Today, the Muslim Ummah (nation) is passing through a critical stage in history. The decline of the Muslim nation has reached its lowest ebb. There are various reasons for it. Sheikh Al-Hind, Maulana Mahmood Al-Hasan (died in 1922 CE), who was imprisoned in the Island of Malta by the British government in India, said that during his four years in prison, he contemplated over the cause of the decline of the Muslim Ummah and reached the following conclusion:

There appear to be two reasons for the decline of the Muslim Ummah today:

1. Muslims have forsaken the Qur'an.

2. Muslims are disunited.

Allah has sent down the Qur'an for the Muslims so that they would absorb and integrate the teachings of the Qur'an into their character just as the companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) did it. Maryam Jameelah, an Islamic scholar, once mentioned that one of the things she observed among the Muslims is that they can sacrifice their life for the Qur'an but they cannot live their life according to the Qur'an. This is a very profound observation. Today, Muslims have made the Qur'an as a ceremonial book, i.e., they use the Qur'an on special occasions for attaining blessings, but they do not use it as the code for their life. The Prophet's Companions, to the contrary, used to apply every verse of the Qur'an on their characters.

The second cause, which is related to the first one, is the disunity among the Muslims. The cliché that "unity is strength" is nonetheless true. The life history of nations shows that whenever there is disunity in a nation, it is a crystal-clear indication of its decline. The Muslim nation is not an exception to this rule. Allah's "Sunnah" (way of dealing) is the same for every nation. [So no change will you find in Allah's Sunnah (way of dealing)] (Fatir 35: 43)

The Qur'an teaches us to learn from history and not to repeat the mistakes of previous generations. The following examples from history will elucidate the point:

When Muslims conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) under the leadership of Sultan Muhammad Al-Fatih in 1453 CE, the Christian popes and priests were disunited and, instead of becoming united and making military plans against the Muslims, they were arguing about the following trivial issues in the Royal Court of Constantine:

1. Did Mary (peace be upon her) remain virgin after giving birth to Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him)?

2. How many angels can fit on the tip of a needle?

3. What kind of bread did Jesus eat in his last supper? Was it baked or not?

The consequences of this disunity among the Christians were horrible. Muslims were easily able to conquer Constantinople, which was the heart of the Christian empire.

When the British were attacking and conquering the different Muslim states of India around 1800 CE, Muslims of the Indian sub-continent were disunited and they were busy in having debates among each other about such issues as:

1. Imkan Al-Kazib, which means "Is Allah Almighty able to tell a lie or not?"

2. Imtinaa` An-Nazeer, which means "Can Allah create another person like Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)?"

The consequence of this disunity among Muslims was not different than it is for any other nation. The British were able to conquer all the Muslim states in India by the year 1857 CE. Similarly, it was because of this disunity that the Western imperial powers were able to convert the united states of Middle East into the disunited states of Middle East.