Anwar Ahmad, a lecturer in Quranic sciences at the Hamza Quranic School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said that unity between Sunni and Shiite followers in the Islamic world is one of the main needs of Islamic societies in the current situation. Extremist groups and currents threaten the existence of Islam. For this reason, the issue of proximity of schools of thought has always been one of the major concerns of Islamic scholars and religious leaders for centuries. Because if there was no disagreement and the threat of division and strife and religious prejudices and the issue of threatening the enemies, the issue of proximity of Islamic denominations would not be emphasized so much.
Anwar Ahmad added: “What seems to be necessary to pursue in the current situation is to find solutions to create unity between Shiites and Sunnis and provide solutions that can lead to unity and convergence in the Islamic world and eradicate the areas of division, conflict and sectarian wars. The Holy Quran has spoken many times about unity and the sinister consequences of division and conflict.”
He added: “The source of differences from the perspective of the Holy Quran are those who, instead of reducing differences and bringing thoughts and ideas closer, try to prepare the ground for confrontation of followers of different denominations, and by superficiality and raising unreasonable issues, increase the scope of differences and sectarian conflicts.
Anwar Ahmad added: “Muslims should try to create unity and convergence through effort and good faith, and make the ranks of Muslims tighter and their hearts should be prepared to listen to the commands of Islam, which recommends convergence. In this regard, some leaders of Islamic denominations have understood the importance of unity and have placed great emphasis on it and have not spared any effort in this regard. Therefore, it is necessary for Muslims to rely on the power of God to avoid differences among themselves and to tighten their ranks from a social and political point of view.
