This week is Islamic Unity Week, a good time for all Muslims to think about uniting the Islamic ummah (community). Islamic Unity Week is held on the occasion of the anniversary of the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him and his family) which is tomorrow. All Muslims must realize that the Islamic ummah is in serious trouble. Many members of our community are experiencing poverty, hunger, oppression, and illiteracy. Many have been completely forgotten. Where are the Muslim brothers and sisters at this desperate time?

If Muslims fail to unite, we will have no one but ourselves to blame for our problems. We can not blame our failure to unite on enemies of Islam. Some of the problems of the ummah have an external source and some have an internal source, but all of our problems can be solved through unity.

The Islamic ummah is supposed to be like one big family. Why are we not living like this? In many ways, lack of unity is the biggest problem in the Islamic world.

At this critical point in time, all Muslims must struggle to unite the ummah. We must fight against all forms of division. There must be no racial, ethnic, or class divisions in the ummah. There must be no Sunni-Shia conflict. Division among Muslims only helps the enemies of Islam.

If the ummah had been united, we probably would have been able to prevent the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kashmir, Kurdistan, Palestine, Bosnia, Kosovo, Algeria, Sierra Leone, Aceh, and many other places. Now is the time to act. There is no time to spare. Perhaps we should disband the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and replace it with an Islamic Federation that would better serve the community. Europe is uniting through the European Union. Other regions are uniting. Why are we not uniting?

The Islamic Federation could establish a pan-Islamic parliament immediately, and then start working on establishing a central bank, a common currency, a common social policy, a common foreign policy, and a united Islamic army. The average Muslim would benefit immensely from this. All that is needed is the proper motivation.

It's time that we Muslims stop crying about being oppressed by our enemies and start rolling into action and taking responsibility for building up the ummah. After all, we are the only ones who can solve our problems.

Wake up Muslim brothers and sisters. Islamic world unite.