ONCE again we rejoice at the approaching Eid, the climax of the heightened spirituality and exuberant brotherly bonds brought about by a month-long fasting. During Eid, all Muslims will embrace and compliment each other with love, compassion and warmth, praise God and pray for the whole Islamic world together. Those who hadn’t spoken to each other previously will make up and hug, the poor will be helped, the elderly will be shown great respect, and the children will jump with joy with all the small allowances, treats and toys they are offered. We will be rewarded with the happy and bright smiles on the faces of our brothers and sisters, who will visit us in their finest looks, and witness the excitement as we return the favour.
As we hug each other with joy and warmth during this very special and important day, and enjoy all the delicious treats around, what will our persecuted brothers and sisters all around the world be doing? How will the Rohingya or East Turkistanis spend their Eid? Or what about our brothers and sisters that have to live under intense oppression in Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Patani, Eritrea, Kashmir, Moro, Thailand, Crimea and in many other places? No doubt these questions will be in mind during this Eid. We are not forgetting about them, and will continue to pray so that the ordeal of Muslims comes to an end immediately. We will not forget them as they have to live under the threat of machine guns, weapons of mass destruction, bombs on a daily basis, lost their mothers, fathers, children, siblings to murders, massacres and torture and have to live in their own lands in a constant state of fear and dread. We pray that their plight comes to an end swiftly and will continue to spread the news about the necessity of Islamic Union, which is the only way of salvation for the Islamic world.
The truth is, we don’t need to look far to find the real culprits behind the wars and pains in the Islamic world: The main reason for this pain is the divided Islamic world. In other words, divided and separated Muslims are responsible for every drop of blood, every innocent who is martyred, injured, crippled or living in hunger. Unless they put aside resentments and conflict and unite, there is no doubt pain and troubles will continue.
It is not difficult for Muslims to reach a mutual decision and end their fragmented situation with an all-embracing union. In other words, all Muslims in the world should make a mutual decision to abide by the morality of the Quran. When this is done, all the Muslims in the world will come together and live in peace without encountering any problems. They will have a whole-hearted love for each other, be friends with each other, see the good in one another rather than what is wrong, approach each other with love rather than doubt and address each other always with the kindest and nicest words.
Islam is the religion of peace and brotherhood. It is against the peaceful and conciliatory soul of the Quran that the followers of the same religion who believe in the same God, same Book and same Prophet, do not take the route of love and brotherhood. According to the Quran, Muslims should rid themselves of lovelessness, fighting and conflict caused by differences in ideas, remember that they are brothers and sisters and embrace each other and live in peace. Not doing this is not only illegal according to Islam, but also conflicts with human nature as people have an inherent inclination to love and peace over fights.
We shouldn’t forget what God orders us to do; that Muslims are to be together not only during festivals, but throughout our lives and that He wants us to unite, and live in solidarity, not divide. This is a clear command of God in the Quran:
“Hold fast to the rope of Allah all together, and do not separate. Remember Allah’s blessing to you when you were enemies and He joined your hearts together so that you became brothers by His blessing. You were on the very brink of a pit of the Fire and He rescued you from it. In this way Allah makes His Signs clear to you, so that hopefully you will be guided.” (3:103).
For this reason, in this Eid the news we want to hear is all the world's Muslims ending separation and coming together and joining forces to save all our persecuted brothers and sisters. Every second that this union is not built, that Muslim countries continue to be divided, then downtrodden Muslims continue to be vulnerable to the attacks of tyrants, and millions of persecuted women, children, and elderly all across the world will have to wait in pain to be saved.
We hope that Muslims set aside their problems and resentments this Eid and come together to seek ways to save their oppressed brothers and sisters, so that the Islamic world can be saved from its troubles and a bright, happy and peaceful time reminiscent of the Age of Felicity can start. Then every day will be Eid, all our lives will be spent with joy and the brotherhood and solidarity offered by the Eid will dominate every moment of our lives.
May our Lord, who gives us this beautiful Eid tomorrow, show that all downtrodden Muslims suffering from persecution are saved and make us the means to their salvation and allow us to embrace them. Eid Mubarak to the entire Islamic world.
The writer has authored more than 300 books translated into 73 languages on politics, religion and science