لَا يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ جَمِيعًا إِلَّا فِي قُرًى مُّحَصَّنَةٍ أَوْ مِن وَرَاءِ جُدُرٍ ۚ بَأْسُهُم بَيْنَهُمْ شَدِيدٌ ۚ تَحْسَبُهُمْ جَمِيعًا وَقُلُوبُهُمْ شَتَّىٰ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَّا يَعْقِلُونَ

“They will not fight you all except within fortified cities or from behind walls. Their violence among themselves is severe. You think they are together, but their hearts are diverse. That is because they are a people who do not reason.” (Al-Hashr: 14)

As Muslims we sometimes feel that the those who oppose Islam are united in their opposition but whether it is the political hooliganism at Westminster and Brussels or the physical violence of the football fans in France – these events should make us reflect at how brittle and weak their unity is.

Individualism which is a cherished value in this society leads to شَتَّىٰ – division and disunity. We see that all too well in the selfish and shameless leadership battles that are taking place amongst the Labour and Conservative parties right now.

Brothers and sisters, this is the month of taqwa, taqwa that shapes the identity of the Muslim to care for his fellow Muslim, and more than that taqwa pushes us to care for the affairs of all people because Allah Jalla wa ‘ala sent Muhammad (ﷺ) as a mercy to all mankind.

Allah Sunhanahu wa ta’ala did not create us into peoples and tribes لِتُفٓرِّقُوا – to be divided and set up nationalism and borders between the hearts and the lands but He Sunhanahu wa ta’ala made us into peoples and tribes لتعارفوا – in order to know one another, to bond with one another.

They built many political and physical institutions to establish their unity – from EU, NATO, UN, etc. but when calamities happen amongst themselves they are at eachothers throats.

الْمُسْلِمُ أَخُو الْمُسْلِمِ، لاَ يَظْلِمُهُ وَلاَ يُسْلِمُهُ، وَمَنْ كَانَ فِي حَاجَةِ أَخِيهِ كَانَ اللَّهُ فِي حَاجَتِهِ، وَمَنْ فَرَّجَ عَنْ مُسْلِمٍ كُرْبَةً فَرَّجَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ كُرْبَةً مِنْ كُرُبَاتِ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَمَنْ سَتَرَ مُسْلِمًا سَتَرَهُ اللَّهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ

‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar narrated: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim, so he should not oppress him, nor should he hand him over to an oppressor. Whoever fulfilled the needs of his brother, Allah will fulfill his needs; whoever brought his (Muslim) brother out of a discomfort, Allah will bring him out of the discomforts of the Day of Resurrection, and whoever screened a Muslim, Allah will screen him on the Day of Resurrection.”

When the debt calamity hit Greece did her brothers in secularism and nationalism rush to her rescue? No. Rather her EU brothers brought Greece humiliatingly to her knees.

The EU is in the brink of disintegration – Greek debt, mass migration, and now Brexit are crises that highlight how fragile their cooperation and unity really is.

مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ كَمَثَلِ الْعَنكَبُوتِ اتَّخَذَتْ بَيْتًا ۖ وَإِنَّ أَوْهَنَ الْبُيُوتِ لَبَيْتُ الْعَنكَبُوتِ ۖ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ

“The example of those who take allies other than Allah is like that of the spider who takes a home. And indeed, the weakest of homes is the home of the spider, if they only knew.” (Al-Ankabut: 41)

Brothers and sisters, this is a great opportunity for da’wa.

Many people in the wider society are disgusted by this show of chauvinism, racism, kibr, and the little islander mentality that this NO vote has unleashed. The way out of the failures of EU is not Brexit but Al–Islam, the duty of those who strive to attain taqwa is to present Islam as the alternative for indeed this is a time when those who reflect, and those who reason are in search of that alternative – the true way OUT.

For 13 centuries Islam created a civilisation that was a melting pot where nation after nation entered the fold of Islam and non-Muslims lived in security.

As Muslims, especially in this sacred month, we know and feel the power of Islam to transcend all barriers and truly unify the hearts – therefore we should reflect that if we struggled to achieve our physical unity as an Ummah once again, under a unified leadership, we would truly be a force to reckon with.

وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا ۚ وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِّنَ النَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ

“And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah’s favour on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became brothers, and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Ayat clear to you, that you may be guided.” (Ale-Imran: 103)