I realise the contradiction contained in the title of this thread. But who can we blame for the reflection of reality in words? We are, without a doubt, divided- and, as usual, at the worst possible time. If we are going to have ‘sects’ (which we are) then let us at least aim toward being one body of Muslims, with a thick black outline (with openings and giant billboards with flashing lights for new-comers of course), and only grey lines in between.
“And hold fast all together by the rope which Allah (stretched out for you) and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah’s favor on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love so that by His grace ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of fire and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make his signs clear to you: that ye may be guided.” — The Holy Qur’an, 3:103
I would have posted this in Faisal’s sunni-shia thread but this isn’t just about sunni/shia divisions. This division is tired and exhausted and is causing problems for the Ummah as a whole. I feel like its very rare for 2 Muslims (even those from the same ‘sect’) to agree, or agree to disagree about pretty much anything. If they disagree about an area which accommodates ‘free-thinking’, more often than not it is bashed as though the person had committed blasphemy itself. I may very well be wrong and totally exaggerating/deluded and I ask forgiveness if I’ve offended anyone by saying that. But it feels like we have to tread eggshells in order to make any sort of statements about our faith. Often, if we give our Muslim brother or sister the benefit of the doubt and think about what they are trying to express before we respond- we often find we don’t have to interrogate them or aggressively emphasize our points.
Lets challenge ourselves, and see if we can sort it out- just in this forum.
Maybe we’ll learn something.
p.s. im sorry if i’m starting to sound like a broken record. I hope such relentlessness will have even a grain of benefit.
"And hold fast all together by the rope which Allah (stretched out for you) and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favor on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love so that by His grace ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of fire and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make his signs clear to you: that ye may be guided." --- The Holy Qur'an, 3:103
Sects would always exist no matter which religon we are talking about, due to the fact that no matter how good we follow the basics, there would definately be differences among the scholars when it comes to in depth study of "minor details". That is why all the Imams who laid the basics of different sects do not criticize each other but declare them to be correct on the basis of the circumstances and their perspectives.
So, having sects is not bad but it is bad for one sect to criticize the other and show intolerance on the basis of prejudice for each others.
We can always unite if we remove prejudice from our heart, seek Allah's happiness by showing tolerance, patience, flexibility and respect whenever we come across a discussion on "Difference of opinion" among sects.
The above should be done no matter how much we are sure that "Only" our logics and reasoning is better than the rest. Because, on the day of judgement, it is NOT WE who would be giving the decison of who is right and who is wrong, but only ALLAH (swt)!!!
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p.s. im sorry if i'm starting to sound like a broken record. I hope such relentlessness will have even a grain of benefit
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I am afraid it does .....but since your intentions are good let me add something
unity in theological matters is a distant dream not in our lifetimes atleast ....the best we can hope for is political unity against our common enemies even that will take a long time to achieve Iran and KSA can be the key players in this regard...
Agree with brother Das reich... only a political unity can take place between two main sects of islam......yes ..it is a harsh reality that complete unity cannot... still political unity is far far difficult as history repeats itself and politically muslim history is full of betraying incidents ...i am sorry to say this but this is the bitter reality.......
kha khai jo teer daikha kameegah ki taraf apnay hee dosto sai mulaqat ho gai
Yes ...allah almighty can create a miracle to unite muslims .politically and may allah do this ..... regardind other differences...these are not differences at all...rather no sects...these are schools of thoughts..no sects at all...the main sects are only two ..all other are schools of thoughts.....and this difference of opinion is a essence of the society as a hadees of prophet(pbuh) says.... Ikhtalafa-i- ummati rahmat
means the differenecs of my ummah is rehmat...
The world greatest salafi/ahle hadees site (islam-qa) *clearly writes about the **virtues and merits **of 4 great imams but only says that do not follow them *"blindly"....... *as in quran that **if you do not know something , ask from a person who knows it... **so following any imam is the same thing... regarding the differences between 4 imams or hanafi or salafi schools of thought ... they are of *.000000001significance ... rather i say no significance ... all have the same sources that is quran and hadees (6 and more books) and all the differences will be how you intrprete *, *"istadlal" , "isthakrag" *means *"Deduction" **from these sources ... which can be different or vary from imam to imam or from salafis ... but the "Frame of Reference" will always be same right from beginning to the qiyyamah , inshallah...They all have the the differences in the same **circle of diameter of quran and 6 or more ahadees books and they will never cross the circumference *of this circle all the **minor differences will **always occur in the same *"Frame" **not from **outside...as in quran that these people will keep on differentiating as they are produced of differences... so differences are the basic characteristics **of a human being and **essence **of a society... thet were , they are and they will remain.... **but it will not change your deen or religion in any way.......