Our aim in the Islamic Union is the realisation of the understanding of brotherhood and cooperation in social, economic, military, political and cultural fields. But how will this understanding be realised? Can it be realised by reviving the Islamic Caliphate in one part of the Islamic world as it was in the era of the Rashid Caliphs (r.a.)? There is no doubt that this is an ideal unification. In fact, there are some 'nasas' about it. All the Ashâb-i kirâm (r.a.) also adopted it.

But is it possible to do this in this century? Is it possible for the conditions for this to be realised? Is it in the interests of the Muslims, after they have been divided and dispersed into many territories and divided into many states and nations, that they should be one community, one state, with a single leadership? Is this possible?

It should be stated at once that we do not envisage a unity in the form of a state that gathers all Muslims under its sovereignty and has a single government. This is because it is a fact that a common state cannot be realised with the political, military and geographical structure of the Islamic countries on earth and the structural and cultural distance of these countries from each other. As we have mentioned, when the Islamic regions were conquered, each of them had a special personality and the caliph was sovereign over all of them. All administration was under his supervision. However, each of the Muslim regions had partial local autonomy in terms of its governor and judiciary.

We should also take into consideration that the Islamic Union we are working for should be in accordance with the requirements of the age. While taking this into consideration, we should keep in mind the teachings of Islam. If there will be any influence from the spirit of the age, it will only be in the form of unity, not in its essence. It should be stated at once that we are not among those who adapt the provisions of Islam to the fashions of the age and bend them accordingly. It is also important to remember that Islam commands us to take into account realistic and certain facts and leaves the ways of realising them to us. We can find the shortest and most practical way to realise these realities through our jurisprudence and efforts. We can utilise the opportunities of the age to determine the path and form of unity. Apart from this, we have absolutely no tolerance for any person or government to tamper with or pervert the provisions of Islam on the grounds of whether they are in accordance with the age or not. First of all, the truths of Islam are absolute and firm. Changing or perverting them is absolutely forbidden and cannot be tolerated.

The unity we seek does not touch the authority of any government that upholds the truth and upholds the essence and objectives of Islam. It will not touch the form of government in any Islamic country as long as it realises truth and justice among Muslims, does not oppress and persecute its citizens and does not disrupt the Islamic Unity. The form of government of each region is free as long as it observes these criteria. 

It is in this sense that we want Islamic unity. That is, no matter how far away our countries and lands are, we should consider ourselves bound to all Muslims by deep-rooted and strong ties that reach deep into our souls. These ties are the principles, principles, worships and beliefs of Islam. Because Islam is a religion of complete tawhid, free from all forms of shirk, and at the same time it is a comprehensive and unifying religion of unity.

Our goal is the unity of the Muslims of the world. It is an obligation for every Muslim to live under its shadow. Those who do not believe that Muslims are one Ummah are turning their backs on the verses of the Qur'an and are enemies of Allah (swt) and His Messenger (s.a.s.). Allah Almighty says of those who do so:"Whoever opposes the Messenger and follows other than the way of the believers, after the right way has become clear to him, We will turn him back to the way he turned, and We will make him enter Hell. It is an evil place of return."[1]

We have been divided too much in the past. The hungry wolves of the earth ate us. We fell into weakness and were shattered. Let us not forget that if nationalism fragmented and dispersed us yesterday, today the Qur'an calls us to unity. If in the past we were scattered because we did not gather under the umbrella of the Qur'an, and if the desires of the rulers and their tendency to dominate others have sunk us all in the past, today we need to unite under the shadow of Islam and around Tawheed.

As we have stated, our aim in Islamic Unity is not to establish a single state. Our aim is a comprehensive solidarity and co-operation involving all Muslims. In full co-operation and solidarity, Muslims as separate states can realise the great Islamic Union. As we have already mentioned, the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.) "The Imams are from the Quraysh" is not an imperative in the form of a command, but an information about the future situation. That is to say, it is not a subjunctive mood, but it is in the subjunctive mood. It reports a situation that will happen later, such as the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.) "The Imamate is thirty years after me, after which there will be a nettle kingdom."  It is for as long as the rulers of the Quraysh are on the right path. If they deviate from it, they will be stripped of this authority like the peeling of the bark of a tree." It is similar to the hadith.

We think that Qurayshism is not a condition for imamate. We believe that this condition does not suit our time, or that it is incompatible with the justice and equality stated by the Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.We do not stipulate this condition, not because it is incompatible with the justice and equality stated by the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.), or because of the confusion, forgetfulness and impossibility of precise determination of the lineages - even those who submit to the guardianship of non-Muslims claim Quraysh or Hashimiyyah yesterday and today - but not because of any of these things, but because we believe that this news narrated from the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) is not a proposed command that is obligatory to be followed and obeyed in the case of implementation, allegiance and obedience. This is because, as we have already mentioned, it is possible that the Hadith is an obligation or a report. When probability enters the evidence, it does not become a binding definite evidence. Our preference is that the Hadith is not an order, but a report. Therefore, there is no conclusive evidence that the requirement of Quraysh is necessary. We also do not say that the Islamic Unity was not realised after the Rashid Caliphs because there was not a Prophetic caliphate but a kingdom.[2] 

There is no doubt that Islamic unity can be realised without the caliphate in the sense mentioned at the beginning. The Caliph can be present in this unity not as a fundamental pillar, but as a symbol of unity.

As soon as co-operation in the political, military and economic fields is realised, a strong, efficient and beneficial unity is achieved. This can only be realised through a comprehensive body that includes the entire Islamic world. That is the World Islamic Union to be formed from Islamic countries.[3]

[1]Surah al-Nisa, 4/115.

[2]As mentioned above, Islam has no problem of this or that lineage. It does not accept any criteria other than piety, competence and merit as a reason for preference. In addition, for fourteen centuries, the Islamic Ummah has been confused with each other and it has become incomprehensible who is a Qurayshite and who is not. 

[3]  World Islamic Union, Muhammad Abu Zahra.