Adam Sayid
Most Muslims will easily agree (at least those that are educated and/or living in the west) that sub-sects within Sunnism such as Deobandis, Barelwi, Jamati etc is clear sectarianism, but Sunnism has been romanticised so profoundly that they will not regard it as a sectarian divide; and so they will wear the Sunni badge proudly (same goes with Shi’ism too). The fact of the matter is, though some of these labels were in theory adopted as a descriptive label of a certain unique theological stance, in practice they are adopted blindly and is a point of serious divide.
They are oblivious to the fact, that the Qur’an came to eliminate sectarianism amongst all of mankind and germinate an universal brotherhood, but today we practice sectarianism on its basis! Even the term ‘Muslim’ is being practiced divisively, as it is not a reference to a religion to be divided from other people; nor is it a specific group of dogmatic people with a distinct religious system totally separating themselves from other religious tenets.
Muslim is a description and a generic reference to any portion of humanity that recognises the absoluteness in God’s wills and desires, and follows a path to seek and submit to His will and order. Henceforth, the term ‘muslim’ is not exclusive to Muslims. Islam is an universal truth, so naturally it will follow that a Muslim will be a universal phenomenon from people of all cultural and even from all religious/non-religious backgrounds, whether they label themselves as such or not. In-fact, as per Qur’an, a massive portion of submission/Muslim is not a ‘religious’ activity, but reforming elements of political and social activities. Therefore, many social activists and political revolutionaries can be considered Muslim even if they had other religious labels, or no religious affiliations, other than the belief in a deity.
Successful is any individual who breaks down such constricting and exclusive practices, and embraces a broad spectrum of human universal values, and is the one who is following the mainstream and the Qur’an; anything less is cultish, no matter how large the following. From the many functions of the Qur’an, one is to inspire and facilitate this break down of the toxic grip of humanity by exclusiveness and divisiveness.
