At the close of the verse Allah—exalted is He—says: wa-ʾulāʾika hum al-mufliḥūn (“and it is they who are the successful”). The pronoun “they” refers to that community which enjoins what is right and forbids what is wrong, while al-mufliḥ is the one who attains what he seeks and is spared what he dreads.

He repeats: wa-ʾulāʾika hum al-mufliḥūn, a phrase which, as the scholars of Arabic point out, conveys exclusivity: true success is reserved for those who enjoin right, forbid wrong, and call people to goodness.

Thereafter Allah, majestic and exalted, says: wa-lā takūnū ka-lladhīna tafarraqū wa-khtalafū min baʿdi mā jāʾahumu al-bayyināt (“Do not be like those who split up and differed after clear proofs had come to them”) (Āl ʿImrān 105). That the prohibition of division is mentioned immediately after the command to enjoin right and forbid wrong shows that neglecting these two duties is a cause of schism. When people follow divergent inclinations they scatter: one obeys, another rebels; one drinks intoxicants, another prays—until the ummah fragments and every faction pursues its own course. Hence His warning: wa-lā takūnū ka-lladhīna tafarraqū.

Nothing, therefore, unites the ummah except enjoining right and forbidding wrong. Were the community to uphold these duties and refer its disputes to the Book and the Sunnah, it would never splinter; security would be theirs—a security greater than any other. Allah the Exalted says: alladhīna āmanū wa-lam yalbisū īmānahum bi-ẓulmin ulāʾika lahumu al-amnu wa-hum muhtadūn (“Those who believe and do not mix their faith with wrongdoing—for them there is security, and they are rightly guided”) (al-Anʿām 82). Today, great and small powers alike pour enormous resources into safeguarding security, yet many Muslims have overlooked this verse. Perfect security lies in these two words: alladhīna āmanū wa-lam yalbisū