Sayyed Fadlullah: The Pioneer of Islamic Unity

Sayyed Fadlullah was a true man of unity. Islamic unity and harmony were one of His Eminence’s main concerns during his life. Sayyed Fadlullah recited his well known poem during the obituary of Sayyed Muhsin Al-Amin, may Allah bless his soul, during which he called for unity among all Muslims; a feat he committed himself to until his final days.

His consistent view regarding the unity

One of the Sayyed’s characteristics was his sense of authenticity. Never have I heard him expressing two different views regarding the issue of unity. Never has he altered his stand concerning an issue, but always emphasized his previous view, and went forward practicing his beliefs. I used to attend the Friday Prayer and listen to his speeches, to his recorded lectures on Quranic interpretations, and read his Fatwas on Bayynat website, or even the letters His Eminence used to send me, and all I saw was an indisputably authentic man who never changes his views. Even during the hard times, when he underwent immense injustice which most of you are perfectly aware of, he acted the way true scholars are supposed to. His reaction was indeed proper to his position, as a religious authority, may his soul rest in peace. Islamic unity was his sole purpose. He put aside his personal feelings towards his offenders, and fought against political and social disarray. He channeled all his energy towards one goal, Islamic unity, to which he aspired and called for among the political and national activists throughout the Islamic world.

A characteristic pioneer

All the religious authorities and scholars, who sought unity, realized, right from the very beginning, that unity is a distant goal. They lacked the means and tools for unity; thus, it was out of their reach. Instead, they chose different fields, such as intellect, culture, jurisprudence and religion, in which their chance of succeeding was higher, and ultimately, they would reach their aims. These scholars put aside all their wishes, their desires and personal gains, and devoted genuine efforts and labors for the patriotic and domestic ends: "Verily, this brotherhood of yours is a single brotherhood, and I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore serve Me and no other," (21:92), and in another verse, it is mentioned that: "And verily this Brotherhood of yours is a single Brotherhood, and I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore fear Me and no other." (23:52) His Eminence was one of the very pioneers of Islamic unity; he elucidated its concept, being the unity of intellect and culture. A lot of his texts, tens of them, that I have read underline his profound faith in this unity. His faith was not a mere belief lacking actuality just like the beliefs of all the others; but rather, it was a firm steady faith compounded with practicality. If the issue of the Islamic differences between the Sunnis and the Shiites, for instance, was brought to the table, Sayyed Fadlullah would definitely resort to practicality. One of the features of this practicality is the potential to practice it so that people would not have to withstand what they cannot bear. His Eminence believed that Muslims belonging to both sects are first and foremost, Muslims. The sects themselves should be viewed as two points of view in Islam, while their members ought not involve in prejudice and bias against one another. This belief conforms to Allah's saying in His Holy Quran: "Then if you quarrel about anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger." (04:59). The dialogue between the Shiites and the Sunnis is based on resorting to Allah’s words, the Messenger (p.) and the Quran. Another issue the Sayyed emphasized in support of his view of breaking down the differences between the Sunnis and the Shiites is that they agree on 80% of the narratives and disagree only on the other 20%.

Terms of unity

Sayyed Fadlullah used to condemn sectarianism. On the other hand, he supported "discipline"; that is, one's knowledge of his own sect, the fact that preserves unity and harmony for all. A multi-sectarian nation can live in peace and comfort, each in accordance to its beliefs, views and understanding of its scholars. However, once it develops into sectarianism and fanaticism, the whole nation will be doomed to fall, where intellectual disputes and differences turn into the very tools of discrepancy and conflict. While intellectual differences widen one's horizons and reform one's false understanding of certain Islamic concepts, discrepancy reinforces this false understanding and narrows one's horizons, and ultimately leads to harboring corrupt ideas. Sayyed Fadlullah further explains that the Quran addresses the Messenger and the Muslims: "O People of the Book! Come to common terms as between us and you." (03:64). If one should reach an understanding with the People of the Book, how come the People of the Quran cannot reach such an understanding? Thus, Muslims ought to put all their arguments behind them, come to terms with their differences, and agree on the one and only title that is Islam unites us all. The points that bring us together exceed by far those that set us apart. Even our disagreement on the matter of the mandate and the caliphate must be dealt with in accordance to the Islamic ethics: "Then if you quarrel about anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger." (04:59). Thus, we are supposed to refer to this method when it comes to settling our disagreements. Once we quarrel about a certain matter, we must refer it to the Quran and the Islamic tradition. Sayyed Fadlullah said those words once when the Arab nation underwent a predicament. He commented: "The challenges facing our Islamic nation shall not differentiate between the Sunnis and the Shiites. Moreover, it will attack devotees and adversaries, as well. It is a test of faith in times of trial; a test for the whole nation, and it must be confronted in the same breath. No party will ever be capable of overcoming this challenge on its own. The nation must assemble its lines to face the challenges of the arrogant powers conspiring against us, and trying to dismantle the nation's unity through its collaborators. On more than one occasion, Sayyed Fadlullah discussed the issue of the dissension between the Sunnis and the Shiites that is being invoked by the enemies of the nation and who happen to be foreign agents and collaborators trying with all their might to set us apart and stand in the way of our coexistence. They stand against Islamic unity, and against the coexistence between Muslims and Christians as well.

Islam encompasses all people

We would like to shed the light on a point that is unfortunately, common between the members of both sects, the Sunnis and the Shiites. In our several attempts to break down the differences between the Shiites and the Sunnis, some refuse our attempts claiming that the members and even the scholars of the other sect refuse to acknowledge them as Muslims. In truth, those are neither scholars, nor religious authorities. It is about time that we declare mutiny against the herds of the ignorant and their backward mentality. Only scholars who happen to have true knowledge and erudition are in the position to be leaders of a nation. Sayyed Fadlullah has long called for abandoning the hatred and bitterness that we hold against each other; as a result of ages of darkness and regression. This backward mentality, from which we have been suffering for a very long time, not only misdirects one away from the very truth that one is seeking, but also often creates bias, ignores opposing evidence, and simply makes one less reasonable. We ought to abandon this type of mindset that is often narrow, unmoving, and restricted to the boundaries of an issue rather than evidence. The question is: what is the problem standing in the way between us and unity? The following answer of Sayyed Fadlullah summarizes his view regarding this matter: The issue lies in the fact that international, regional, and local intelligence agencies are striving to infiltrate the lines of the Muslims through the loopholes of our previous failures and our current issues, as well. They are also trying to perpetuate intellectual backwardness that we have been trying very hard to escape. It is about time that we live altogether under the cloak of Islam in its understanding, tolerance, and benevolence.