The President's Speech

Assalamu Alaikum

Dear Muslim brothers and sisters,

Unity, which is among the greatest and the most important duties of all Muslims, is one of the issues that I will stress today. 

All great aspirations require serious efforts. No great aspiration can be achieved in the absence of serious efforts. Unity among Muslims is not an exception: It requires efforts. It is our duty to make efforts to create unity in the world of Islam. This unity can solve many problems. It can bring about glory for Muslim nations and communities.

We must get closer. There are two major obstacles to unity and we must think of a way to remove them.

There is the internal obstacle that is the result of denominational bias. This bias affects all groups of people. We must overcome this bias. Having faith in one's creeds is laudable. It is also good to insist on these creeds. But this faith must not cross the line between logical argumentation and aggressive rejection of others' beliefs. Our brothers who are part of the Muslim Ummah must treat each other with respect. They have a right to adhere to their own beliefs, but they must respect others, their rights, and their beliefs. 

Muslims must leave ideological debates to scholarly meetings. Ulama and scholars may engage in religious debates. But there is a difference between religious debates at scholarly meetings and an exchange of insults in public and in front of an audience who are not capable of scholarly analysis. Ulama and government officials must keep this under control. That is a duty that lies on the shoulders of all groups of Muslims, both Shia and Sunni. 

Muslims must move towards unity. This ideological bias is an internal obstacle to unity. One external obstacle to unity is the efforts on the part of the enemies of Islam to foment discord. We must be totally vigilant against such efforts. These efforts are not a recent issue. They came into being the day the dominant political powers in the world realized that they could influence other nations.

The Muslim Ummah must be vigilant. It must stand up to these enemies. The most important duty lies on the shoulders of Muslim politicians. Government officials and heads of Islamic countries must be vigilant. Some of the politicians of the world of Islam may act as the mouthpiece of the enemies, but we must not make a mistake in this regard. We will not make mistakes in detecting the major causes of discord. The politicians of the world of Islam may shout the slogans of the arrogant powers.

It is the arrogant powers that are opposed to Islamic unity. Even if such divisive slogans are shouted by the members of the Islamic Ummah, we have to believe that these Muslims have fallen for the enemies' machinations. Those slogans do not belong to Muslims. They belong to the arrogant powers. We can recognize their slogans. The most important duty lies on the shoulders of politicians and government officials of Muslim countries as well as Muslim intellectuals and those who can influence the hearts and minds of the people - namely, religious scholars, intellectuals, writers, journalists, poets, men of letters, and the scholars of the Muslim world.

These people have to shoulder the major portion of the responsibility to inform the people of the causes that may disrupt the process of achieving this unity or take this firm divine handhold away from Muslims.

The Quran tells us clearly to "hold fast by the covenant of Allah all together and be not disunited." It is possible to "hold fast by the covenant of Allah" one by one, but the Holy Quran has told us to do it "all together and be not disunited".

We have been ordered to stick together and even when adhering to the divine covenant. The Holy Quran has advised us against adhering to this divine covenant one by one, let alone choosing to let go of the covenant or adhering to a satanic covenant.

Muslims have to stay together and preserve their unity even when they are supposed to adhere to the divine covenant. That is the greatest issue for the world of Islam.

Dear Muslim brothers and sisters,

Please come and join us to make the whole Muslim community united. He/she who recites and believe in the kalima 'La Ilaha Illallahu Muhammadur Rasulullah' is a Muslim. He/she may have some faults and misunderstanding about others things in Islam. We should not hate him for his faults. Rather, we should try to make him understand the proper Islam, try to teach him, make dua for him. What we do if our finger gets sick? We try to give proper treatment, ask Allah to be kind to cure it. We try up to the last moment until it can effort. Muslim brothers are like my fingers, as the part of my body. 

Dear Leaders of Muslim countries,

Please come and lead the organization to unite the Muslim Ummah. It is your duty given by Allah. Become the leader of Uniter Muslim Ummah.

Hope, the day is not so far, the whole Muslim community will be united to a One Ummah. 

May Allah help us and give us the toufiq to work for the muslim community to make them united muslim ummah. 

Ameen.

Abu Rayhan, President, United Muslim Ummah