What are the means of unity for the Muslim ummah and the rejection of this disagreement among this ummah?

The questioner: His EminenceThe Shaykh : It is not hidden from you the disease of division that has afflicted this ummah and made it an easy prey for its enemies. We see Europe, despite the blood between them and the disagreement within it, unifying, and they will declare their unity, as they mentioned, in two years. Is it not possible for Muslims to unite? Is it not possible for the scholars and callers of the ummah to unify their efforts and be one front against their enemy, even if they differ among themselves in some matters of ijtihad? Are there not many points of convergence among the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah from which they can set out to reunite the ummah anew? Do you have a vision for an action upon which the ummah can gather? And does the ummah have similar situations? And how did it get out of them?

The Shaykh : The crux of the matter and the essence of the matter here is that if the Islamic callers are truly earnest about meeting, the way to that is returning to the Book and the Sunnah. But what do we say? To this day, there are some in certain Islamic groups or in the Islamic arena who say: calling to act upon the Book and the Sunnah and upon the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih divides the ummah! And therefore, we should make it a general call. And the meaning of this statement—in the Syrian expression—is: "Everyone is on their own religion, and Allah will help them" , but we say: "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."
A story comes to mind now that happened to us when we were teaching at the Islamic University. We were invited to an evening gathering in a spacious, blessed room like this one—if Allah wills!—but the number was limited; I mean, with the walls, there was not this much goodness at that time. For a wisdom that became apparent later, which is among the virtues of adhering to the Sunnah, when I entered the gathering, I passed by greeting the attendees one after another, and the gathering ended with me at the far end of the room. Then, after me, a man entered wearing academic attire in the Syrian and Iraqi style—meaning a jibba and a white turban—and he was the head of one of the Islamic groups. When he entered, he began to shake hands in turn, but no one stood up for him; because our brothers were all upon the Sunnah. I was observing this man entering, looking at his face, and I saw the expressions on his face changing, until he came to me, and I was the last one, I was there at the threshold of the door. So I said to him—in the Syrian expression: "They say among us, O Shaykh, O Professor: 'A guest without standing up.'" He greeted me, and I said: "A guest without standing up." He barely heard this word before his suppressed anger exploded. And of course, he sat down, and he was an eloquent, articulate orator. He began to speak and said: "O Professor, we are now in need of fighting the Ba'athists, the communists, and the heretics, and these are secondary matters that we should not discuss."
And he launched out like what? Like water gushing with force. I endured until he finished. I said: "O Professor, but you are saying that these are matters of disagreement, and it is not permissible for us to discuss them so that we can unite—and here is the point—so that we can unite to fight the enemy in whom we do not differ, that he is an enemy to the Muslims, like the Ba'athists and their like. But what matter is there in which Muslims have not differed, so that we leave the disagreement and unite to fight the one enemy? And you know—he has a type of Salafiyyah, but Salafiyyah today, truly as a creed, is invading all Islamic groups, so , except that whoever had previously joined a party, his Salafiyyah remains for himself, and he does not become a caller to it. And thisThe Shaykh : referred to was of this type; so he is a Salafi; meaning he knows tawhid and the divisions of tawhid and believes in it, but he does not call to it. So I said to him: "O Professor, you know that Muslims differed on the first pillar of Islam, which is the testimony that there is no god but Allah. There are, as you know, those who do not know the difference between tawhid al-rububiyyah and tawhid al-uluhiyyah, or tawhid of worship and tawhid of attributes and names. Indeed, there was among us in Damascus at that time—I told him this: someone who authored a treatise titled: 'There is no god but Allah,' and he interpreted it with the meaning that the polytheists believed in; there is no god but Allah; meaning: there is no Lord but Allah, . So I said to him: 'Then this man believes with his tongue that there is no god but Allah, but he interpreted it with the meaning of tawhid al-rububiyyah; so does your statement mean that we leave the discussion and research even in the word of tawhid?'"
He said: "Yes, indeed"—here is the point—"Yes, indeed, it is obligatory upon us to fold up the research in everything; even in the topic of tawhid, so that we all cooperate to fight the enemies of Allah."
I said: "But—O Shaykh—those who testify with their tongues that there is no god but Allah are enemies like those nations, and perhaps more severe; because they ; so how do you want, or how do you envision, that we can cooperate with these people who differ with us even in the creed of tawhid, to fight those most hostile enemies; like those you named the Ba'athists or the communists or others."
Therefore, if there are among the Muslims, among the Islamic callers, those who refuse for us to call to the call to which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) first called his people, then Muslims will never unite as long as they hold this belief, which is a belief of division and not a belief of gathering.
And therefore, all Muslims should cooperate as long as they are upon the line. As for those who opposed and went out of the line, we do not hope to meet with them. Whoever extends his hand to us to walk upon the Book and the Sunnah and upon what our Salaf al-Salih were upon; then we walk with him along the entire line. And whoever refuses for us, that does not harm us at all.