Discord is not Mercy

Question :

You wrote in your book Zadud-Da'iyah Ilallah the following: "Discord and partisanship pleases no one but the enemy of Islam and the enemy of the Muslims." But the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Difference in my nation is a mercy." What is meant by this difference that is mercy? And what is the discord that you referred to?

Answer:

The Hadith mentioned is weak; it is not authentically attributed to the Prophet . And remember that Allâh Almighty says:
"But they will not cease to disagree except him on whom your Lord has bestowed His Mercy and for that did He create them."

So, Allâh Almighty describes discord as a quality of those who are not given mercy. It is imperative for us not to differ and disagree; Allâh's Mercy for the Prophet's nation is that it doesn't differ. I don't say that we don't differ among ourselves in speech or opinions, but I do say that we don't differ in our hearts.

Supposing the Hadith to be authentic, it could mean that difference of opinion among us is a mercy from Allâh Almighty, meaning that Allah Almighty rewards whoever from us expends his faculties to arrive at the truth, even if his end conclusion is wrong. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"If a judge is right in his ruling after having exhausted his faculties (to arrive at the truth), he gets two rewards; if he is wrong, he gets one."

Were it to be a proof, this would be the meaning of the Hadith mentioned by the questioner, however, the correct view is that it is weak. So there is no contradiction between what was written in Zadud-Da'iyah and between the above-mentioned Hadith.

Source:
Ibn 'Uthaimin
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol. 8 Pages 38-39