ABU DHABI: Rejecting the idea of uniting Muslims under one caliphate and one flag as propagated by the extremist elements like the Islamic State (IS), Muslim scholars have called for encouraging diversity in the Ummah (community).
The international conference organised by The World Muslim Communities Council on May 8 and 9 strongly felt that the Muslim unity is cultural and not political.
The concept paper prepared for the conference observed that "the groups and movements that emerged in the recent decades have twisted the concept of Islamic unity into a political dream." It added that the idea to unite all Muslims in one state under the name of Islamic caliphate in contrary to the historical facts.
The paper said that the single state (caliphate) disappeared one hundred years after the migration of Prophet Muhammad and the Ummah (the community) was divided and fragmented since then. But the divisions did not affect the cultural unity of Muslims all over the world, it said.
The sentiment of the conference was powerfully conveyed by Mohamed Mokthar Gomaa, Minister for Religious Endowments in Egypt, who said "a Muslim must respect the country in which he lives, whether it is a Muslim-majority or not."
The conference was held against the backdrop of the continuing propaganda that it is mandatory for Muslims to live under caliphate and not in modern nation-states. Extremist outfits like IS and Al Qaeda have been pushing the agenda fervently, misquoting the verses from scriptures. UAE has been fighting against the propaganda under the leadership of Islamic scholar Sheikh Abdulla Bin Bayyah, chairman of the UAE Fatwa committee.
It may be recalled that the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) had called for the annihilation of nationalism and restoration of the caliphate. Some Muslim youths from Kerala migrated to IS strongholds in Syria and Afghanistan a few years ago with the intention of living 'under the caliphate'. Without directly referring to any of these developments, the conference unequivocally asserted that such dangerous dreams have no place in contemporary Islam.
The conference also called upon Muslim communities all over the world to draw up plans that are in consonance with the regional aspirations and to protect the diversity existing in the community. Unity could be achieved even while upholding the diverse cultures, the meeting felt.
UAE Minister of Tolerance and Co-existence Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan inaugurated the conference. Sheikh Bin Bayyah, representatives from various countries including Russia, Turkey, Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia, USA, China and Morocco participated in the deliberations.