I want to weep. I want to scream. I want to run into the streets and let the world know my anguish.

I see the state of the Muslim Ummah, and my heart is broken. Here in the West, in the Arab world, in other so-called 'Muslim' countries... we are divided, we are ignorant, Twe are obsessed with the trivial even as our brothers and sisters in Islam are being slaughtered every day, even as oppression, injustice, and wrong-doing is commited in the name of our beautiful Islam, and we remain silent, scared of what some people might do to us. We forget that Allah is the Guardian and Protector of the Believers; that there is nothing one man or a thousand men can do to us if Allah does not determine that it should happen; and even if something does happen to us - it is a test from Allah, and something that we will be rewarded for. Nothing happens to a Muslim except that there is good in it, even if we can't see what it is right now.

"If Allah helps you none can overcome you, and if He forsakes you, who is there, after Him, that can help you. And in Allah (alone) let believers put their trust." (Qur'an, 3:160)

"And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him. He will make a way for him to get out (from) every (difficulty), and He will provide him from (sources) he could never imagine." (Qur'an, 65:2-3)

[Put your trust in Allah, and Allah is All-sufficient (as a Disposer of affairs.)"] (Al-Ahzab 33:3)

It is reported that the Messenger of God (may peace be upon him) said: "Never is a believer stricken with discomfort, hardship, illness, grief or even with mental worry except that his/her sins are expiated thereby." Sahih Muslim, Book 032, Number 6242

On the authority of Abdullah ibn Abbas: One day I was behind the Prophet (peace be upon him) and he said to me: “Young man, I shall teach you some words of Advise. Be mindful of Allah (God), and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find him in front of you. If you ask, ask of Allah. If you seek help, seek help of Allah. Know that if the nation were to gather together to benefit you with anything, it will benefit you only with something Allah had already prescribed for you. And that if they gather together to harm you with anything, they would harm you only with something Allah had already prescribed for you. The pens had been lifted and the pages have dried.”

Why are we scared of the people, but not of God? Why do we seek to please the people, but not God? He, who is most deserving of both our fear and our love!

What makes me angry is when a bunch of people start arguing and fighting because of a difference of opinion. Often it isn't even over a huge issue, but they *make* it a big deal. The fighting gets bitter, to the point that the people involved will start telling other people to stay away from 'them' - 'them' being the people they're arguing with. They call them deviants, they call them hypocrites, they call them all sorts of things. All over something pretty minor.
They refuse to compromise, or to agree to disagree. It's their way or the highway, in their opinion. It makes me furious. This sort of attitude is what only further weakens the Ummah. Instead of screaming at each other, instead of denouncing each other as 'hypocrites' or 'extremists', why can't we try to work out these differences? The Sahaabah used to have differences in opinion, yet they ALWAYS stuck up and stood up for each other. Their views may have been drastically different, but they still loved each other dearly. They didn't let differences get in the way of Islamic brotherhood.

Why can't we realize that? Why can't we see that by having this ridiculously stubborn, pig-headed attitudes, we're doing ourselves more harm than good?

The division in the Muslim Ummah is terrible. So many people going to extremes - the 'progressive Muslims' who want to make everything and everything halaal, who say that Islam needs to be reformed (it doesn't; it is the MUSLIMS who need to be reformed), who throw away centuries of Islamic knowledge in favour of their own 'liberal' interpretations of the Qur'an and Sunnah. And then those who would call everyone who doesn't agree with them kuffaar.
Those who proudly label themselves 'modern Muslims', and those who are happy to be called 'Salafi', 'Wahhabi', 'Jihadi', etc.

Whatever happened to the middle path that the Prophet (SAW) advised us to stick to?Whatever happened to being a part of Ahlus-Sunnah wal Jamaa'ah?

There are those who have little real knowledge about Islam, yet who somehow feel qualified to give their own fataawah or tafseer. They reject aspects of Shari'ah that they feel are 'too harsh' or 'out of date'. They wish to make lawful that which Allah has made unlawful (adultery, for example), and wish to make unlawful what Allah has made lawful (why do they think that adultery should be okay but that polygamy should be illegal?!). They try to explain away verses from the Qur'an, or aHadith that they disagree with.

Yaa Allah, save us from ourselves!

There are those pockets of reasonable, level-headed Muslims who try to stick to the Qur'an and Sunnah and are content with being a part of Ahlus-Sunnah wal Jamaa'ah, who respect the scholars yet do not blindly follow any one madhhab.But I am finding them all too rare... and another thing is that, unlike the 'modernists' and the 'Jihadists', they don't seek the spotlight, and therefore nobody pays much attention to them and what they have to say. Which I think is a pity, because they are the ones we should be listening to.

I think that we really, really, really need to get rid of the "My opinion is correct, and if you don't think so you're a hypocrite/deviant/kaafir!" attitude and replace it with another attitude - that of actually listening to each other, to what the other people have to say.
We have to remain calm and courteous at all times. When discussing something, and if you're disagreeing, what you do is you present your proofs, explain *why* you believe it, and then listen to the other people and their rationale. In the end, you can either agree with each other (yay!) and everything will be peachy, OR, you can agree to disagree (not as good as option 1, but it's better than screaming at each other and calling each other munaafiqs and kuffaar and whatnot).
The main thing is, RESPECT each other. Be RESPECTUL. Calm, courteous, and respectful; that was the attitude of the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he dealt with even the most vile people of Quraish, and that should be our attitude, too.

As people from the Angry Arab blog can attest, that's how I try to act, and al-Hamdulillaah, I think it's done a lot of good. Those who swear at others are always polite to me - even the most hardened Islamophobic, Zionist, racist, etc. I find that pretty cool. Don't you?

As individuals and as an Ummah, we need to change our attitudes, in how we deal with each other, and with non-Muslims. If we all changed our attitudes to be like that of the Prophet's, that would be a wonderful first step towards changing the situation of the Muslim Ummah - for the better, insha'Allah.

So in summary:
The sad state of the Muslim Ummah sucks. Division in the Muslim Ummah sucks. Going to extremes sucks. Can't we all just stop arguing and get along?

“The most beloved to me and the closest to me on the Day of Resurrection will be those of you who have the best attitudes. And the most hateful to me and the furthest from me on the Day of Resurrection will be the prattlers and boasters and al-mutafayhiqun.” The Sahabah said, “O Messenger of Allah(sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), we understand who the prattlers and boasters are, but who are al-mutafayhiqun?” He(sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “The proud and arrogant.”
Reported by Tirmidhi, 4/249, in Abwab al-birr, 70, classified as hasan.