UNION IS STRENGTH

THE ages-old adage union is strength is indeed full of axiomatic wisdom. This short sentence of three words only constitutes, as a matter of fact, a great law of life and national strength; and the poet was re-echoing this profound truth when he sang:

All your strength is in your union, All your danger is in discord.

When we stand on the seashore to have a look at the wide expanse of water, we are staggered to see the mighty strength with which it moves to and fro. The waves are irresistible and overpowering, and no amount of human effort can stand against them. Now, what is this sea, and how it has come to acquire such a tremendous strength? The sea is another name for the union of water drops which fell from the clouds here and there, on hills and dales. Each drop, so long as it was isolated from the rest, was tiny and weak, and had not the power even to break the tender wing of a mosquito. But these water-weaklings gathered together and united to form, in the first instance, small streams which further united to make big rivers and ultimately the mighty ocean which sweeps away and sets at naught every obstacle that comes in its way. Union, even though it be of small drops of weak water, generates such a great power in the waves that they fling away forcefully huge ships of iron and steel to a distance. This law of Nature is even more effectively operative in the rise and fall of nations. The pre-Islamic Arabs, it is a well-known fact of history, were the most disunited and detached people. Their non-terminating internecine warfare had assumed such a dangerous position that the entire Arabian, peninsula stood on the brink of destruction. They were, on this account, the most back-ward people, looked down upon and derided by the world as savages of the desert. It was at such a critical juncture that the Prophet ﷺ of God appeared amongst them with the message of life and liberty. The ever-contending tribes were united into one, single nation inspired and enthused with the same purpose, all for one, and one for all. As in the case of sea waves, a tremendous force was generated into them by this national unity; their onrush became irresistible, and their advance overpowering. The savages of the desert, in an incredibly short space of time, became the sublime teachers of humanity and pulled out the Continent of Europe from the darkness of ignorance and irreligion into the sunshine of knowledge and civilization. The great empires of Rome and Persia gave way and succumbed before these people of the desert, and the Muslim rule spread over the East and the West.

Union, we said, is a great force. Even Chenghez Khan of the ancient history and his marauding hordes who were inspired, unitedly, with but one passion of lust and loot, plunder and pillage, founded a vast empire extending from China down to the banks of the river Indus, notwithstanding the fact that they were arrant atheists, and believed not in the existence of the Most High God, nor observed any scruples of moral conduct. Their unity of purpose, however, gave them such a strength which could not be withstood and throttled. But why to go back into the ancient past for historical lessons? It was only the other day that the Qaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah of the blessed memory, established the State of Pakistan, in the teeth of tremendous opposition, simply by the united action of the nation. He gathered together all the scattered shreds of the nation and welded them into one solid bloc which repulsed and repelled with an irresistible force all the attacks of the enemy, and marched onward enthused with the spirit of one flag, one heart, one hand, one nation evermore. The forces of opposition, with all their strength and stratagem, were vanquished, and Pakistan was won. The nation got its independence not only from the yoke of a foreign rule but also from the more deadly domination of the Hindus.

To believe in the Most High God without any mental reservation is unity in thought; but to come together and coalesce, and act in perfect concert and concord, is unity in action – which is undoubtedly a great force. As long as the Muslim nation acted upon this profound principle, it went from strength to strength; but when it fell into sectarian strife like the pre-Islamic tribes of Arabia, it lost its political power and the Muslim Kingdoms pined away and perished. Disintegration follows discord with the certainty of a natural law. The Muslim world has unfortunately broken again into fragile fragments which can easily be twisted and torn into pieces. The aggressive attack on Egypt, the massacre of Muslims in Algeria, the calamity of the Arabs in Palestine, and the Plucking away of Kashmir which is undoubtedly the heart of Pakistan, are but chastisements which have come upon and of this law; so we turned them out of gardens and springs, said the Most High God wrathfully, and treasures and goodly dwellings (26:57)

The pre-Islamic Arabs, as stated in the foregoing lines, were on the brink of destruction on account of their internecine warfare. Making a reference to this fact of history the Holy Quran has given us a perfect prescription for the establishment of national solidarity and strength.

وَاعْتَصِمُواْ بِحَبْلِ اللّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلاَ تَفَرَّقُواْ وَاذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ اللّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَاء فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ             

قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىَ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِّنَ النَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَ 

                                    كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُ

Hold fast by the rope (covenant) of all together and be not disunited. And remember Allah’s favour to you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts so by His favour you became brethren. And you were on the brink of a pit of fire, then He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes clear to you His messages that you may be guided.

(Al-Imran (The Family of Imran) 3:103)

The ever-fighting factions of Arabia gave a trial to this Divine prescription, and they rose astoundingly not only to great spiritual heights but also to temporal power and glory. We invite all the Muslim States of the world with all the emphasis at our command to return to this unfailing treatment of their ills and hold fast by the rope of Allah all together and be not disunited. Let them form a commonwealth of their own, the Muslim Bloc, strongly inspired with the determination all for one, one for all; united we stand, divided- we fall. It should be very clearly understood that we do not stand in any special relation to God so as to be exempted from the operation of His Laws if we transgress.

Turn over chapter 6 of the Holy Quran (Al-An’am (The Cattle) 6:6) and read:

أَلَمْ يَرَوْاْ كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّن قَرْنٍ مَّكَّنَّاهُمْ فِي الأَرْضِ مَا لَمْ نُمَكِّن لَّكُمْ وَأَرْسَلْنَا السَّمَاء عَلَيْهِم مِّدْرَارًا وَجَعَلْنَا الأَنْهَارَ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهِمْ فَأَهْلَكْنَاهُم بِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَأَنْشَأْنَا مِن بَعْدِهِمْ قَرْنًا آخَرِينَ

See they not how many a generation We destroyed before them, whom We had established in the earth as We have established you, and We sent the clouds pouring abundant rain on them, and We made the rivers flow beneath them? Then We destroyed them for their sins and raised up after them another generation.

M.Y.K.

(The Light – Tuesday, January 8, 1957)