A Salute To Those Uniting Muslims Despite Backlash

A women I met on our Ziyarat Group trip last month told me this true story: Her family was nestled in their seats, ready to embark on their much-anticipated pilgrimage to Iraq when her husband called a relative to say good-bye.

"So you're going to Iraq to get a mutah (temporary marriage)?" came the reply on the other end from the chuckling professional, who like her husband is Sunni as are most of their family and friends.

"Um, no. That's not part of my school of thought," her husband replied, clearly shook up and spirits dampened. That's not the response he was expecting from a loved one who knew he was going to visit the sacred lands and resting places of important people connected to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (S).

That was a lower blow than usual but she said her spouse is used to everything from snarky remarks to personal attacks to shouting matches with family and friends because of his willingness to understand  and communicate other Islamic perspectives for the sake of unity among Muslims.

What a growing number of brave souls like her hubby realize is that unity is essential for Muslim survival, sticks and stones notwithstanding. Scholars, political leaders, and journalists in the Muslim world--though still a drop in the ocean--are slowly but surely making moves to unite the hearts of Muslims, a precursor to any type of alliance in fighting enemies and developing progress, With 27 million Muslims killed so far in the American War on Terror, isn't it time all Muslims follow the Quranic injunction: "And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided"? (3:103)

Unity is more important now that a Muslim leader, Iran's Supreme Leader Imam Sayyid Ali Khamanei, has publicly picked up the gauntlet in response to the American assassination of Irani General Qassim Suleimani and comrades and vowed to lead the region in expelling U.S. military forces. But Imam Khamanei also warned that "this ideal [unity] has dangerous enemies" because "Islam rejects oppression, domination, and arrogance." Opponents of Islam know better than Muslims themselves that differences are surmountable and all Muslims "would accept Iran as the leader of a new caliphate" to rid the region of "Israel and the West," as Zionist Eric Stakelbeck predicted in a 2011 article for Christian Broadcasting News.

Unfortunately, some of the most toxic enemies of unity come from within: Muslim friends, family, colleagues, and followers who mock and abuse those who encourage love, tolerance, and cooperation among Muslims for the sake of God. Imam Khamanei himself has faced hate from fellow Shias who claim he's appeasing Sunnis by encouraging Muslims to pray in each other's mosques and prohibiting Shias from insulting Sunni icons like wives and companions of Prophet Muhammad (S). 

Other examples:

• Liaqat Baloch, Deputy Amir of Jamaat -e- Islami poltical party in Pakistan, got attacked on Twitter by his own followers earlier this month for leading a delegation to Iran to pay condolences for the martyrdom of Suleimani, who they wrongly consider the architect of Sunni genocide in Syria. 

• Scholar Syed Jawad Naqvi, chancellor of Jamia Urwa-tul-Wusqa in Lahore, made many enemies amongst fellow ulema for allowing scholars of other sects to speak freely at his annual unity conference in November 2019. Opponents of Naqvi are sadly some of the crudest trolls on social media. 

• Popular Pakistani scholar Tariq Jameel, disparagingly called a "shia-lover" by some, was publicly chastised by scholars of his own school of thought and forced to answer humiliating questions in a July 2018 interview held to determine whether the news circulating on social media that he was converting and encouraging his followers to become Shia was true or not. 

• Palestinian leader Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas reportedly got heat from members of his own party for traveling to Iran to attend the funeral of Suleimani, who he hailed a martyr of Al Quds.

• Scholar Sheikh Ahmed Kerina of Al Azhar University in Egypt was temporarily suspended by university officials in 2014 for visiting a Shia seminary in Iran where he presented a project of cooperation between the two schools to combat extremism.
• Saudi Scholar Salman al-Awda has been imprisoned since 2017 by his government for encouraging reconciliation between Muslim countries after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Egypt imposed a boycott against Qatar for its close ties with Iran.  "May God harmonize between their hearts for the good of their people," was his fateful tweet.

In North America, scholars and intellectuals at the Institute for Contemporary Islamic Thought have  persevered for 40+ years to foster unity among Muslims, despite facing hate and rejection from other Muslims. These trailblazers include Zafar Bangash, president of Toronto's Islamic Society of York Region, Crescent magazine editor Afeef Khan, and scholar Imam Muhammad al-Asi, who has dedicated his life to bringing Muslims together through his Friday khutbahs given outside the Islamic Center of Washington. Imam Abdul Alim Musa of the Al Masjid Mosque in Washington D.C says he got kicked off the speaker circuit of Islamic conferences years ago for his support of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

No doubt, mockery and ostracism hurt more when they come from those close to us. This work is not for the faint of heart. People who put their relationships, careers, and peace of mind on the line to unite the ummah per God's instructions need to be respected and honored.