May Allah reward you with much goodness Sidi Andrew for the excellent article. Indeed this Ummah is One Ummah.

Your point about leadership is especially well taken, since seeking leadership is strongly discouraged in Islam. It is no surprise that the opponents of Islam are keen to encourage independence amongst the various Muslim communities, as this weakens us and leads to divisions and conflicts.

Since life for Muslims in the West is highly unstable, changing with political currents and world events, it makes sense to attach ourselves to a reliable foundation that we can look to for guidance and even help when things get difficult.

Indeed Allah commands us as an Ummah to work together, when He says what means: “And help each other towards righteous and piety…”

Here are some thoughts about how we can work with our brothers and sisters in different parts of the world for mutual benefit:

1. Benefit from Institutionalized Islamic Eduction in Muslim countries: ie. Universities, Scholars, Books, knowledge, institutions that have evolved over centuries.

2. Benefit culturally, via satellite TV or visiting scholars: Watching the live prayers from the Haram in Makkah can be a real refresher after CNN or BBC.

3. Request support for our issues: When they started using the term Islamo-fascism, CAIR tried to fight it, but they didn’t stop using it until the Saudi government intervened.

I especially appreciated Sidi Andrew’s idea of keeping the shuyukh informed of our situation, and perhaps request them to remember us in the Friday prayers in their duas. Next time something bad happens in the West (La qaddara Allah), it would be nice to know that millions of Muslims are making dua for us and that they have our backs.

At the same time, I appreciate sidi Suhaib’s efforts to encourage fatawa that our applicable to our situation in the West and his work towards making the deen practical, may Allah accept from him and all of our efforts. Ameen.

And Allah knows best.

I also agree with you in that Muslims ought to learn to respect the luminaries of various “groups” even if there is some disagreement there, even among them. As one brother once told me, we can agree to disagree in a gentlemanly fashion, insha’Allah.

Siraaj