Editorial

One Body, Two Billion Hearts

The timeless, profound wisdom of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) shapes us, giving Muslims a social structure that confers the qualities of unity, solidarity, and many other virtues; he is the best possible teacher from as many perspectives as there are ways of evaluating human morality and social life. The hadith below is a prime example of this and provides a singularly fundamental yet equally underutilized lesson:

“You see the believers with regard to their being merciful among themselves and showing love among themselves and being kind, resembling one body, so that, if any part of the body is not well then the whole body shares the sleeplessness (insomnia) and fever with it.”

There is a clear analogy between this hadith and the fact that we stand united, shoulder to shoulder in salah. We often forget that the unity that the Sunnah calls for extends beyond our line-up during salah—from form to essence—and permeates us, binding us at the broadest social level: as an ummah. It goes without saying that this call also transcends races, nations, ethnicities, and languages. To inflict such fractures on our most vital foundation by allowing our natural differences that have no bearing on our identity as Muslims to alienate us from each other would be tragic, to say the least.

We cannot stand for kindness, compassion, altruism, or even basic philanthropy if we don’t stand for each other. Our individual sincerity as charitable Muslims is linked to our integrity as an ummah. Although our recent history is filled with points of decline that paint a relatively bleak picture of how closely we hold our ranks, there have been times in the history of this ummah  when we managed to stand united. To achieve such unity again and become an Islamic society once more, as the title we feature on this month’s cover suggests, a great endeavor looms ahead of us all—one that will take all of us following the example of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and embracing his ways.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a blessed month of Rajab and conclude my words with the prayer Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said in these auspicious times: “O Allah, make Rajab and Shaban blessed for us and bring us to Ramadan.”

M.Galip Dönmez