Honor

HONOR
Wesley Ja’far Porter

This is the khutbah I gave on March 28th at the Islamic Society of Ashland Mosque.

In the name of Allah the most gracious, the most merciful. We give all our praises to Him, and we seek his bounty in this life and the next. We seek his forgiveness for our sins, and we seek refuge in him from shaitan, and the evil within ourselves. He guides whom he wills and misguides whom he wills and we ask Allah to guide us down the straight path. I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, without partners, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.
“Surat An Nasr”…
This was the last surah of the Qur’an to be revealed to our beloved prophet Muhammad (sws). It was revealed during his last Hajj in the year 10 of Hijra. The English translation of this surah goes like this;
“When there comes the help of Allah, and the conquest
you see that people are entering the Allah’s religion in droves
Glorify the Praises of your lord, and ask forgiveness
Verily He is the one who accepts repentance, and forgives.
In the first ayah of this surah, Allah mentions the “conquest”. Allah (swt) is talking about the prophet’s conquest of Mecca. You see at the time just before the conquest, much of the Arabian peninsula was waiting to see what would happen there in Mecca, before embracing Islam. When the prophet conquered the city, HUGE DROVES of people from across Arabia entered into the fold of Islam. Now for me personally, anytime I see someone take shahadah, I cry. I cry because I know how beautiful it is to be guided by Allah out of the darkness of jahilia into the light of Islam. I cry just seeing one person enter into Islam, so when I think of this whole country of Arabia, all of these 10’s or 100’s of thousands of people proclaiming “La ilaha ila Allah, Muhammadun Rasool Allah”, it seems almost overwhelming to me. But a question lingers; Besides Allah’s guidance, what encouraged these people to enter into Islam based on the outcome of this conquest? After all, the prophet (sws) had a substantial army by this time and it doesn’t take a military genius to know that with a big enough army, no city is impenetrable. So what was so special about this conquest.
The prophet (sws) marched to Mecca with an army exceeding 10,000. However when he entered the city, he entered with no bloodshed or battle. The Quraysh knew they were defeated. After the destruction of the idols in the Kaaba, Muhammad (sws) addressed the Quraysh, “ Oh Quraysh, what treatment do you think I should accord you?”. To which the pleaded mercy oh Muhammad, mercy. At this Muhammad replied by using the same words used by nabi Yusuf (as) to his brothers, “ This day there is no reproof against you. Go your way for you are free”
So here was Muhammad (sws), who held there fate in the palm of his hand. These were the people who spat on him, who threw rocks at him, put dung or animal feces on him, had killed many of his followers, tried to kill him. These were people who by most people’s standards deserved retribution. These were people who he could have ordered killed. But, he didn’t. He freed them. He sought no retribution from them, only that Mecca from then on was to be a sanctuary, as it was meant to be.
You see it wasn’t just the fact that Muhammad conquered Mecca that drove the whole of the Arabian peninsula to embrace Islam. It was the fact that when he did, it was without bloodshed, and rasool Allah (sws) despite all the persecution, ridicule, and humiliation he had suffered at the hands of the Quraysh, chose mercy over retaliation. He chose love over hate. He chose to show the world what can happen in the face of an enemy, when you counter hate with love and peace. That’s why people came to Islam in droves from all over Arabia. And, after the prophet passed, it is also why within 80 years of his death, Islam had spread from North Africa to India. It was because of his example, that Muslims, Christians, and Jews were able to live in harmony under the rule of Umar ibn Khattab (ra) in the holy city of Al Quds or Jerusalem. He showed us how mighty and powerful peace can be.
Today, we live in a new world of ridicule and persecution. As Islam spreads rapidly in the west, hostilities are brewing fiercer than every amongst many non-Muslim westerners. One could say that in some ways, an Islamic “conquest” is taking place here in the west, and just like in every other instance of Islamic history, it is often meet with hostility.
When Congressman Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the US Congress, was elected, conservative congressman from Virginia said, “I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped,” he also said that Americans need to “wake up” or there will be more Muslims being elected and insisting on using the Quran when being sworn in. Well personally I hope he’s right about that.
We all remember the Danish Cartoon controversy. Cartoonist Kurt Westergaard drew depictions of the prophet Muhammad (sws) in some very despicable ways. Muslims around the world protested. In some cases Danish, German, and Norwegian flags were trampled and burned. Many Muslims here in the states boycotted ALL Danish products. In some cases violence and vandalism took place at Danish embassies during protests.
There have also been countless videos produced attacking Islam on various points. One called “Submission” depicted a scantily clad woman with Quranic verses tattooed on her body, talking about being sentenced to death for zina after she was raped by her uncle.
And, finally, most recently a movie titled “Fitnah” was released. This created quite a stir in the media in the past few days. Geert Wilders who is a Dutch parliament member produced the video, and has said that Islam is fundamentally violent and that Islam itself, not radical Islam even, ISLAM is a threat to the west. Now I seen some of this movie and to be honest it doesn’t live up to it’s hype. It’s very poorly made, and the quotes and footage contained in it are nothing new, in fact I have seen most of it before in other Islam bashing programs. It was this news headline that was my main inspiration behind today’s khutba, because I expected that the Muslim reaction to this will be a primary focus of the worlds media in the next few days.
What has been the response of the Muslims to these things? Violent protests, burning flags, death threats, and the list goes on and on. Let me ask a rhetorical question. Is this worse or not worse than what the prophet himself (sws) endured? Did he deal with insults on a daily basis? Of course. He saw his followers die because of their belief in the message of Islam. He saw people he once called his neighbors and countrymen attempt to kill him. He faced much worse than these silly cartoons and videos. But, going back to that conquest of Mecca, once he had the upper hand, how did he act? Did he burn the flag of the Quraysh? Did he slaughter them? Did he even invoke Allah’s curse on them? NO!!! He responded in peace. He set them free. Now you tell me, how can you honor the prophet (sws), by dishonoring his sunnah? You can’t !!! You just plain can’t. Even going back to the Danish cartoon controversy. Many American Muslims boycotted all Danish products. Why is that? Do we not realize that not ALL of Denmark was responsible for that?? Do we not realize that by boycotting ALL Danish products we might very well be boycotting and hurting companies that employ Muslims or may even be Muslim owned??
Can someone tell me, what the significance of burning a flag is? First of all, flags like those of Denmark and the UK, are designed around a cross. A religious symbol. We are told as Muslims not to desecrate the idols of others because they might in turn desecrate and insult the name of Allah. Even the ISRAELI flag has a religious symbol on it. Despite what you think of Israel it is still not appropriate to burn or trample there flag because on that flag is the Star of David which stands as a symbol of the Jewish faith worldwide. Have we really degenerated as an Ummah to the point that the best come back we have is to burn someone’s flag, and call for the head to be cut off?
I was outraged when I saw the news a few months back in Sudan where they wanted to prosecute and maybe even execute a British school teacher because she allowed her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Is this what we’ve become? Has the Ummah of our beloved prophet Muhammad (sws) really degraded into THAT??? E’Taq Allah Ya Muslimeen, E’Taq Allah!!! This, what we see in these situations, is not the Deen of Allah that droves of people in Arabia flocked to. This is not the sunnah of our beloved prophet Muhammad (sws), who endured hardship that most of us can’t even BEGIN to contemplate. This isn’t even common sense!!! You cannot defend the honor of the prophet (sws) by dishonoring his sunnah. I repeat, you CANNOT defend the honor of the prophet (sws) by dishonoring HIS SUNNAH!!
A Qulu Qawli Haatha, wa staghfirullah lii walaakum
Now as I said, the newly released film “Fitnah” was the primary inspiration for this khutba today, because frankly I’m a little worried about what the Muslim reaction will be. Now granted, I really doubt that any violent protests are going to break out here in Ashland and that people are going to storm the Wal-Mart or something, but none the less I feel it is something that we must be aware of. No doubt Mr. Wilders will receive countless death threats. Not to mention other sorts of torment he might receive. Now, he is most certainly misguided, and utterly wrong. But I wonder, what might it be like if instead of threatening to behead him, the Muslims simply say, “yahaadik Allah”, or may Allah guide you. And, what if Allah did guide him and he became Muslim. For those Muslims who made death threats, what would they say to him when they seen him in the masjid?
You know in reality, the reason the prophet (sws) was able to take all the ridicule was because of his immense iman. When someone responds violently or by cursing someone when their faith has been insulted, it ultimately shows a lack of iman, or faith. The sad fact is that the responses we’ve seen from Muslims around the world to these attacks, are saddening indicator of our weak our iman as an Ummah. You ever get into a heated debate with someone? Usually they start to get huffy and irritated when they’ve been backed into a corner and have no further way to rebut your argument. So, the only thing they can do usually is to get impassioned and maybe even attack you personally. For example do you ever see to little kids get into an argument? It usually ends something like, “Well…well….you…your just stupid!!!” That, it seems to me, is what the Muslims are doing when they react in these ridiculous ways to these attacks. If we have real and true iman, things like this wouldn’t even phase us. This Mr. Wilders is really probably just looking for some international fame. Let’s face it the life of a Dutch Parliament member can’t be that exciting. Really after reading about him, it seems pretty obvious to me that he’s just a sad little man who sees in this a great opportunity to make a name for himself, sell a few books, and maybe get on some talk shows. As I said before the film was very amateurish. So really, the worst thing the Muslims of the world can do at this point, is to make a big deal about it. The bigger we make it, the more popular he becomes. We know that our deen is the deen ul haqq, the religion of truth. We know who our beloved prophet Muhammad really was. We know how he was sent as a mercy to our world. Islam is the fastest growing faith in the western world, so of course we are going to face heat from those who are scared of change and scared of what they don’t understand. We need to be showing them what Islam really is. We need to show them that we are peaceful, caring and compassionate people and we want what’s best for our country and our world.
And, as we move forward, we see many more Americans and other westerners coming to Islam everyday, an estimated 20,000 Americans make Shahadah every year, and as Surat An Nasr tells us, as we see these people coming to the deen of Allah in droves, we should glorify the praises of Allah (swt), and turn to him in repentance and ask his forgiveness, and that he guide us all down the straight path so that Insha’Allah we might all see each other in Jennah.

A House Divided Cannot Stand: part 2

بسمالله الرحمان الرحيم

In the name of Almighty God, the most gracious,the most merciful. All praise be to he created who created man into many nations and many cultures and tongues. All praise be to he that gave us the ability to reflect on the creation and to understand the truly miraculous nature of our existence. May the peace mercy and blessings of God be upon all of his messengers from Adam to Muhammad.

In the last posting, I talked about the need for Muslim unity via absolute willful adherence to the Qur'an and the Sunnah, or example of our messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. However I realize that to some that may come off as "too conservative".

When we look to many converts to Islam, we often find people who are extremely zealous, and seem to have abandoned their native culture for that of an "Arab" one. You never see them outside wearing anything other than a thobe, they often don't trim their beard, always have a miswak (Arabic toothstick), etc. And, when you ask them where they are from, you are shocked to learn that they are from Cleveland or Philly originally. While there is nothing "un-Islamic"about these things, and I admire these brothers' and sisters' Islamic spirit, it is not entirely "necessary".

When we look at the structure of house, there needs to be sturdy foundation and connections that hold the house together. This is represented by the Qur'an and Sunnah. However within the house, each room has it's own unique flavor. This is represented in Islam by "cultural diversity".

Islam is in no way opposed to cultural diversity. Allah says, "We have created you in pairs, men and women, and divided you into nations and tribes so that you may come to know one another (not to turn against each other) and the best amongst you is those who are most righteous." If Allah so willed, he could have created us all EXACTLY the same. We could have been all the same color, speak the same language, have the same foods, etc. But, we don't. That's not the way God Almighty created us. Cultural diversity is as much a part of Islam, as it is part of being human. The prophet, peace be upon him, when sending his followers out to spread the message, instructed them to "speak in the way that they understand". One interpretation of this is that it means to speak the language of the people. There are believe it or not some Muslims who refuse to converse in any other language than Arabic because that was the language and therefore "sunnah" of the prophet. This is most certainly one aspect of the hadith's meaning, to speak the local language, however it means more than that. It also means to use the things that are culturally influential to teach the message of Islam, in the way that it relates to them.

The Qur'an itself is an example. The major cultural force of the Arabs at the time was poetry. Great poets were the "Michael Jacksons" of their time. So, when Allah revealed the Qur'an, He did so by using that most powerful cultural force. So when the prophet instructed his followers how to teach the message of Islam, he told them to utilize the cultural forces that exist in that nation. An example of that is how Islam spread into the Indian subcontinent. One of the major factors that introduced Islam to these people was the use of Qawali music by Qawali musicians who had embraced Islam. Qawali music was, and even still is, a powerful cultural force amongst the "Desi" folks.

In the entire history of Islam, it has taken on many different "looks", but it is always the same faith. A good friend of mine once said, " Islam is like a river, as it flows over different types of rock and earth, it appears different in color and consistency, but ultimately it's all the same water."

So, when we say that Muslim unity can only come from absolute adherence to the Qur'an and Sunnah, that doesn't mean that one has to become "an Arab". If you are an Arab then I suppose that's ok. But, if you are Indian, then there is nothing wrong with embracing and celebrating your culture, so long as you are still obeying the Qur'an and the Sunnah. If you are African, then there is nothing wrong with celebrating your African heritage and Islam even encourages it, but you must always put God first and obey Him and his messenger over your culture. I am an American. I'm a very proud American. I'm proud of the principles that this country was founded upon. I'm proud to be of Irish descent, who braved a new world in order to flee an oppressive regime. I'm an American Civil War buff, and have a particular interest to the perspectives of the people of the Confederacy in that war. I enjoy Friday night high school football games, marching bands, rock 'n' roll, cheese cake, pizza, burgers, and am not afraid to proudly stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance or sing the Star Spangled Banner. But, Allah, God Almighty, and our beloved prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him, always come before my culture, and contrary to some beliefs, Islam and American culture are NOT incompatible. My wife is Somali. We knew when we decided to be married that the only way for it to work was for us to always put our faith ahead of our culture, but at the same time celebrating our cultural diversity and teaching it to our children. So whatever you are American, Canadian, British, French, German, Hillbilly, whatever... and you are a Muslim, don't feel torn. Be proud of who you are. Celebrate who you are. Study your history and heritage, and you'll be surprised at how much your heritage and your faith have in common.

...And Allah Knows Best...

A House Divided Cannot Stand: part 1

بسمالله الرحمان الرحيم

In the name of Almighty God, the most gracious, the most merciful. All praise be to He that gives us life and takes it away. All praise be to Him that created the oceans and brought from them life of all kinds. May the peace and blessings of God be upon all His messengers and may He guide all of us, and may He have mercy on all of us.
Probably the single biggest problem facing the Muslims today, is disunity. In Islam we have at the center of our faith, the concept of tawheed. Tawheed means the absolute oneness, and "unity" of God. In other words there can be no two, or three, or more "versions" of God, or the way we see God. God reminds us in the Qur'an, " Say he is God, The ONE!!! God, the absolute, eternal, omnipotent. He does not beget or is he begotten, and there is NOTHING that compares to him." This short chapter of the Qur'an known as surat ul Ikhlaas, or the chapter of purity, is known in Islamic tradition to be equal in importance to one third of the Qur'an. It sums up our entire view of God. God, the ONE. There is nothing comparable to Him. This is why tawheed is translated as the "unity of God", because it means that there can only be one "version" of God. Likewise when it comes to us as the Muslim ummah (nation), unity is absolutely necessary for the preservation of Islam.
Today there are many different groups of Muslims. The most known groups or sects are Sunni and Shia. Sunni make up approximately 85% of Muslims, while Shia make up about 10%-13%. However, in recent history, as in the past one hundred years or so, many different groups have come fourth claiming different views of Islam. So, how do we as the Muslim Ummah know which group to follow or what kind of Muslim to be? The answer is very simple. If someone askes me "what kind of a Muslim are you?", I always answer, " I'm just a Muslim". I don't claim to be a Salafi, a Sufi, a Ahmedi, a Nation of Islami, or even a Shia or Sunni. I'm just a Muslim! Well what do I mean by that. Well in order to be considered Muslim you have to believe in six things.
1. Belief in Allah~meaning absolute tawheed in all three forms (talk about those in another post)
2. Belief in the Prophets ~ meaning all the prophets mentioned in the Qur'an and that there are many that were not mentioned (as it says in the Qur'an).
3. Belief in the books~ meaning the Torah (revealed to Moses) the Zaboor (Psalms of David) the Injeel (the gospel of Jesus) and the Qur'an ( revealed to Muhammad) "peace be upon them"
4. Belief in Angels ~ those mentioned by name and those that are not.
5. Belief in Jinn~ spirits and supernatural creatures that live amongst us
6. Belief in Pre-Ordainment~ believing that Allah pre-ordains all that will happen in one's life.
These are the six things that one MUST believe in order to be considered a Muslim, whether they call themselves one or not. Also, Islam is not just a religion of "belief", it's also a religion of "action". There are also five fundamental things that all Muslims must "do" to be considered a Muslim.
1. Shahadah (testimony of faith)~ saying "There is nothing worthy of worship other than God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God".
2. Salah (daily prayers) ~ one MUST prayer five times a day at the approximate times and in the manner shown to us by the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
3. Zakat (charity) one MUST give 2.5% of their annual income to the needy.
4. Saum (fasting during Ramadan) one MUST fast during the month of Ramadan.
5. Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) one MUST make or have the SINCERE intention to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life.
So these six pillars of faith, and the five pillars of practices are essentially what makes a Muslim a Muslim. If any person knowingly rejects any of these things, they are not a Muslim. In fact if someone rejects any of these things with full knowledge of them and of Islam in general, they are what we call a kafr, or someone who rejects the truth when it's been made apparent to them. May Allah protect us from this.
Now, outside of those things there is a LOT of room for differences. So when it comes to these differences how do we know which way is the right one? Well ultimately it comes down to the Qur'an. Every Muslim sect, believes in the Qur'an. Every Muslim sect believes that the Qur'an is the authentic word of God. No Muslim can deny any part of the Qur'an because to deny one part of it is to by default deny the whole of the Qur'an, because the Qur'an all comes from the same source, unlike the Bible. If any one verse of the Qur'an was not credible, then the entire Qur'an would not be credible. But, there can be different interpretations of the Qur'an. So again, which one is the right one!?
Let's look to what Allah says in the Qur'an about the unity of Muslims. Allah, God almighty says, “The Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin the ma`roof (all of Islam), and forbid the munkar (all that is evil; kufr): they observe regular prayers, pay Zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger. On them will Allah pour His mercy: for Allah is Exalted in power, Wise.” (The Holy Qur’an, 9:71) God Almighty, demonstrates in this verse, that Muslim unity is to enjoin ALL of Islam, not just parts of it that are convenient, to forbid and speak against all that is evil AND to point out kufr, or rejection of the truth, when it rears it's ugly head, to observe the daily prayers TOGETHER, pay Zakat and charity TOGETHER, and most importantly to OBEY ALLAH AND HIS MESSENGER MUHAMMAD (peace be upon him). This completely discredits those so called "progressive Muslims" who reject the idea of "Sunnah" or the example set by prophet Muhammad (pbuh), as recorded in hadith (and I'll talk about the science of hadith at a later date). The Qur'an says to OBEY THE MESSENGER, which means that the idea of rejecting sunnah is out of the question.
Also let us look at the words of prophet Muhammad (pbuh). In his final sermon he states,"O People, listen well to my words, for I do not know whether, after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and take these words to those who could not be present today.O People, just as you regard this month, this day, this city as Sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Treat others justly so that no one would be unjust to you. Remember that you will indeed meet your LORD, and that HE will indeed reckon your deeds. God has forbidden you to take usury (riba), therefore all riba obligation shall henceforth be waived. Your capital , however, is yours to keep. You will neither inflict nor suffer inequity. God has judged that there shall be no riba and that all the riba due to `Abbas ibn `Abd al Muttalib shall henceforth be waived.Every right arising out of homicide in pre-Islamic days is henceforth waived and the first such right that I waive is that arising from the murder of Rabi`ah ibn al Harith ibn `Abd al Muttalib.O Men, the Unbelievers indulge in tampering with the calendar in order to make permissible that which God forbade, and to forbid that which God has made permissible. With God the months are twelve in number. Four of them are sacred, three of these are successive and one occurs singly between the months of Jumada and Sha`ban. Beware of the devil, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things.O People, it is true that you have certain rights over your women, but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under God's trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Treat your women well and be kind to them, for they are your partners and committed helpers. It is your right and they do not make friends with anyone of whom you do not approve, as well as never to be unchaste...O People, listen to me in earnest, worship God (The One Creator of the Universe), perform your five daily prayers (Salah), fast during the month of Ramadan, and give your financial obligation (zakah) of your wealth. Perform Hajj if you can afford to.All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves.Remember, one day you will appear before God (The Creator) and you will answer for your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.O People, no prophet or messenger will come after me and no new faith will be born. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words which I convey to you. I am leaving you with the Book of God (the Quraan) and my Sunnah (the life style and the behavioral mode of the Prophet), if you follow them you will never go astray.All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness O God, that I have conveyed your message to your people."In this long statement, the prophet of God, makes several key statements related to the unity of the Muslims. Firstly he mentions that there is no superior race. An Arab is not superior to a non-Arab or visa-versa, and a white has no superiority over a black and visa-versa. This first and foremost, completely discredits the ideology of the Nation of Islam and other so called black Muslim movements. Also for that matter the prophet says that NO prophets shall come after him, therefore the NOI belief of the prophethood of Elijah Muhammad is absolutely not sound as well as their belief that Allah Himself came in the "person" of Wallace Fard, which because of it's violation of tawheed is borderline kufr.
I could go on and on with different examples, but my point is made. Muslim unity is and can only be with the absolute adherence to the Qur'an and the Sunnah of our messenger Muhammad, peace be upon him. There are many amongst the Muslims who believe that the only way to revive the spirit of Islam is to adhere to EVERY detail of the life and times of the prophet (pbuh) and his companions. So much so that they may actually forbid the wearing of pants or more importantly forbid participation in democratic elections and claim that western society is an abomination of Shaitan. These people are not following the Qur'an and Sunnah and are therefore contributing to the disunity of the Muslim Ummah. There are people who think that the Qur'an justifies the killing of innocents. Osama bin Laden said, " killing American civilians is justified because the civilians choose their government, therefore making them "part" of the government". The Qur'an and the Sunnah doesn't just forbid the killing of civilians, it forbids the killing of "non-combatants" whether they be government or not. So these people are NOT following the principles of the Qur'an and Sunnah and are therefore contributing to the disunity of the Muslim Ummah. There are also people who believe that Islam or any religion should not be a part of government or public policy. The Qur'an and the Sunnah cover all aspects of human life including criminal law, politics, and public policy. Again as God says in the Qur'an, " enjoining ALL of Islam", not just what is convenient or what seems "modern". These people are not acting in accordance with the Qur'an and Sunnah and are therefore contributing to the disunity of the Muslim Ummah. Also there are many people who want to justify such moral problems such as the sexual exploitation of women, abortion, homosexuality, and usery based economics, in the name of "modernity" and "liberalism" despite the prohibition of these things in the Qur'an and Sunnah. These people are also contributing to the disunity of the Muslim Ummah.
The Qur'an and Sunnah are what makes Muslims, Muslims, and what makes Islam, Islam. If someone who believes themselves to be a Muslim is at odds with any of these things, than I suggest they look hard into the issues and assess their standing in their faith. Otherwise, we need to stop concentrating so hard on our petty differences, and focus on our brotherhood, our unity as a nation, and our common interest in enjoining the good and forbidding evil. In today's world, the concept of "Muslim Extremism" is a very common one. The definition of "extremist" is someone who goes either to the extreme right or extreme left. The right way is the middle way, the middle where we find the Qur'an and the example of our prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. There is only ONE Islam, just as there is only ONE God. So let us all embrace Islam fully and completely, and close ranks behind the example of our beloved prophet Muhammad and behind the Holy revelation that God Almighty entrusted to him to give all of us.
...And Allah Knows Best...