Brotherhood in Islam

An instructive incident that illustrates this point

Once, during a battle, Imam Ali (ra) overpowered an enemy combatant and threw him to the ground. When he drew his sword to kill him, the man spat at him. Imam Ali then let him go and did not kill him. The man asked him: “Why did you not kill me?” Imam Ali replied: “I intended to kill you for the sake of Allah. But when you spat at me, I became angry. My intention was tainted by my nafs, and I was no longer acting purely for the sake of Allah. That is why I did not kill you.” At this, the man said: “I spat at you to make you angry so that you would kill me more quickly. Since your religion is so pure and sincere, it is the true religion.”

Another noteworthy incident

Once, a just chief judge removed a judge from office because he showed a sign of anger while pronouncing the sentence that a thief’s hand should be cut off. According to the chief judge, the judge ought to have ruled solely in accordance with the Sharia and the divine law, without any feeling of anger or pity. His inability to do so showed that his nafs had clouded his judgment, and therefore he could not administer justice with complete impartiality.

A regrettable social condition and a terrible disease—one that would make the heart of Islam weep

The principle of social welfare which states, “Set aside internal conflicts when external enemies threaten,” has been recognized and applied even by the most primitive societies. What, then, has happened to those who claim to serve the Islamic community, yet cannot forget their petty disputes—despite the presence of countless enemies lined up and ready to attack—and thereby give the enemy the opportunity to strike? This condition is a decline, a cruelty, and a betrayal of the social life of the Islamic community.

An instructive story

There were once two hostile tribes among the Bedouin people of Hasanan. Although they may have killed more than fifty men from one another, whenever they were attacked by a tribe from the people of Haydaran or Sipkan, both hostile tribes immediately forgot their old disputes. They fought side by side and drove the attacking tribe back without hesitation. Until those external tribes had been repelled, they did not call their internal hostilities to mind.

Now then, O believers! Are you aware how many enemies stand ready to attack the believers? There are more than a hundred of them, arranged like a series of concentric circles. While all believers ought to support one another against these enemies and form a united front, is it fitting that believers should treat one another with hostile partisanship and stubbornness, thereby making the enemy’s attacks easier and even opening the doors for them to penetrate deep into the sacred centre of Islam? Within these hostile circles there may be seventy kinds of enemies, from the misguided and apostates to the world of unbelief, and even the calamities of worldly life, all ready to harm you and watching you one after another with greedy and venomous eyes. Your strongest weapon, shield, and fortress against them is Islamic brotherhood. Realize how utterly unconscionable it is to shake this fortress of Islam with petty hostilities and trivial pretexts, which are completely contrary to the interests of Islam. Reflect on this well and awaken.