His Eminence Sheikh Ali ibn Abdur-Rahman Al-Hudhaifi, may Allah preserve him, delivered the Friday sermon entitled, “The Virtue of Unity and the Danger of Disunity”, in which he talked about the necessity of adhering to the Book of Allah and the sunnah of His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, stating that this is the only way to salvation. He warned against disagreement and disunity among Muslims and cited some Qur’anic verses, Prophetic hadiths, and statements of the Prophet’s Companions and those who followed them to this effect.

Praise be to Allah. Praise be to Allah, the All-Wise, the All-Knower; the One Who accepts Repentance, the Most Merciful; the All-Mighty, the All-Knower. I praise my Lord and thank Him. I turn to Him in repentance and ask Him for forgiveness. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, the Most High, the Most Great, and I bear witness that our prophet and master, Muhammad, is His servant and messenger, whom Allah sent with guidance and the religion of truth to make it superior over all religions even though the polytheists may hate it. O Allah! Bestow Your prayers, peace, and blessings upon Your servant and messenger Muhammad and upon his Family and Companions, who were guided and guided others to the right path.

O Muslims!
Fear Allah as He should be feared, for your Lord is the One Who deserves to be feared and the One Who forgives sins.

O Muslims!
Allah has placed the well-being of the Muslim nation (Ummah) in its earliest generations, whose hearts were unified upon the truth and who adhered to it, supported it, avoided all types of falsehood and innovations in religion, and combated everything that Allah, Exalted be He, dislikes and abhors. They only sought the eternal abode and its everlasting bliss and renounced this transient life, which allures none but the deluded and is trusted by none except the doomed and the damned.

You should have drawn lessons and morals from the previous generations. They lived long lives, enjoyed worldly delights, and indulged in prohibited acts, but then a barrier was placed between them and the worldly splendour and enjoyment which they desired. They are bound to feel deep regret, when they find themselves confronted with the evil deeds which they committed in the worldly life and when they are brought to an abode which they did not fill with good deeds. Allah will then punish them for their evil deeds:
"…and your Lord treats no one with injustice." (Al-Kahf: 49)

Very few in those generations did righteous deeds for their hereafter and thus they will enjoy eternal bliss when they stand in the presence of Allah, the King, the Holy, the One Free from all defects.

The last generations of this Muslim nation will be afflicted with calamities as a result of turning away from the Book of Allah and the sunnah of His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, as well as indulging in diverse whims and preferring this worldly life to the afterlife. Abdullah ibn Amr, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The well-being of this ummah was placed in its earliest generations, but its last generations will be afflicted with calamities. Whenever a trial comes upon a believer, he will say, ‘This is going to bring about my destruction.’ Then relief comes, but another trial follows, and then the believer will say, ‘It is this one (that will bring about my destruction).’ Therefore, whoever wishes to be delivered from Hellfire and admitted into Paradise should die with faith in Allah and the Last Day and should treat people as he wishes to be treated by them” (Reported by Muslim).

Whims and desires are all evil. Disagreement and disunity cause a great deal of harm to the Muslim nation in their religion and interests. They weaken its power and sow the seeds of discord among its members. Differences obscure the truth such that it is not revealed to everyone; the truth may be perceived as falsehood and falsehood may be perceived as truth.

There is no way to protect ourselves from trials and tribulations that can lead to misguidance except by adhering to the Book of Allah and the sunnah of His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, and referring to religious scholars concerning controversial and unclear issues. Allah, Exalted be He, warns us against disunity and the pursuit of whims. He says:

"Verily, those who divide their religion and break up into sects (all kinds of religious sects), you (O Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) have no concern in them in the least. . ." (Al-An’am: 159)

Allah, Exalted be He, also says:
"And be not as those who divided and differed among themselves after the clear proofs had come to them. It is they for whom there is an awful torment." (Al-’Imran: 105)

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, informed us that members of his nation would disagree among themselves, so that we may avoid the same mistakes made by the nations before us. Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The Jews were split up into seventy-one (or seventy-two sects), and the same is true of the Christians. As for my nation, it will be split up into seventy-three sects” (Reported by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah).

Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “There will appear among my nation people who will be overwhelmed by desires just like people suffering from rabies, which leaves no vein or joint in them but it penetrates it” (Reported by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and Al-Hakim). Rabies is a disease which can be transmitted to humans by a bite from an infected dog. If it infects man and dominates him, it leads to death. The desires and whims to which man can fall victim are countless.

Different opinions can only be unified by accepting the truth. Nothing can lead Muslims in the right direction or guide them to the straight path except the Book of Allah and the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Allah, Exalted be He, says:

"Verily, this Qur’an guides to that which is most just and right and gives glad tidings to the believers (in the Oneness of Allah and His Messenger, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), etc.) who work deeds of righteousness, that they shall have a great reward (Paradise)." (Al-Isra’: 9)

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The best speech is the Book of Allah, the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and the worst matters are innovations [in religion], and every innovation [in religion] is misguidance” (Reported by Muslim, as part of the hadith narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him). Therefore, nothing can unite hearts upon the truth, guidance, sincerity and correctness but the Qur’an and the Prophet’s sunnah, and nothing can make hearts abhor evil and falsehood except love for the truth and its followers.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy upon his soul, said, “Nothing will ameliorate the condition of the later generations of this ummah except that which ameliorated its earlier generations, and whatever was not part of the religion at the time of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, cannot be accepted as part of the religion today.”

The Muslim nation will never agree on error and misguidance. Today personal opinions and whims have increased and discord has become widespread. This has had its detrimental effects on Muslims, who have become weak and disunited. Discord among Muslims has severed bonds of brotherhood or at least weakened them. Sincere advisers advise that the Muslim nation should cure its ills by adhering to the guidance of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and steering clear of the causes of harmful differences.

The only way to achieve this lofty goal and sublime objective and adopt this ideal method is to believe in the revealed Book (i.e. the Holy Qur’an) and the Sunnah of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, agree on the explanation and interpretation of the revealed texts, and act by their dictates by doing righteous deeds, for most differences have arisen in the area of explaining and interpreting the revealed texts.

When the early generations of the Muslim nation agreed on the interpretation of the Qur’an and the Prophet’s hadiths, they avoided differences that lead to hostility and only allowed permissible differences that bring hearts together and prompt productive work. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, explained the Qur’an himself as part of conveying its revelation and interpretation. Allah, Exalted be He, says:

"And We have also sent down unto you (O Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) the reminder and the advice (the Qur’an), that you may explain clearly to men what is sent down to them, and that they may give thought." (An-Nahl: 44)

The Prophet’s Companions also explained it to their contemporaries after the Prophet’s death, and these in turn explained it to those who followed them.  

Language is the bearer of meanings and thus provides the explanation of the Qur’an by way of complete correspondence (i.e. by indicating the meaning by the word assigned to it), partial correspondence (i.e. by indicating the meaning by part of an expression referring to it), and necessary correspondence (i.e. by indicating the meaning indirectly, through an expression from which such meaning is necessarily inferred).

A Muslim should adhere to following the interpretations of reliable scholars of the Qur’an, and must stay away from innovations in religion. The Prophet’s traditions (hadiths) have also been explained by the leading scholars of hadith. Allah, Exalted be He, says:

"O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. (Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always), and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allah. And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah (i.e. this Qur’an), 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 brethren (in Islamic Faith), and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.,) clear to you, that you may be guided." (Al-’Imran, 102-103)

May Allah bless you and me with the Great Qur’an and make us benefit from its verses and wise words and benefit from the guidance and right sayings of the Master of all Messengers. I have said what you have heard and I ask forgiveness of Allah for myself, for you, and for all Muslims for any sin we have committed. Ask Allah for forgiveness. He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.