In the Name of Allāh,

the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful

Praise is due to Allāh, Lord of the worlds, may the blessings and peace be upon our master Muḥammad, the last of prophets, on his family, and all his companions.

Resolution No. 98 (1/11) Islamic Unity

The Council of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, holding its 11th session in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain, on 25–30 Rajab 1419h (14–19 November 1998),

Having examined the research papers submitted to the Academy concern- ing Islamic Unity,

In light of the discussions emphasizing that this subject is one the most im- portant issues, both theoretically and practically, and that one of the Academy’s main objectives is to strive towards the unification of the Ummah intellectually, legally and politically, and to bind it strongly to Tawḥīd,

Resolves

First: Islamic unity is a duty which the Almighty Allāh has commanded us to adhere to and achieve and made it a concomitant description of this Ummah when He said, «And hold firmly to the rope of Allāh all together and do not become divided.» (Āl ʿImrān, 103); and He also said, «Indeed this, your religion, is one religion, and I am your Lord, so worship Me.» (Al-Anbiyā, 92).

The Prophet’s Sunnah stressed this call by words and deeds. The Prophet SAW said “All the Muslims’ blood is of equal value, and all the Muslims are like one hand against others, and the lowest of rank among them moves around freely under their protection.”

This unity was achieved by the Prophet SAW in practical life by forging brother- hood between the al-Muhājirūn (immigrants from Makkah) and al-Anṣār (sup- porters, inhabitants of Madinah). He also laid it down in the first document of the establishment of the Islamic State in al-Madinah al-Munawarah, in which he described the Muslims as being “a single Ummah unlike the rest of people.”

The meanings of such verses from the Holy Quran and from the sayings of the Prophet SAW make it incumbent upon the believers to unify their ranks under the banner of Islam, by holding firmly to the Quran and Sunnah, and renounce historical enmity, tribal differences and disputes, personal ambitions and racial slogans.

When the Muslims abode by the above Islamic teachings, during the Prophet’s lifetime and the era of the early Muslims, the religion of Islam and its rule spread in the East and in the West, and Ummah guided humanity through the Islamic civilization, which was the most glorious civilization as it was established on the principle of servitude to Allāh alone; thus justice, freedom and equality prevailed. Second: Islamic unity lies in ensuring servitude to Allāh the Almighty, in belief, words, and deeds, under the guidance of the Quran and Sunnah. It also lies in preserving what unifies Muslims on standard terms in the various intel- lectual, economic, social and political spheres of life. When Ummah abandoned the factors of its unity, reasons of discord began to emerge, deepening further,

later on, disunity among Muslims.

This was due to various reasons, among which the efforts of colonization that raised the banner “divide and conquer,” thus splitting Ummah and the ranks of Arabs and Muslims into small parts based on nationalist and ethnic grounds. Besides, most of the orientalists’ efforts focused on the perpetuation of discord and disunity in their studies and books, which they disseminated among Muslims.

Third: Jurisprudential (Fiqh) differences which are based on Ijtihād (juris- prudential interpretation) in understanding the meanings of Shariah sources are, in themselves, natural consequences. They, in fact, contributed to the enrich- ment of legislation which realizes the purposes and characteristics of Shariah, by making things easy and bearable for Muslims.

Fourth: It is a Muslim duty to preserve the status of all the Prophet’s Companions RA. The ʿUlamā (Islamic scholars) should be called upon to ex- tol the Companions’ position and services in conveying Shariah to the Ummah and highlight their rights over it. Also, governments should be called upon to issue regulations that punish whoever denigrates or looks down upon them in any way whatsoever. This will preserve the sanctity of the Prophet’s Companions RA and nip in the bud one of the reasons of discord.

Fifth: It is a Muslim duty to adhere to the Holy Quran and Sunnah and to the guidance of the Ummah’s pious predecessors and those who follow their footsteps. It is also a Muslim duty to discard delusions, avoid what spreads se- ditions among Muslims and what leads to their disunity, and instead channel Muslim efforts to the call for Islam and the propagation of its principles among non-Muslims.

Recommendations

Needless to say, that our age is an age of regional blocks, which serve various intellectual, social and economic purposes under the banners of globalization,

secularism and modernism, and also because of the media’s unrestricted open- ness. This makes the Muslim world targeted in a bid to put an end to its dis- tinctive features, destroy its basic elements and undermine the foundations of its spiritual and intellectual civilization. Our Ummah cannot be protected from these perils and threats except by unifying its ranks and eliminating the reasons of discord, especially that our Ummah has all factors of unity which include a common creed with common social, economic, legislative and cultural aspects.

Hence, the Academy makes the following recommendations:

1. Confirming the Academy resolution 48 (10/5) regarding the application of the Islamic laws and the subsequent recommendations on the same topic, and the Academy resolution no. 69 (7/7) regarding intellectual imperialism, the subject matter of the first recommendation.
2. Calling upon the governments of Muslim countries to support the efforts made by both the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, considering that these efforts are manifestations of unity among Muslims, politically and
3. Leaving behind historical disputes, for their effects only lead to inflaming enmity and deepening discord.
4. Maintaining positive opinion and mutual trust between Muslims, both as governments and citizens, through directing the media to fostering the spirit of unity, promoting the ethics of dialogue, and accepting opinions based on Ijtihad.
5. Benefiting from fateful issues which unify Ummah, principally the issue of Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque, the first of the two Qiblas and the Prophet’s Masrā (station of his night journey), to ward off the dangers which threaten its Islamic The Academy also stresses that the issue of Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque is an issue concerning all Muslims. The participants to the session appeal to the governments of Muslim coun- tries to give this issue, and other similar issues, due attention and take

prompt and appropriate measures, which include the following:

• Denouncing the policies of expulsion, judaization and settlement which Palestinian lands and people are being subjected to, and denouncing the occupation, injustice, oppression, deprivation, killing and dislodgement which the Palestinians are suffering from. Added to this are the humiliation of human dignity and the abuse of fundamental human rights.
• Extending full support to the struggling Palestine, its blessed land, and

Al-Aqsa Mosque, the first of the two Qiblas, as well as to its fight for independence, and siding with it and with the Palestinian people in their resistance.

• Condemning the Zionist movement and the Israeli occupation for the forms of oppression and the various aspects of ugly aggression against the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom and for the liberation of sacred sites.

1. Paying due attention to the priority mechanisms proposed for the achievement of Islamic unity through stages, including:
2. Designing educational curricula on Islamic
3. Formulating a joint Islamic media
4. Establishing a common Islamic
5. Establishing an Islamic Court of
6. The Secretariat General of the Academy should establish a committee from among its members and experts to prepare practical studies that are considering the current situation of Ummah. Such studies should include the cultural, social and economic aspects and put down mechanisms of achieving unity in these areas while benefiting from the current efforts of Arab and Muslim organizations and seeking the assistance of experts in these various disciplines.

Finally, in order to ensure the effectiveness of such a committee and the im- plementation of the findings of its studies, we recommend that its members and duties be approved by the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

Indeed, Allāh is the Giver of success.