United or Divided

The first point is: unity should not be misleading.

“And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided.” Quran Chapter 3 verse 103.

Unity should be by holding together to the rope of Allah. How bad it is if we are divided. Some people come out with slogans for unity. There are two ways to sort out the slogans by checking the ones who propose the slogans:

• 1  Is he someone knowledgeable?
• 2.   What is his track record?

In a Hadeeth sahih, it is mentioned there will be years of deception. (Coming of dajjal)

One of the slogan makers in history is Firaun. Prophet Musa a.s just wanted to free the slaves and asked his people to believe in Allah. But Firaun said, Prophet Musa a.s wanted to topple him. Instead, Firaun told the people to worship him in unity. Surah Al A’raaf.

Sometimes, people are against the truth because it is against their desire and interest.

We can’t just point fingers to great people if they are divided.

Era of Saidina Uthman r.a caliphate

When Saidina Uthman r.a was the Caliph, Ruwaibidhah group went to the outskirts of Muslim world (Kufah, Egypt, Basra – where people just embraced Islam) and spread slogans among them by blaming Saidina Uthman r.a. for practising nepotisme and burning the Quran mushaf. One of them is Abdullah bin Saba’ (pretending to be Muslim, Shiah tried to deny his existence) who brought people to Madinah to rebel against Saidina Uthman r.a.

Later, the raised issues were clarified by other Sahabis including Saidina Ali r.a.

•         Nepotisme: actually, the distant relatives of Saidina Uthman r.a. were appointed by the previous Caliph, Saidina Umar r.a. and they were known for being just.
•          Quran burning: the mushafs were burned because they contain errors and conflict each other

When Prophet Muhammad s.a.w was alive, Prophet S.A.W acknowledged Saidina Uthman’s greatness. He was so modest that even the angels are shy of him. Prophet S.A.W already told him that he will become a syahid. Saidina Uthman r.a was 82 years old at that time.

The point is: only the ignorant will be misled.

Era of Saidina Ali r.a caliphate

When Saidina Ali r.a. became the Caliph, some people took Nailah’s (wife of Saidina Uthman r.a) cut fingers to Muawiyah r.a. and he was overcame with emotions. But Saidina Ali r.a. needed to keep calm due to the chaotic situation in Madinah at that time.

Sahih Bukhari mentioned that Muawiyah r.a. is a faqih. But when he was caught by emotions, he may misjudged. Aishah r.a., Talhah r.a. and Zubair r.a. just returned from Hajj, and they heard about what happened to Uthman r.a. They wanted to do something. Saidina Ali r.a. moved the capital to Kufah under this situation. But they all talked to each other outside Basra and delayed the fight.

The actual murderers went to both camps and shot arrows early in the morning, causing chaos. But Talhah and Zubair r.a.huma ran away from the war. However they were killed by the troublemakers.

Point: even when good people want to unite, troublemakers would interfere. Good people may fight due to confusion.

Then another battle broke out between Saidina Ali r.a and Muawiyah r.a. due to misunderstanding. Please note that it is not up to us to judge this incident.

Hadeeth Sahih: One day the wrong people will kill Ammar bin Yasir r.a.

Ammar bin Yasir r.a. got killed while fighting in the side of Saidina Ali r.a. When Ammar r.a. died, Ibnu Mas’ud r.a. changed sides from Muawiyah r.a. to Saidina Ali r.a.

Point: If good people are not united, it doesn’t mean that they are bad. But troublemakers keep interfering.

When Saidina Ali r.a. ruled, Khawarij group came into picture. During the battle of Nahrawan, the Khawarij tried to kill Saidina Ali r.a., Muawiyah r.a., and Amr bin Al As r.a. on the basis that all of them are kuffar. Saidina Ali r.a. died during fajr prayer, Muawiyah r.a was injured badly, and Amr bin Al As r.a. managed to escape.

Even though the sahabis fought each other, they don’t hate each other. None of them call the other hypocrites.

Conclusion: don’t get deluded by slogans.

These are the points as understood by al faqir yours truly. For more clarification, you may contact Sheikh Aslam himself. Recommended readings: Hayatussahabah and Al Bidayah Wan Nihayah.