness. Because of this the Qur’an and the Sunnah call to the increase in the remembrance of Allah at all times. The prophet said: “ Will I not inform you of the best of your deeds, the purest of it before your sovereigner, the highest in your status, it is better for you than the giving of gold and paper- currency, it is better for you than you confronting your enemies where you slain them and they slain you?” They replied: “O! Messenger of Allah what is that?” He replied: “The remembrance of Allah, the Almighty”