Tawhid as the foundation for Muslim unity and
universal cooperation

Anisa Abd el Fattah

Now, as perhaps never before, Muslims throughout the
world are called to unite, and to strengthen the
brother and sisterhood between Muslims, and to form
alliances with non-Muslims in the pursuit of the
common, and universal good, in contrast to mounting
initiatives aimed purely at advancing what we believe
are the religious truths unique to monotheism and
Islam.

As part of a greater society that is suffering
under the oppression of an aggressive, violent and
brutal evil, that seeks to expand intellectually,
materially and spiritually into every seen and unseen
pathway to the domination of the human heart, mind,
and soul, we must dedicate ourselves to the spiritual
movement, which is a movement of conscientious people
of various faiths, races, ethnicities, cultures, and
languages, who will unite to oppose, and challenge the
wrongs and evils of our time, and who will work
cooperatively to establish the primacy of truth, and
justice as the origins of peace, and international
cooperation in pursuit of the common good, and the
survival and progress of the human race.

“And fear tumult and oppression which affects not in
particular only those of you who do wrong” (Holy
Qur’an 8:26). 

Just as there are no acceptable excuses for those
Muslims who divide the Muslim ummah, and who continue
to stain our collective Abrahamic soul and societies
with the blood of fellow Muslims, and innocents,
killing unjustly and betraying Muslims at the behest
of foreign powers who manipulate us into committing
crimes against ourselves, crimes that like boomerangs,
come back to punish us in the forms of poverty and
illiteracy and even worse, as cowardice, defeat and
domination by our enemies and the enemies of Islam,
there is also no longer any excuse for the violent
proselytizing that is carried out by some Muslims in
the name of God, that has much more to do with an
infectious evil pride and exclusivity that has
contaminated Islam as a result of its exposure to the
evangelicalism of the Western fundamentalists
religions. Never in the history of Islam have we
witnessed such campaigns to convert people to Islam
under the false pretense that Islam is empowered by
numbers, “How often, by God’s will, has a small force
vanquished a big one? God is with those who persevere”
(Holy Qur’an 2:249).

This wrong belief, that Islam is
empowered by people, rather than God, has resulted at
times in very aggressive conversion, or purging
campaigns that seek to pit Islam against other
religions, and even Muslim sects in a fit of what can
only be called Muslim evangelicalism. This is an
evangelicalism that is misrepresenting the cause of
God, and distracting people from the essence of the
Islamic struggle, which is to restore justice and
balance to the world, “the word of thy Lord doth find
its fulfillment in truth and in justice…” (Holy Qur’an
6:115).  In other verses of the Qur’an, God has
warned us that too much disputation leads to
powerlessness. Instead of useless disputation, God has
called those who love righteousness to action, saying:

“Let those struggle in the cause of God who sell the
life of this world for the hereafter. To him who
struggles in the cause of God, whether he is slain, or
gets victory, soon shall We give him a reward of great
value. And why should you not struggle in the cause of
God, and of those who, being weak, are ill treated
(and oppressed)? Men, women and children whose cry is:
”Our Lord, rescue us from this place whose people are
oppressors, and raise us from Thee one who will
protect; and raise us from Thee one who will help!”
Those who believe struggle in the cause of God, and
those who reject faith fight in the cause of evil; So
struggle you against the friends of Satan, feeble
indeed is the cunning of Satan” (Holy Qur’an 4:
74-76).

Never will God grant victory, not even in the personal
struggle between the individual soul and Satan, to
those who take life unjustly, falsely claiming
superiority, one over another based upon cultures and
cultural traditions, race and skin color, when God has
said that the best of mankind are those who are most
righteous, and obedient to His laws, “Mankind was a
single nation, and God sent messengers with glad
tidings and warnings, and with them He sent the Book
in truth, to judge between people in matters wherein
they differed, but the people of the Book after the
clear signs came to them, did not differ among
themselves except through selfish contumacy” (Holy
Qur’an 2:213). 

How can anyone who claims a sect in
monotheism be considered righteous, when God has
condemned the sects, and warned the prophet Muhammad
to avoid those who create, and perpetuate sects and
who have divided God’s creation along sectarian lines?
God said in the Qur’an, “When it is said to them,
“believe what God has sent down” they say, “We believe
in what was sent down to us” yet they reject all
besides, even if it be the truth confirming what is
with them” (2:91).

This suggests that no one group of
people have the complete and perfect truth if they
deny the revelations that came before them, or after
them, and it also implies that even those who possess
knowledge of the complete and perfect faith, cannot
understand, or utilize what has been given them
without knowing and understanding the previous
revelations, “ Say: “Whoever is an enemy of Gabriel,
for he brings down the revelation to they heart by
God’s will, a confirmation of what went before, and
guidance and glad tidings to those who believe.
Whoever is an enemy to God and His angels and
messengers, to Gabriel, and Michael, Lo! God is an
enemy to those who reject faith” (2:97-98).  Miserable
is the price for which they have sold their souls, in
that they deny what God has sent down, in insolent
envy that God of His Grace should send it to any of
His servants He pleases” (2:90).

Even the internal sectarian divisions within Islam
are condemned by God, who said: “ God sent down the
Book in truth, but those who seek causes of dispute in
the Book are in a schism far from the purpose”
(2:176), and “ The prophet believes in what has been
revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith.
Each one of them believes in God, His angels, His
Books, and His prophets. “We make no distinctions
between one and another of His prophets, and they say,
“We hear and obey; we seek thy forgiveness our Lord,
and to thee is the end of all journeys” (2:286). 

The greatest threat to Muslim unity today, and also to
the very important universal reform work to which
Muslims are called, is the historic divide between
those Muslims who call themselves Shia, and those
Muslims who call themselves Sunni. Amazing that the
followers of a faith that has at its essence a single
God that is in unity, and not divided in His
manifestation, or by His names and attributes, have
preserved such a division throughout centuries, while
both sects profess Tauhid as the basis of their faith.
In this respect, the religion of these religionists
has become sectarianism, and they have lost the taste
and true meaning of Islam, which is submission to One
God, and not to oneself. God said in the Qur’an, “
Your God is One God” (2:163).

There is no need for us to discuss the role that
governments and other power brokers have played in
perpetuating this divide for their own purposes and
aggrandizement, “ And there are those who put up a
mosque by way of mischief and infidelity, to disunite
the believers, and in preparation for one who warred
against God and his prophet aforetime. They will swear
that their intention is nothing but good, but God doth
declare that they are certainly liars” (9:107).

It is for each individual, when confronted with the
choice to either perpetuate, or to work to end this
rupture in the Abrahamic ummah, to decide, based upon
what God has said, to either join the sectarians, or
to denounce sectarianism, and to accept Islam, which
is peace through the submission to the One God of
monotheism, “ There is a mosque whose foundation was
laid from the first day on piety; it is more worthy of
thy standing forth therein. In it are men who love to
be purified, and God loves those who make themselves
pure. Which is best…” (9:108-109).  These ayat, or
signs reminds us that the original religion of God,
which is monotheism, is also the religion of Muhammad
(sa), and it was in fact the religion of Abraham. Of
course, these ayat also speak to the truth that Islam
is monotheism, complete and perfect. The innovations
in faith that arise over time are not to ever be
allowed to change the nature of the original faith, a
faith that is based upon belief in a single God, who
created mankind as one nation, and who forbid and
condemned sectarianism, and who said it is a result of
selfishness and envy, and who told his prophet to
avoid those who identify themselves by sects, having
nothing to do with them, and saying in Qur’an that the
penalty for a Muslim taking the life of another Muslim
unjustly, is execution in this life, and hell upon
death.  “ So set thou thy face steadily and truly to
the faith. Establish God’s handiwork according to the
pattern on which he (God) has created mankind. No
change let there be in the work of God, that is the
standard religion, but most of mankind understand not.
Turn you back in repentance to Him (God), establish
regular prayers, and be not among those who join gods
with God. Those who split up their religion and become
mere sects, each party rejoicing in that which is with
itself” (30: 30-32). 

It is clear from this verse of
the Qur’an, that sectarianism is akin to polytheism,
since it is born of envy, and selfishness, which is
the worship of ones own self as a god. It is as to say
that we can create something new in faith that God did
not create, and that this thing we have caused is more
righteous, more real, and more loved by us, even
though it is hated by God, who is the single creator
of the original faith, and who established His own
mosques, or institutions wherein worship the pure of
heart, and deed.

The so-called Sunni say that they are the people of
the right path because they follow the prophet
Muhammad (sa) and his companions, while the so-called
Shia say, we are the people of God’s straight path,
because we are the supporters of Ali (as), and we are
the supporters of the Ahl Ul Bayt, the prophet’s
family. The Abrahamic monotheist ummah is saying, “We
are Muslims, because we believe in One God, and obey
Him. We believe what God has enjoined upon us the
belief in the Holy books, angels and all of the
prophets, including Muhammad (sa), and we obey God,
and them. We have established prayer, we give in
charity, and we fast the month of Ramadan. From among
us are those who enjoin right and forbid evil, and who
struggle in the cause of God.  We follow the teachings
of God’s prophets, and the example of Muhammad (sa),
and we love the righteous of the prophet’s household,
and companions, which included Imam Ali, and the Ahl
ul Bayt, and the righteous Caliphs Abu Bakr, and Umar
and others, and we obey the righteous in authority
over us.  We denounce the wicked, and those who sought
to undermine the message of Muhammad (sa), and who
sought to put something evil in its place, and those
who usurped the authority of the righteous and who
oppressed, and divided the Abrahamic Ummah of Muhammad
(sa), and who continue until today to create mischief,
and to teach hate and spread violence. The Qur’an says
that only those who, “ deny God, His angels, Books,
prophets and the day of Judgment hath gone far, far
astray” (4:136), and neither of the people of these
sects have gone this far. 

The points of contention
are minor, and not worthy of the innocent blood that
has been shed, or the time that has been wasted and
lost, or the property destroyed, or the sin that we
have incurred as a result of sectarianism. Our
generation has the ability, to renounce the mistakes
of the past generations, and to move forward. We have
the duty to heal these divides through our individual
choice not to be a part of any sect, but rather to be
members of the Abrahamic ummah, known as Islam. The
Qur’an saying, “ And strive in His cause as you should
strive, with sincerity and under discipline.  He
(God) has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties
upon you in religion. It is the religion of Abraham,
and it is He (God) who has named you Muslims, both
before, and in this revelation…” (22:78).  This chosen
is not “chosen” as in superior to others, but rather
it means that God has extended His mercy especially to
those who choose to strive to live as righteous men
and women, facilitating their desire and effort to
live according to His guidance and laws. 

For the Abrahamic ummah of Islam, whether or not there
is Imamate or Caliphate should not be a fault line
between people of Islam, since Imam Ali served as the
4th Caliph, and he is also Ahl ul Bayt, and Imamate.
Prior to serving as Caliph, he advised the Caliphs Abu
Bakr, Umar and Uthman, and the hadith says that none
of these men ever made a decision without consulting
Imam Ali first. These pious men of the Abrahamic ummah
did not let the issues of Caliphate and Imamate divide
the ummah, and Imam Ali never raised his hand in
violence against anyone, nor did he slander or curse
anyone of the righteous Caliphs. These men worked
together to advance the essential Islamic cause, which
is the cause of justice, and they laid the foundation
for the restoration of balance in God’s earth. After
these pious men, there were many others who took the
reigns of leadership in Islam. Some were good, and
others were wicked. God will judge them. What is
important today, is that they are gone, and we are
here, the inheritors of a message that was revealed to
heal and guide all of mankind to the fulfillment of
our spiritual and material potential and to realize
God’s promise to guide us to the establishment of just
and prosperous societies, “God has promised to those
among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that
He will of a surety, grant them in the land,
inheritance of power as He granted it to those before
them; that He will establish in authority their
religion, the one He has chosen for them,  and that He
will change their state, after the fear in which they
lived, to one of security and peace; “They will
worship me alone, and not associate aught with me
(God) “ (24:55). 

Just as we believe that this promise is true for
Muslims, we believe that it is equally true for all
good people, those who shun evil, and who support
righteousness, and who work for the betterment of
mankind, since God said in the Qur’an that he would
not allow the reward for the good acts of any single
person, whose good deeds outweigh their wrong doing,
to be lost. We are all subject to God’s mercy, and
blessings.  The Qur’an says,” He who brings the truth,
and he who supports it, such are the men who do right.
They shall have all that they wish for, in the
presence of their Lord, such is the reward of those
who do good. That God may turn away from them even the
worst of their deeds, and give them their reward
according to the best of what they have done”(39:33-35).

God said in the Qur’an, “ “Pray; Our Lord, condemn us
not if we forget, or fall into error; our Lord lay not
upon us a burden like that which thou laid upon those
before us. Our Lord, lay not upon us a burden greater
than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and
grant us forgiveness. Have mercy upon us. Thou art our
protector; help us against those who stand against
faith” (2:286).

The challenge before us is clear, and these challenges
call each of us to take action in our respective
fields of service, or areas of struggle. Whether we
are teachers, or soldiers, or preachers, or cooks.
Whether we are writers or singers, or poets. Whether
we are engineers, or scientists, or artists, statesmen
and women and diplomats, the suffering in our world is
a clarion call to those who know, and believe that one
person can make a difference, to take action.  We can
no longer deny the cries of the hungry and poor and
those who are victims of unjust aggression, and
oppression in the earth. We cannot escape the threat
that uncontrolled militarism, and that all forms of
terrorism and violence pose to our societies. There is
no way for us to ignore the suffering of people who
are being mistreated, killed and persecuted simply
because of their skin color, religion, or nationality,
or because they don’t have weapons with which to fight
back. It is time for the righteous, and those who love
righteousness to hear the call of God, and to answer.
If you are a teacher, teach the truth, if you are a
journalist, report the truth, if you are a soldier,
fight justly, and for peace, and not for revenge,
blood lust, empire and supremacism. If you are an
engineer, design buildings and cars, and machines that
conserve our environment, and sources of energy, that
are cost conscious, and that serve not only the rich
and powerful, but also the poor, the average, the
weak, the sick, and the elderly. If you are a doctor
or nurse, heal us with your time, your smiles, and
hope, as much as with medicine, and seek out the poor,
and others who cannot afford good health care, and
find ways to fulfill their needs. Statesmen and
diplomats must reject war as a solution, and find
incentives for international cooperation aimed at
peace and prosperity, exploration, and discovery and,
and most importantly, we must eradicate diseases,
poverty, racism and supremacism, and immoral and
unjust public policies of all kinds. The nutritionists
and cooks must teach us how to prepare delicious and
healthy foods using without waste and gluttony.  We
must find ways to encourage the exceptionally gifted
and talented in our societies without diminishing
those of us who are average, or below societal
expectations. We must learn how to rehabilitate and
redeem those who have fallen prey to drugs and crime,
and make a space again in our societies for those who
have paid their debts, and who are ready to retake
their place in the world as free men and women. We
must learn to love all, because God has loved us, we
must unite in our purpose, and we must change the
world.

In the name of God, most Gracious, most Merciful.
When comes the help of God and Victory,
And thou dost see the people enter God’s way in
crowds,
Celebrate the praises of thy Lord, and pray for His
forgiveness, for He (God) is oft returning in Grace
and Mercy. Qur’an 1:3