Steps Taken To Be United 1. Each individual Muslim must develop a strong Islamic personality.

If we want to ask other people to do good deeds and implement Islam in their daily life then we must begin with our own daily life first. We know implementing and practicing Islam is not easy. While it is easy to talk about what is right in Islam but it is not nearly so easy for us to practice that right Islam, but we must always do our best. All the good deeds which Allah has revealed to us in the Quran and Sunnah make it clear what is the right Islamic way of life. It has been mentioned by the Prophet that every good deeds must start from yourself. What we need is a world full of Muslims who are trying to implement all of the teachings of Islam to the very best of their ability, and who do not feel that spritual obligations such as prayer and fasting constitute the totality of the right practice of Islam. An example of right Islamic behavior in very difficult circumstances is how the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) always treated the Quraish with good manners and great courtesy even though they were kuffar haters of Islam and had nothing but distain for Allah's Prophet. This is how the Prophet educated his companions by the example of his right life to be humble, generous and devout Muslims. This example of right Islamic practice can be seen the simple life style of the Khulafaur Rasyidin (Four caliphs) and many other sahabah. Self training is very important in order to build a strong Islamic personality, it can be done through various ways such as: To ask often for forgiveness by the recitation of istighfar. As human beings we have to avoid committing both the big sins and the tiny sins. As the servant of Allah we shoul strive to be aware of whether our behavior is right or wrong. If our behavior is wrong we should always ackowledge that it is wrong to ourselves and to Allah. This acknowledgement of any wrong behavior should be a motivating force to change that behavior and make it right. It should be our goal that all our behavior is consistent with what is right in Islam and it is pleasing to the eye of Allah. The constant awareness of what is right or wrong behavior will encourage people to correct themselves and help them to become better Muslims.We must firmly believe in the truth of here after, the truth of the day of reckoning, the truth of heaven, the truth of hellfire, and that each person will get their deserved reward or punisment for whatever they did on this earth. If we keep these affirmations forever within our hearts, then the natural positive response of the heart will be to produce only actions which are right and true. Private Devotion (Munajat), especially tahajjud (night prayer).This type of prayer can be very hard for people who is not used to it, however, night prayer (tahajjud) can play an important role in many great victories for Islam. Sultan Salahuddin during the crusades did not allow those who did not perform tahajjud the previous night to fight the kuffar on the battle field because he was afraid that Allah would not help the Muslim armies. Also when Constantinople was captured by Sultan Muhammad Al Fatih, all his armies performed tahajjud prayer befor the battle. Umar once said to his Muslim armies that, "I am more afraid of your sins to Allah which may lead to our loss on the battle field than I am the armies of the kuffar". In the quiet of the night when many people are deep in sleep then we wake up to worship Allah and show our love for Him. Munajat gives a good indication of the strengh of our Iman, which must be very high to uphold the name of Allah on this earth. Many hadith of our Prophet (peace be upon him) have encouraged

Muslims to perform munajat and gave special importance to prayer done during the last third of the night. To make Sadaqah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) once said that the sadaqah is more powerful than the doa. The reason for this may be that since in the case of sadaqah we sacrifice something that is part of our wealth, whereas the doa does not involve any sacrifice our wealth. Most of the time, it is very hard to us to give away any of our wealth. In fact, if sadaqah were to be practiced by Muslims today, it would help to eradicate the number of Muslim poor in the world and diminish the gap between the rich and the poor. By welcoming the oppurtunity to give zakat and sadaqah we will prevent ourselves from making material wealth the goal of our life, and help reduce our desire to satisfy our lusts for the thing of material wealth. . To be serious about Allah. Let us take Allah into our hearts in every aspect of our life and in every action we do. For example, if we want to eat, remember that the food is from Allah, all knowledge and health are given by Allah. Muslims must always remember Allah and fulfill their obligation to Him in every situation, whether they be rich and poor. If we can do this consistently, surely Shaitan will have no opportunity to entice Muslims into evil deeds since we will have Allah with us in our hearts wherever we go. The prophet once said that there is no iman when a person is doing evil deeds. Creating harmonious situations - muslim must love and care each other. It is certainly not called unity, if the feeling of botherhood (ukhwah) does not occur between all Muslims throughout the Ummah. It is as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, that Muslims are like a building in which each part is needed to support the other. The purpose of loving and care for each other is to increase our belief (Iman). We can see the importance of unity in the history of Islam by the great victories achieved by the early Muslims, such as in the battle of Badr, victories of Sultan Salahuddin Al Ayyubi in the crusade, and the capture of Constantine by the strong and humble Muslim leader, Sultan Muhammad Al Fatih. All these victories occured when the Iman of the Muslims was extremely really strong, the feeling of brotherhood was really powerful, and they were living their lives rightly according to the teachings of the Qur'an and the example of their beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). 2. To Invite other people who have the same right Islamic beliefs to form groups which are well cultered, have strong islamic personality and put Islamic values in every aspect of their lives. The Prophet (peace be upon him) once said that evil deeds which are done systematically will overcome good deeds which are not done systematically. Another illustration is what happens to a sheep left behind by its flock, it will have no protection from the wolves who would eat it. This shows us how important is the role of the group (jama'ah). As a human being we will often make mistakes in our lives, both big and small.When we are within a group there will always the people to remind us of our wrong actions or correct our mistakes, as we also would do for others in the group. In Islam the group provides a platform where the people can publicly express their commonly held beliefs in what is right, and can work together to implement those right beliefs. The members of the group must have a consensus on how to rightly implement Islam within the group, on how to establish the Islamic social life, the Islamic economy and Islamic education. Living in accord with the will of Allah and in the right Islamic society people will come to see the

great success that it brings to all members of the society. The remarkable success offered by a rightly practiced Islamic society will provide an excellence model of right living to the non Muslim peoples of the world, and encourage them to live in that same right manner. 3. A strong movement toward right Islamic practice must be developed among the world's Muslims, creating a burning love for Allah in the heart of each and every member of the ummah. A movement or a group is like a small state. If Muslims are able to show that Islamic teachings when practiced by the ummah offer a complete and right way of life which offer solutions to all of the world problems this will proves strongly persuasive to non Muslims and will attract them to Islam We can see in the present day that many people are like baby ducklings who have lost their mother, because they have no one to guide them they do not know which direction to follow. Likewise, in human society when we do not have right guidance we do not know how to overcome all the problems and the sickness that occurs in society. This lack of guidance harms Muslims when we are not united behind right Islamic belief and practice. Muslims then fight with each other, quarrel with each other and insult each other while the enemies of Islam laugh at us and continue their great success in attracting our good Muslim brothers and sisters to their secular ideas, their immoral entertainment and their corrupt social life. Let us, dear brothers and sisters in Islam, unite with sincerity and strength under the name of Islam. As it is mentioned by Allah Almighty in the Qur'an, "And hold fast, All together, by the Rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and not be divided among yourselves"( Al Qur'an 3:103). The call to right Islamic belief and practice must be done always with beatiful words and wisdom. Even the wonderful things offered by Islam must be served to the people in a good way, otherwise the people will have difficulty in accepting it. It is like a cake which must be served in a good manner or otherwise some people will refuse it even though it is delicious. In Islam, there are obligations upon individual and there are obligations upon ummah. Every Muslim is responsible for fulfilling his or her own individual obligations by purifying themselves, creating a healthy body and mind during the physical existence so that the soul may return to Allah. Allah has stated in the Holy Quran, "Indeed he succeeds who purifies his ownself. And indeed he fails who corrupts his ownself"(Al Quran91:9-10). The purified heart will always produce positive action, and a poluted heart will result in negative action.Responsibilities upon the ummah are usually fulfilled by only those individuals among the ummah who specifically take on that responsibility. Those individuals fulfilling collective obligation (fard kifayah) will still need the support from all other Muslims. By fully knowing and accepting our role as Servant and Khalifah (vicegerent) of Allah on this earth we will be able to produce strong Islamic personalities and a right Islamic society working only to fulfill the Will of Allah the Sustainer, who has the right to be worshipped, who is owner of this world and creator of universes. May our dream of the unity of the ummah and khilafah system become a reality. Amin. Unity is strength. When the sand grains unite they become a vast desert. When the sea drops unite they become a boundless ocean. The conglomeration of stars in the firmament of sky soothes our eyes. The seven colors emerge in the shape of a bewitching rainbow. The unity of people makes an invincible strong nation. This is the reason Islam

lays great stress on the importance of unity. The Islamic concept of Towhid is the other name of the unity of humankind. The corner stone in Islam is the unity of God. Allahs unity teaches us the message that we should not divide humans into sections and sects. Almighty Allah in the Quran says that the division of people in the races and clans is only for their introduction. The best one out of them is the man of piety. Dr. Mohammad Ali Al-khuli is his book titled The Light of Islam writes. Islam is the greatest unifying force in the world. It is a religion to all humans regardless of color, race and language. It is a religion that tolerates other religions and orders its followers to respect and protect all humans. According to a Hadith of the Holy Prophet all persons belong to Adam and Adam was from soil. The racial discrimination has been strictly prohibited in Islam. In the last sermon from the Mount of Arafat the Holy Prophet had clearly announced that no Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab; or the white over the black. This is the reason that in Muslim countries we do not find racial discriminations. Islam gives clear injunctions for the respect, safety, security and prosperity of the non-Muslims as well. Unity teaches peace, equality and paternity. The absence of unity brings and breeds disruption, devastation and disputes. Islam ordains protection of non-Muslims simply to show the respect for the Canons of divinity and humanity. God is not only of the Muslims. God is the God of all human beings. The unity of all humans is the ultimate aim of the teachings of Islam. The doctrinal and ideological differences should not lead to war or bloodshed. Man is a thinking creature. Aristotle, the Greek philosopher introduced Rationalism in Philosophy. The Quran time and again asserts on the need of cogitation. Ijtihad is an analogical and analytical approach towards the matters of jurisprudence. Ashab-e-Suffa were the people of wisdom. They gave more time to cogitate on social and academic matters along with their saintly and spiritual practices. They were praised by the Holy Prophet for their involvement in intellectual pursuit. Once the Holy Prophet said: The juristic scholar who receives two rewards for every correct decision and even one for every incorrect one, for he is endeavoring with all his effort to reach the correct decision. The difference of opinion must be positive. It should not lead to prides and prejudices of priests. It should be decent difference on the bases of logic like the differences of Philosophers. Aristotle was the pupil of Plato. He differed from his teacher on many points but he never issued the edict of his assassination. Hegel and Bergson differed. Immunel Kant differed with Nietzche. None cursed or condemned the other. These differences were on principles; not personal. But unfortunately the so called scholars and clerics of different religions brought immense misery to mankind in the name of religion. The Jews, the Christians, the Muslims, the Hindus, the Buddhists and others had mercilessly shed the blood of each other in the name or religion. Each of these sects then killed the followers of their own religions on minor interpretative issues. Even to date the bloodshed in the name of faith is rampant. This is the greatest error and must be rectified. The Quran discusses the concept of unity on three levels. Foremost is the unity of humanity. The Quran in Sura Al-Hujurat (The Inner Apartments) says: O, Mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know one another. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is the one who has piety. (49:13). The Quran no where addresses the Muslims. Either it addresses the believers (momineen) or the people (Annas). The Quran on second level refers to the unity of the people of the Books: the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims- In Sura Al-e-Imran the Quran says: O, people of

the Book! Come to a word that is just between us and you, that we worship none but Allah, and that we associate no partners with him, and that none of us will take others as lords besides Allah. Then if they turn away, say; Bear witness that we are Muslims (3:64). The fifth verse of the Sura The Clear Evidence and the forty eighth verse of Sura The Table Spread also shed light on the unity of the people of the Book. Then on third level the Quran asserts on the unity of the Muslims. In Sura Al-e-Imran the Quran says; And hold fast, all of you together to the rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves. (3:103). Then Quran condemns sectarianism and regards it shirk (polytheism). The Quran again in Sura Al-e-Imran says: O ye who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared and die not except in a state of Islam. This verse clearly ordains that instead of adhering to Sunnism, Shiasim or Wahabism we should strongly adhere to Islam. In Mishqat Sharife there is a tradition of the Holy Prophet which says; The Muslims are like a body; if one limb aches, the whole body aches. Then the Messenger of Allah says; whoever does not care about the affairs of the Muslims is not one of them. From the above Quranic facts we deduce the result that Islam believes in the unity of all humans and preaches peace, justice and equality. Religion is to serve humankind. Religion has come to reform and unite humans, not to divide them. We must condemn extremism and terrorism in the name of religion and unite humankind if we believe in the unity of God.