By: Sz. Nawabzadeh

"Hold fast, all together, to Allah’s cord, and do not be divided; and remember Allah’s blessing upon you when you were enemies, then He brought your hearts together, so you became brothers with His blessing.” (Holy Qur’an 3:103)
This is the commandment of the Almighty Creator for all believers in the universal message for the entire mankind that He entrusted to His Last and Greatest Messenger, so that disunity, discord, sects, sectarianism and factionalism do not tear apart the monolithic fabric of the Islamic Ummah.
The All-Merciful Lord, Who made Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) the "Most Excellent Exemplar” (Holy Qur’an 33:21), has clearly warned Muslims against splintering as is evident by the following ayahs:
"Those who split up their religion and became sects: each faction boasting about what it possessed.” (Holy Qur’an 30:32)
"Indeed those who split up their religion and became sects, you will not have anything to do with them.” (Holy Qur’an 6:159)
We need not go back to the days when political leaders who usurped power of the state after the passing away of the Prophet, ignored and discouraged the statements of the Seal of Messengers regarding the path of guidance after him, especially the Hadith that says in clear and unambiguous words:
"I am leaving among you the two weighty things; the Book of God (Qur’an) and my progeny the Ahl al-Bayt. Hold fast to them and you will never go astray for the two will never part with each other even when they return to me at the Pool (of Kowsar on Judgement Day).”
Today, in the age of scientific progress that revolutionized communication technology, split the atom to produce immense energy, helped explore space, and made artificial intelligence possible in order for the benefit of mankind, we need to enlighten our minds for not just attainment of the elusive goal of psychological peace and prosperity based on social justice, but for the blissful journey of the soul through the realm of afterlife.
This is possible only by firming up the fundamentals of faith and the strengthening of spiritual values through proper scrutinizing of our beliefs in order to remove the rust of the past centuries that has discoloured the hearts, and made Muslims divided into sects, ethnicities, and the most dangerous of all division, that is, political purgatories which knows neither religion nor race in the satanic urge to possess everything at the expense of others.
This is the reason that the Muslim World sadly presents the spectacle of a house divided against itself as is evident by the seditious policies of the rulers, who not just harbour deep distrust of each other, but are deceived to such an extent by the devil that they feel no inhibitions in bowing to the dictates of the sworn enemies of Islam in destroying and killing fellow Muslims.
Prime examples in this regard are the Saudi-UAE war on Yemen, the civil war in Libya, the persecution of fellow Muslims by the Muslim president of Nigeria, the Turkish invasion of Syria, the vandalism in Iraq, the indifference towards the bloody ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Myanmar, the takfiri terrorism in Pakistan, Afghanistan and other places, the backstabbing of Palestinians by Arab regimes and their permission to the US archenemy to set up military bases in the region so as to threaten Iran and tighten economic sanctions, because these reactionaries hate the message of Islamic unity from the Islamic Republic.
It is now forty years since that Sage of the Age, Imam Khomeini (RA), initiated the Islamic Unity Week by bridging the two dates of Rabi al-Awwal believed to be the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) in order to assemble the Ummah on a single platform, and though this dynamic concept has succeeded in solidifying most Muslims around the world, unfortunately the reactionary regimes ruling certain Arab states have spared no effort to sabotage Islamic solidarity.
The Sunnis, on the narrations of the Sahaba – who before becoming Muslims were not much familiar with the Prophet – think the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal to be his birthday, while Shi’as, holding family accounts of the Ahl al-Bayt to be reliable, regard the 17th of the same month as the auspicious day the Last Prophet was born.
Isn’t this the finest formula for promoting the unity of Muslims so as to transform the Ummah into a formidable political and economic power on the world scene with the message of brotherhood for all people around the globe?
The moment this fact is realized, then only Muslim lands will be safe from all sorts of predators, including the Americans and the Zionists, and our first qibla Bayt al-Moqaddas will return to the Islamic fold, with peace and prosperity prevailing all over.