Unity Week Special (4)

These days most Muslims all over the world are marking the Islamic Unity Week on the occasion of the blessed birth anniversary of the Messenger of Mercy, Prophet Mohammad (Blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

According to Sunni Muslims, on the basis of the narrations of the Sahaba, he was born on the 12th of Rabi’ul Awwal, while Shi’a Muslims who regard the accounts of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt or Impeccable Household as more reliable, he was born on the 17th of this month. Forty years ago, in order to bridge this 5-day gap and to bring the Islamic Ummah on the platform of solidarity, the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA) took the dynamic initiative of declaring the Prophet’s birthday as Islamic Unity Week.

We use this opportunity to study in brief some of the merits of Allah’s Best-Ever Creation. The following is the 4th episode of this series.

 “We have not sent you but as Mercy unto to the creation”. This is how God Almighty has introduced in Ayah 107 of Surah Anbiya of the holy Qur’an, his Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). As it has been clearly mentioned in the books of Hadith and history, the Prophet of Islam was the only Messenger of God who never cursed the people who tormented him. This was in contrast to the prophets of the past, who fed up with the persecution at the hands of the tyrants and the misled masses, who heaped all sorts of problems upon them and even murdered them, had no choice but to invoke the wrath of God upon them. But the Prophet of Islam never did such a thing, although as he himself said no prophet had been tormented as much as he was, including the plot to murder him in Mecca by conspirators who included his own misled uncle, Abu Lahab.

The plot miserably failed as the Prophet safely migrated to Medina, thanks to the courage of his young cousin Imam Ali (AS), who volunteered to sleep on the Prophet’s bed so that the infidels hovering around the abode of Divine Revelation would think their intended victim was still there, and in the morning he could be easily murdered.

History bears witness that the Prophets of God have always been the target of sedition by the followers of Satan intending who intended to distort the divine mission. This trend continues today and will persist till the re-emergence of the Prophet of Islam’s 12th and Last Infallible Heir, the Saviour of mankind Imam Mahdi (AS) who will cleanse the Planet of all traces of corruption and oppression by establishing the global government of peace, prosperity and justice. The ringleaders of today’s devilish trends are the illegal Zionist entity called Israel and the US, which is indeed the Great Satan of our times.

The western corporate media is playing the role of the horn of Satan through its campaign of Islamophobe and intense targeting of the Islamic Republic of Iran, because of being the centre of the Islamic movement. Zionism and imperialism, in league with Arab reactionaries who are following the ways of the pre-Islamic Arab Jahiliyya, are trying to depict virtuous Muslims as terrorists, when in fact they themselves are the chief culprits and breeders and funders of macabrely murderous terrorist outfits, such as Daesh and other takfiri groups. who do not tolerate followers of other creeds.

It has now become obvious to people all over the world that the Daesh and other takfiri terrorist outfits have no connection to Islam and the teachings of Prophet, in view of their devilish behaviour, and their being trained by the US and the Zionists, with funds from the oil rich Arab reactionary regimes, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Islamic unity and solidarity among all Muslims is the only way to confront such seditious plots. The Ummah needs to stress the fundamental commonalities of all Islamic schools of jurisprudence in order to thwart the plots of enemies. Once unity is materialized among Muslims there will be no chance for the enemies to spread takfiri and terroristic ideology. That’s why God advises us in ayah 46 of surah Anfaal of the Qur’an:

“And obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not dispute, or you will lose heart and your power will be gone. And be patient; indeed Allah is with the patient.”

As a matter of fact, quarreling about petty differences weakens Muslims and will make them easy targets for enemies. We should realize that we are one single monolithic Ummah despite the superficial differences of ethnicity, features, colour of skin, cultures, and languages spoken. This is indeed university in diversity as preached by the Prophet whose prominent companions included Salman the Iranian, Bilal the black skinned African, and Sohaib, the Roman.

In ayah 92 of surah Anbiya God stresses that the Islamic Ummah is the One and United Ummah and He is their Lord so they should worship Him. “Indeed this community of yours is one community, and I am your Lord. So worship Me.”

A brief look at the history of Islam shows that the Prophet took practical measures to bolster unity amongst Muslims. He made the Muhajerin (or the migrants from Mecca) and Ansar (or the helpers of Medina) brothers to one another so they overcome the animosities of the days of ignorance. Thus, in view of the Prophet’s dynamic guidelines, Muslims today should take practical steps to remove the causes of discord and spare no efforts to portray to the whole world the monolithic image of the Islamic Ummah.

Therefore, the Unity Week is the symbol of convergence around the peerless personality of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). He was the symbol of mercy and affection, and the greatest opponent of the arrogant oppressors. Muslims should follow him as the best role model for dealing kindly with all people of the world and standing firmly against the enemies of humanity.