Rohingya Issue Is the First Step Towards Unity of the Muslim World
Over the past few weeks, the Palestinian people have suffered a horrific genocide. Many Muslims are sad and angry about this. When this happens, some Muslims say: If the Islamic world unites, we will definitely win.
This statement is absolutely correct. The question is: Ever since we lost the holy city of Al-Quds, we have called on all Muslims to unite. Why, until now, have we still not truly united? This is because unity is not something that happens in a moment; it is not a magic trick, and no one can unite us by holding a magic wand and saying, “Three, two, one, unity!” Unity is a process, for which we must arrange a program or plan that will make us united step by step.
The best first step in promoting unity in the Muslim world is to help Rohingya Muslims resolve the Rohingya issue. This is because compared to other possible options, the Rohingya issue has two characteristics: easy and important.
The characteristic of easiness is very critical for the first step of a project. Generally, a good plan starts from easy to difficult. Because in this way, the first step is always easy to succeed; and the success of the first step can provide confidence and valuable experience for subsequent development. If not, it results in failure at the first step, and confidence is bound to suffer a serious blow. If our goal is to get territory, then even if our confidence is damaged, we can still work to restore it. But our purpose is unity, then things are different. If our confidence is shaken at the beginning, some Muslim groups will feel that there is little hope and the Muslim world will be even less united; then if we want to unite the Ummah again, we will have to pay many times the price.
In fact, this is what the Palestinian issue is like. When we look back at Palestinian history, we see how easily we could have united during the first Middle East war. But we didn’t do that; now, unity has become so difficult that it’s impossible to achieve it in one step, so there is a step-by-step plan; and the first step is to solve the Rohingya issue. If we make things more difficult for ourselves and think we can take the Crimean Tatar issue or the Palestinian issue directly as a first step, then not only will we fail, but we will also make the Muslim world more divided.
The reason why the Rohingya issue is easy is because of Myanmar. Of all the countries with major disputes with Muslims, Myanmar is not only the weakest, but also has the worst humanitarian situation and the most condemned. The people of Myanmar are poor, technologically backward, the military government is corrupt, and its rule is unpopular. The morale of the army is low, and various ethnic minorities in the country have revolted. If combined with recent news: an armed force in northern Myanmar called the Kokang Alliance Army began to attack the Myanmar military junta and seize multiple towns, then the conclusion that “defeating the Myanmar military junta is not particularly difficult” becomes more reliable.
It can be said that the question now is not at all whether the Rohingyas can defeat the Myanmar military junta with the help of other Muslim countries. But it would be too bad if aid from Muslim countries comes too slowly and the Myanmar military government is overthrown before the Rohingya brothers take action. As long as the Rohingya send a team of envoys to communicate with other ethnic groups and promise to protect their rights and assist them in fighting the Burmese army, they can easily regain their homeland and gain a foothold, and united with other ethnic groups to form a siege situation against the Myanmar military government.
After that, if our Rohingya brothers can be the first to break into Yangon or other big cities with the help of Allah(SWT), and also the help of our brothers in the Muslim world, the Rohingya will become an important political force in the new Myanmar, and they can then use Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to speak out for the Palestine. Of course, all this assumes that the Rohingya receive assistance from multiple or even a dozen Muslim countries.
The second characteristic, which is important, is that the relationship between the Rohingya issue and the Palestinian issue is exactly the same as the relationship between the Battle of Badr and the Battle of Uhud. I have discussed this point in detail in another article.
You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom You have blessed; not of those who incurred Your Wrath, or of those who went astray. (1:5–7)
Under the guidance and help of Allah, as long as we continue to move forward along the correct path, the path of unity, victory will definitely belong to us.
