Do not be divided – Tarawih Reflections 16
Ayahs 103-105 of Surat Ale ‘Imran are very important verses about unity within the ummah. Allah mentions three main points:
‘Hold fast together to the rope of Allah and do not be divided. Remember Allah’s favour upon you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts, so you—by His grace—became brothers.’ [3:103]
He is commanding us to be united. Before Islam, the Arab tribes used to fight each other – sometimes they might feud for forty years over a single camel. When Islam came, it softened their hearts and brought them together, by Allah’s favour and through His Messenger and His book.
In this ayah, Allah is reminding them of how they used to be compared to how they are now. They were enemies, now they are brothers. They used to kill each other, but now they support and help each other.
‘Let there be a group among you who call others to goodness, encourage what is good, and forbid what is evil.’. [2:104]
This applies to our leaders as well as among each other. We shouldn’t have blind obedience to our rulers. If they do something good, support them, but if they do something bad you should correct them.
The only one we should have complete obedience to is Allah. But some people are trying to play Allah on Earth, forcing their followers to obey them for fear of being killed, imprisoned or tortured.
Alhamdulillah, we have the akhirah, so that whatever evil anyone has done, they will be accountable for it then.
‘Do not be like those who became divided and fell into disputes after the clear signs had come to them.’ [2:105]
This kind of division is exactly what we are seeing right now. We are doing the opposite of what Allah commanded, and this weakens the Ummah.
Muslims are like the froth of the sea
There are 57 Muslim countries in the world, and yet we couldn’t manage to open the borders to bring food and water to the people of Gaza.
We are seeing exactly what Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said would happen: ‘
The people will soon summon one another to attack you as people when eating invite others to share their dish.’
His companions asked whether the Muslims would be few in number at that time, and he replied, ‘No, you will be numerous at that time: but you will be scum and rubbish like that carried down by a torrent.’ [Abu Dawud]
Other translations have said the ummah will be like the froth of the sea. This is our situation now.
Disunity lessens our power
In one of the Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ four khutbas during his farewell Hajj, he said
‘Do not turn back into disbelievers after I am gone, striking one another’s necks.’ [Bukhari]
Because Allah granted him a glimpse into the Unseen, he could see what was going to happen in the future, and he was warning his ummah not to fall into conflict.
But look at us now. We are so hard towards each other, and so soft towards our enemies, supplying them with food and petrol while our brothers and sisters die in Gaza. In Surat al-Anfal, we see a similar ayah:
‘Do not quarrel with each other, or you would be discouraged and your power would dissipate.’ [8:46]
Imagine that those 57 Muslim countries were a united force – economically, politically, militarily. We would be the strongest power. But this would threaten our enemies, so they have to divide us. And unfortunately what divides us most is the enemy from within. This has been the same since the time of the Prophet ﷺ, when they had the munafiqoon (hypocrites) trying to sow disunity.
Unite by obeying Allah
The only thing that unites us is when we obey Allah and His Messenger. The Ummah only became a unified entity after the people accepted Islam, and this is how we will be united again: by adhering to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
We need to work hard to achieve this. We ask Allah to make what is happening in Palestine be a new page for the Ummah, and to strengthen the Ummah and bring us all together. Ameen
Ramadan Reminder Night 16
Shaykh Haytham Tamim
Transcribed by Hana Khan
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Shaykh Haytham Tamim
Shaykh Haytham Tamim is the founder and main teacher of the Utrujj Foundation. He has provided a leading vision for Islamic learning in the UK, which has influenced the way Islamic knowledge is disseminated. He has orchestrated the design and delivery of over 200 unique courses since Utrujj started in 2001. His extensive expertise spans over 30 years across the main Islamic jurisprudence schools of thought. He has studied with some of the foremost scholars in their expertise; he holds some of the highest Ijazahs (certificates) in Quran, Hadith (the Prophetic traditions) and Fiqh (Islamic rulings). His own gift for teaching was evident when he gave his first sermon to a large audience at the age of 17 and went on to serve as a senior lecturer of Islamic transactions and comparative jurisprudence at the Islamic University of Beirut (Shariah College). He has continued to teach; travelling around the UK, Europe and wider afield, and won the 2015 BISCA award (British Imams & Scholars Contributions & Achievements Awards) for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Teaching.
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