Guiding the Youth to Unite on the Truth and Abandon Division

Question : Your Eminence the Shaykh! We ask Your Eminence to deliver a guiding word to the youth regarding uniting on the truth, and abandoning division, hostility, and hatred.

Answer : This question has perhaps already been answered, yes. And we must know that the religion of Islam is a religion of unity, agreement, love, and loyalty, as Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said: And as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The believer to the believer is like a building.
So Islamic unity is intended by the Shari'ah as a primary objective. For this reason, all causes of division are prohibited. Selling on the back of a Muslim's camel is prohibited, *natakh* is prohibited, selling what is not in one's possession is prohibited, and oppression is prohibited. There are many examples of this, indicating that the Muslim community must be one community.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) even commanded in the lesser imamate, the imamate of prayer, that the follower should follow his imam. If the imam recites, the follower listens, except in Surat al-Fatihah. If the imam bows, he bows, and if he prostrates, he prostrates. He even said: If he prays standing, pray standing, and if he prays sitting, pray sitting. He even commanded a person to leave an obligatory act for the sake of following the imam. If the imam rises from the sitting of the first tashahhud, it is obligatory for the follower to follow him and leave the sitting, even though it is still present. This is the way of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them).
They do not divide, even if they differ in opinion. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) urged his Companions to go to Banu Qurayzah with urgency, and said: Let no one pray the 'Asr prayer except in Banu Qurayzah. They left Madinah for Banu Qurayzah, and the 'Asr prayer time caught up with them on the way. Some prayed so that the time would not pass, and some delayed until they reached Banu Qurayzah. But their hearts were united despite this great difference in the 'Asr prayer, which is the best of the prayers. Look at what happened.
During the caliphate of 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) used to pray the shortened prayer in Mina for eight years of his caliphate, then he began to complete it. This was due to his interpretation (may Allah be pleased with him). That reached 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, and he said "O Allah, the Best of Inheritors" regarding it. He considered this one of the calamities: departing from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and the Sunnah of his two companions Abu Bakr and 'Umar, and even the Sunnah of 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) at the beginning of the caliphate. But the one who interprets and the mujtahid who interprets has no sin upon him and no blame upon him; rather, he has a reward if he erred and two rewards if he was correct. And yet, 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud used to pray four rak'ahs behind 'Uthman. He was asked: O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, what is this? He said: Disagreement is a condition. Look at 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), with his complete scrupulousness, praying four rak'ahs while he believed it was contrary to the Sunnah. All of this so that disagreement would not occur among the community. On this occasion, I would like to clarify that some of our brothers who are eager to apply the Sunnah, when they pray behind an imam who prays twenty-three rak'ahs of tarawih, they leave when they have prayed ten rak'ahs. Or they sit in the mosque talking while the Muslims are praying. This is undoubtedly contrary to the guidance of the Salaf, and indeed contrary to the essence of the Sunnah, and indeed contrary to the spirit of the Islamic religion. The Islamic religion commands listening.
Praise be to Allah. If the imam exceeds eleven or thirteen rak'ahs, has he committed an evil? Absolutely not. The most knowledgeable of creation in the religion of Allah and the most sincere of creation to the servants of Allah is Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). A man asked him about the night prayer, and he said to him: Two, two. And if you fear the dawn, pray one rak'ah to make it odd. He did not shorten the night for him, nor did he specify a certain number, because a person may be active. And if this was not specified by the Shari'ah, and we are commanded to agree and conform to our imams, it is from the Sunnah to conform to the imam, even if he prays twenty-three, even if he prays twenty-three. All of this for the sake of unifying the word. And it is amazing that some of these people are in the Sacred Mosque, where prayer is better than a hundred thousand prayers, and you find that when they have prayed ten rak'ahs, they sit talking and annoying those around them. They may even disturb with the sound of cups while drinking coffee and tea. Where is the spirit of Islam from these people? On the pretext that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not exceed eleven rak'ahs, not in Ramadan or otherwise. But did he say to the people: Do not do it? If anyone has a single letter from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), authentic or weak, prohibiting the increase, let him please present it.
As for if there is no prohibition, how do we forbid ourselves from remaining with the imam until he finishes, so that standing in the night prayer is recorded for us? For the sake of an interpretation that is undoubtedly an error. We do not blame them for their ijtihad, but we blame them for being stubborn about this and not reflecting on the evidence. There are many examples of this. The Muslim community must be one community, in alliance and agreement, and not in partisanship. Allah the Mighty and Majestic said to His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): I ask Allah the Exalted to unify our word on the truth and to gather our hearts on what pleases Him. Indeed, He is capable of all things. Okay, yes, the last one, okay.