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The fundamental creed that unites us, that makes us brothers and sisters of one another, is our shared belief in the unity of Allah (SWT). Truly, this is our star spangled banner, a banner under which we are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to these stars and stripes.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

There was a time shortly after the passing of our Prophet (SAW), when the Muslims were completing their Hajj pilgrimage. The Muslims were crowded around the area of Mina and were about to pray Dhur Salaat. The tradition of the Prophet (SAW) at this juncture was to shorten his prayer in the way that a traveler would shorten prayer. However one of the companions of the Prophet (SAW), Uthman ibn ‘Affan had a different opinion from those around him and decided to pray the full prayer; being the Imaam, everybody else followed suite. On completion, the people milled around another companion, Abdullah ibn Umar, and asked whether he would lead prayer again in the shortened version. So far this story seems innocuous at best, but let us look at the reply of Abdullah ibn Umar. This man, this man of great wisdom said, “Shortening the prayer is Sunnah. Unity is Obligatory.”

Indeed we are reminded time and again of the Islamic creed of unity. That none of us will enter Paradise until we have faith and that we will not complete our faith until we have love for one another. That better than Charity, Fasting, and Prayer is to keep good relations between people.

Moreover, Allah (SWT) says in chapter Al-Imraan (3:103)

“...And hold fast, all of you together to the rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves...”

Clearly Allah (SWT) and the Prophet (SAW) put a great emphasis here on unity, of its utmost importance in ouraffairs. And the fundamental creed that unites us, that makes us brothers and sisters of one another, is our shared belief in the unity of Allah (SWT). This is the cornerstone of our faith, our most elemental idea and principle. We may disagree on everything else, sometimes violently so, but at all points and all junctures we share this indispensable root proposition. Truly, this is our star spangled banner, a banner under which we are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to these stars and stripes.

We question then how to put the directive of the Prophet (SAW) that “The Muslims are like a body; if one limb aches, the whole body aches” into deed. Perhaps the most divisive issue in the Muslim World today is that of Palestine. Without exception, mash’Allah our support for our friends there is unbounded in rhetoric and in our hearts. Most of us even donate generously to the humanitarian effort, mash’Allah. Some of us even organize events, attend marches and demonstrations, and are vocal in our communities and our spheres of influence, mash’Allah. Yet few, only the very very few, are willing to put the hardest yards in; of day after day picking up books and educating ourselves, of week after week writing letters to the press in support of our friends, of time and again speaking knowledgeably and not without reason.

But unity and brotherhood is not just for those in distant lands and far away nations, it is also for our daily affairs. For the brother hungry one evening next door, for the sister having problems in the Mosque, for the friend that you have a disagreement with. When the Messenger (SAW) said “whoever does not care about the affairs of the Muslims is not one of them”, he explained succinctly and yet in great detail our best relation to all our brothers and sisters. This is a belief that we are connected as one people. If there's a child down the street who cannot read, that matters to us, even if it's not our child. If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for her bills and has to choose between heating and rent, that makes our life poorer, even if it's not our grandmother. It's that fundamental belief of “I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper” that makes this religion work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single family. "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.

We look to the guidance of Allah (SWT) in Chapter Al-Imran

“O ye who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared and die not except in a state of Islam.” 

Hence we are the Muslims, a nation united under one banner, under one ethos and one spirit; His worship alone. There is no room here for Sunnism, Wahabism, Shia-ism (pick your favorite “ism”, there are many). We may disagree with what a brother or sister may say one day, but that is not a reason for hate or quiet whispering or division. We must have the maturity to be humble in our opinions, the humility to realize that we may be wrong, and the ability to compromise for the greater good.

So let us summon a new spirit of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other. We rise and fall as one nation, as one people. Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness that has disturbed some of our relations for so long. We may belong to different ideas or schools of thought, or tribes, or color, or races, but what unites us is always stronger than what separates us. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our mutual bonds of affection. And, above all, let’s join in the work of remaking this people, the only way it’s been done for 1400 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. We are all one nation. A nation proud.  A nation under the banner of One God. A nation of many, but one.


HwR

01 March 2010

London

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