How Can We Strengthen Cooperation in the Muslim Communities?
Answered by Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib
Question
What are the means that should be adopted and promoted to strengthen the principle of cooperation among members of the community?
Answer
In the name of Allah, and all praise is due to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, his Family, his Companions, and those who follow him.
Allah’s Command
The principle of cooperation among Muslims is a religious obligation. Allah (Most High) says: “And hold firmly together to the rope of Allah and do not be divided.” [Quran, 3:103]
And He says: “Cooperate with one another in goodness and righteousness, and do not cooperate in sin and transgression.” [Quran, 5:2]
One of the signs of the strength of faith and its presence in the hearts of Muslims is their unity within their communities, their mutual advice, their efforts in calling to Allah both openly and privately, their enjoining of good and forbidding of evil, and spreading love among all members, young and old.
This includes exchanging gifts among themselves, visiting one another for the sake of Allah, inquiring about one another, and having those who are well-off care for the conditions of the poor and the weak.
Summary
These are just a few of the actions that can strengthen the principle of cooperation and adhering to the rope of Allah (Most High) on this earth.
Some of these actions are carried out by individuals, while others are undertaken by those who represent the Muslims, such as people of influence, authority, and leadership. Without these great principles, communities disintegrate, and the status of Muslims is weakened.
We ask Allah to guide us to what pleases Him and to make us callers to the path of guidance and light.
And Allah is the One who grants success and guides to the straight path.
[Shaykh] Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib
Shaykh Dr Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib is a prominent Islamic scholar from Yemen born in Shibam, Hadhramaut, in 1976. He received his degree in Shari‘a from Al-Ahqaf University, a master’s degree from the Islamic University of Beirut, and a PhD in Usul al-Din from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
He studied under great scholars such as Shaykh al-Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad, Shaykh Fadl Ba‘ fadl, Habib Salim al-Shatiri, Habib Ali Mashhur bin Hafeez, and others. He has served as the Director of Publications at Dar al-Fiqh, the former Deputy Director of Cultural Relations at Al-Ahqaf University, a former Assistant for Employee Affairs at Atiyah Iron Company, a researcher at the Sunna Center affiliated with the Dallah al-Baraka Foundation, and a researcher at Al-Furqan Foundation’s Makka al-Mukarrama and Madina al-Munawwara Encyclopedia branch.
Currently, he is a researcher at Al-Furqan Foundation’s Makka al-Mukarrama and Madina al-Munawwara Encyclopedia branch, teaches traditionally through the Ijaza system at Dar al-Fuqaha in Turkey, supervises the Arabic department at Nur al-Huda International Institute (SeekersGuidance), and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Manuscript House in Istanbul.
His works include “The Efforts of Hadhramaut Jurists in Serving the Shafi‘i School,” “Contributions of Hadhramaut Scholars in Spreading Islam and its Sciences in India,” “Hada’iq al-Na‘im in Shafi‘i Fiqh,” in addition to verifying several books in Fiqh, history, the art of biographies, and Asanid (chains of narration).
