slam is a Faith for all cultures, for all times. The message it conveys illuminates the passage for everyone who wishes to seek nearness to God, to serve God humbly and continually. Anyone who wishes to be a Muslim must simply recite the Shahada a statement so simple, so sublime and yet so absolute and focused on Truth.

“There is no God but God and Mohammed is His messenger.“

Any person who believes these few words, who feels their strength and Truth deep within his heart, utters them from convinced lips, has submitted to the Faith of Islam and is therefore a Muslim. Within the Muslim Ummah there is no difference between a born Muslim, a Muslim by chance, and a converted Muslim, a Muslim by choice. Within this timeless Faith we are all bound by one thing: a duty to serve God. There is nothing else, can be nothing else.  We all believe in the absolute truth of the Holy Quran, we all pray five times a day facing Makkah, we all perform Hajj if possible, we all fast during Ramadan if we are able and we all pay Zakat.

Then why is there often discord and disunity amongst the 1.3 billion Muslims spread through out the world that claim adherence to this incredible Faith? Whether a Muslim by chance or a Muslim by choice, we find ourselves confronted with the politics of sectarian divide– divisions that some Muslims refuse to allow to cause disharmony while others seemingly focus on these minor differences of practice and utilize them to disunite, demean, disrupt and worse. In a nation that permits us freedom of choice, I encounter far too many Muslims who are more concerned with what stream of jurisprudence one follows than what opportunities for Islamic education, volunteering and community activism are available.

In our community, there is a dangerous practice gripping Muslims young and old, a practice that demeans and degrades, and it is known as takfeer. This is the shameful, harmful practice of declaring a believer to be a disbeliever. The Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) warned us against such evil actions when he declared that, e who accuses a believer of Kufr (disbelief) then it is like killing him.“ This hadith has been recorded by a series of scholars, from Imams Bukhari and Abu Dawood to Imam Muslim. Perhaps Ibn Hajr (Imam al–Haafidh) summed it best when he instructed that a Muslim who passes takfeer on another Muslim is passing the act upon his own self. Ibn Hajr also wrote, “It refers to the one who says it to someone from whom nothing is known except Islam and there is no justification or reason for him to claim that he is a kaafir. So in such a case he becomes a kaafir himself because of that ... So the meaning of the hadith is that his judgement of takfeer (making someone a kaafir) returns upon himself, so what is meant is takfeer not kufr. So it is as if he passed judgement of kufr upon himself since he passed this judgement on one who is like him (ie. a muslim).“ (Abbreviated from “Fathul–Baaree“ (10/466)

Should we be so quick to commit such an act? An act that causes disunity and destruction amongst the believers? If one disagrees with another’s form of practice today, instead of acting as responsible Muslims and working to seek understanding and open dialogue, we all too often make dangerous accusations and sit smugly by, believing that we are in the right, justified in our ’moral superiority’.

Takfeer is a danger to Islam simply because it attempts to expel faithful believers from being a part of our community.  When a Muslim who fears God and lives each day attempting to serve Him to the best of his ability is pronounced to be a non–believer it is as if his whole world collapses. As Muslims we submit body, mind and soul to God; this devotion is the center of our lives as believers and it is what makes us part of our Ummah. To discriminate against some one because of something minor, such as difference in approach to practice, is to involve oneself in the practices of the non–believers who have had centuries of societal problems due to racism and civil rights issues. When we look to non–Islamic nations around the world today we can see startling examples of prejudice; prejudice that Islam does not tolerate.

If I decide to proclaim that my neighbour is not a real Muslim, but in fact an apostate, simply because I disagree with how he practices Islam, I put him in true danger of reprisal from the community and from his family. Even if nothing harmful comes to this man, I have in effect murdered him, as the hadith reports. And who is to say that tomorrow someone won’t do the same to me, simply because I may not practice exactly as the accuser does? Takfeer is a vicious cycle of abuse in this community that must stop. For when we pronounce Takfeer on fellow Muslims, we place their quality of life here and in the hereafter at stake. What right do we have to do this to someone who pronounces, “There is no God but God and Mohammed is His messenger“?

What can we do to initiate better understanding amongst Muslims? How can we work to avoid passing judgment and condemnation upon our brothers and sisters? Perhaps it is time for our community to create dialogue sessions where we can come together and talk about what unites us and how to focus on that, develop it so that we can work together to create a more open and tolerant community. Maybe we could organize the occasional workshop that would allow members of the local Ummah to actively participate in question and answer sessions with community leaders and scholars, so that we can join together in learning and developing new relationships. Many communities across North America organize such events, shouldn’t Calgarians create such opportunities for ourselves? I think it’s time to do so.

As Muslims we should encourage our brothers and sisters to act as God instructs, to encourage each other to become stronger, practicing Muslims. We should avoid debates and discussions that involve accusations and criticisms and the focusing on our differences. Instead, we should enjoin debates and discussions that encourage each other and seek to find understanding and common ground. If God had wished for us to be all the same, surely He would have Created us as such. Let us, celebrate being Muslim. In the end, our common belief in God and His messenger is the only thing that matters.