1989-December-29

Muslim Journal

Bases For Muslim Unity In Summary

Imam W. Deen Mohammed

Whenever people believe in the One True God, whenever people accept the One True God, the Supreme Authority, the Upper Most Authority, the Highest Authority, their life is going to be disciplined by Allah and answerable to Allah, When that occurs, there will always be those who see that as a threat to their order of the world, to their system, to their establishment, anti to their designs on the world. And those (Believers) threatening that order will be persecuted.
Muslims were persecuted, and before Muslims were persecuted Christians were persecuted. Before the Christians were persecuted, followers of Moses were persecuted. Every group that stands up to declare their obedience first of all to their Lord and Maker will be persecuted, until Allah establishes them in strength or establish them in the eyes, of the majority of the people, people who will not join with the persecutors.
We are never to come out of Muslim character and disciplines. In all situations, we are to obey Islamic guidance. Leaving ourselves to be pulled blindly behind un-Islamic models of behavior is one of the serious problems for the unity of Muslims.

... Three Bases...

We have to now teach and educate Muslims all over again in matters of this far-reaching kalimah. For now it has just become formal language and habit of expression for too many of us.
When Prophet Mohammed gave "la ilaha illallah, Mohammedan rasullal­lab", it was not just formal expression. It impacted as a great belief and a great liberating principle. It was and is the first and most essential principle of religion for us Muslims. It carried a message to the mind that was more than formality and taqwa. For most of us now it just reminds us that there is One God and that Muhammad is His Messenger. There is a lot connected with Muslim belief in One God.

... Bringing the Message Home...

We are addressing the concerns for Muslim unityas "Bases for Muslim Unity." I will begin by saying that my feeling is that over those centuries that wit­nessed the authority and power and influence of the United States and the Western powers, Muslims have become reactors rather than having "the deciding purpose" before us. We are given more to react than to what should be the group conscience of Muslims.
This is something that we have fallen into uninten­tionally because of bad situations and bad circum­stances for our Muslim life in most of the International world.

The right to informed opinion is established for Muslims. Therefore, the best should come forward. We should not and worry too much about those who have weaker presentations and weaker knowledge or who have even wrong presentations. We should be alert for the protection of true projection of the religion character and image of Muslims. We are to give the truth against whatever is contrary to what Allah has established. We should address such problems and do be our best to clear up the issue and present the matter as it should presented. We should get rid of false pretenses and the false image of Muslims.
Because of colonial domination in the Islamic world, in the Middle East (North Africa and the Gulf, and Arabia by virtue of influence) and also in the Far East, in a big measure Muslims are lost from themselves All, or very near all, of the International world of Muslims have suffered domination by colonial powers of the West that dominated over not only their (the Muslims) land but also over their will. This domination and its mold on Muslim behavior is not far away in the past.

We all accept that Allah is the One Lord and Creator. We all accept that Mohammed is His Messenger. We all accept that the Qur'an is the revealed Book to that Prophet and is the last revelation. We all accept that the Qur'an (the Holy Book) is never to be altered. We all accept this whether we are Sunni or Shiite or other.
If you question any member of those divisions, they will tell you that they accept all the above.

They will say: "We accept that Allah is God. We accept that Muhammed is His Messenger. We accept that the Qur'an is the final Book. We accept that the text of the Qur'an is the same today as it was when revealed to the Last Prophet Muhammed. Any attempt by any person or nation to change or alter the Quranic texts (contents) would invite the wrath of all Muslims."
The Muslims, all of us, rather see our divisions as differences in our "schools of thought". Intellectual opinion has influenced differences us too. We believe in essen­tially the same things, But because I have a different dis­cipline of thought, I am influenced more so by this attribute of the Prophet, or more so by these attributes of Allah, or more so by the humanistic appeal in Al-Islam, or more so by the militaristic appeal in, ,Al-Islam. And further, because of these dif­ferent swayings and different leanings on our part, we have different groups.
That will be. The only thing that we are against is the extremism that may be encouraged that hurts the image and suggests something other than what Allah has established in the Qur'an and in the life of the Prophet, the prayers and the peace be on him.