A Lesson From History

2. The Call to God and Unity ~ 51 ~ exalted qualities that are considered to be the key to unity. The history of Islam presents ample proof of the above-numerated facts. The period of thirty years after the death of the Prophet, when Muslims were engaged in the task of propagating Islam in the outer sphere, was marked by complete unity in the Muslim ranks. But with the beginning of internal conflicts in the last days of caliph ‘Uthman, the process of the spread of Islam hung fire for ten years. However, the task of propagating Islam was resumed by Muslims when internal conflict came to an end as a result of the voluntary withdrawal of ‘Hasan ibn Ali from the caliphate, and it continued on course for the next twenty years. Again, it was permanently disrupted due to conflict between Banu Umayya and Banu Hashim on the issue of political reform after Amir Mu’awiyah’s death (60 A.H.) Muslims are now paying the penalty for having given up the cause of spreading Islam, thanks to their unceasing internal conflict over the centuries. These conflicts are ostensibly taking place in the