{وَاعْتَصِمُواْ} {And hold firmly}: The monotheism is done only by unification of the words of Muslims, and the Islamic schools are branches of the sub-matters, and they are scientific jurisprudence discretions in order to enrich thoughts, and makes things easy. But when the schools turn into sectarianism, then they become a call for the pre-Islamic claim that Allah (swt) forbade by this verse.
وَاعْتَصِمُواْ بِحَبْلِ اللّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلاَ تَفَرَّقُواْ {And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided.}: It is not possible for the word of Allah (swt) to prevail except with the unification of the word of Muslims, and they do not have the right to be divided on a sectarian basis; because Islam is the all-embracing one that unites who belong to this religion, regardless of their affiliation of their schools.
That is why we find in all the Arab and Islamic summit conferences and in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League we find this verse written on the walls, but they became divided and left the rope of Allah (swt), contrary to the verse they put as a slogan. This is our real problem, instead of uniting the word and standing by their Arab nation, they put their hands with the hands of Zionists, the Americans, and all the enemies of this nation.
بِحَبْلِ اللّهِ {the rope of Allah}: The rope of Allah (swt) is the Holy Qur’an, As the Prophet (saws) said:
“The Book of Allah is a rope extended from the sky to the earth,”[1]
وَلاَ تَفَرَّقُواْ{do not become divided}: That is why Allah (swt) says:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَرَّقُواْ دِينَهُمْ وَكَانُواْ شِيَعًا لَّسْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ
{Indeed, those who have divided their religion and become sects – you, [O Muhammad], are not [associated] with them in anything.} (Al-An’am: 159)
Islam joins and does not divide, so whoever says that Islam has divided people into schools, we say to him: Islam is not the one which divided people, but it is people’s ignorance that led them to this division. As for the schools, they are scientific, intellectual, and discretion schools, in order to unite people, to make a discretion in secondary matters, not in the originals which are constant.
وَاذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ اللّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ {And remember the favor of Allah}: What is the main favor of Allah (swt) that He (swt) wanted us to constantly remember? It is:
إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَاء فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ {when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers.}:
This confirms the saying of the Prophet (saws):
“Is by the pre-Islamic claiming?
So what is the pre-Islamic claiming?”
It is the calling to strife, discord, disagreement, and fighting, while Islam came and harmonized the hearts:
لَوْ أَنفَقْتَ مَا فِي الأَرْضِ جَمِيعاً مَّا أَلَّفَتْ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَلَكِنَّ اللّهَ أَلَّفَ بَيْنَهُمْ
{And brought together their hearts. If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have brought their hearts together; but Allah brought them together. Indeed, He is Exalted in Might and Wise.} (Al-Anfal: 63 )
Allah brought people together by Islam, so every call to divide is a call against Islam.
فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا {you became, by His favor, brothers.}: Allah says:
إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ
{The believers are but brothers} (Al-Hujurat: 10)
This is the brotherhood of faith, the principle of brotherhood, the principle of humanity, honoring the sons of Adam, and preserving human rights, all of which came under the concept of: Allah (swt) bringing hearts together, and His request (swt) not to separate and discord.
{وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىَ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِّنَ النَّارِ} {And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire}: You were on the edge of a pit of the fire, when the Aws and the Khazraj differed and called for: “The weapon the weapon,” and were going to fight, which could have led them to the Fire.
{فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَا} {and He saved you from it.}: That you returned to your senses when the Prophet (saws) said:
“Oh Muslims, is by claiming the pre-Islamic era while I am among you after Allah (swt) honored you with Islam and cut off the pre-Islamic order from you and brought you together?”
كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ {Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses}: The verses of Allah (swt): They are the arguments and proofs of Allah (swt) and the verses also come with the meaning of miracles. When Saleh (pbuh) called his people Thamud to worship Allah (swt), they said to him:
مَا أَنتَ إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُنَا فَأْتِ بِآيَةٍ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ
{You are but a man like ourselves, so bring a sign, if you should be of the truthful.} [Ash-Shu’araa:154]
Verse (sign): It means a miracle. The Holy Qur’an is miraculous in its words, in its structure, and in its meaning. Therefore, Allah (swt) says about the Holy Qur’an:
تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ
{These are the verses of the clear Book.} [Ash-Shu’araa]
Allah (swt) did not say: (These are the words of the Clear Book), meaning, we must know that every word in the Holy Qur’an contains a miracle and contains a sign.
So, if our understanding falls short of the miracle, then this is not a deficiency in the miraculous, but rather it is a lack of understanding.
لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ {that you may be guided}: So the holy Qur’an is a book of guidance, as Allah (swt) said:
إِنَّ هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ يِهْدِي لِلَّتِي هِيَ أَقْوَمُ
{Indeed, this Qur’an guides to that which is most suitable} [ Al-Israa: 9]
It guides mankind, it brings people out of darkness into the light, it guides people to the straight path, and to the path of Paradise.
[1] Kanz Al-Ummal: Book of Faith, Chapter: 2, Hadith No. 923.