The Universal Brotherhood

Written by: Mikhayah

‫بسم ال الرحن الرحيم‬

There was once a follower of the Ahlu-l-Bayt, a student of the A'mmah of the
Prophet Muhammad's progeny, whose family would repeatedly argued bitterly with
him. This bitter arguing was regarding his decision to enter the fold of the
deenu-l-Fitrah, the Religion of Nature, which had been proclaimed by the Prophet
Muhammad. For this man was very devote in his quest for knowledge, and he had
followed truth wherever it led him. His brother would bicker and argue with him,
as would his parents, yet no matter what he still loved them and prayed that one
day they too would enter the deen as he had done. When they fought, his brother
would say mean and spiteful things against him, as brothers often do. He would
bring up things which he had done in his past which in hindsight proved very
stupid decisions. "You never think anything through, remember when you did this,
this and that? You are the stupidest person alive!" Time and time again conflict
arose and venomous words were spit against him.

Nevertheless, his family would come to him the day after a large fight between
them all. Time and time again he would forgive them, even though they were kuffar,
quoting the teachings of his Imaam Muhammad al-Baaqir, saying: "The virtue that
will force a Mu'min to enter into Jannah is rich moral behavior with parents."

His parents and brother were embarrassingly pleased with his forgiveness. His
words would leave them in shame of their actions, and their adoration of the
teachings of Islaam. Despite what they had done and said, he loved them and kept
no account of their wrongs.

It was not too long before this man, this student of the Ahlu-l-Bayt was sitting
in Hawza and heard the infamous words of Rasool Allah's final Khutbah at Ghadir
Khumm: "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 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."

"Maa shaa' Allah. Maa shaa' Allah." Was heard subtly on the lips of students.
"Allahu Akbar!" the student let out, in a more audible tone, feeling in his heart
that he truly appreciated these words. Shortly after this the lesson for the day
came to a close, the man gathered up his belongings and retired for the day.

The man went home reciting Ahadeeth along the way, stopping along the way to make
Salaah right when the time arrived for it. He was admired for his taqwa, his piety
and fear of Allah. He was known for his knowledge of the deen. Along the way the
some friends who knew this man heard him coming. One of them broke away and called
out to him: "Akhiy! Where were you last night?" He reminded the man that he had
agreed to help him with something. But the man had completely forgotten about this
and naturally apologized "Forgive me akhiy! I forgot all about this, I was so busy
with work, and studies." But this had not been the first time he had failed this
brother so the brother erupted at him: "I've had it with you! You are a good for
nothing friend! I have helped you do so many things and yet you cannot keep a
simple, singular commitment to me?"

The man who had asked for forgiveness responded angrily that he would not be
spoken to in this manner, and with that he continued walking off...
The next day he came across some others that he knew and they asked him about this
conflict, this fitnah. They said, "We heard that you and so and so had a big
argument yesterday." The man grew angry at this old acquaintance and tore into him
to these people.

As he continued he passed this man who had been so angry with him the day before.
The man said "Akhiy, I do not want you to think that I am not upset with you
breaking your commitment to me, or you being oblivious to this while I am aware of
my commitments to you. Nevertheless, I do not want you to think that I meant any
of that which I said. I was angry and this anger over took me, just as our Imaam
..Aliyy once told us that 'Anger is a form of temporary insanity, which ends in
remorse.' This is true akhiy, and indeed I feel remorse for this. I meant my
criticisms of your actions, but I regret the anger with which I said these things.
I wish for you to consider what I said, but please forgive how I spoke to you."

Yet this man would not hear of it. He said "No, I cannot do this. You are still my
brother in Islaam, but I will never speak with you again."

The other man waited and waited for forgiveness to enter into the man's heart, but
it never came. When he would see the man walking home from his hours of study in
the Hawza he would plead: "Akhiy, this is not how we are supposed to be. Is it not
narrated that Rasool Allah said: 'Do not be angry with each other and do not envy
each other and do not turn away from each other, and be slaves of Allah, brothers.
For it is not halaal for a Muslim to shun his brother for more than three nights?'
Akhiy, it has been much longer than three nights, and still you shun me! Why do
you forgive your kafir brother in blood, but reject your Muslim brother in spirit?
Blood is perishable, but the spirit lives on. Akhiy, please forgive me, not in a
conceptual way of merely uttering the words of forgiveness, but by truly feeling
forgiveness and not shunning your Muslim brother."

The man said nothing in response but walked away holding a grudge and shunning his
brother.

O Brothers and sisters, O Children of Adam, when there is conflict between

brothers, it is not to be ignored. Islaam is the deen of Nature, the Natural
Religion, and it is not natural for brother to turn against brother. The Ummah is
a family unit. Family units are to be tightly knit, and when conflict flares up,
it is allowed to burn itself out, and then any words, bitterness and even insults
are forgiven. This is the nature of brotherhood that we see in families bound only
by blood, and within the deen of Islaam, we are to see it displayed even more so.

Islaamic brotherhood is not hypothetical or conceptual. Muhammad said it clear

that every Muslim is a brother to every other Muslim. He did not say "You are
brother... IN ISLAAM" neither did he say "You are all LIKE brothers." Imaam
..Aliyy was certainly not his BLOOD brother, and yet he said to him "You are my
brother in this world and the next." Yes, he said in both this world of the
Dunyaa' and in Akheerah, Imam ..Aliyy was his brother despite the fact that
..Aliyy neither came from the seed of his father, nor from the womb of his mother.

Muhammad said "You are all brothers" and that Islaam itself is a true Brotherhood.
This brotherhood is thicker than blood. This brotherhood is MORE "real" than the
ties of family and blood in the sight of Allah and the Mu'minoon. To honor family
ties and not honor this brotherhood, ordained by Allah and proclaimed by Hu's
Rasool is to embrace the pure illusion of the world of Dunyaa' and to reject the
Haqeeqah, the Reality. This is not the way of Islaam, but is the tendency of the
era of Jahiliyah.
When Muhammad, al-khatam al-anbiyaa told us that we are brothers of each other,
this is what he meant, and more importantly this is what ALLAH meant for him to
convey. These words were not of him"self." Clearly this is why Muhammad forgave
even those who he would foretell would leave the fold of the deen. As it is
written that Muhammad said: "Certain individuals among my companions will be
forcibly pushed away from my Pool (of Kawthar) on the Day of Judgment just as
strange camels are pushed away from the watering place, and I shall cry, 'O Lord!
My companions! My companions!' and it shall be said to me, 'You do not know what
innovations they invented after you,' so they will be pushed away towards the left
side, and I shall say, 'Away with them; ruined they shall be."

Yes, Muhammad even knew there were those amongst him who would betray the deen,
and would divide the Ummah, and yet he never disassociated with him. This is
because he knew the reality of the words of ..Iysaa-l-Maseeh when he instructed us
to pray that we be forgiven by Allah just as we forgive others. And as well, the
words that by the same standard or measure that we judge, so too shall it be
judged against us. This is why ..Iysaa-l-Maseeh knew that Y'hudah Sikkari (Judas
Iscariot), would betray him and yet he kept him around as one of his twelve
innermost disciples; never shunning him. For it was not ..Iysaa who rejected and
shunned Y'hudah, but Y'hudah who rejected and shunned him. Similarly, this is why
..Iysaa foretold that Shimeon Kefa' (Simon Peter), would deny him three times
before the rooster crowed the next morning - in spite of Kefa's claims that he
would gladly die for him - and yet this did not cause ..Iysaa to deny Shimeon or
shun him; neither did it cause him to reject and disassociate himself from Kefa'
after the fact.

This was because of the nature of brotherhood. What brother would shun his brother
when a hand of forgiveness is offered? Y'hudah was looked upon as ..Iysaa's
brother. ..Iysaa knew that this brother would betray him and yet he still did not
reject him, because he sincerely loved him and viewed him in the same way that
even most kuffar view and respect their own blood ties. This is the nature of
brotherhood and this is the nature of Islaam, of Submission to the Divine Will.

Freewill exists and we each are responsible for our individual choices in life.
Thus it is possible for people to go against this and do the opposite of what they
are told, but this is not Imaam. It is for the Mu'minoon to make only those
choices in accordance with the Divine Will. Thus, it is written that Imaam Al-
Husayn said: "The person having confidence in Allah's free-will (satisfied with
Divine destiny), does not wish to be in a state other than the one chosen for him
by Allah."

This is why both Muhammad and ..Iysaa treated even those who they knew would
betray them and even those who would betray the deen as brothers. When they were
approached for forgiveness, there was no puffed up "nafs" who thought of holding a
grudge or refusing forgiveness. This was not their Sunnah. Those who sought to be
their companions were their companions. They did not decide "I like this person
and our 'personalities' mesh well together so I will select him as 'my' friend."
They did not decide who would be their companions, they accepted all who came to
them. Those who sought more, were given more; as it is written: "Ask and you shall
receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened."

How do we know what is Allah's Will and what is the will of man? We know this
because Allah has told us and given us the example of the Prophets and the
purified ones, the Mutahharoon of the Ahlu-l-Bayt to emulate. It is for this
reason that it is written that Imaam Moosaa Kaadhim relayed a Hadeeth from his
ancestor, the Prophet Muhammad saying: "If any Mu'min resolves or even tries to
resolve the difficult matters, affairs, or problems of another Mu'min, in reward
on the Day of Judgment, Allah will please the heart of that person."
Thus, we know Allah's Will. We do not have to wonder which of these two men in
this story are right or wrong. For both men had wronged each other, just as any
brothers will do, but despite the unforgiving man's piety and devotion to
learning, he had not paid attention to the very words of Muhammad which he himself
had adored about brotherhood. Thus, it is written that Muhammad, al-Khatam al-
Anbiyaa' likewise said: "A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim. He neither oppresses
him nor humiliates him nor looks down upon him. The taqwa is here, (and while
saying so) he pointed towards his chest three times. It is a serious evil for a
Muslim that he should look down upon his brother Muslim. All things of a Muslim
are inviolable for his brother in faith; his blood, his wealth and his honor."

This, brothers and sisters, is the nature of Taqwa, of piety, of fear of Allah.
True Taqwa is in the Innermost Heart, the Qalb of the Mu'min. It is not in the
outward acts of piety and devotion. It is not the external, Zahiriy form of
Shariy..ah. These things are important, but the essence of Taqwa does not lie
externally in the performance of these rituals and acts, but rather internally,
from where the motivation to manifest these outward acts should spring forth from.

For this reason it is written that Imaam Ja..faru-s-Saadiq quoted his ancestor,
the Prophet Muhammad, saying: "Have fear of Allah with the fear of His punishments
(Azab) and perform virtues without the intention of showing them off to people.
Performing virtues and posing to be pious just for showing off to people is a form
of Shirk and such deeds will not be rewarded by Allah All Mighty. Allah only
rewards deeds/acts that have been performed for purely the sake of His happiness.
The destination of such a person (who adopts piousness to show off to people) is
the worst portion of Hell called Sijeen."

O Children of Adam, do you not understand that every performance of a deed

centered around the nafs, the ego of one's-"self" or the "self" of any "other" is
a form of "shirk," of polytheistic worship of the "ego-self?" If our deeds are not
performed due to the Garden within the Qalb, then we will never enter the Garden
in the Hereafter. It is for this reason that ..Iysaa-l-Maseeh called the outwardly
"pious" P'rushim, or "Pharisees" a "den of vipers" and "white washed tombs" who
were clean and freshly painted on the outside, yet filled with death on the
inside.

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like white washed
sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful on the outside, but within you are full
of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." Matthew
23:27-28

Brothers and Sisters, we can say "Akhiy" this and "Ukhtiy" that, but if we do not
TRULY view each other as brothers and sisters, forgiving all trespasses against
each other just as we ourselves wish and often expect to be forgiven by Allah,
then we have not embraced the essence of Taqwa. If we cannot achieve unity and
brotherhood on an interpersonal level within our communities and the people we
meet, then how can we expect for the Ummah itself to ever find unity. If we cannot
achieve unity and brotherhood on an interpersonal level within our communities and
the people we meet, then how can we expect for conflicting parties on the world
stage to ever come to view each other as brothers and put aside the animalistic
drive for one people's dominion over the other?

Change begins within. If we do not change what is within us, then we will never
change the world which is outside of us. For if we cannot wage this inner Jihaad
against the ego which resents, harbors grudges and grievances, then how will we
ever hope to win an external jihaad against forces that fight and oppress others
based on their own feelings of having them"selves" been wronged? If we cannot win
the inner Jihaad, then not only will we never win any external struggle against
wickedness and oppression, but we will merely be manifesting a form of the same
wickedness, ego-centrism and oppression; merely caked with the deceptions of
religious terminology like so much white-wash painted onto sepultures.