Inefficacious Ummah

As Tehran stood alone and isolated in the midst of the Israel-US onslaught, its repeated pleas to the Ummah to galvanise military, political, diplomatic and moral support fell on deaf ears. Even Iran's supposed proxies in the 'Axis of Resistance', like the Iraqi Shiite militias, Hezbollah (in Lebanon), Houthis (in Yemen), etc., had seemingly lost their appetite to defend Iran. It almost looked like one sectarian side within the Ummah was fine to let the other get decimated, degraded and neutralized for good

- BHOPINDER SINGH

The Arabic word "Ummah" could be translated as "nation", though it broadly represents a grouping of people who are united by Islamic faith, values, and purpose. Therefore, its applicability is global and not carved by modern nation-states that have been split cartographically depending on sub-sects, ethnicities, languages, cultures, tribes or regions.

But the holy Qur'an affords the word "Ummah" a certain collective identity (i.e., Prophet Muhammad's followers) and responsibility that ought to override cartographical or any other form of societal "divide".

However, irreconcilable intrigues, historical differences, politics, colonialism and wanton ambitions of the elite ensured that the unity as proscribed by faith, never really manifested into a singular nation.

Today, around 50 countries with at least 50 per cent of their population base belonging to the Islamic faith exist. Roughly 30 of these countries have also declared Islam to be their official religion, yet the collectiveness of unity as envisaged in the expression "Ummah" as a nation-state is next to impossible.

Sectarianism is the biggest divider and many of these austere Islamic countries are at war with each other e.g. Saudi Arabia versus Yemen, Iran versus Iraq (in the 1980s and 90s), Syria under Assad versus Arab Sheikdoms, or now even Pakistan versus Afghanistan, etc.

There were attempts like the United Arab Republic (union between Egypt and Syria that lasted from 1958 to 1961) that hoped to unify disparate lands owing to Pan-Arab nationalism predicated on the hope of a united Arab world.

Barely three years into the experiment, the Syrians felt socially, culturally and economically marginalized and with other neighboring countries (also Islamic) interfering in the experiment – the whole notion of unity based on commonality of faith fell flat.