God says in His Holy Book: Cooperate in righteousness and piety, and do not cooperate in sin and aggression. This command from the Almighty, blessed and exalted, emphasizes the importance and value of cooperation among Muslims and among all humans.
Cooperation is the basis of dealings between humans in societies to elevate them. It is an urgent necessity for building and construction. If we look at the most famous success stories of companies and institutions, we will find behind them a lot of cooperation among the work individuals themselves.
Our Islamic history abounds with many wonderful stories that show the spirit of cooperation among Muslims, whether in campaigns and wars, or even in making a decisive decision in Muslims’ lives.
Cooperation of Abu Bakr and his family with the Prophet, peace be upon him, in his migration: When permission was granted to the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, to depart and migrate, Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, may God be pleased with him, set off with the noble Prophet with clear courage and heroism, knowing that thus he was abandoning his house and family for the sake of God and His noble Messenger. But he made the decision to cooperate with the Prophet in his call.
Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, may God be pleased with him, prepared two mounts to carry him and the Prophet with him, then they headed toward the Cave of Thawr. Abu Bakr entered first to explore the cave so that the Prophet wouldn’t be harmed. During that period, Abu Bakr As-Siddiq’s family cooperated with them. His daughter Asma went to prepare their travel equipment, while Abdullah, son of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, brought them news of Quraysh first and foremost. Meanwhile, Amir bin Fuhaira, Abu Bakr’s freedman, went with his sheep to hide the footprints of Abu Bakr and the Messenger, and for them to drink from their milk. Thus, Abu Bakr As-Siddiq’s family became a pure symbol of cooperation.
The story: Our friend Ahmed is eleven years old. He is a smart and extremely committed child. For this reason, he would ask his parents to let him play football with his friends after the end of the school day. His father would allow him to play for a limited period, then come home immediately. Ahmed was strongly committed to his father’s advice.
One day, Ahmed went to play with his friends. But when they went to their usual playing place, they found a large and extremely heavy rock located in the place where they put the goal posts for shooting to achieve goals.
The friends thought together about what they could do. Ahmed decided to go carry the rock and remove it from the target range. But he couldn’t move it from its place, as it was huge and extremely heavy. Here, another friend decided to lift it, but he also failed. They all kept trying one after another until their strength was exhausted before they started playing. They didn’t start because of the presence of the rock.
They sat to rest a little and think of a solution to their crisis. Here, while sitting, Ahmed saw a long line of black ants carrying food together and transferring it to their small den. Here, an idea lit up in Ahmed’s mind. He told his friends and informed them that they had made a mistake when each of them decided to carry the rock alone to move it. Rather, they should all cooperate to move the rock. Cooperation is the basis in solving problems.
Indeed, the friends started cooperating to move the rock from its place. They were actually able to move it in an easier way than before. They all rejoiced and started playing after learning a strong lesson from the gathering of ants.