Submission by: Tavis Adibudeen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Topic: Friday Thoughts
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Text:
With the Name of Allah, The Merciful Benefactor, The Merciful Redeemer
What Is Unity?
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All praise and thanks is due to Allah, Whose proof of existence is evident
in His creation, Whose Majesty is over all things, Whose knowledge is not
limited, Whose wealth does not decrease with its distribution, Whose
kingdom does not fade with time, Whose laws do not change with sessions,
and Whose Oneness is absolute. He is One, but not in numerical smallness,
but rather He is One because there is no two or three. The unity of Allah
is so that He cannot be separated into separate gods or described only by
certain attributes. Anyone who seeks a description for Him has attempted
to limit Him. Anyone who seeks to find Him has underestimated Him. Anyone
who seeks to look at Him is blind. Anyone who points at Him does not mean
Him.
Allah deputed the last Prophet to be a Mercy to humanity. He initiated his
mission with a Message, the Qur'an, that does not become worn with age.
Instead its message only increases in relevancy; its verdicts increase in
guidance; its knowledge increases understanding. Before the last Prophet,
there were numerous Prophets before him. Each brought a message to his
people. Each had a task to perform and a mission to complete. Despite
color of skin, language of the people, or customs of the time period, the
message was the same. Every Prophet completed his mission not through
miracles, eloquent speech, or fierce battles. Their missions were complete
when they convinced the believing hearts that there was but One, Allah, and
that there is none like unto Him.
When their missions were complete, they returned to their Lord and left
only the Message to be a reminder to the people. The Message was One.
The first Prophet, Adam, contained the characteristics of purity found in
the beginning of man's quest for submission. Each Prophet that descended
from his prestigious progeny was bound to this purity and grew from it.
Although their knowledge increased, their purity did not decrease. They
knew not sin. They were shining examples to their people and warnings to
those who enjoined transgression. When it seemed the last of the Prophets
had disappeared and the Message had escaped from the hearts of the people,
Allah raised the Seal of the Prophets, upon whom be peace, as the
culmination of all who had come before him. Every characteristic that was
in the first Prophet, Adam, upon whom be peace, and every Prophet after him
found its completion and perfection in the Seal of the Prophets.
When his mission was complete, he returned to his Lord and left the final
Message and his excellent example, which magnifies all the Prophets and
Messengers before him. The Prophets are One.
The Most High gifted the followers of the last Prophet with a Book unlike
any before it and superior to any after it. It is light from His Light and
wisdom from His Supreme Wisdom. As its Messenger is the culmination of all
the Messengers before him, so too is the Message the culmination of all the
Messages before it. One special and honorable blessing and promise has
been bestowed upon it that has rendered it final and trustworthy for all
times: Its preservation. When the Seal of Prophethood was confirmed, so
too was the seal of Books confirmed and inscribed on the Preserved Tablet.
The final Message was etched upon the hearts of thousands, inscribed upon
scrolls and pages for centuries, and forever understood in clear Arabic
that it might bestow wisdom upon its reciters and listeners. The Books are
One.
The memorizers, jurists, scribes, scholars, spiritual leaders, high
thinkers, and laymen all recognize the Oneness of the Most High, the
Oneness of the Message, the Oneness of the Prophets, and the Oneness of the
Books. They not only recognized this reality but enjoined it upon all
believing hearts and made it manifest in their deeds. So precise was the
way of life that they have practiced that the ones who go astray stand out
like an old shoe thrown into crystal clear water. Great men differed
amongst each other, but greater men reconciled those differences. When
they went their way, the Message was still preserved and the way of life
was still manifest. Generations upon generations continued this lineage
bestow from the first man, Adam and the believing hearts continue to
multiply. The Ummah is One.
So, I ask you, dear reader, to consider not what is absent today from this
Ummah or from our brothers and sisters. I instead ask you to consider what
Allah has commanded this Ummah to become, to channel that consideration
into planning, to channel that planning into action, and to channel that
action into success. So, when someone asks me, "What is unity?" I tell
them, unity is Islam. Believe it, understand it, live it, and it will
unify you...
"And verily this Ummah of yours is a One Ummah, and I am your Lord and
Cherisher: therefore fear Me (and no other). But people have cut off their
affair (of unity), between them, into sects: each party rejoices in that
which is with itself. But leave them in their confused ignorance for a
time. Do they think that because We have granted them abundance of wealth
and sons, We would hasten them on in every good? Nay, they do not
understand. Verily those who live in awe for fear of their Lord; Those who
believe in the Signs of their Lord; Those who join not (in worship)
partners with their Lord; And those who dispense their charity with their
hearts full of fear, because they will return to their Lord;- It is these
who hasten in every good work, and these who are foremost in them."
(al-Qur'an al-Kareem, 23: 52-61)
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