Sectarianism Among The Muslims: What Should Be The Right Approach?
By S. Arshad, New Age Islam
31 December 2021
Sectarianism Has Been The Problem In All
The Religions
Main Points:
1.
Jews
were divided in many sects and became cursed on earth.
2.
The
Christians were also divided in sects and lost their dominance to the united
Muslims.
3.
Muslims
were also divided into sects and lost political power.
4.
Buddhists
that were a dominant force in Asia fell because of sectarianism.
5.
Muslims
should limit sectarian differences to the personal religious conduct.
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The Quran says that the Muslim Ummah
(community) is a united whole and the entire Muslim community is like a body.
If an organ of the body suffers pain, the other parts also feel it. But after
the demise of the holy prophet pbuh the
Muslim Ummah became divided in about 72 sects. The most prominent among them
are Sunni and Shia. Over time, these two sects also became divided in dozens of
sub-sects and ideological groups. This
was contrary to the stance of the Quran which says that those create division
and sects among the Muslims are not among the Muslims.
“Indeed those who have divided their
religion and became sects, you are not in anything with them.” ( Al Ana’m: 159)
This is not the case about the Muslims
alone. Before them, the Jews were divided in sects and sub-sects. The division
and sects was so intense that they killed each other in the name of purity of
religion. They considered even declared the other sects as heretics and issued
fatwas against the others. They were divided because they deviated from the
original teachings of Torah. It was in fact a form of God’s wrath on them:
“And We divided them into sects on
earth, some of them are on the right path and some of them are otherwise.” (Al A’raf: 168)
After the Jews, the Christians also were
divided in sects and ideological groups and history bears testimony to the fact
that they also killed each other in the name of maintaining purity of religion
as late as the eighteenth century. Earlier those Christians who did not believe
in the doctrine of Trinity were also killed by the Emperor.
“But the denominations among the
differed (and separated)”(Az Zukhruf:65)
We also have the example of Buddhism which
also was divided among dozens of sects only within hundred years of the demise
of Gautama Buddha. The cause of division was interpretations of the teachings
of Gautama Buddha. The Buddhism scholar
Vishwanath Banerjee writes:
“Slight differences of opinion on the
rules, doctrines or even in the preparation
and wearing of robes caused the existence
of the different sects and even
led to the emergence of a number
of Yanas within the fold of Buddhism. The original words of the Teacher
(Buddha) started being interpreted in difference ways conveying different and
sometimes contradictory meanings.” (Mahayana Buddhism: A study in its
development; Mahayan Buddhism edited by Sadhan Chandra Sarkar, Asiatic Society)
Therefore, within one hundred years after
the parinirban of Buddha, the following prominent sects came into being:
Mahayan, Hinyan, Mantrayan, Vajrayan,
Sautrantikas, Sarvastivadins., Madhyamika etc.
One wonders how true this is about the
Muslims as well. Sects among them came into existence merely on the basis of
robes and caps and also on the basis of contradictory interpretations of the
verses of the Quran.
It becomes clear from the divisions among
all the divine religions that sectarianism has been a feature of all the
religious communities because they interpreted the teachings of the religious
scriptures in their own way and thought that only their interpretations were
correct and only they have presented the teachings of the prophet in the
correct way.
The divisions and sectarianism among the
Buddhists did not result in fatwas against the other sects and there was no
bloodshed among them on the basis of sectarian interpretation of Buddha’s
teachings. However, the Mahayanists (the latter day offshoot) called
Theravadins the orthodox sect Hinayana which means Inferior sector way of realizing
Truth. But this did not result in violence or bloodshed among the Buddhists.
The Hinayanist fought the argument of Mahayanists to prove that their sect was
not inferior but the original way of the Buddha.
The Quran speaks of the sectarian
differences among the followers of Prophet Moses a.s. and Prophet Jesus a.s.
and the resultant insult and humiliation on earth to warn Muslims (the
followers of the holy prophet pbuh) of the results of sectarianism. The Quran
says that the Jews who once were prospering and ruling community in the world
were cursed by God because they divided sects and fought with each other on
sectarian lines. The Quran also cites the example of the followers of Jesus
Christ who in later period became divided into sects and commit bloodshed
against their own folk to maintain the purity of religion. The Christians who
were once the powerful community of the world and ruled almost half of the
world fell to the Muslims because they were divided in sects and became
politically and spiritually weak.
Buddhism also emerged as a dominant force
because of its simple teachings and its inclusive social approach. It removed
the difference between untouchables and the higher castes. It became so popular
that it became a dominant religious community from Assam to Khorasan. It also
spread as far as Indonesia, Java, Japan and China.
However, when they were divided among sects
and sub-sects and presented contradictory interpretations of the Teacher,
introducing many doctrines that were not in accordance to the actual teachings
of Buddha.
Therefore, sectarianism became the cause of
downfall of Buddhism in Asia. Once kings like Asoka had become its patron. In
later year, it was the kings who became its enemy and killed Buddhist monks and
destroyed their Viharas (monasteries).
It mentions the fate of these religious
communities to warn Muslims against similar fate because of sectarianism. But
as we say the Muslims have not learnt any lesson from the fate of the earlier
communities.
Sectarianism has done the Muslims the most
damage in the last few centuries. Many sects have come into existence because
of sectarian interpretations of the Quran. The sectarian interpretations have
caused massacres among the Muslim communities and some recent examples testify
to this.
When sectarianism is a constant feature of
religious communities, Muslims should also realize this and form their attitude
towards the other sects of Muslims in the same light. They should again learn
from the resurgence of the Jews and the Christians who after limiting sectarian
differences to the personal lives of the followers have reclaimed their
political power in the world. Today, there is no violence and bloodshed among
the Jews or among the Christians because they have realized the fact that men do
not agree on any issue because no two people think in the same way. Therefore,
they have concentrated on the scientific and economic issues and have become
super powers. The Muslims who believe that some day they will dominate the
world are in fact a suppressed lot because of their sectarian weakness.
It should be the right approach for the
Muslims to limit the sectarian differences to their personal conduct and should
work for the collective welfare of the community. The differences in the
wearing of robes or the shape of the skullcap or other non-fundamental
practices and beliefs and should not come in the way of collective good. The
doctrine of Takfeer has been the biggest cause of bloodshed and
massacres among the Muslims.
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