Can unity ever be achieved within a community?

[Kailash Kumar]

Can unity ever be achieved within a community?

Here on PDF there is a lot of talk about unity or the lack of, especially among Muslims.
Many say that this unity does not exist, at least not among the ruling class of countries with a majority of Muslims.

This made me think: in general, can unity ever be achieved within a community?

When I talk about unity, I make a distinction between two types of unity: inward and outward oriented.
Inward oriented unity means that people from a certain community do not fight amongst themselves.
Outward oriented unity means that they are united against a external threat or enemy.

There are four possibilities when combining this inward and outward oriented unity.
1. A community can have both types of unity.
2. A community can have none of the two types of unity.
3. A community can have inward oriented unity, but not outward.
This is something which I have not seen a lot.
4. A community can have outward oriented unity, but not inward.
For example:
People from a community can fight amongst themselves, but when a common outside threat or enemy presents itself, they will unite. So they have no inward unity, but do have outward unity. This example is, I think, the most common in the world.

The reason, I think, why people fight amongst themselves but are united against a common enemy, has to with tribalism.
For example: There exists in a country a certain community named A and another one named B.
Both these communities have sub-communities, where sub-communities of A are called A1, A2, A3 etc. and this also goes for community B (B1, B2, B3).
Within the community of A, sub-communities like A1 might fight with A2, which can also happen in community B (B1 fights with B2).
But when community B would attack community A, the sub-communities of A1 and A2 would unite against this common enemy.
However when the enemy (B) is destroyed, they (A1 and A2) will probably continue fighting amongst themselves. This is because people are different (according to genetics, language, culture, religion, sects etc.) and they will emphasize those differences which eventually will lead to conflict.

So, do you think that unity can ever be achieved within a community?
If yes, why?
If no, why not?
And how would you achieve this unity?
What are the main obstacles in doing so?

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Here on PDF there is a lot of talk about unity or the lack of, especially among Muslims.

There never has been and never will be unity of Muslims. But this also applies with equal if not greater force to Christians [who killed each other in 10s of millions in WW2], Hindus, Buddhists or athiests.

And please tell us how the Rashidun Caliphate came to end? How long did it last?

 

[313ghazi]

Unity can be achieved by people - it can only be achieved by looking out for the base interests of all the people in such "united" group.

A perfect modern example is the European Union. These countries killed tens of millions of each others citizens up until 1945. After that point they decided to work towards a common interest of peace and prosperity.

We Muslims are always talking about pan-islamic unity, and Khliafah (something I advocate) but we lose sight of reality. We cannot be united on the basis of religion alone, as for most of us religion is something we have inherited, something we participate in to varying degrees and something we often compromise for financial gain. It's not a big enough driving factor to unite us, we're just like other nations - our worldly interests come ahead of religion; despite how uncomfortable hearing that might make you feel.

In Islamic history - unity has been limited, we've often had seperate empires, and those who have managed to merge empires, did so with the power of the sword.

More than ever there is a need for Unity amongst Muslims, but you cannot build on sand. For unity you need;

1. Common interests and purposes and a path to gain mutual benefit.
2. Compromise on differences (and the political will to compromise).
3. A culture of unity and the promotion of unity.

First implement this in your households, then your wider families and neighbourhoods, your cities, provinces, nations - then look outside of that.

It is not to say these things cannot happen co-currently, but is it not hypocrisy to call for unity within the ummah, when you and your blood brother don't see each other even on the day of Eid? How can we have leaders who will compromise on aspects of our national interest for a greater good - when these people can't have amicable relationships with opposition parties?

Once we have a mature political culture and a wider culture of compromise and negociating win-wins, we will find it easier to do this on a larger scale.

Internationally I think Muslim countries could have a lot of unity today on issues such as;
- Free trade
- reducing unemployment
- Povery alleviation
- Medical research
- Wider scientific and technological research
- Counter terrorism
- Job creation

It just needs to be worked out in a way that benefits everyone. If the petrol pumps could pay to end Polio, or to fund research against diabetes - what do they stand to benefit from it? Maybe the drugs that would get made could be setup in factories in their country? Maybe tech research could be done in something that benefits them? Maybe if they setup a refinery in your country, they can have it tax free? There has to be quid pro quo.