HUM110- Islamic Studies

(Hybrid Course)
Semester Project

Disunity Among Muslims

Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1
Current Condition of Muslims ........................................................................................ 1
What is a Sect ............................................................................................................. 1
Different Sects of Islam .......................................................................................... 2

Cause for Sunni-Shia split ....................................................................................... 2

Wahhabism and Salafism ....................................................................................... 2

Reasons ....................................................................................................................... 2
Little Understanding of Islam ................................................................................. 2

Illiterate Teachers ................................................................................................... 3

Many interpretations of Quran and Hadeeth ........................................................ 3

Effects ......................................................................................................................... 4
Hateful Speeches and Behavior .............................................................................. 4

Extremism ............................................................................................................... 4

War Among Muslims .............................................................................................. 5

Islam as a Violent Religion ...................................................................................... 5

Benefiting the Enemy of Islam ............................................................................... 5

Solution ........................................................................................................................... 5
Guidance Through Quran ........................................................................................... 6
Discussions between different Scholars ..................................................................... 6
Mandatory Islamic Education ..................................................................................... 7
Campaign about Unity ................................................................................................ 7
Improving the Madaris ............................................................................................... 8
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 8
References ...................................................................................................................... 8
 Disunity Among Muslims
Introduction
The entire world knows the importance of unity. Islam Knows the value
of unity. Islam again and again has taught us the importance of unity. Solidarity,
cooperation, and standing by one another are important and basic elements for
constructing a sound, united Islamic society. Islam has compared the Muslim Ummah
with a human body and iff one part of the body meaning on Muslim feels pain, then
the entire body meaning the entire Ummah feels that pain. There was once a time in
the world when the Muslims were united when they helped each other. When they
set an example for the world to follow. But unfortunately, today, the Muslims are
divided. They prefer the teachings of their own sects instead of the true teachings of
Islam. Now they fight each other over little differences and allow the Non-Muslims to
fully take advantage of them. The Muslims are facing many problems in the modern
world and they can only overcome these problems when they become united.

Current Condition of Muslims

The modern-day Muslims have forgotten the soul of Islam, many claims
that they will help their brothers but when the need arises, they turn away their faces.
The Muslim’s are now divided, they are now divided into their sects and each follower
considers himself to be better than those in the other sects. Muslims instead of facing
their true enemies and enemies of Islam together, are fighting against each other not
only based on their sects but also nationalities.
The Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) already warned about divisions that will happen
between the Muslims, he said:
“Verily the people before you from the People of the Book split into seventy-two
religions, and this religion will split into seventy-three; seventy-two are in Hell and
one is in Heaven and it’s the group.”

What is a Sect
A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system,
usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification
for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that breaks away
from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and principles.

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Different Sects of Islam
There are many different sects in Islam as according to the above-mentioned
hadeeth Islam would be divided in seventy-three sects but a few major sects are as
follow.
 Sunni.
 Shia.
 Wahhabism.
The Sunni-Shia sects are the oldest ones where as Wahhabism is fairly recent.

Cause for Sunni-Shia split

Sunni and Shia are the two major denominations of Islam. They division
occurred following the death of the Holy prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.). The main
dispute was over succession of caliph of Islam. The Sunnis took the side of the friend
of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Abu-Baker (RA) while the Shias believed that Hazrat Ali (RA)
was the rightful caliph. Due to this dispute the Battle of Jamal and Battle of Siffin took
place. The dispute intensified greatly after the Battle of Karbala, in which Hussein ibn
Ali and his household were killed by the ruling Umayyad Caliph Yazid I, and the outcry
for revenge divided the early Islamic community. Now about 85% of Muslim
population of the world is Sunni while about 10% is Shia and the years old conflict is
still dividing the Muslims.

Wahhabism and Salafism

The Wahhabi movement was created by Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab in the
Arabian peninsula, and was instrumental in the rise of the House of Saud to power.
The terms Wahhabism and Salafism are often used interchangeably, although the
word Wahhabi is specific for followers of Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab.
The Salafi movement is an ultra-conservative reform movement within Sunni
Islam that emerged in the second half of the 19th century and advocated a return to
the traditions of the "devout ancestors" (the Salaf). The doctrine can be summed up
as taking "a fundamentalist approach to Islam, emulating the Prophet Muhammad and
his earliest followers—al-salaf al-salih, the 'pious forefathers'....They reject religious
innovation, or bid'ah, and support the implementation of sharia (Islamic law).

Reasons
There are countless reasons for the current divided state of the Muslims but a
few that are considered to be the most damaging are as follow.

Little Understanding of Islam

The modern-day Muslims do not care about the religious education of
their children and instead the parents focus on giving their child the best worldly

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education possible. This is the reason why the young generation is not much aware
about their religion. The Holy Prophet once told his companions the following:
“You’re living during a time when few have memorized while many have
understood, and a time will come when many will have memorized while few have
understood.”
If we focus on the above hadith we can quickly understand its meaning, we are
living in a time where many Muslims recite the Qur’an on a daily basis and yet when it
comes to learning from it and taking its instructions to heart, many simply fail. In fact,
we have many Muslims that have either memorized the whole Qur’an cover to cover,
or are currently focusing and working hard on memorizing it. But there are only a few
of us who work hard on implementing and understanding the Qur’an in our daily lives.
Due to lack of understanding of Qur’an many young Muslims who wish to follow
Islam gets guidance from those who themselves are not much aware about Islam. The
youth also not having a basic foundation of the religion blindly follows what they
preached which may cause not only wrong understanding of Islam but also many
differences among the young generation.

Illiterate Teachers
In the modern world every one considers himself to be an expert on everything,
matter of religion is no different. With an ocean of information at our finger tips we
can check the internet for everything we may want. People who do wish to follow
Islam usually go on the internet to get guidance which might not the best location to
learn about Islam. The world is filled with misinformation and people who think and
talk like they are the most intelligent scholars but are actually idiots. When people
follow such scholars they only gain useless information that closes their minds to the
truth so when they actually hear some useful that goes against their already
established believes they get angry and start fighting because that is the only thing
they were taught.

Many interpretations of Quran and Hadeeth

Even during the time of four Caliphs, the Sahaba had many different
views and there were many different interpretations of Qur’anic verses and Hadeeths.
There were many differences among Sahabahs, many of which were natural and were
unavoidable, mostly due to the various interpretations of the Qur’anic verses and
Hadeeths.
The Quran is the greatest book of the world with each verse having countless
meanings, and without the proper Arabic education it is impossible to fully understand
the Quran. There are many who try to understand the Quran by reading its simple

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translation as a result they not only don’t gain a proper understanding of Quran but
they also end up misinterpreting many things in the Quran.
Today however, there are some people who knowingly try to misinterpret the
meaning of Quran and Hadeeth or at the very last try to hide every interpretation of a
verse to fit their own needs they also may try to add some new things in their
interpretations according to modern ideas, such people may have good intentions but,
in the end, they end up hurting Islam as a whole. The Holy Prophet said about such
acts as:
“The best of religious matters is what was in accordance to the Sunnah, and the
most evil of matters are the newly innovated ones (in the religion)”
There are also those who may try to interpret the Holy Quran without the
proper knowledge and qualifications. They however also end up hurting Islam,
because without proper knowledge they don’t know what each verse may mean.
The misinterpretations are the most troublesome issue that the Muslims have
to face. As many Muslims do not have the proper knowledge of Quran and Sunnah,
they may actually follow these misinterpretations many of which spread hate instead
of the true message of Islam which is peace and many misinterpretations may also
divide the Muslims.

Effects
The current divided state of the Muslims has some very bad effects on the
Muslim world. Some of which are as follow.

Hateful Speeches and Behavior

Many Muslim scholars of all sects, try to gain recognition by exploiting the
divide among the Muslims. They spread hateful messages in their speeches that not
only further divide the Muslims but also cause them to hate each other by associations
to a different sect. Many scholars instead of solving the problems of the Muslims
blame the West for this problem. Their behaviour causes unrest in the society and
some of their followers follow them so blindly that they forget that they are followers
of a religion of peace. These followers providing such scholars the support they need
to cause trouble for the general public.

Extremism
The Muslims who don’t have a good understanding of Quran consider their
sects and nationalities to be superior from others and look towards others sects with
hatred, they consider followers of other sects to be non-Muslims and hypocrites.
There are also many scholars who preach about attacking and hurting those who are
against their views. The Shia-Sunni fights maybe the biggest example of this division.

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Many fights have occurred due to these extremist views. Unfortunately, much of the
younger generation has extreme views about other sects of Islam.

War Among Muslims

Today almost the entire Muslim world is engulfed in war and unfortunately the
primary cause of bloodshed in the Islamic world is the conflict among Muslims.
Muslims are not fighting their enemies but their own brothers. They kill their own
brothers and then justify it with sects and nationalities not understanding the
importance of Muslim unity. When we look at such incidents happening in the Muslims
world it feels that the message of Islamic unity is alien to us people.

Islam as a Violent Religion

The current state of Muslims creates a very bad image of Islam for the rest of
the world. When the non-Muslims look at the current state of Islam, they don’t see it
as a religion of peace but as a religion of hate and war. They feel that the religion of
Islam is a religion of hypocrites. On one side the Muslims preach unity and on the other
hand they fight among themselves.
The Muslims themselves are stopping the Non-Muslims from getting the true
understanding of Islam and are allowing the western media to paint a violent image of
Islam for the west.

Benefiting the Enemy of Islam

Allah Almighty has filled the Muslim world with countless treasures that could
be used for the benefit the Islamic community around the world, instead of using these
resources as a blessing we have turned these into a curse. The Muslims fight and
compete with each other due to these resources and the only one who benefits due
to our fights are the non-Muslims and the enemies of Islam. They take advantage of
our fights and take control of our resources in all but name. They give us political
support we need to hide our blood hand from the rest of the world and then they sell
us the weapons required to kill each other and they make sure that we don’t run out
of ammo.
It is a shame that the Muslims have are still stuck in this endless cycle of hatred
and war and have not figured out a solution of their problem of disunity.

Solution
Many people around the world have tried and many are still trying to unite the
Muslims. Though they face many challenges, some progress has been made. The
young generation knows the importance of unity and is trying to destroy old
stereotypes that divide the Muslims of the world. They are using many new

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approaches to preach the message of unity according to Quran and Sunnah. Many
governments have also taken steps to spread the message of unity according to Islam.
A few steps that are taken to unite the Muslims are as follow.

Guidance Through Quran

Allah Almighty himself has stressed on the importance of unity in the Quran but
once but on many occasions because without it there is no way for the Muslims to
succeed against the enemies of Islam. At one occasion Allah (SWT) said in the Quran
that:
“And hold fast all together by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you) and be
not divided among yourselves, and remember with gratitude Allah’s favor on you;
for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love so that by His grace ye
became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of fire and He saved you from
it. Thus, doth Allah make his signs clear to you: that ye may be guided”
(Quran, 3:103)
At another point Allah (SWT) mentioned believers to be brothers in Islam.
“The believers are nothing else than brothers (in Islam). So, make reconciliation
between your brothers, and fear Allah, that you may receive mercy.”
(Quran, 49:10)
So, how can a brother fight his brother even if and in regards to the unity of
Muslims the Quran mentions the following.
“O’ who believe! Enter into Islam wholeheartedly, and follow not the footsteps of
the evil one; for he is to you an avowed enemy”
(Quran, 2: 208)
There are many other Qur’anic verses that stress on the importance of unity in
Islam and there are other verses that tell the believers to help their brothers in need.

Discussions between different Scholars

Many people consider the disputes among the Muslims to be a fault of the
scholars, they think that scholars are the ones who teach people to fight against those
who disagree with them. But in truth there are only a few scholars who preach such
false ideas and there are many who preach the true message of Islam that is Peace
and unity.
Scholars have a direct relation with the public, it is there job to directly guide
the public and in the previous few years many scholars have emphases on the
importance of Muslim unity calling for the unity of Muslin Ummah.
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 The Shi’a scholars of Iran and Iraq, along with the Sunni scholars of Egypt’s al-
Azhar university, have taken some commendable steps to narrow the differences
between different sects of Islam. They agreed to work hand-in-hand to bring Muslims
closer together, and emphasized Muslim unity and brotherhood.
The scholars know the benefits of a united Muslim Ummah, so they try to
narrow their differences through peaceful talks. Sheikh Mahmoud Shaltout, the Dean
of Cairo’s al-Azhar University said in relation to the main raison for establishment of
the Centre of proximity among Islamic Denominations:
“When Egyptian, Iranian, Lebanese, Iraqi and Pakistani religious scholars, and
representatives of the Sunni Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafe’i and Maleki Schools of
Jurisprudence, and the Shi’a Imami and Zaidi Schools of jurisprudence, sit next to
each other and discuss religious matters, they often issue joint statements which are
scholarly and jurisprudential in nature. Kindness, brotherhood and cooperation are a
very characteristic feature of all these gatherings. It is sad that narrow-minded and
bigoted individuals exist, in all sects, who oppose such scholarly gatherings of Ulema
of all Islamic denominations. They see their interests in division of Muslims, and they
oppose unity of the Islamic Ummah.”

Mandatory Islamic Education

In some majority Muslim countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan
Islamic Studies is a mandatory subject and a student can’t complete his education
without it.
As today people don’t focus on the religious education of their children it is a
very step that at least builds a basic understanding of Islam in the mind of the student.
This education usually includes the basic Islamic principles that teaches the child the
right way to spend his life with examples from the life of the Holy Prophet and his
companions, it may also include some Quranic references for this purpose to validate
the points they are making by teaching the subject.

Campaign about Unity

The governments can start awareness campaigns about the importance and
benefits about unity in which it can use all its resources with students, police and
labors to provide manpower to promote unity among the Muslims living in the
country. The government can also try to control the electronic media and print media
to stop hateful message that divide the Muslims and promote them to fight each
other. The government can also use celebrities and other public figures to promote
their message.

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Improving the Madaris
The state of the school decides the state of nation and in the same way the
state of our madaris (religious schools) decides the state of our religion through the
quality of scholars it produces. Unfortunately, due to lack of focus on religion the state
of our madaris is not very good. These are lacking behind the rest of the world and
don’t have any modern equipment that is used for teaching.
The students also lack a proper knowledge of modern sciences and politics and
therefore are unable to keep up in the modern world once they graduate.
If we can somehow improve the state of our madaris than the quality of our
scholars. If we have good madaris then we will have good religious guiders that would
be capable of uniting instead of dividing the Muslim ummah.

Conclusion
The religion of Islam is the religion of peace and unity, where everyone lives like
brothers. There are many sects in Islam that may divide the Muslims into groups and
there are many others who try to take advantage of these differences between the
Muslims for their own personal gains and agendas. But many Muslims are trying to
reduce these differences and become one Ummah again because that is the only way
we can defeat our enemies and the enemies of Islam. If we remain divided we will be
destroyed but if we unity we would be the biggest superpower of the world.

References

 https://www.alsunna.org/forum/index.php?topic=207.0

 https://mohamedghilan.com/2011/11/10/my-ummah-will-split-into-73-

sects-thats-it/

 https://www.minhaj.org/english/tid/638/Believers-are-told-in-the-

Quran-to-obey-the-Sunnah-of-the-Prophet-saas.html

 http://wilayattimes.com/2017/04/21/3574/

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sect

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_schools_and_branches
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 HUM110- Islamic Studies
(Hybrid Course)

Semester Project

Muslim Scientist Contribution in Zoology

Names Muhammad Umer, Syed Samin,

SP19-BCS-
Registration #
136 , 093 ,
Section SP19-BCS-C

Teacher Name Dr. Musferah Mehfooz

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Intro to Zoology
Zoology is the branch of biology in which we study the animal kingdom, including the
body structure, embryology, evolution, habits, and classification of all the animals, both living
and the animals that are extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems and the
environment. Zoology (also known as the animal science) is the branch of biology dedicated
only to the study of the animal’s life.
Zoology not only involves the study of different type of the animals but also how to classify
the animals, their history, their anatomy and physiology, their development in them, the
changes that occur in them with the time and so much more.
The branches of zoology include:
 Entomology
The study of insects.
 Ichthyology
The study of fish.
 Ornithology
The study of birds.
 Herpetology
The study of reptiles.

Muslim Scientist work in Zoology

In every field of the science, we can find Muslims who contributed a lot in the
development of the science field, especially in the areas of biology, medicine, mathematics and
physics. There are many Muslim scientist that are working today in the field of the zoology
and playing their role in the development of the science and technology.

Some famous Muslim scientist who worked in the field of the zoology are:

Dr. Hamid Khan Bhatti

Dr. initiated research at the Department of Zoology, Government College, Lahore as an
M.Sc. student. He worked on the “Skeleton of Rita Rita (Hamilton)”
and submitted his thesis to the University of the Punjab in partial
fulfillment for the degree of M.Sc. (Zoology) in 1916. He worked on
The Integument and dermal skeleton of Siluroides at the University of
Cambridge and received his Ph.D.1 He workred a lot in Zoology.

Work/ Contribution
 He worked on the “Skeleton of Rita Rita (Hamilton).
 He worked on The Integument and dermal skeleton of Siluroides.

1
bid. p.37.
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  He published several papers on the systematic and biology of the earth worms of
Lahore as well (1960-62).
 Professor Bhatti also worked as the officer in charge of the “Soil Zoology Scheme” of
the Pakistan Agricultural Research council from 1959 to 1962.
 He published several papers on the systematic and biology of the earth worms of
Lahore as well 2(1960-62).3

Dr. Muhammad Rahimullah Quershi (1907-1977 C.E.)

Dr. Quershi received the B.Sc. Degree from the Aligarh Muslim University. He
initiated the career as a Lecturer in Zoology at the Osmaina University, Hyderabad (Deccan)
in 1927 and continued up to 1940.4
Dr. Quershi was an enthusiastic researcher and a prolific writer. In addition to more than 100
research publications, he was the author of several popular articles and books on Fish and
Fisheries in Pakistan in urdu as well as in English.

Work/ Publications
His publication included
 Marine fishes of Karachi and coasts of Sind and Makran (1955).
 Pakistan’s fisheries (1961).
 Common freshwater fishes of Pakistan (1965).
 His last publication was Annotated Bibliography of Marin Fish and Fisheries
was published in 1980 posthumously5. 6

Dr. Muhammad Babar Mirza

Dr. Mirza joined the Osmania University, Hyderabad, Deccan as the Head of the
Biology department. he received the degree of Doctor of Natural Philosophy (Dr. Phil. Nat.)
from the University of Frankfurt am Main and resumed his duties at the Osmania University.

2
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bhatti-6
3

http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/jspui/bitstream/10603/55862/11/12_chapter%203
.pdf
4
Ibid. p.43.
5
Ibid., p.43-44.
6

http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/jspui/bitstream/10603/55862/11/12_chapter%203
.pdf

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Work/ Publications
 He introduced the Postgraduates specialization in two important branches of Zoology
— Helminthology 7and Entomology.8
 He also worked on the systematics of the nematodes and described many new species
in collaboration with his associates.
 in collaboration with Lary Roberts (1957), he propounded his famous theory of
guinea worm zoonosis in United States.
 He continued to work on the systematics of Acanthocephala till his death in 1975.9

Dr. Sayyid Zahoor Qasim

Syed Zahoor Qasim was an Indian marine biologist. Dr.
Qasim has got early education in Allahabad and then at the
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh from where he took his
M.Sc. degree in Zoology.
He stood first in the order of Merit for which he was awarded
University Gold Medal.

Work/ Contribution
 He extensively worked on biological oceanography
especially on the primary productivity of Kerala Backwaters and on the atolls of
Lakshwadeep.
 Dr. Syyid Zahoor Qasim promoted new lines of work in Fisheries Biology and initiated
the development of mussel culture and pearl culture techniques for the first time in
India.
 He has published more than 200 original research papers in national and international
journals.

Awards
 He was awarded with “Padma Shri (1974)”
 First National Ocean Science and Technology Award by Government of India (2003–
04).
 SOFTI Biennial Award (2007).
 Lifetime Achievement Award, Indian Science Congress (2008).10

7
The scientific study of parasitic worms
8
Dr. Mohammad R. Mirza Muhammad Iqbal Siddiqi (ed,) p.40.
9

http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/jspui/bitstream/10603/55862/11/12_chapter%203
.pdf
10
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Zahoor_Qasim
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Suggestions for reformation of Muslims status in
education:
In the past Muslim scientist worked in almost every field of the science and they were
famous for their inventions and the work. They were at the top of the every field Zoology,
Mathematics, physics but due to some reasons they lost their glory and now these days they
are at the bottom of every field but Muslims can retain their past glory if they work on some
weakness and improve their education system.
 We must encourage our new generation by giving them professional and well-trained
teachers.
 In every city there should be libraries. So, students can get the books of their own taste
for thse educational purposes.
 Government need to give some serious budget to the educational institutes so, they can
perform well.
 Government need to start a program to train the teachers. So that they can deliver well
to the students.
 We must allow the children to choose the subject of their own choice.
 Government/ educational institutes should promote bright students by giving them
scholarships.
 There must short time educational courses for the students that can help them in their
fields in the future.
 Burden of the homework on children should be reduced so, they can do some physical
activity and their brains can grow well.
If we follow these some steps Muslims can get back their lost glory in every field of the science
as they were famous in the past and were at the top of every field. Although Muslim students
are already shoeing very good performance in almost every field.

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