Internal Conflicts and Disunity within Muslim Ummah with Special Reference to India
Mustapha Kamal Sherwani
Dr. Dean,
Faculty of Law and Shari‘ah, Zanzibar University, Zanzibar Republic of Tanzania, East Africa
ABSTRACT
As the title suggests, the present article deals with those aspects which have shattered the unity of the Muslim Ummah at every level. No doubt, despite all the tall claims of some regarding the cohesiveness of Muslim society during its earlier phases, the reality cannot be ignored that at no stage of the history, especially after the death of Prophet (s.a.w.), the perfect unity in its ranks was ever visible. Disastrous internecine disputes had started within less than a century of the advent of Islam, yet they remained subsided within the fore-corners of Muslim society itself, and the outside world could not be able to derive any advantage from them. The result was that inwardly it would have been a shattered community, with its history full of bloodshed, but outwardly it was one race, capable enough to make ruthless penetration into the otherwise invincible power centres of the world, and face the onslaughts of common enemies, as a unified force. In the contemporary context, when we talk of unity, it must not be construed in the sense as if something new which was not found earlier has happened to dismantle the singular structure of the community at every level– religious, ideological or ethnic. Instead it is the reversal of the image as how the world is looking at us and we are looking at the world. The world is viewing ‘Islam’ as a single religion and ‘Muslims’ as one community, and all the global strategies and conspiracies are inspired by that notion. On the contrary, while coming to the Muslim society itself, one may witness countless ‘Islam’ and numerous brands of ‘Muslims’. It may well be contrasted with the past and present, when faced with the threat of ‘Islam’, the various sects of Christianity which had always remained at loggerheads with one another, buried their severe bitterness. The coming together of Christianity and Judaism is yet another glaring instance of how the process of struggling for survival works in identifying the common enemies, and how the state of perpetual clashes is turned into an everlasting bonhomie.
Considering the immense complexities of analysing the causes of the prevailing multifarious dimensions of Muslim disunity, I have confined myself to India – the country with whose socio-religious structure I am much familiar. Besides, I have not attempted to delve into abstract notions with hypothetical suggestions – a style typical of most of the analysts. Instead, I have narrated my own experiences as I encountered them in the day to day life which are directly affecting the psyche and polluting the minds of innocent Muslim masses. In this article I have put the problems under four heads, i.e. Religious, Ideological, Ethnic, and the Role of Diversity in achieving Unity. In my opinion, of all the problems afflicting the community, the religious schisms which are gaining greater gravity with every passing day, are the most dangerous aspects. The ideological and ethnic differences are not much potential in the sense that the religious fundamentals provide ample room for dealing with them or at least for deprecating them. However, when the religious fabric itself is torn apart through mutually- clashing interpretations, and with each challenging the religious basis of the other, the situation becomes intractable.
Bewildering no doubt it is, but the Islamic basis of the Muslim ‘Ummah’ is resilient and vibrant enough to tackle this unprecedented crisis. The need therefore lies in reviving those resilient and vibrant foundations which down the ages have absorbed the shocks of many a convulsive tremor. An added responsibility lies on the Muslim states to seek the emancipation of the community, through the combined efforts, from the obscurantist and puritanical currents which are blocking the onward progress of the community.