The one who invites others to Ittihaad (unity) means that he accepts that the people he invites have some things in common as well as some differences.

If he does not accept that there are differences, there is no point in inviting to ittihaad. If someone invites others to unity, he should pay attention to the following points:

1. a) He should know the goals, thought and mindset of the people, organisations or sect with which he wants to unite. What are the goals of the people he invites? What is his way of thinking? What is its politics and strategy? What are its principles? In short, he must recognise the movement, the intellectual current, the sect, and the creed. If it does not recognise the people with whom it wants to make wahdat, it will be shouting slogans in vain. Because the people with whom they want to make wahdat may not share the same goal or follow the same strategy and politics. Therefore, the unity of people or organisations and movements that do not share the same goal and are fundamentally different is not possible. Therefore, the most important condition for unity is that the parties should fully recognise each other.

b)- If it is a question of the unity of people and Islamic movements that share the same goal, that is, if they have recognised each other's goals and objectives and have decided to form unity with each other, then they should identify each other's common points. It is necessary to know at which points they are united and what they have in common. The following question can be asked: If they share the same goal, then they are one, they have everything in common, they have no points of difference, so why should they identify common points? Yes, this is true, but institutions and organisations that share the same goal are united in their basic objectives, but they may differ in the details, in the policy to be pursued, in the method and strategy. Therefore, their common points should first be determined and it should be known how far they are together. Otherwise, they will not refrain from accusing and accusing each other. They may even reach the stage of declaring each other takfir, hypocrites and traitors.

In the same way as the common points are identified, the points of difference, areas where they cannot act together, differences of opinion, differences in methods and the characteristics that distinguish them from each other should be identified and mutual respect should be shown. Instead of accusing and blaming each other for these points of difference, instead of using them as an excuse to attack each other, instead of imposing their ideas and thoughts on each other, they should accept these facts and be mutually respectful and tolerant.

1. c) After getting to know each other well, knowing their goals and identifying their common and divergent points, the last step should be taken. They should first try to eliminate the points of disagreement and dispute. They should eliminate disagreements within the framework of the Holy Qur'an and hadiths. If these points of disagreement and separation are not to the extent of harming religion and faith, but only in the field of method and strategy and politics to be followed, then they should show mutual respect for the views and turn towards common points. After the common points are determined, they should be in all kinds of cooperation and solidarity at those points. A common path should be followed by consultation and exchange of views in the commons. If one insists on resolving the points of divergence, it will cause these common points to turn into points of divergence and lead to the emergence of disunity and strife. In the end, the invitation to unity cannot go beyond saying 'Amen' to a prayer that will not be accepted and shouting slogans for a unity that will not be formed.

AREAS OF UNITY

Since Muslims in the world have different sects and creeds, Muslims of the same sect and belief try to live their beliefs in various sects, creeds and organisations, or have different politics and strategies, the areas in which they want to unite should be determined when it comes to their unity. Muslims should not be used in the name of unity and the unity envisaged by Islam should not be misrepresented to them. One of the reasons why Muslims have not been able to form wahdat for centuries is that the true meaning of Islamic wahdat has not been conveyed to Muslims. In this context, the stages of unity should also be determined.

1. Unity in Faith and Belief

It is man's faith and belief that gives value to his life, gives importance to his life and directs his individual and social life. Belief and faith constitute the essence of man. In the verses of the Holy Qur'an that have been revealed for unity, Allaah invites to be one in faith and belief. He invites us to believe in Allah (swt) as the only One, to believe in the Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.) who brought and declared the divine laws, and to believe in the Day of Judgement. He calls to serve Allah (swt) and to follow the religion He has sent. On the other hand, it forbids worshipping anything other than Allah (swt) as a god, or serving anyone other than Him. He invites to 'Tawheed' both in the verses inviting to unity and in the verses forbidding disunity. The verses invite Muslims to have a 'Tawhidic faith' in belief and faith. When it is taken into consideration that these verses were revealed in Mecca, it will be seen that they are verses that generally declare the basics of belief and faith. Therefore, it will be understood that the verses do not reject intellectual differences among Muslims other than the matters of faith. The Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.) never considered differences of opinion as disunity or fitna.

The unity of Muslims in this field can be expressed in two ways: One of them is the unity of belief in Tawhid, Prophethood, Mead and other unchangeable principles of religion, which constitute the foundations of the faith and belief of Muslims and which are common to all Muslims. In other words, it is to accept the principles of faith in the hadith of 'Amenu' without any doubt. The other is the unity in worship, which is the practical manifestation of the foundations of this faith in practice, and in the deeds that Allah (swt) requires Muslims to do together.

Islamic unity is general and universal, whether it is in faith and belief in accordance with the Tawhidic thought or in deeds and worship in accordance with the divine command. However, when we go down to the details and minutiae of the theoretical issues of belief and theoretical issues and the judgements of the Shari'ah that are made in practice, it is seen that there are differences in the comprehension and understanding of these issues by Muslims. That is to say, most of the disagreements are in the details and details, not in the essentials and foundations of faith.

The differences between the sects are also in these points. Muslims are afflicted with the disease of dissension and disunity and cannot achieve unity because they pursue the details and details that cause the sects to think differently. Since they seek and fail to achieve unity in these details, they perceive the differences of opinion in this branch as disunity. According to some of them, the existence of Islamic unity is accepted at that time, so that one can have the same thought and belief in all matters, even in details and details. As a result of this thought, Muslims have not been able to get rid of takfirring each other and seeing those who do not believe as they do as deviated and misguided. According to them, since sects and factions differ with each other in details, none of them can be 'the truth' because there is only one truth. Therefore, everyone considers his own belief and sect as the truth and considers the others as falsehood.

If Muslims perceive the details and details of a sect or belief as the basis of faith and the rest as falsehood, then they will have to judge that some of the scholars and mujtahids with different views within their sect are kufr and their views are false, and some of them are right. This is because we know that the jurists and mujtahids have different views on jurisprudential issues and other matters in detail. However, the differences of opinion and different fatwas of the jurists in the details and details of the matters of theology and Sharia, which the Muslims must accept unconditionally and are not authorised to express an opinion, are not disputes and dissension, and the jurists have not given fatwas against each other's falsehood and kufr. Of course, fatwas and opinions given against Islam and the Qur'an are treason and falsehood, no matter who gives them, and it is the duty of the jurists to respond to them.

2. Unity in Thought

Allaah has given the intellect to human beings as an internal evidence. With this intellect, people can organise their worldly affairs and find the right path and attain guidance. Allah (swt) has divided the intellect among human beings, but not every human being has the same ability and capability. Not every person can use the intellect given to him to the same extent. Everyone benefits from it according to his ability and capacity. Therefore, what is understood by someone who uses his intellect well may not be comprehended by another person. Everyone can understand a scientific, political, social and theological issue differently without bigotry and prejudice. In terms of evaluating events, people can interpret an event in different ways. No one can say that my interpretation is correct and the others are false. Of course, when it comes to religious matters, these different interpretations and perceptions are accepted as correct only if they are in the details and details, people do not have such a right in the essentials and unchangeable provisions of religion.

It cannot be said that two people think exactly the same on a subject, it cannot be claimed that they evaluate an event in exactly the same way, there are definitely points of disagreement. The existence of these differences of opinion does not mean that one of them is right and the other is wrong, and it does not mean that there is disunity between them. Since people have different knowledge and understanding abilities, their comprehension of a matter and their approaches to events will be different. It is impossible for them to think the same on every issue because of their different ways of thinking and abilities.

Trying to ensure the intellectual unity of people (i.e. to think the same on every subject, to adopt the same opinion, to have no difference of opinion) is not a logical idea, and it is to restrict the freedom of thought and to take away the ability to think. Considering that people think differently, have different abilities and evaluate events differently as a result of their level of knowledge and information, it will be seen that it is impossible to achieve this intellectual unity. If we want to create intellectual unity, we will have to discard all views other than one view in a society, and everyone will accept that his own view is correct and will cause others to be false and false. Considering that a person claims that his own view is right and that it should be the centre, it will be seen how much this claim fuels dissension and sedition. When we say intellectual unity, we mean that people should think the same way about everything, that they should evaluate events in the same way, and that there should not be any different and different opinions. In addition to this, it should be noted that it is a separate issue to reach a common opinion for the benefit of Muslims and Islam by exchanging views, and to be in solidarity and dialogue.

Yes, it is impossible for all people to think the same way and evaluate events in the same way, and Allah (swt) does not want such a unity from people. The Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.) in his hadiths and the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.) in their enlightened sayings do not call for such unity. In this context, the following should be noted: A person cannot consider his own opinion as the measure of truth and invite people to follow him; inviting people to follow him means deifying oneself by whatever name.

The Prophets (a.s.), who have the status of 'Ismat', have the same opinion and make the same judgement on every issue, since they know all the merits, benefits and harms, rightness and wrongness, truth and falsehood of all events and thoughts and ideas from the beginning to the end, thanks to the knowledge they have received from Allaah. They never differ in opinion or disagree on any issue. Therefore, the Prophets also have intellectual unity. If 124 thousand prophets lived together, they would not disagree and disagree even on the smallest issue. But since people cannot realise such a unity, such a unity is not demanded from them.  If someone wants such a unity, this is not intellectual unity, but a call to be subject to him, and if he considers the difference of opinion and thought as disunity, this is due to the fact that he sees himself as the only right, which is one of the greatest atrocities.

In summary, we can say as follows: The unity of ideas and thoughts in all matters in line with the goal of unity of ideas and thoughts without any difference, whether in universal and general matters or in particulars and details. Of course, the demand for this type of unity from people at this stage is only temporal. This unity will be realised if people reach the degree of perfect faith and perfect intellect.

3. Unity of Idea

As we have said, since people have different levels of intellect, different abilities to use their intellect, and have different knowledge and information, they think differently and evaluate differently. This is one of the realities of human life and worldly life.

'Consensus' is the gathering of a group of people around a common opinion in order to achieve a goal by determining a strategy in line with a goal and following a policy and method. It is to unite around an opinion in order to reach the healthiest and most correct decision by taking the opinion of the individuals in the society and consulting with the individuals.

Since Muslims who share the same belief, belong to the same sect and take part in the same Islamic movement are basically one, they can reach a consensus in line with the goal, even if they have different opinions in details and details. Benefiting from different thoughts and ideas not only helps to reach a sound decision, but also leads to the development and maturity of that society.

Benefiting from different opinions, exchanging ideas and respecting the opinions of everyone in the society increases the trust and confidence of individuals in each other and eliminates the obstacles and means of dissension on the way to achieving the goal. When individuals utilise each other's views and determine a method and strategy to achieve their goals, they will achieve success. It is a part of intellectual unity for someone to adopt the opinion of someone they consider superior to them. But the imposition of one's own opinion without taking the opinion of individuals into consideration is tyranny and dictatorship, no matter in what name. If one acts according to the method and strategy determined by one person, the goal will not be achieved and this will lead to monopolism and disunity. Then, instead of the Islamic movement and the goal pursued, the individual becomes prominent and comes to the forefront, and with the disappearance of that individual, the movement and the goal disappear. In the society, disunity and fitna will increase even more. In such movements, unity of opinion cannot be formed, and such a movement will be an individual and personal movement, not an Islamic and ideological movement.

Unity of opinion means respecting the different opinions of individuals, utilising different methods and strategies, and making a common decision to fight for the goal. But without considering differences in ideas and methods as an element of dissension.

4- Unity in Politics

Today, it is the disease of takfrika that gnaws Muslims from within and weakens them. This was emphasised in the section titled 'Diseases Preventing Islamic Unity'. If they had formed a political unity among themselves despite having different sects and sects, the Islamic world would not be in this situation today. Muslims would not be divided if they had not attacked each other by bringing up their sectarian differences in details and their differences in jurisprudential and theological issues. If the Muslims had looked at each other as brothers and put aside the disputed issues for the sake of Islam and united their forces instead of takfirring each other and declaring each other hypocrites and deviants, today the enemies of Islam would not be able to speak against their holy places, would not be able to rape the lands of Islam, would not be able to exploit the underground and surface resources of Muslims, and the lands of Islam would not have become the stronghold of the enemies of Islam in the hands of the servants of these imperialists.

What is meant by unity in politics is that the rulers of all Islamic states in the world act as one body in matters concerning Muslims in the world, defend the rights of Muslims, resist attacks on Muslims together, and take the side of Muslims when there are problems between Muslims and non-Muslims. Muslims do not persecute and injustice others. When they themselves see oppression and injustice, they must eliminate this oppression with their unity.

The most important unity that Muslims should have is political unity. It is necessary to unite their forces and become one body against the imperialists who attack Islam, the Qur'an and the holy places. The aim of the imperialists is to destroy the foundations of the belief in Tawhid and to enslave those who have this belief to themselves. Muslims should know that the target is all Muslims, no matter what race they belong to, no matter what sect they belong to. Muslims, who are united in the fundamentals of faith, who believe in the same book, who turn towards the same qibla, who are the ummah of the same Prophet, who want to make the Tawheed thought dominant, should leave aside differences and different thoughts and form unity around these fundamentals. The Sunnite-Shia unity does not mean that Sunnis abandon their sects and become Shia, and Shias abandon their beliefs and become Sunnis. Wahdat means that everyone should join forces against the common enemy by preserving their own beliefs and faiths, and shoulder to shoulder to protect the Qur'an, sacred lands, Islam and tawhidic thought against the imperialists. The enemy of Muslims is not Muslims of different sects and thoughts. Today, the imperialists have targeted all Muslims without discriminating between Sunni or Shia.

If Muslims join hands to extinguish the fire of sedition and disunity fuelled by the imperialists, the enemies of Islam will not be able to achieve their desires and goals.

The friend of the Muslim is only the Muslim, the guardian of the believers is only the believers.

"O you who believe, do not take my enemy and your own enemies as your friends!"      "Do not take Christians and Jews as your friends!"  verses introduce the enemy to Muslims. If Muslims had not liaised and cooperated with the imperialists for their worldly interests, Muslims would not be subjected to such oppression, torture and exploitation today...

5- Union with whom

We know that one of the most important issues in the Islamic struggle is wahdat. We have tried to explain the meaning, parts and fields of wahdat. One of the most important issues for the realisation of Islamic wahdat is 'wahdat with whom'. What should be the characteristics of the person with whom wahdat will be realised? Should one respond positively to whoever says, "Let us create wahdat"? Can there be wahdat with everyone? Should we establish wahdat and unity by engaging in dialogue without paying attention to anything for the sake of Islam?

The answers to these questions may be different for everyone, but they are questions that need to be answered. The characteristics that should be present in the people and Islamic movements that need to make wahdat:

1- He must show with his words and actions that he really wants wahdat. If there are certain negative judgements about someone in the society, those judgements must disappear, the wrong portrait in people's minds must disappear, and if he invites people to be subject to him in the name of wahdat, to take them under his roof, it means that he is using this wahdat as a tool. The person with whom wahdat is to be achieved must inspire confidence in people and society, he must be sincere. Mutual trust must be established.

The people and organisations with whom Islamic unity is to be achieved must have an Islamic identity in the society. Wahdat cannot be made with the people in the society who are transgressors, hypocrites and those who do not have Islamic problems, this will be a blow both to Islam and to the organisations and individuals who want to make wahdat. If those who do not share the same goal with Muslims and do not have the goal of serving the school are inviting to wahdat, it shows that they have non-Islamic goals, which means that they want to use Muslims and reach certain places. If such people are invited to wahdat, they should first be invited to Islam and then they should be invited to wahdat.

 3- Those who call for wahdat must be self-sacrificing and sacrificing. In order to achieve Islamic unity, he must first sacrifice himself. If he expects self-sacrifice and sacrifice from the other person, this unity will not be formed. The mentality that if he does not sacrifice, I will not sacrifice, let him sacrifice first is one of the internal factors that prevent the formation of unity. A Muslim should be ready to make all kinds of sacrifices for the sake of Islamic unity, and should be able to give up his personal interests, personal views and insistence for the sake of unity and brotherhood.

 4- The unity to be formed should not be misused. The limits of unity and solidarity reached in the communiqué should not be exceeded both externally and internally. It should not give the impression that it has created the unity itself and has gathered everyone under itself. In other words, some personal or group interests should not be pursued from the formation of Islamic unity.

 5- The views of the institutions, organisations or individuals should be respected, and an environment of distrust should not be created by bringing up their views that are not adopted. Their point of view towards each other must be positive. If an organisation is not viewed positively, unity cannot be achieved with it, or the invitation to unity of someone who does not view it positively and does not know that it is legitimate should not be accepted.

Conclusion:  We hope that this short research article on Islamic wahdat will be useful for those who want wahdat and unity.

As it is seen, for Islamic unity, hearts must be one, not bodies. The Qur'an demands from Muslims the essence and reality of unity, not a contrived and superficial unity. To realise this, great effort and sacrifice are required. "This habit is not given to anyone except the patient, and it is not for those who do not have a great share of wisdom and prudence. And if Satan should tempt you and try to dissuade you from this habit, take refuge in Allah; surely He hears and knows all things."[1]

As stated in this verse, not everyone can make sacrifices to achieve unity; only those who are patient, who have a great share of wisdom, and who seek refuge in Allah from the mischief of Satan can do so.

In order to achieve Islamic wahdat, it is first necessary to know wahdat theoretically and scientifically. Then the ways of realising wahdat must be investigated practically. Otherwise, what is done in the name of wahdat, as it has been done so far, will lead to dispute, disunity and disunity. The sectarian and the disrupter of unity will never be identified and everyone will blame the other. And Islam, Muslims and society will suffer from this.

The unity of Muslims will be realised if everyone takes the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.) : "Loving the world is the beginning of all mistakes"  as an example for himself and sacrifices for Islamic unity by putting aside his egoistic desires.   

[1] Surah al-Fussilet, 41/35-36.