Our division their multiplication
By Daanish Bin Nabi
Jerusalem is now under “their” control. Not that it was with us - but they have now made it officially their capital. What did we do? Nothing. Yes, we did issue some meek statements and some shows (read rallies) to express our muted anger and frustration against Uncle Sam, but that’s it. And then we are back to our daily exercise of creating faultlines among ourselves (Muslims). The division now runs so deep that the Great Satan may be relieved to do his bit to keep us divided. And all thanks to our so-called sect scholars who for their own benefits keep dividing and disintegrating us. We are divided in sects – Sunnis and Shias primarily.
While some Sunnis scholars accuse Shias of betraying Muslims in general and Islam in particular, Shias on the other play up on the expected lines as well. If we have a look at both the sects, Shias happen to be more united than Sunnis. They have their leader and whatever he says is the bottom line for them. What do Sunnis have, nothing apart from ignorance and arrogance.
An anecdote from Kashmir’s recent history goes like this: When Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah gave land back to tiller in early 1950s the Shia community did not take the land because Agha had instructed against taking the land of the “other”.
However, given these examples it does not absolve Shias of their misgivings towards the Sunnis. While they keep on multiplying and re-grouping, we are on the other hand try our best to show the other in bad light and keep pulling the other one down.
The New York Times contributor Yan Xuetongn has summed up the malice between two societies or states amply well. Under the title ‘The Problem of Mutual Trust’, he writes: “There are countless examples throughout history of cooperation between major powers that lacked any of this so-called mutual trust. In fact, the lack of trust has been the norm in successful international relationships.”
If we have had our difference in the past at the time of the genesis of groupism however we can work out on modalities for a future strategy. During the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) there were neither groups nor sects amongst us.
Extremists and sectarian “scholars” exists on both sides of the divide but it is the time to decide whether we wish to remain divided till there is an existential threat, or to work together for a better strategy to overpower the enemy. There is little or no difference between both of us as far as the issue of end of times is concerned; we can work out on such modalities. Neither the arrogance of Saudi monarchy nor the slyness of Iranian clergy is going to help or take us anywhere in near future.
Here, to quote the veteran political commentator A G Noraani in his latest column where he aptly describes the absence of trust between parties, “One is the ‘absence of trust’ — as if one should only talk to those with whom one’s relations are close enough to inspire trust.”
According to Sahih Muslim Book 041, Hadith Number 6906. Chapter: This Ummah would be destroyed by killing one another. “Amir b. Sa'd reported on the authority of his father that one day Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) came from a high land. He passed the mosque of Banu Mu'awiya, went in and observed two rak'ahs there and we also observed prayer along with him and he made a long supplication to his Lord. He then came to us and said: I asked my Lord three things and He has granted me two but has withheld one. I begged my Lord that my Ummah should not be destroyed because of famine and He granted me this. And I begged my Lord that my Ummah should not be destroyed by drowning (by deluge) and He granted me this. And I begged my Lord that there should be no bloodshed among the people of my Ummah. But He did not grant it.”
It is the basic reason why we Muslims are divided. However, we can have an accommodative nature so that we can accommodate views of others also. I am not saying that one gives up on one’s school of thought. Let all of us have our own, but let us not declare the other as “kuffars” or enemies of Islam.
Also, only we are to be blamed for the rot that has diseased our Muslim lands. The “outsider” has done nothing to disturb us. It’s our fault not theirs. Each Muslim land has become a new Palestine for us. Be it Libya, Syria, Somalia, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen or Afghanistan everyone is a new Palestine now.
All the blame for this goes to the two countries, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Both of them are fighting for the superiority in the Middle. And in their game common Muslims perish and are always labelled as terrorists. In all this blame game Uncle Sam and the Greater Satan enjoys even without doing anything to keep us divided. All this comes despite believing on one Allah (SWT), Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and the Quran.
The images of Syrian refuges, Iraq’s genocide, Afghanistan’s murders, Libya’s killings and Yemen’s bombing are still fresh in everyone’s mind. In my view all these killings and exodus of Muslims is not their fault, but completely ours. They could not have breached us till we ourselves were not meek and vulnerable to our individual benefits.
Looking at the division among our own ranks, the merger or coming on a single platform seems to be distant dream. The bottom line remains that Jerusalem is under their rule now. The most unfortunate part is that both the so-called Islamic government of Saudi and Iran do not bother to get united on this pressing issue affecting millions of Muslims all over the world. The only hope, who can liberate Jerusalem and the Muslim lands, now remains … .
Published in Rising Kashmir on January 18, 2018.
