Mufti Menk – Unity or Uniformity – Respectful Disagreement

			We need to understand the meaning of unity. Unity. People say Muslims are not united people are not
united. What do they mean?
		

			In reality?
		

			A few minutes ago, I saw people walking past here, they were all wearing the same clothing, did you
see them?
		

			They were wearing the same clothing.
		

			That clothing is called a uniform. It's called what
		

			a uniform means it's exactly the same. Everyone's wearing a white top black and white. And then we
are all a certain color. A lot of the schools, they have uniforms, the uniform is the same color,
everyone must be the same color, and everyone must have the same shoes, and all of that, that is
called the uniform. It's called the what? And uniform.
		

			For me to be united with you, I do not need to be uniform.
		

			uniformity and unity are two different things. Some people think when we are exactly the same, then
we are united. No, we will never be exactly the same.
		

			To be united, you need to respect one another. You need to disagree respectfully. That's what it is.
I don't agree with you, but my brother, I care for you. Let's talk about this matter, and so on. But
the minute I swear you I cannot be united with you because now I'm not respecting you. The minute I
insult you, I am not united with you. The reason is
		

			I am not respecting you. So Unity comes with respect. Unity comes with tolerance. Unity comes with
		

			diversity, diversity means we are different, completely different. But we are united, we care for
each other.
		

			And we believe that together, we will be able to achieve goodness in this world and the next.
		

			So we can be united today we are sitting in the masjid. There might be people from different schools
of thought who are sitting here, are we not united?
		

			We disagree. Sometimes on some matters, it's fine.
		

			to disagree is normal, the Sahaba of the Allahu Anhu disagreed on some matters.
		

			But they respected each other.
		

			They knew that if this person's interpretation of something is an acceptable interpretation,
Alhamdulillah let's leave them we are united.
		

			I might have a different opinion. But I need to be
		

			united, I don't have to be the same. So do not mix up uniformity and unity. uniformity is when you
are identical. When you are the same everything is one we will never be like that.
		

			You We will never be like that. But Unity can only be achieved when you respect each other. So much
so people who belong to other faiths. We don't agree with some of their beliefs.
		

			They belong to another faith all together, but the fact that we are living in one city or one
country or one Earth, we offer them respect what type of respect I respect the fact that you are a
human just like me. I disagree with you regarding certain beliefs regarding certain things you have
said but I respect you I will honor you and fulfill your rights accordingly. accordingly.
		

			So that is a teaching of Islam. That is a teaching of Islam. May Allah Almighty make us strong
Muslims. And Allah Almighty bless every one of us. And may Allah Almighty grant us