Martyr Leader saw Muslim Unity as a rational necessity and source of strength
A professor at the University of Kufa in Iraq has stressed the importance of Muslim unity, saying that the late Iranian revolutionary leader and, before him, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini viewed unity among Muslims as both a rational necessity and a source of strength for the Islamic world.
Share It :
Blasim Aziz Shabib al-Zamali al-Mousavi, head of the university’s postgraduate studies committee, made the remarks in an interview with the Iranian Quran News Agency (IQNA) on the sidelines of the 40th International Islamic Unity Conference.
Discussing the concept of Islamic unity, al-Mousavi said Muslim solidarity was rooted in the Quranic injunction: “Hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not be divided” (Quran 3:103).
He said the verse represents a clear call, and a fundamental obligation, for Muslims to remain united and avoid division.
“Power lies in unity, whereas division leads to disintegration and emboldens the enemy,” al-Mousavi said, arguing that internal divisions could encourage adversaries to seek control over Muslim lands and resources.
He said the need for unity had become particularly evident in the current circumstances, pointing to what he described as threats posed by “global Zionism and criminal America” to Muslim territories and resources.
Al-Mousavi also drew a distinction between Islamic unity and religious or theological uniformity. He stressed that efforts to bring Muslim schools of thought closer together should not be interpreted as a call for members of one sect to abandon their beliefs and adopt those of another.
“Bringing the schools of thought closer together and Islamic unity do not mean compromise or retreat from beliefs,” he said.
According to al-Mousavi, Sunni and Shia Muslims can preserve their respective jurisprudential traditions while cooperating on their shared Islamic principles.
“We do not call on followers of the Sunni school to become Shia, nor do we intend to become Sunni,” he said, emphasizing that each tradition has its own jurisprudential rulings.
At the same time, he argued that Muslims share fundamental beliefs that provide a broad basis for cooperation and collective action.
He cited belief in one God, a common direction of prayer, the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad as among the central elements shared by Muslims.
“Our common ground is far greater than the issues on which we differ,” al-Mousavi said, adding that differences in particular jurisprudential or theological interpretations should not obscure what he described as the common essence of Islam.
His comments come amid ongoing efforts by Islamic organizations and scholars to promote Sunni-Shia dialogue and cooperation, with the question of Muslim unity remaining a central theme of conferences dedicated to rapprochement among Islamic schools of thought.
