The Call to
God and Unity
The Muslims’ unity is their greatest strength. The best means of achieving this unity is the call towards God. The Quran says that God has chosen Muslims to promote the cause of true religion. Furthermore, the religion brought to them by the Prophet is to be conveyed by them to other communities. In this context the Quran commands them to hold fast to the rope of God and be united around the one God:
So that His messenger may be
A witness for you, and you
Be witness for mankind.
So, attend to your prayers,
Give zakat
And hold fast to God;
He is your Protector—
The Best to protect
And the Best to help! (22:78)
The emphasis on unity, while entrusting Muslims with the task of inviting other peoples to the religion of God, indicates the close link between the call to God and unity. In fact, this call or invitation leads to harmony and unity, which in turn enables Muslims to effectively perform their task.
The traditions of the Prophet also testify to the interdependence of the call to God and unity. Miswar Bin Makhrama narrates that once the Prophet came to his companions and said to them, ‘God has sent me as a blessing. Convey it to people on my behalf, and do not enter into dispute with each other as did the disciples of Jesus with him.’
The companions of the Prophet responded to this by saying: ‘O Prophet of God, we shall not differ from you on any matter. Give us your commands and send us on our assigned missions.’
By virtue of their knowledge of true religion, the companions of the Prophet fully understood the responsibilities and implications of calling people to God. They were also aware of the character that they ought to possess for discharging such a responsibility.
History tells us that a mutual bond of brotherhood and unity existed among Muslims as long as they engaged themselves in the task of inviting people to the truth. But the moment they deviated from this path, they fell a prey to unending dispute and dissension. Subsequently, they were withdrawn from their designated duty of inviting people to God because of having lost their unity—the greatest strength of a community or group in this world.
An Example from an Early Islamic Age
According to most sources, the Prophet passed away on 12 Rabial-Awwal of 11 A.H. Two weeks before his demise, the Prophet assembled a special army to encounter the Romans (Byzantines.). The Prophet included in this army all the leading companions with Osama bin Zayd bin Harith as their commander. The contingent was dispatched to Syria where a battle had taken place between Romans and Muslims at Mawta. Seventeen-year-old Osama was the son of a slave. Yet he was the most suitable person to lead this contingent. And all the more so, because earlier at the battle of Mawta (8 A.H.) the Romans had slain his father and he was now burning with the fire of vengeance. Osama set out on the mission assigned to him by the Prophet, making a halt at Juruf, a suburb of Madina and the location of the present Islamic University.
While Osama was camping with his army in Madina, he was informed of the Prophet’s demise. He thereupon returned with his contingent to Madina to attend the last rites of the Prophet.
Abu Bakr Siddiq was appointed the first caliph with the unanimous approval of the Prophet’s companions. Following this appointment, the Muslims had a consensus to hold back Osama’s army at Madina itself. Due to the sad demise of the Prophet and the rising sedition of hypocrites, uncertain conditions prevailed all around. People were in favour of first consolidating the new Islamic state in Madina and only then launching any outside campaign.
In spite of general opposition, the first caliph did not approve of even a short delay in the dispatch of Osama’s army, saying that on no consideration would he untie the knot tied by the Prophet of God, even though birds might snatch them up, beasts might devour them and dogs might drag the feet of the pious wives of the Prophet.
In order to underline the importance of this act, Abu Bakr accompanied Osama as far as Juruf. Osama went on horseback, while Abu Bakr marched beside him to give the necessary instructions. Despite Osama’s repeated requests, Abu Bakr refused to ride, preferring to go on foot.
Both the Prophet of Islam and his first caliph resorted to such actions as matters of pressing need. The exigency in the present case was that of providing the Muslims with a field of action outside the land of Arabia to demonstrate their spirit of struggle in the cause of Islam. Whenever Muslim energies were not directed to this external target, they were soon enticed into internal factional conflicts, wrongly labelling such action as jihad in a bid to justify their misdeeds.
The External Target
When the Arabs entered the fold of Islam under the influence of the movement launched by the Prophet, they were full of Islamic zeal. They wanted the religion they had discovered as the greatest truth to be shared with other people. This zeal required an outlet for its expression. The timely dispatch of Osama’s army was aimed at providing Muslims with a suitable sphere of action. Seeing the Romans’ aggression as the occasion for a military encounter, the Prophet in his last days was able to divert the Muslims’ zeal towards the communication of the divine message among non-Muslim communities. Hence, the energy wasted in internal disputes was utilized for fruitful activities in outer spheres. Had it not been so, the Muslims of Arabia would have indulged in fighting among themselves on the pretext of reforming each other, as is evident from the prevailing situations in almost all Muslim countries. The infighting among Muslims themselves would have halted the historical process of Islam before it had even begun. But for the prudent decision of the Prophet to direct Muslims’ ardour towards external fields, Islamic history would have been an elegiac recital instead of a record of the exemplary deeds of the champions of Islam. Involvement in a lofty cause is a guarantee of noble character. But Muslims had lost this very nobility of character in their detachment from the cause of propagating God’s message among the people.
Very soon after this military action had been taken against the Romans, in the times of the first pious caliph, the Persians (Sassanids) turned hostile to the Muslims forcing them to resort to confrontation. This afforded Muslims a large sphere of Islamic action spreading over Asia, Africa and Europe, as these two empires, the Roman and the Persian, dominated most of the populated world.
This stance taken by the Muslims against the Romans and Iranians was not aimed at any political gain or territorial expansion: its sole purpose was the propagation of the message of Islam. Muslims, imbued with a divine instinct, had left their homes to convince people to give up the worship of their fellow men and to become true worshippers of God. Past events are testimony to the fact that both Rome and Persia were the main targets for the propagation of the message of God, but the aggression demonstrated by the two empires forced Muslims to use military power against them. There were, however, nations like Ethiopia, Maldives, Indonesia and Malaysia who desisted from wielding arms against the Muslims, thus allowing Islam to flourish in these countries.
The process of the popularization of Islam among the earlier non-Muslim nations began soon after the death of the Prophet and continued successfully for about three decades.
This entire span of time witnessed the Muslims’ concerted and united efforts to communicate the message of Islam among other nations.
Year of Unity
The process of popularizing Islam through the collective efforts of Muslims was hampered in the last days of the third pious caliph ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan when Muslims, in an excess of zeal over the internal crusade, diverted their attention to the domestic sphere. There they entered into conflict with their own rulers in the name of political reform. The internal dispute heightened to such an extent that the people of a particular Muslim sect did not shrink even from assassinating their own caliph.
Even the killing of caliph ‘Uthman could not put an end to Muslims’ internal strife, for now they were divided into two groups over the requital for the murder of Caliph ‘Uthman. This deadly fight between the two factions continued for years. Deviation from the general cause of calling people to Islam harmed Muslims in two ways; on the one hand the process of dissemination and promotion of Islam came to a complete halt, while on the other the Muslims’ strength began to be pitted against their own people. Islam, once a binding force, now became the banner under which internal battles were fought.
Having experienced ten long years of strife and conflict, the Muslims were reunited in the year 41 A.H. And for that reason, it is known in the history of Islam as the year of reunion. This blessing of unity came to the Muslims through Hasan ibn ‘Ali about whom the Prophet had predicted that he would be the harbinger of peace and reconciliation between the two great factions of Muslims.
Hasan was appointed the fifth caliph after the death of his father ‘Ali. Seeing that the caliphate had generated internal conflict, he unilaterally renounced his right to it to avoid exacerbating the differences existing among Muslims.
The two warring factions of Muslims were led by Hadhrat Hasan and Hadhrat Mu’awiyah. Hadhrat Hasan’s withdrawal from the office of the caliphate had, in a way, sealed up all possible internal strife and redirected Muslims’ endeavours towards the spread of Islam. The caravan of Islam once again after a delay of ten years set out on the path of progress. The reign of Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan (40-60 A.H.) witnessed the spread of Islam to an extent unparalleled in the centuries-long history of the religion. It was during his time that Islam extended as far as Samarqand, Afghanistan, Tunis and Rhodes Island, enroute to the Bosphorus Strait, the last being the gateway for the Muslims’ entry into Constantinople. In short, Islam made all-round progress in this period of overseas expansion.
A Lesson from History
The caliphate of Mu’awiyah has been made the subject of severe criticism. Some say that Mu’awiyah was the first ruler to introduce kingship into Islam. But, regardless of this criticism, it should be noted that the two-decade long rule of Mu’awiyah gives us an important lesson. Any sincere effort to deter Muslims from internal strife and conflict, even if it is at the cost of introducing monarchy to a political institution, will always bring fruitful results in favour of Islam. Internal conflict leads Muslims to make destructive use of their Islamic spirit, yet, once distracted from the path of factional feuds, their zeal finds an active outlet in the efforts of spreading Islam.
Factional conflicts among Muslims are highly deplorable. An attempt, therefore, to save Muslims from internal strife encourages them to eschew unlawful acts and harnesses their Islamic spirit to the popularizing and spreading of Islam. The energy or collective force that might otherwise be used in destructive activities is then devoted to the progress and consolidation of Islam. The target of Muslims’ reform and the inculcation in them of the exalted qualities of a noble Islamic character from which they had earlier been diverted by factional feuds, is automatically achieved.
Had the Muslims’ crusading spirit been directed to the external sphere as in its earlier days, world history today would have been quite different.
The Call to God is the sacred mission of the Muslim community. This mission basically entails conveying the message of God to non-Muslim nations. This is the same mission which is also called shahadah ala an nas. After the line of Prophets came to an end with Prophet Muhammad, the Muslims were charged with the responsibilities of prophethood. Now the Muslims have to perform the same task of conveying the message of God to non-Muslims for which the prophets were sent by God to the world.
‘Dawah’, or the propagation of Islam among non-Muslims, gives the proponent the opportunity to devote himself to outside activities. For the fulfillment of his task, he turns his zeal outwards. Externally targeted, the crusading spirit is then optimally exercised.
The accomplishment of the mission of calling people to God by Muslims brings divine grace to them and develops in the community all those exalted qualities that are considered to be the key to unity.
The history of Islam presents ample proof of the above-numerated facts. The period of thirty years after the death of the Prophet, when Muslims were engaged in the task of propagating Islam in the outer sphere, was marked by complete unity in the Muslim ranks. But with the beginning of internal conflicts in the last days of caliph ‘Uthman, the process of the spread of Islam hung fire for ten years. However, the task of propagating Islam was resumed by Muslims when internal conflict came to an end as a result of the voluntary withdrawal of ‘Hasan ibn Ali from the caliphate, and it continued on course for the next twenty years. Again, it was permanently disrupted due to conflict between Banu Umayya and Banu Hashim on the issue of political reform after Amir Mu’awiyah’s death (60 A.H.).
Muslims are now paying the penalty for having given up the cause of spreading Islam, thanks to their unceasing internal conflict over the centuries. These conflicts are ostensibly taking place in the name of Islam, but in fact nothing is more un-Islamic in the world of God than this lamentable disunity.
The call to God is basically the title of the Islamic mission to convey the message of God to non-Muslims. (The technical nomenclature for the same task to be carried out among Muslims is reform or islah). In case one is extending the message of Islam to a non-Muslim, he will neither explain the implications of aamin bil sirr or aamin bil jahr, (i.e. pronouncing aamin in prayers loudly or silently), nor will he touch upon peripheral issues on which there is no consensus among Muslim sects. In a controversial situation, the only option for the Muslim will be to present to his addressee the principal tenets of Islam, like belief in one God, or tawhid, Prophethood, the life hereafter and human equality. In short, the general call to Islam entails the popularization of the purely basic teachings of the religion.
It is an accepted fact that there is no contradiction in the fundamentals of religion. On the contrary, there are considerable differences among the people of various sects on juristic issues, which are peripheral to religion. Therefore, whenever Islam draws the public attention, the basic aspects, which are unanimously agreed upon, are given due prominence, while the controversial aspects are kept in the background.
It is a natural principle that whenever a community devotes itself to the cause of calling people to God, it is blessed with unity and solidarity. People’s attention, in such circumstances, is centred upon the basic and widely accepted precepts. To raise peripheral issues would mean creating differences among them. Whenever people devote their energies to promoting the basic teachings of Islam, there is inevitably a closer understanding among them. This approach eliminates conflict and paves the way for unity. To sum up, the introduction of peripheral and lesser issues leads to confrontation, whereas adherence to basic issues creates an environment favourable to integration.
Unity Despite Diversity
To call people to God in today’s world is to represent God. Those who perform this service are destined to be the best rewarded in the life hereafter, for no other task in this world is of such magnitude. But, for the call to be effective, there should be unity among the callers. Now, there have always been differences between human beings. Even when people are united, it does not mean that there are no differences at all. In fact, unity results from integration, not without differences but despite differences.
The companions of the Prophet evinced an exemplary unity that enabled them to bring about a great revolution throughout the world. However, their unity was not of the sort that recognized no differences. There were, indeed, considerable differences among them, both on religious and worldly matters. But, in spite of all such personal differences, they were united on the central cause of promoting Islam.
“Unity in diversity,” the watchword of national integration, implies in practice the greatest sacrifice a human being can make. This sacrifice requires the vast generosity that induces the individual to tolerate a loss for the good of his fellow beings. It calls for the courage to recognize the excellence of others, despite personal differences. It demands that one be selfless enough to bow to men of higher qualities and capabilities, and that one be exalted enough in character to submit to the opinion of others. Voluntary self-sacrifice goes hand in hand with good heartedness. It means offering the best seat to another, standing aside while others forge ahead, and remaining in obscurity so that others may stand in the limelight. Such individual sacrifice is the bedrock of collective unity.
Inviting people to embrace the message of God has great significance for man. All other things are inferior to it. The most frequent reason for the differences between the members of any given society is the lack of a great common purpose. The moment a great goal emerges before them, they will themselves withdraw from petty disputes and will thus achieve the greatness of an over arching unity.
