Unity Week Special (5)

Welcome to the 5th episode of the Unity Week Special on the blessed birthday anniversary of the Messenger of Mercy, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

The Unity Week, which we said in our previous episodes, spans the two dates of the month of Rabi al-Awwal believes to be the blessed birthday of the Prophet of Peace – 12 as the Sunni Muslims claim and 17th as the Shi’a Muslims assert – is the symbol of brotherhood between Shi;a and Sunni Muslims and struggle against the archenemies of Islam, the Global Arrogance, thanks to the dynamic initiative taken forty years ago by the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), in order to assemble the Ummah on a single platform of solidarity.

Global Arrogance, spearheaded by the US, advances war against Islam in two ways: fomenting of sectarian differences among Islamic communities, especially between Sunnis and Shi’as; and spreading a global fear of Islam and Muslims. The goal of Global Arrogance is to plunder the resources and wealth of the Islamic countries and create a safe margin for the Zionist regime of Israel in the heart of the Islamic world. Creation of discord was initiated in West Asia and the entire Islamic world by the wicked British Empire more than two centuries ago. They pursued the motto, “Divide and Rule”. This ominous scheme is being now practiced by the US, the fabricated Zionist regime and their allies and accomplices.

A brief look at history reveals the black and dark pages of the British crimes in the Muslim lands. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says, “The British have always been the source of evil and wickedness in our region. The blows that they dealt to the nations of this region might be matched by a power in few regions in the world. In the Subcontinent they dealt such blows; they pressured the people so badly; in Afghanistan in another way, in Iran in a different way, in Iraq in yet another way; and finally in Palestine they put into effect that sinister and wicked move and made Muslims, and in fact a whole nation, homeless, and expelled people en masse from their houses. A historic country that had been known since thousands of years ago - by the name of Palestine- perished with the policies of the British! In this region, since two centuries ago- nearly from 1800 on- whatever the British have done were evil, corruption and threat.”

British colonialism has a long record of fanning the flames of discord among Muslims and Islamophobia. They used to promote racial and sectarian differences. The British made use of temptation and deception of some Muslims to infiltrate in the ranks of Muslims and put into practice their nefarious designs.

An example of the British designs in the Islamic countries can be seen in the 1920 revolution in Iraq. When the British intended to occupy Iraq and pillage its resources, they faced the united ranks of Shi’a and Sunni Muslims. The letters of Mass Bill, the advisor to then British envoy to Iraq, reveal how he was scared of unity among Muslims. He wrote to his father, “We are exposed to intensive chaos and we are worried. Hardliners have adopted a method that is difficult to struggle: it is the unity between Sunnis and Shi’as; it means unity in Islam. They misuse this issue in the best way. The celebrations of Ramadhan are sometimes held in the Shi’a mosques and some times in the Sunni mosques. There are participants from both sects. In these ceremonies, panegyrics, poems and speeches are delivered that relate religion with politics. All of these ceremonies are concentrated around enmity with disbelievers.”

What made Mass Bill concerned was a real worry given that he could understand the conditions of the 1920 revolution and the presence of people on the scene. Today, also, the US, Zionist regime, Britain and their partners-in-crime are strongly pursuing the old policy of divide and rule. They pursue many colonial goals via creation of problems in the Islamic lands. Through generation of outfits like Wahhabism, and its terrorist offshoots such as Daesh, Al-Qaeda and Taliban, they want to spread demonize Islam in the eyes and minds of people in the world. These gimmicks have increased manifold since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the call of unity by the father of the revolution, Imam Khomeini.

The enemies of Islam spend exorbitantly on causing rift among Muslims. They set up satellite channels to provoke Sunnis against Shias and vice versa. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei, calls these two currents as the British Shia and American Sunni. He says, “We do not accept a Shi’a schools whose center and base of propaganda is London. This is not the Shi’a school that the Infallible Imams promote and wanted. This Shi’a school is based on causing difference, preparation and smoothing the road for the presence of the enemies of Islam; this is not Shi’a school at all. It is deviation.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the leader said, “The British groomed Shi’a and American groomed Sunni are the two blades of the same scissors. Their effort is focused on causing infighting among Muslims and fomenting differences.”

 Dr. Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi, Iranian university professor, explaining the Leader’s remarks on the type of Shi’as that are being promoted from London, says that this is the same thought that led to the isolation of Imam Husain (AS) on the day of Ashura. They were the pseudo-Muslims who told the Imam, “It is not expedient to stage an uprising.” As a result, out of 100,000 Muslims who had promised to help the Imam, only 72 people helped him.

In the view of Dr.Azghadi the British Shi’a and the American Sunni are the same people who see Imam Husain (AS) but they are not ready for jihad, martyrdom, captivity, promotion of what is good and prevention of what is evil. They believe in a version of Islam that is not troublesome for the usurpers of power and resources of the oppressed and downtrodden nations. Such Muslims are just seeking the pleasures of this world; while none of the Infallible Imams had a comfortable life.

Dr.Rahimpour Azghadi maintains that if the Imams had not pursued politics, at least one of them should have died naturally; whereas they were either killed at war or at the altar of worship or through poison!!! These great figures, due to standing against oppressors and tyrants of their era, were either tortured or imprisoned. And finally they were martyred. Today, disunity is a lethal poison for Muslims.

That’s why Ayatollah Khamenei says, “When we chant the motto of unity we should pay attention to these two points as they are the things that are constructive for the practical life of Muslims. One of these points is to remove differences, contradictions, conflicts, oppositions and obstructionisms that have been there among Muslim sects and communities since centuries ago; and these contradictions have always been detrimental to Muslims. The second point is to put this unity at the service and in the way of the Islamic rule; or else it will be absurd and senseless.”