Elements of Unity

“Verily, you are brothers in faith. Nothing can separate you but the wickedness of your intentions and the evil of your hearts.”

Hawzah News Agency- On the outside, we are confronted by imperialist powers; on the inside, by our rebellious ego. So by what ways can we secure the unity of the world of Islam? What are the obstacles? These are questions we must clarify.

We must bear in mind that from disbelievers, we will receive no gain. More fundamentally, unity is not a
quality that the material world could cultivate. Only God, the creator of hearts, holds the keys to rapport.
Addressing his Noble Prophet, God says,

Had you spent all that is in the earth you could not have united their hearts, but God united them
together.21

Materiality is unable to bring hearts together; materiality is incompatible with the soul. Should the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran convert the entire Alborz Mountains to gem and distribute it
among the people in order to please and unify them that would only be the beginning of conflict. Material
resources can never serve as a unifying element.

In an Islamic state, injustice to our private rights is sufferable. We must, however, prevent at all costs
any harm to the state itself. In a letter addressed to Abu Musa, the Master of the Faithful writes, “There
is not a man—heed this—more anxious to preserve the integrity and union of the community of
Muhammad (may God’s peace and blessings be upon him and his household) than I.”22

Imam ‘Ali asserted the truth—that his rights had been violated—with reasoning but was, nevertheless,
careful to prevent faction within the community of Muslims.

But they fragmented their religion among themselves, each party exulting in what it had.23

Imam ‘Ali strove to prevent such a conclusion.

“Verily, you are brothers in faith. Nothing can separate you but the wickedness of your intentions and the
evil of your hearts.”24 For identifying the cause of disunity, we must introspect, and on introspection we
will realize that the cause of disunity is our evil-nature, which consumes our hearts:

the fire…which overspreads the hearts.25

Our religion is one; our book is one; our qiblah is one; our prophet is one; the heaven and hell we strive
for are the same. So it is our inner evil that instigates conflict and splits the community of the faithful into
factions. We must reform ourselves in order to bring about unity: neither submission to the West nor
invoking the East could unite us. (And most certainly it would be useless to work with a regime that slaughters several hundred Hajj pilgrims without second thoughts.) It is only through heeding the
directions of Islam that we can secure unity.

Imam ‘Ali says, “Beware of subjecting God’s religion to vagaries. Indeed unity in regard to a just cause
you dislike is better than disunity in an unjust cause you like.”26 Obviously for group work to succeed,
one must humble oneself. This may be unpleasant, but it is necessary. Coming together in a group may
be disagreeable, but its collective reward is worthwhile.

“Conform to the great majority, for indeed God’s hand is with the community.”27 “Great majority” doesn’t
mean merely a big city; it, rather, refers to manifestations of brotherhood in the Islamic community, such
as the elections.28 We must adhere to the Islamic community, “for indeed God’s hand is with the
community.” Just as the sheep that stray away from the flock are prey to wolves, so those who distance
themselves from the community of Muslims for preserving their status are prey to satanic deceptions.29
It is folly to think that solitary action could produce any good: “Verily God (immaculate is He) does not
grant any good to anyone, from nations past or nations to come, through disunity.”30

Imam ‘Ali informs us of this truth not as a historian who has studied the annals of history but as God’s
viceroy with knowledge of Divine Norms. He tells us that this truth holds not only for nations past but
also for nations that are yet to come. “God does not grant any good” means that He has ordained it such
that a disunited nation should not receive any good. If we desire to secure any good, even personal
good, we have no choice other than unity.

And it is no excuse to claim that elements of unity are lacking. Elements of unity are aplenty. Elements
of unity are essential, whereas those of disunity are accidental. The principle that preserves the individual and the society alike exists within us, and it is so firm that it withstands any attempt at bending
it. It is neither alterable nor bendable.

In describing the “upright” book (the Qur’an), God says,

[He] did not let any crookedness be in it.31

Only a book thus “upright” can serve to guide mankind to the right path. The human being’s spiritual
nature (fitrah) is likewise upright and a source of guidance. As such, these two are unalterable elements
of unity. So where conflict in words and deeds arises, we should know that it is in violation of our spiritual nature and on account of our evil intentions.32

We should recognize that we reside in the Islamic Republic as guests. Our hosts are those pure souls
who sacrificed themselves to safeguard this nation from the assaults of the West and the East. Bearing
this in mind, we must strive to purge our evil intentions and purify our soul so as to pave the way for unity.

(Before the Islamic Revolution in Iran, we had difficulty understanding a good number of Qur’anic verses
and hadiths. This revolution, however, served as a practical interpretation of these instances. One such
instance is this saying by Imam ‘Ali: “One who is pleased with the action of a people is as if though he
shared in it with them.”33

After the Islamic Revolution succeeded, we encountered situations where two qualified individuals were
candidates for a position. The position would be granted to one of the two. If the other whom was denied
the position was pleased with the first’s office and activities, he would share in with the spiritual rewards
that the first official would procure by fulfilling the needs of the people. And this would naturally produce
a harmonious environment. If, however, he protested the appointment of the first on account of evil and
selfish intentions, he would be instigating conflict.)

By traversing this inner path of unity, we will succeed in resolving many a theological and jurisprudential
problem. There are naturally certain differences among various groups. The Asharites (asha‘irah) have
differences among themselves, and so do the Mutazilites (mu‘tazilah) and the Adliites (‘adliyyah).

Just as there are external differences that define the boundaries of a group, so there are also internal
differences within a group. But such differences are a potential source of blessing. (Although, it should
be pointed out that the laudable difference is that which is prior to knowledge.)34

These differences are like the imbalance between the two trays of a balance, both of which work
together to yield just apportionment. When the weight of a weighed item differs from that of the weights, the two trays do not meet; one is higher and the other lower; they disagree but the purpose of each one is right and towards the establishment of a balance. Thus disparity before the final levelling out is sacred. The differences that God—immaculate is He—has imbedded in human nature are of this sort. Such differences are inevitable.

But it is those differences that remain after one gains knowledge that are nothing but the fruits of
egotism:

and none differed in [the Book] except those who had been given it, after the manifest proofs had
come to them, out of a desire to violate [the rights of] one another.35

But they did not differ except after knowledge had come to them, out of a desire to violate [the
rights of] one another.36

God warns us that this desire to violate the rights of others harms, first and foremost, ourselves:

O mankind! Your violations are only to your own detriment.37

We beseech God that He purify our soul and restore it to its pristine state and grant us a firm faith: with a
pure soul and a firm faith, we can achieve unity in all spheres.

21. Qur’an 8:63.
22. Nahj al-Balaghah, Letters: 78.
23. Qur’an 23:53.
24. Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermons: 113.
25. Qur’an 104:6-7.
26. Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermons: 176.
27. Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermons: 127.
28. Please note that this example holds only where the government is Islamic. The author makes this statement with a
reference to the Islamic Republic of Iran. [Tr.]
29. Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermons: 127.
30. Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermons: 176.
31. Qur’an 18:1.
32. See Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermons: 113.
33. Nahj al-Balaghah, Sayings: 154.
34. That is, differences that encourage debate and thus enlighten us are laudable. Those differences, however, that rise
from acrimony and bigotry can only produce contention. [Tr.]
35. Qur’an 2:213.
36. Qur’an 45:17.
37. Qur’an 10:23.