"Truly those who have divided their religion and become factions, thou hast nothing to do with them. Their matter rests with God alone; then He will inform them about that which they used to do."
Quran 6:159
This passage from the 6th surah, al-An'am, here rendered as "The Castle" warns against the dangers of factions inside of the Muslim ummah. Arabia during the time of Muhammad was a disunited, warlike territory and this made the Prophet's job that much more complicated. As we've discussed, while it is easy to focus on Muhammad as a prophet, he also played political, economic, legal and military roles in the early days of the faith. Considering the fractious world that existed in Arabia it's not particularly surprising the message of this revelation. Of course, he's not just talking about political or geographic fracturing here, but more importantly religious divisions. And it didn't take very long for them to develop, mirroring the experience with all other religions. Considering that during the Prophet's lifetime the entire Islamic world was little more than the stretch between Mecca and Medina, and it seems less naive that the entire ummah and faith could be held together. Now there are 1.6 billion Muslims spread across the globe and the dream of unity seem, well, a dream.
Quran 6:159
This passage from the 6th surah, al-An'am, here rendered as "The Castle" warns against the dangers of factions inside of the Muslim ummah. Arabia during the time of Muhammad was a disunited, warlike territory and this made the Prophet's job that much more complicated. As we've discussed, while it is easy to focus on Muhammad as a prophet, he also played political, economic, legal and military roles in the early days of the faith. Considering the fractious world that existed in Arabia it's not particularly surprising the message of this revelation. Of course, he's not just talking about political or geographic fracturing here, but more importantly religious divisions. And it didn't take very long for them to develop, mirroring the experience with all other religions. Considering that during the Prophet's lifetime the entire Islamic world was little more than the stretch between Mecca and Medina, and it seems less naive that the entire ummah and faith could be held together. Now there are 1.6 billion Muslims spread across the globe and the dream of unity seem, well, a dream.
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