Global Intifada

Alright, this slogan of “Muslim Unity” needs to be completely and utterly deconstructed. There is nothing more desirable for us as Muslims to unite, but lets just agree that we have no idea what we are talking about with regards to these two words:

Firstly, it is a phrase that is primarily emotional. It aims to arouse the masses and get them to engage in some sort of social or political action. The problems of the Ummah, however, are not merely social or political, but primarily spiritual. You will rarely hear people using slogans talking about “Fulfilling that which is Obligatory” or “Hearing and Obeying” or “Following a Valid Source of Fiqh” because this is not what the masses want to hear. The masses want to think about things other then self-improvement. Muslim unity is primarily focused on the spiritual development of the Ummah which later manifests itself into a political and social unity. If their is no spiritual unity, then all other gains are meaningless. The goal of all Muslims should be fixated on the akhirah and the trials and tribulations of the End of the World, the Grave, the Resurrection, the Judgmenet, and our Final Abode. If we talk about unifying the Ummah without discussing the context of the very purpose for which we were put on this earth, then our use of the term ‘Muslim unity” is inappropriate and dangerous because it will distract us from the more important goal. Unity of the Ummah is not a prerequisite for getting into jannah per se, but having the proper spiritual state IS a prerequisite for unifying the Ummah.

Secondly, we don’t even truly understand what we mean by ‘unity’. Unity is often interpreted as ‘uniformity’. In other words, the differences between various understandings of our deen are blamed as the cause of disunity and people attempt to impose a singular version of Islam upon a diverse whole. The masses blame the ‘Ulema for ’stagnating the Ummah’ by focusing on purportedly ‘technical legal issues’ that have no ‘bearing on modern life’, whatever that is supposed to mean. So many people have this bizarre claim “I am neither Sunni nor Shi’i, but a Muslim” or “I dont follow a madhab, I follow the Qur’an and Sunnah”. As if Sunnis, Shi’is, and followers of the four madhaib weren’t as good Muslims as those who are methodologically challenged. Groups such as Hizb e Tehrir and the Salafi dawah engage in this type of sloganeering. They don’t recognize ikhtilaaf as being a mercy, or don’t recognize ikhtilaaf at all, or if they do recognize ikhtilaaf, they minimize it and still impose their views around. Some people get a lot of heat for “promoting fitnah” when they respond to claims that Salafis make. Wait a minute, accusing ‘Ulema of promoting bid’a, shirk, or kufr isn’t causing fitnah, but responding to these claims is ‘rendering Muslim unity null and void.’ How do people expect the various groups in the Ummah to unite when one group and one group alone is accusing the vast majority of the Ummah of being deviant in its aqeedah, fiqh, and tasawwuf? Come on, lets be brutally honest, there is only one group today that is promoting takfeer, accusing the ‘Ulema of deficiencies, and going around harassing people. Why can’t people simply admit this point? Why are those people who respond to such claims accused of ‘riling up fitnah’ when in reality, they are trying to demote it? How do you expect the Ummah to unite when people like this exist? Please give an honest answer. We need to recognize that Unity is not Uniformity, so we need to drop this misconception and focus on the substantive issues.

Thirdly, Muslim unity isn’t necessarily a goal in and of itself, but a means to other goals. In other words, mere proclamations of unity and artifical displays of brotherhood are meaningless. What is more important is the actual implementation of unity, i.e. on the spiritual, political, economic, and intellectual fronts. Yes, we have disagreements with the Salafis, but we have to admit, they give and have the most creative forms of da’wah out of most of the groups in the Ummah. Yes, we have disagreements with the Shi’is, but we have to admit, their ‘Ulema are leading the intellectual onslaught against the West, which is a necessary step in replacing existing paradigms with Islamic ones. We can learn a lot from each other and we can make a real difference in the Ummah if we focus on goals and strategies instead of differences. Just because we work together doesn’t mean we agree with each other. Unity is about working together, not agreeing, towards common goals. Aren’t all Muslims concerned with the akhirah? Aren’t we all concerned about the oppression of the believers all over the world? Aren’t we all concerned about responding to the intellectual supremacy of Western civilization? Yes. These are all common concerns, so why can’t we work in common to address them? Instead, we spend all of our time bickering through hadeeth martial arts fights. That is not to say we shouldn’t debate, we should debate, when we have the proper intention for debate (which is to learn and benefit one’s self in the hereafter) and when we have the proper tools for debating.

Lastly, the ultimate goal of Muslim unity must be Islamic unification, i.e. the formation of an Islamic state, Islamic government, Islamic jurisprudence that is functional in today’s society, and Islamic civic society. This requires a plethora of potential issues to be worked out before the establishment of such Islamic polities. In other words, before we can establish an Islamic government, we have to ask ourselves, what is the basis of the law going to be? Is it going to be based on a particular paradigm that is exclusive or inclusive (i.e. will it be one madhab, no madhab, or include all four madhaib, will the Shi’is be considered a madhab)? These are serious issues that need to be addressed but aren’t by this simplified slogan.

This slogan of “Muslim Unity” will not unite our Ummah because it excessively simplifies the complex intellectual and legal issues that are ignored. It is very appealing to the masses, but the masses aren’t the standard by which we judge the validity of a concept, but the concept itself. If we truly seek to unify the Ummah, we have to study the reality of the situation of our Ummah and work from there. We cannot ignore the way our societies are structured and the presence of these various groups.

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