I was about to title this Khutba – Maintaining the miracle – when I realized that a more truthful title is – Reviving the miracle. Which miracle? The miracle of creating a brotherhood of faith – the Ummah of Muhammadﷺ. I call it the greatest of Rasoolullahﷺ’s achievements because of the incredible challenge that he faced in creating it. Not only did he have to deal with ethnic and racial diversity but even more ingrained and powerfully, hierarchies based on tribal, economic, cultural, and linguistic differences. He had to deal with a society in which honor could only be satisfied by shedding blood and vendetta was a time-honored tradition spanning generations. It was this group that he welded together where Bilal ibn Rabah (R), an African Muhajir and an ex-slave, was paired, as a brother, with Abu Rawahah Abdullah ibn Abdul Rahman (R). A black man and an Arab. Who could have imagined this situation in pre-Islamic tribal Arabia? Salman Al Farsi (R), another ex-slave and Persian, was paired with Abu Darda Al Ansari (R). And of course, many others. These people were not simply roommates. They became brothers in a deeper sense than we feel today for our own blood brothers. And faith became holier and dearer to them than blood. The stories of the Muhajireen and Ansar are the stuff of legends and had they not been so authentically documented, they would appear to be fables, given the state of Muslim society which is riddled with racism, casteism, divided into false Biradarees and sects which are quick to pronounce Takfeer and declare those who don’t belong to their sect as apostates. Fear Allahﷻ my brothers.

In this blessed month of Rabi’ul Awwal, the month of both the birth and passing away of Rasoolullahﷺ, when are very keen to celebrate his birth, let us ask which of our actions would have caused him the most pain and is the first thing that we need to change. I say to you that the thing about us that would have pained him the most is our divisions, our internal conflicts, our groupism, our sects, our hatred for each other. For us, it is not enough that our brother is a Muslim. He must be from the same Madhhab, sect, group, caste, color and tribe. If this is not racism, then tell me what is? Allahﷻ called us ‘Muslims’. But what did we do? Allama Iqbal said:

Youn tho Sayyid bhi ho, Mirza bhi ho, Afghan bhi ho,

(You are Sayyid, Mirza, and Afghan)

Tum sabhi kuch ho, batao tho, Musalman bhi ho?

(You are everything but tell me are you also Muslim)

Do some research about where these ‘castes’ among Muslims came from and you may well be surprised. Sadly, this groupism and tribalism is not in the Subcontinent alone. The lines dividing one Arab Muslim from another and one African Muslim from another are equally bad or worse. I shudder to think about what we will say when we meet Rasoolullahﷺ and he asks us about what we did with the Ummah that he had forged. Believe it or not, that is a very real possibility. The solution is to do our best to revive his miracle, the miracle of the Muslim Ummah. Rasoolullahﷺ set us the best example and all that we need to do is to follow it. Do what he did, and we will once again be one people, united by our love for Allahﷻ and His Nabiﷺ.

Allahﷻ mentioned us, the Ummat of Muhammadﷺ in two places in two ways, the difference being in one word alone. He said:

إِنَّ هَـٰذِهِۦٓ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَٰحِدَةً وَأَنَا۠ رَبُّكُمْ فَٱعْبُدُونِ

Anbiya 21: 92      Truly! This, your Ummah [brotherhood of faith] is one brotherhood, and I am your Rabb, therefore worship Me (Alone).

وَإِنَّ هَـٰذِهِۦٓ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَٰحِدَةً وَأَنَا۠ رَبُّكُمْ فَٱتَّقُونِ

Mu’minoon 23: 52        And verily! your Ummah [brotherhood of faith] is one brotherhood, and I am your Rabb, so have my Taqwa (live in a way that pleases Me).

These two Ayaat sum up the essence of being an Ummah. The cause of our cohesion is that we worship Allahﷻ. Our way of life is to please Allahﷻ.