Saima Sher Fazal

 Can we surrender to the truth for unity? After the death of the beloved Prophet Muhammad ( saw) some Arab tribes stopped paying zakat and Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddique (RA)decided to go to war with them to make them comply. At that moment Hazrat Umar ibn khattab (RA) came to him and asked Abu Bakr( RA) “How can we fight with someone who has declared the shahadah la illah il al Allah”?! Abu Bakr ( RA) exclaimed, “ By God I will fight with those who differentiate between salah and zakah! Salah is the right of Allah and zakah is the right of men. Even if they only gave a baby goat in the time of the beloved Prophet ( saw) and have stopped giving it now, I will fight with them.” Hazrat Umar (RA) is reported to have said that : “By God it was nothing else but the opening of Abu Bakrs heart (inspired comprehension of the matter)by Allah and I recognised that it was nothing but HAQ( truth). Similarly in another incident after the battle of yamama when a lot of huffaz were martyred Hazrat Umar Ib

Intolerant and rigid mindsets are THE problem. A lot goes into them before they become so rigid. In the simplest terms I can find : absence of love, hope and faith. When such mindsets turn to religion to identify themselves and to fill that gaping void formed due to the absence of the aforementioned assets and 'family schisms' .They are often met with people quite similar to themselves. They attract thought patterns similar to their own. Rejecting love and hope as they haven't learned to incorporate it in their behaviour. Faith becomes a tool to spread their negativity rather than a source of strength, twakkul, hope and love. Thus instead of spiritually prospering as human beings they shrivel into a shadow of their original self. Lost and inhumane! They are a living embodiment of the wrongs we have all inflicted upon ourselves as a community by not fulfilling our duty where it was due. When this goes on for decades such mindsets become strong and hard to counter.