Eid Message 1443 – Internal Disunity and the Muslim Ummah (By Mufti Ismail Desai Saheb HafizahuAllah)
Question:
Eid Message 1443 – Internal Disunity and the Muslim Ummah (By Mufti Ismail Desai Saheb HafizahuAllah)
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
Eid Message 1443 – Internal Disunity and the Muslim Ummah
The month of Ramadhaan, the month of spiritual rejuvenation, the month of spiritual reformation, the great season of Taqwa has departed. The blessed month of Ramadhaan served as a unique time for spiritual reformation and inner reflection for us as individually and collectively as members of the esteemed and privileged Ummah of Islam.
While we rejoice on the happy occasion on the day of Eid al-Fitr, we should never forget the pain, suffering and difficult plight of the Muslim Ummah in Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Somalia, Iraq and elsewhere.
Eid should serve as a reflection point on the spiritual ethos of Ramadhaan and Islam in general. We engaged in siyaam/fasting from dawn till dusk in consonance with the teachings of Islam and in pure reflection of the pain and suffering endured by the poor, needy and underprivileged of the Muslim Ummah. We dispensed of our Zakat in preaching the doctrine of economic empowerment and unity with the financially distressed in the Ummah. We supplicated for the welfare of the Muslim Ummah. We performed Salaah jointly in congregation as one Ummah facing one Qiblah yet we have failed to understand the message of unity as a Muslim Ummah.
We have sadly sunk to the level of attacking each other in the most despicable manner in the name of Islam to protect our financial and personal interests. We also observe the illegitimate and impermissible actions of some against each other through character assassination, spreading fake rumours and slander, name calling, hate speech and the general incitement of internal conflict and controversy in the name of Islam. The downfall of the Muslim Ummah is ultimately and squarely based on our internal conflicts rather than the external attack from the Non-Muslims.
We have failed to understand the true message of Islam if we have become agents of disunity, hatred, extremism and conflict.
We must reflect on the true message of Ramadhaan by serving the message of unity, love and empowerment in the Muslim Ummah and distancing ourselves from the message of hatred, disunity and conflict. The disunity, discord and internal conflict we witness today is a sad reflection of the state of the Muslim Ummah.
The true test of our Eeeman and Islam is in serving the interest of the Muslim Ummah and Islam over and above our own selfish self-centred and personal interests. The entire Muslim Ummah united around the spiritual essence of Ramadhaan, why can’t we have united hearts and minds and focus our intention on defeating the enemies of Islam?
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’alah states in the Qur’an: “And strife/conflict (Fitnah) is worse than outright murder/killing” (Qur’an: 2:191)
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’alah states in the Qur’an: ““They would have been active among you, seeking [to cause] controversy (Fitnah) among you. (Qur’an: 9:47)
Political, economic and social unity across all spectrums both micro and macro is of immediate and critical importance for the general wellbeing and unity of the Muslim Ummah.
“Power (Quwwah) is in Unity (Ittihad)” (Arabic Proverb)
"United we stand, Divided we fall"
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala allow us to be agents of unity, peace and love in spreading the message of Islam and not agents of hatred in spreading internal discord and conflict. Aameen.
We wish you and your families a happy and joyous Eid Mubarak!
Mufti Ismail Desai,
01 Shawwal 1443/02 May 2022
For and on Behalf of the Trustees, staff, stakeholders, executive members and students of the Darul Iftaa
(Important Announcement: The Darul Iftaa has been inundated with thousands of theological queries from the Muslim Ummah. We have received your queries and will attend to such queries based on our available resources and the academic nature of your submission. The Darul Iftaa has received many submissions for programmes and events on different topics from various parts of the globe. We will be responding to your submissions in due course based on consultation with our esteemed board of trustees, stakeholders and well-wishers. The media team of the Darul Iftaa will also be uploading the audio recordings of all Raamdhaan programmes on the website www.shariahbusiness.com. We also confirm that the Darul Iftaa is an independent registered and self-funded organization and we are not seeking any donations from any third parties whether in the forms of Zakat/Lillah/Sadaqah. Any third party claiming to represent the legacy of Mufti Ebrahim Desai, the Darul Iftaa and affiliated subsidiaries in the form of religious and charitable projects should be dealt with extreme caution and should be referred to our official contact address for the attention of Darul Iftaa: legal, audit and risk committees)
and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best
Mufti Ismail Desai
Darul Iftaa
Durban, South Africa
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