Proximity Discourse and Islamic Unity Inspired by the Holy Qur'an (Article)

The title is an article by Habibollah Yousefi, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, which presents the strategies for dialogue and the establishment of Islamic unity among the Muslims of the world based on the Holy Qur'an and aimed at announcing all religions and Islamic countries about the commands of the Qur'an on the subject of discussion. The main question is why Muslims have become so scattered despite lots of commonalities, including God, the Prophet, the Qur'an, and so on. Is there a way for unity and preventing division?

INTRODUCTION

Approximation, unity, and love and kindness, and having proper relations are the innate human qualities and the general rule of reason. The heavenly religions that come from the Creator of the universe to guide people and their comfort in the world and the hereafter, all emphasize on unity, alliance and coexistence based on the axis of monotheism. The belief in monotheism, resurrection and prophecy are shared by all divine religions and have no differences in the purposes and guidance of mankind, and if differences are seen among religions and religions, it is either in terms of quantity and imperfection, or because of the distortion of their followers.

For example, the Holy Qur'an says about the distortion of the previous religions: “Therefore woe be unto those who write the Scripture with their hands and then say, "This is from Allah, that they may purchase a small gain therewith.” (Al-Baqara, Verse 79). Therefore, the factors of difference in religions have a human dimension that originates from worldliness, arrogance, pride, velleity, and so on (Abdul-Baghi, 1995).

We will refer to the factors of difference among the discussions. In this regard, one of the beautiful interpretations of the late Imam Khomeini was that "if all the prophets and Imams are gathered, they won’t disagree, there is no difference, but if two chiefs are in one village, there will be a disagreement" (Imam Khomeini, Sahifeh Imam, Vol. 20, P. 224, 14.3.1987, Jamaran)

And again, he says in another sentence: "If all the great prophets gather in a city and in a country, they never differ. Because they are refined, they have the knowledge and wisdom in themselves after refinement. The trouble of us is that we have not been refined, have not been trained." (Imam Khomeini, Sahifeh Imam, Vol. 14, P. 391, 31.5.1981, Jamaran)

Therefore, the best solution for unity and harmony that is the basis of dignity and prosperity is to return to religion and grab the divine rope and avoid division factors. And what unites us is the proximity discourse based on the teachings of the Holy Qur'an, which is the last and most complete heavenly book, so this article will discuss the proximity discourse inspired by the Qur'anic verses.

DISCUSSION

It is good to take the method of discourse and discussion from the Holy Qur'an before discussing the problem of proximity and non-divisibility. In the

method of resolving disputes, one of the best ways that is also a rational rules of human being is relying on common principles and signifying issues. In this regard, the Holy Qur'an says: “Say: O People of the Scripture! Come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside Allah.” (Al-E- Imran, Verse 64)

Another principle of the proper discourse is to follow the rule of wisdom that the Qur'an says to the Prophet: “Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation, and reason with them in the better way! Thy Lord is Best Aware of him who strayeth from His way, and He is best aware of those who go aright.” (Al-Nahl, Verse 125)

Also, the better struggle, softness, reasonableness, tone of preaching and advice, compassion and so on are the correct methods of discourse that the Holy Qur’an pointed to in several verses, and we will enter discussion with the same method.

QURAN, THE AXIS OF DISCOURSE OF ISLAMIC RELIGIONS

One of the common principles that all Islamic religions claim to obey is the Holy Qur'an. All the sects claiming Islam consider the Qur’an as a revelation from the Lord of the universe to the sacred existence of the Prophets (PBUH), and fortunately the Qur'an has a lot of beautiful discussions in all affairs of human life, including harmony and unity, lack of divisions, correction of essence and Islamic brotherhood, and the like. Some of them will be addressed in this article.

FIRST SPEECH: THE QUR'AN’S INVITATION TO UNITY BASED ON THE AXIS OF GODISM

Every wise knows that the unity and harmony is the factor of progress, dignity, pride and conflict and divisions is the factors of defeat and degradation. Allah invited everybody to unite and introduced it one of His blessings. “And hold fast, all of you together, to the cable of Allah, and do not separate. And remember Allah's favour unto you: how ye were enemies and He made friendship between your hearts so that ye became as brothers by His grace.” (Al-E- Imran, Verse 103)

In interpreting the word, "the cable of God," the Shia and Sunni commentators have come up with ideas that can be grouped together and adopted a single meaning from it. For example, some translated it as

Islam by relying on the verses of' “holding religion” and “Verily, those who have divided their religion” and some introduced the Qur'an as divine cable, and some have relied on the verse “And obey the Prophet of Allah and Imams” and introduced it as a Prophet and Ahlul-Bayt. It is no secret that the religion of Islam is the most valuable commands that the Holy Qur’an brings, and the Prophet and his companions have promoted the teachings of this Qur'an and the same religion. So there is no dispute in this sense. (Derived from the Tafsir Nemooneh, Vol. 3, Pp. 29- 30)

The Holy Qur’an provides some very valuable guidance in other verses for the unity and harmony of Muslims. For example, in verse 46 of Surah al- Anfal, He says: “And obey Allah and His messenger, and dispute not one with another lest ye falter and your strength depart from you; but be steadfast! Lo! Allah is with the steadfast”. In the next verse, He says: “Be not as those who came forth from their dwellings boastfully and to be seen of men, and debar (men) from the way of Allah, while Allah is surrounding all they do.”

Therefore, selfishness, struggle and the insistence of everyone or group on their desires weaken and defeat them, and conforming to obedience to God and the Prophet, and devotion and patience in the path to the right are the factors for success, victory, honor and dignity. Also, in Sura An-Nisa, verse 59, He says: “O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger and those of you who are in authority; and if ye have a dispute concerning any matter, refer it to Allah and the messenger if ye are (in truth) believers in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more seemly in the end.” In Surah An-Nisa, verse 146, He says: “Save those who repent and amend and hold fast to Allah and make their religion pure for Allah (only). Those are with the believers. And Allah will bestow on the believers an immense reward.”

Therefore, the invitation of the Qur'an is to the true unity in the protection of God, Qur'an and the Etrat, and doing these two blessings of the great prophet of Islam can lead to the unity, dignity, pride and success of the Muslims of the world at any time and place.

SECOND SPEECH: QUR'AN’S INVITATION TO CONCILIATION OF TWO PARTIES

The Holy Qur'an, in various verses, has invited its followers to reform the affairs of the Muslims and to conciliate of two people who differ, and reform between two groups or two countries that are Muslim and disparate.

In this article we briefly draw attention of the audience to some of these verses.

1. They ask thee (O Muhammad) of the spoils of war. Say: The spoils of war belong to Allah and the messenger, so keep your duty to Allah, and adjust the matter of your difference, and obey Allah and His messenger, if ye are (true) believers. (Al-Anfal, verse 1) When the believers disagreed after the Badr War over the division of spoils, this verse was revealed to correct the difference between themselves and introduced the way to set aside the difference by obeying God and the messenger.

2. And make not Allah, by your oaths, a hindrance to your being righteous and observing your duty unto Him and making peace among mankind. Allah is Hearer, Knower. (Al-Baqara, Verse 224) We see that in this verse the conciliation among people is in line with the piety that should not be abandoned under any pretext.

3. The reward of people who reformed among the people is very large. “There is no good in much of their secret conferences save (in) him who enjoineth almsgiving and kindness and peace- making among the people. Whoso doeth that, seeking the good pleasure of Allah, We shall bestow on him a vast reward.” (An-Nisa, verse 114)

4. Therefore, Islam wants to resolve any dislocation and disagreement among the Muslims and put the reform among people in line with charity and righteous work, so that the Muslims will do it and resolve any disagreements soon, so that there will be no division among the Muslims.

5. “And if two parties of believers fall to fighting, then make peace between them. And if one party of them doeth wrong to the other, fight ye that which doeth wrong till it return unto the ordinance of Allah; then, if it return, make peace between them justly, and act equitably. Lo! Allah loveth the equitable.” (Al-Hujurattt, Verse 9)

6. Also, in verse 10 of the same surah says: “Therefore make peace between your brethren”. And in Sura An- Nisa, verse 128 says: “peace is better”, and in verse 129 of An-Nisaa says: “If ye do good and keep from evil, lo! Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful”.

7. According to the above verses and other verses in this field, if the followers of the Qur'an act according to these orders, there will be no difference, war and bloodshed among them, and they will be united against the enemies of Islam and will be victorious. The late Imam Khomeini stated in a statement about the Islamic Brotherhood: "If people are raised according to the training of prophets that all the celestial books are revealed for their training, all these conflicts will be eliminated, all this trouble will

8. be omitted, they will be brothers, as the Holy Qur'an called all brothers." (Imam Khomeini, Sahifeh Imam, Vol. 11, P. 381, 23.12.1997 / Jamaran)

THIRD SPEECH: RELIGIOUS BROTHERHOOD IN THE QUR'AN

In the noble school of Islam, religious brotherhood and school link is higher than relative and caustic brotherhood. To prove this, I refer to two verses. 1. The believers are naught else than brothers. Therefore make peace between your brethren and observe your duty to Allah that haply ye may obtain mercy. (Al-Hujurat, Verse 10) Or we see in the beautiful statement of the Prophet (PBUH) that "Salman is one of our family" (Majlesi, 1982)

2. Salman has no causal or relative relation to Ahlul- Bayt (Prophet’s family), but the Prophet regards him as the Ahlul-Bayt because he is with the Ahl al-Bayt in terms of religion and the school. "He said: He is not of thy household; lo! he is of evil conduct," (Hud, Verse 46)

In this verse, it is said to Noah, that Oh, Noah, he (his son, Kan’an) is not your household, but he is of devil conduct. Although Kan’an was the son of Noah, but as he broke his school link with God and His Prophet, God says to Noah: He is not your household, but on the contrary, while Salman is a stranger to the Prophet and the household, Prophet says: He is from our household.

Therefore, in the heavenly schools, especially Islam, material connections such as kinship and friendship are always overshadowed by spiritual ties. Islam does not know noble-born except for the virtue and piety, the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct." (Al-Hujurat, Verse 13)

The Supreme Leader states in this case: "I hope that a Muslim Brotherhood will be found among the Islamic governments, as the Qur'an has ordered, that if this Islamic Brotherhood is found among Islamic countries, it is a huge power that none of the world powers can stand. (Information base of the Supreme Leader's Office of Information 19.1.2014/ Hosseinieh Imam Khomeini)

FOURTH SPEECH: SOLUTIONS FOR UNITY AND ALLIANCE

The Holy Qur’an has some valuable solutions for unity and lack of division, some of which are mentioned.

1. Following the divine straight path. “And (He commanded you, saying): This is my straight path, so follow it. Follow no other ways, lest ye be parted from His way. This hath He ordained for you, that ye may ward off (evil).” (Verse 153)

2. Committing and persisting on the teachings of religion. If all Muslims are serious and committed to the instructions of sacred Islam, religious unity will be the means of their power and success. Qur'an states in this regard: “He hath ordained for you that religion which He commended unto Noah, and that which we inspire in thee (Muhammad), and that which we commended unto Abraham and Moses and Jesus, saying: Establish the religion, and be not divided therein. Dreadful for the idolaters is that unto which thou callest them. Allah chooses for Himself whom He will, and guided unto Himself him who turneth (toward Him).” (Ash-Shura, Verse 13)

3. Obeying God and the Apostle. The Holy Qura’n in Sura Al-Anfal, verse 46, says: “And obey Allah and His messenger, and dispute not one with another lest ye falter and your strength depart from you; but be steadfast! Lo! Allah is with the steadfast.”

We all know that in the wars, one of the most important factors in the success is the unit and proper command and obedience of all forces from him, and another factor is resistance, which these two important factors are raised in this verse.

Also, in Surah An-Nisa, verse 59, the obedience of God, and the Prophet and those who are in authority is raised, He says: “O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger and those of you who are in authority; and if ye have a dispute concerning any matter, refer it to Allah and the messenger if ye are (in truth) believers in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more seemly in the end.”

Therefore, there will be no dispute in the light of obedience to God, the Prophet and the governors, and if there is a dispute, the solution is to be submitted to the command of Allah and the Prophet and the rule of governors or their representative, in which case the dispute will be resolved.

In the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, this solution was put forward, and one of the tasks of the leadership of the system, who represents the governor, is to resolve the dispute and regulate the relations among the three forces of the country. (Article 7 of Principle 110 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran).

FIFTH SPEECH: PREVENTION OF DISPUTE AND DIVISION

The Holy Qur'an has forbidden dispute and division in different verses, and has promised a great punishment for those who create dispute with different motivations. As an example, we refer to several verses.

1. “And be ye not as those who separated and disputed after the clear proofs had come unto them. For such there is an awful doom,” (Al-E-Imran, verse 105)

2. “Establish the religion, and be not divided therein.” (Ash-Shura, verse 13)

3. “Lo! As for those who sunder their religion and become schematics, no concern at all hast thou with them. Their case will go to Allah, Who then will tell them what they used to do.” (Verse 159)

4. “And hold fast, all of you together, to the cable of Allah, and do not separate.” (Al-E-Imran, verse 103)

5. This is my straight path, so follow it. Follow no other ways,” (Al-Anaam, verse 153)

And other verses which have prevented division.

So the sin of division is so great that these verses promised a great chastisement, and the Prophet (PBUH) said that these will be punished only with God. And in Surah Ta Ha verse 94, Aaron tells Moses: “I feared lest thou should say: Thou hast caused division among the Children of Israel, and hast not waited for my word.” Therefore, the sin of division is so great that Aaron does not prevent people from worshiping golden calf, in order not to cause division, and Moses accepts this argument.

In this regard, the Supreme Leader states: "Muslims should oppose to any factor against unity and anti- unity, this is a great responsibility for all of us, and both Shia and Sunni must accept it." (Leader's speech on 19.1.2014, Hosseinieh Imam Khomeini)

And again, in another sentence, he says: "The one who calls for division between Shiites and Sunni, and on the pretext of religion, wants to disrupt the national unity, he is enemy whether Shi'a or Sunni, whether he knows or not." (Leader's speech on 10.5.2009, Azadi Square, Sanandaj)

SIXTH SPEECH: QUR'AN WARNINGS ON DIVISIVE FACTORS

1. One of the factors of division from the view of the Qur’an is the oppressors who wanted to be superior to others and no one should resist their oppression. So they did this famous policy "made division and rule" The Qur'an warns in this regard that the factors of disagreement are not always ignorance about right, but mostly is the rule of oppression. “And they were not divided until after the knowledge came unto them, through rivalry among themselves;” (Ash- Shura, Verse 14) Today, the followers of some religions, despite know that they are not right, are not willing to engage in scientific discussions and Qur'anic arguments, but they dispute and divide for their supremacy, selfishness and the preservation of their oppressive government.

2. Another factor that the Qur’an introduces for dividing and constructing wrong and false schools and faiths is to acquire wealth. Therefore woe be unto those who write the Scripture with their hands and then say, "This is from Allah," (Al-Baqara, Verse 79)

3. The continuation of cruel rule

Qur’an says: “Lo! Pharaoh exalted himself in the earth and made its people castes. A tribe among them he oppressed, killing their sons and sparing their women. Lo! He was of those who work corruption.” (Surah Al- Qasas, Verse 4) Today, the Pharaoh of our time, put Muslims into sects to excommunicate each other and kill each other, so they can continue their oppressive rule, and unfortunately many Muslims either do not know or understand, but yet they are coordinated with the enemy to continue their oppressive rule.

4. The velleity of humans

The Holy Qur’an says: “…Unto this, then, summon (O Muhammad). And be thou upright as thou art commanded, and follow not their lusts,” (Surah Ash-Shura, Verse 15) “... So judge between them by that which Allah hath revealed, and follow not their desires,” (Al-Maeda, Verse 49) Therefore, human lusts are one of the factors of dispute that the Qur'an has warned in many cases.

5. Discrimination in law enforcement

The Holy Quran says: “Believe in part of the Scripture and disbelieve in part thereof? And what is the reward of those who do so save ignominy in the life of the world, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be consigned to the most grievous doom.” (Surah Al-Baqara, Verse 85) And in Sura An-Nisa, verse 151, He says: Those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers, and seek to make distinction between Allah and His messengers, and say: We believe in some and disbelieve in others, and seek to choose a way in between;” And in the following verse He says: “Such are disbelievers in truth; and for disbelievers we prepare a shameful doom” and in some other verses He says that whatever from religion which is in their favor, they accept and they reject what is not consistent with their interests. Therefore, discrimination in religion and law is also one of the important factors of division, which the Holy Qur’an warned.

6. Another important warning that the Qur’an gives Muslims is to be careful and to know that the dualists suffer from their alliance and seek to divide the Muslims. In Ash-Shura verse 13 says: “He hath ordained for you that religion which He commended unto Noah, and that which we inspire in thee (Muhammad), and that which we commended unto Abraham and Moses and Jesus, saying: Establish the religion, and be not divided therein. Dreadful for the idolaters is that unto which thou callest them.” That the unity of Muslims around the religious axis is dreadful for the dualists, is due to the divisive actions that they are pursuing to exploit the Muslims. Today we clearly see that the infidels and the idolaters instigate the followers of Islam and Islamic religions to denounce the sect, make division, and exterminate each other and fight and bleeding up. In the meantime, impious authoritarians and those who sold themselves to wealth and power have become the agent of the powerful and wealthy people and, in the name of Islam, commit crimes that every human being hates it, thus disgrace Islam and make Muslims to kill each other and they make profits. The Holy Quran has instructed its followers not to make war, bleeding and division among themselves. “And when we made

with you a covenant (saying): Shed not the blood of your people nor turn (a party of) your people out of your dwellings. (Sura Al- Baqara, verse 84)

7. Another beautiful warning that the Quran gives Muslims is that the infidels and the hypocrites, and those who sold themselves to arrogance, which appear to be all against you, are not unite together, and have different motives that cannot deal with each other. “They will not fight against you in a body save in fortified villages or from behind walls. Their adversity among themselves is very great. Ye think of them as a whole whereas their hearts are divers. That is because they are a folk who have no sense.” (Sura Al-Hashr, Verse 14) This important warning is also a fact proven in history. The wrongdoers come together to undermine the social right, but if they succeed, they collide with each other for achievements, and if they fail, they make each other accountable for it and their division will appear. The reason for this fact is that the Qur'an points out that they have different and dispersed lords, and the true Muslims have a single God who they go to battle for God. "Are diver’s lords better, or Allah the One, Almighty?" (Sura Yusuf, verse 39)

USING THE HISTORY IN CONFIRMATION OF THE ABOVE

The history of early Islam completely shows when Muslims sincerely converted to Islam and were united under the leadership of the Qur'an, they gained great success that dazzled the eyes of the world. "The famous English scientist, John Dion Port, writes: "... Mohammad, a simple Arabs, has transformed the scattered, naked and hungry tribes of his country into a compact and disciplined society, and introduced them with new traits and ethics among the nations on the earth, and in less than thirty years of this manner, he defeated the emperor of Constantinople and destroyed the Sultans of Iran. He conquered Syria, Mesopotamia and Egypt, and expanded his range of conquests from the Atlantic to the coast of the Caspian Sea to the Sihon River." (Babaei, 1989)

Indian scientist and politician, Nehru writes in this regard: “... the Arab tale and the story of how quickly they developed in Asia, Europe and Africa, creating great civilization and culture, is one of the wonders of human history. “Islam” was the new power and thought that awakened the Arabs and filled them with

self-confidence and power.” (Ibid., quoted from a look at the history of the world, Vol. 1, p. 297) At this time, we unfortunately witness how Israel (the country where Imam Khomeini said: "If the Muslims were integrated, each one poured a bucket of water into Israel, it will be flooded, they would be in vain before them" (Sahifeh of Imam, Vol. 8, p. 235) has been able to dominate the region by creating divisions among Muslims and Islamic countries, and implement its goals with the hands of the kings who claim Islam and the Qur'an.

The invitation to unity and the lack of divisions and its fruits in Islamic history and narrations is very broad, and because it is out of the scope of this article, we will not address them.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

From the above, we conclude that the mystery for unity and coordination is correct and lawful dialogue. In the debate and dialogue, if there are many common principles, unity will be created sooner. Muslims and followers of various Islamic religions have many principles and commonalities for creating unity and harmony. The belief in monotheism, the belief in the prophet hood and the teachings of the Prophet (PBUH), and the commandments of the Qur'an are the common principles of religions and Islamic countries that should be the focus of unifying discourse among all religions and Islamic countries.

The Holy Qur’an expresses everything for guidance, pride, and success of Muslims, including the call for unity, solidarity, conciliation of two parties, Islamic brotherhood, non-division, knowing enemy and the like, and reminded everything that causes misguidance and the failure of Muslims. The enemy- knowing in the Qur'an and the comparison of the features expressed by the enemies is one of the miracles of the Holy Qur'an with the conditions and actions of the enemies of the present day.

Therefore, if the Muslims of the world aspire dignity and goodness of the world and the afterlife, resolve all their differences all by grasping the Qur’anic verses and the systematic and rational discourse, and in the light of the monotheism and prophet hood, and obedience of the Qur’an, create a better world and afterlife for themselves and for the future.