Unity And Solidarity

It was a depressing and distressing experience for me, at a recent

visit to a mosque here in the north of the UK, to hear the call to prayer and

then observe that some Muslims did not respond by joining in the lines for the

prayer. Rather, they formed, later on, a separate jama`a for the same prayer in

the same mosque. Apparently, the divisions among the Muslims attending this

mosque were stronger and more important for them than the command, from God and

His Messenger, ﷺ, to hasten to the prayer and to

make the lines for it. Among the many benefits that the institution of prayer

brings to us, in this life and the next life, there is the good that comes from

standing together for a common purpose. In doing this, we express the humility

that is proper to our dignity as servants and worshipers of the One God.

If we

express that humility with a conscious understanding of doing it, we naturally

expel the consciousness of what makes us different, unequal, incompatible, and

we admit the consciousness of what makes us the same, equal, compatible. 

God’s Messenger used to say to Bilal, ‘Bring us relief, rest’. For

him and his Companions the call to prayer signalled an opportunity to rest from

the business at hand, to get free of it, to settle their hearts, and to turn

their attention to the most important of all business, the most pressing of all

realities. Inna li-l-lahi wa-inna ilayhi raji`un. We say these words on

occasions of calamity, most often when we hear news of someone’s death. We do

so because the meaning of these words puts all matters into perspective and so

calms us down. “Indeed it is to God we belong, and indeed it is to Him that we

are returning.” There is no creature living to whom these words do not apply.

We all know these words, and we all understand their meaning. How

then is it possible that belonging to some group can be more important than the

belonging to God?  And if this group

belonging is strong enough to refuse even 

the call to prayer, which is a call to jama`a, to symbolise and express

unity and solidarity – then, surely, this is a very strong, clear signal that

there is something seriously wrong with such group- belonging. For a start,

this belonging is functioning as a distraction, a dissuasion, from the

occasions and purposes of congregational prayer.

The commands to unity

God and His Messenger, ﷺ, have

commanded unity and solidarity. We should face attacks on the religion as a

solid wall of defenders… We should desire for our brothers and neighbours what

we desire for ourselves…. We should care about their need and distress as one

part of the body cares about suffering in another part… All these commands and

counsels are well-known to us, but we seem unable to act upon them. The consequence

is that, far from being a solid wall of defence for the religion, Muslim groups

are at war with each other and look for allies and supporters from among the

enemies of Islam, in preference to seeking unity among themselves.

Why group divisions persist

Though people will not admit it, it is obvious that groups are

functioning as a way of consolidating themselves, of preserving the differences

that make them distinct groups. Whatever the initial reason for being a

distinct group, that reason becomes unimportant or gets forgotten in favour of

just being different from another group. Pride in being of the group, the

honour of the group, become more important than being a believer, more

important than the well-being of the religion, more important than obedience

and love for God and His Messenger. 

Once matters have deteriorated as far as they have, it is

difficult to find the will to change, and to identify the means to achieve

change. All that is possible is to take small steps, and then, provided we

continue to take these small steps in the direction of improving solidarity,

eventually there will re-emerge, in-sha’a Allah,  a theory and practice of unity.

Public conduct and private differences

We can make a start by distinguishing matters of general and

public concern, from matters that concern the internal affairs of individuals

and the groups they identify with. Even the cleverest and wisest people, when

they go to an airport or a railway station, know that there is a system in

place, a way of doing things, and so they take instruction from people in

charge there, whatever the condition of those people. Normal good manners, and

the practicality of getting things done that everybody wants done, require

consent and observance of the way things are arranged. So then, if the person

appointed to call the prayer at a mosque calls to prayer, it is the normal

thing to answer that call, promptly and with good grace – in that way, the task

in which all are engaged can get started.

So also, when the person appointed to

lead the prayer leads the prayer, all those present must follow him, and they

must do so in his mistake if he makes a mistake. Again, in that way, the task

in which all are engaged gets done. Now, there is a known procedure, when the

imam has made a mistake, of how to inform him, after the prayer is concluded.

If the mistake is of a kind that requires it, the same imam will then do the

prayer again, and again all will follow him. The reason for this is that we

obey the imam because that is, on the occasion in question, the means given to

us to obey God. In truth we obey God’s Messenger because God explicitly

commanded it, and we obey those in authority for the same reason. There is

always good, always comfort and ease of heart, in obeying God with good grace.

How group divisions actually form

In almost every case, different groups form on the basis of

exaggerated and unbalanced understanding of certain ideas, or on the basis of

exaggerated and unbalanced ideas about what other groups’ ideas are. Whatever

these ideas may be, there are solid, everyday conditions of life that are not

in the slightest degree affected by them. Those ideas make no difference to

someone’s pain if they have suffered a loss or personal illness, or to their

joy if someone close to them has known some happiness.  In other words, it is possible, across the

divisions between groups, and it is especially commendable across those

divisions, to meet with people and exchange joys and sorrows with them, to

visit them, to dine with them, to shop with them, to relax with them.

In taking

these small steps, we are again obedient to the teaching of God and His

Messenger, ﷺ. Our God is one God, the God of the

believers and unbelievers, the God of all that is, all in need of His mercy,

all in fear of His final judgement. The Qur’an is very explicit that when that judgement

comes, even parents and children will flee from each other, having other

pressing business. Our belonging to ties of family or clan or tribe or sect

will not then interest us.

Every hurdle that we face in this life demands from us some

appropriate adjustment of position and movement so that we can get past or get

over that hurdle. Such adjustments always require some sacrifice, some shifting

of priority — of bringing something forward and taking something back. So it

is with the ideas of others that we do not like. The sacrifice needed from us

is to suspend attention on and distaste for others’  opinions. This means being silent about what

we wish to praise as ours, and what we wish to blame because it is different

from what is ours. It is often easier to sacrifice health and wealth than to

sacrifice one’s opinion – but what is required of us is not that; rather, what

is required of us is to sacrifice the need to declaim our opinions in the face

of those who hold different opinions.

God says He will make clear hereafter the

differences  between different beliefs

and the groups formed around them; and He says that He will remove the rancour

from the hearts of those who make their religion pure and sincere for Him.

Moving towards that, step by step, is surely what will ease our path back to

solidarity and unity, and to the dignity of being Muslims, those who have

surrendered their will to God’s will – those who ask Him to help them do His

will, not those who ask Him to do their will.