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NATIONALISM
WITH ITS POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS
In
the Name of God, the Merciful, the
Compassionate
O
mankind, We have created you male
and female, and have made you
peoples and tribes, that you may
know each other ...
(49:13)
that
is, so that you may know social
relationships and help one another, not
so that you may feel antipathy and show
enmity to each other.
¨The
principle of knowing one another and
helping each other
To
explain the principle of knowing one
another and helping each other declared
by the verse, I say:
An
army is divided into army corps, an army
corps into regiments, a regiment into
battalions, a battalion into squadrons
or companies and a company into squads,
so that the duties of each soldier and
the relationships between the members of
the whole army may be established, and
the army may perform a general task
under the principle of mutual
assistance, and that the nation may be
guarded against the assaults of enemies.
The division of an army into different
parts is not for the purpose that the
parts should compete with each other or
feel enmity against each other, or that
they should oppose each other. It is
just in the same way that the Muslim
nation is like a large army, divided
into peoples and tribes. But they have
numerous common factors and values which
require their unity: for example, their
Creator is one, their Provider is one,
their Prophet is one, their Book is one,
their country is one, the direction or
the center toward which they turn in
worship is one, and so on to thousands
of other factors of unity!
Since,
then, all these common factors or values
require unity and mutual love, the
division into peoples and tribes is for
mutual acquaintance and assistance, not
for mutual dislike and enmity.
¨Nationalism
gives some satisfaction albeit it
encourages self-pride, and it produces a
power albeit sometimes improper.
Nationalism
or ethnic differences have been given
great momentum in this century. It is
particularly the intriguing
mischief-makers of Europe who excite
nationalist feelings among Muslim
communities in order to divide them up
and swallow them up one by one.
Nationalism
gives some satisfaction albeit it
encourages self-pride, and it produces a
power albeit sometimes improper. For
this reason, it is not proper to advise
those engaged in social life to give up
the idea of nationalism. But there are
two kinds of nationalism: one negative,
ominous, harmful, which is fed through
swallowing up others and sustained
through enmity against others. This kind
of nationalism is the cause of mutual
antagonism and discord, so it is
disapproved and rejected by both and Qur’an
the Prophet, as in the hadith, Islam has
forbidden the national (tribal) zealotry
of the Age of Ignorance. (Sahih al-Bukhari,
‘Ahkam,’ 4, Sunan Abu Dawud,
‘Sunna,’ 5)
The
Qur’an is explicit on the point as in
the verse:
When
those who disbelieve set in their
hearts zealotry, the tribalism of
the Age of Ignorance, then God
sent down His peace and
reassurance upon His Messenger and
the believers, and fastened to
them the word of self-restraint
and God-fearing to which they have
better right and of which they are
worthy; and God has knowledge of
everything .
(48:26)
The
sacred and positive Islamic nationalism
does not leave room for the need of any
negative partisan nationalism. I wonder
what nation in the world has a
population of more than one billion so
as to enable any nationalist to have as
many brothers, eternal brothers, as the
number of the Muslims.
The
negative partisan variety of nationalism
has caused much harm during history both
to the principle of Islamic unity and to
Muslim peoples.
The
negative partisan variety of nationalism
has caused much harm during history both
to the principle of Islamic unity and to
Muslim peoples. For example, the
Umayyads gave some preference to Arab
nationalities in their government and
thereby both offended other Muslims and
themselves suffered many misfortunes.
Also, the European nations went too far
in nationalism in this century, whence
the long-standing ominous enmity between
the French and German peoples and the
dreadful destruction of the World War -
which showed how harmful to mankind
negative nationalism is. And, in our
history, as in the Kingdom of Babylon
destroyed through the division of the
tribes which constituted the kingdom,
many groups or societies were formed, at
the beginning of the second
constitutional period of the Ottoman
State, by minorities, particularly by
the Greeks and Armenians. What befell
the Ottoman State thereafter and the lot
of those who were swallowed by
foreigners illustrate the harm of
negative nationalism.
The
national or tribal conflict between
Muslim peoples or communities is so
great a misfortune that it is like
exposure to the biting of a snake in
order to avoid the biting of a fly. At a
time when the Western powers resembling
huge dragons lie in wait for an
opportunity to attack us in order to
satisfy their insatiable greed, it is
very harmful even to our national
integrity to nourish hostility and take
sides, because of national differences,
against our citizens in the eastern
cities and co-religionists among our
southern neighbors. There is not a
justifiable excuse to feel enmity
against our co-religionists in the
south, from where the light of the Qur’an
and the radiance of Islam came to us;
besides, the national conflict between
Muslim peoples means to help the Western
enemies.
Enmity
against our southern co-religionists may
result in enmity towards the Qur’an
and Islam, which in fact, means a
treachery to both the worldly life and
hereafter of all the citizens. To
destroy the cornerstones of the two
worlds - this and the next - under the
pretext of serving the social life
through nationalism or patriotism is
stupidity, not nationalism or
patriotism.
¨Type
of nationalism bringing about solidarity
The
other kind of nationalism is that which
is positive and, arising from the
intrinsic requirements of social life,
brings about mutual assistance and
solidarity, produces a beneficial power
and causes the Islamic brotherhood to be
stronger.
This
kind of nationalism should serve Islam
and build a stronghold to protect it; it
should not take the place of Islam. For
the brotherhood desired and established
by Islam is manifold and counts in both
the Intermediate and Eternal Worlds. It
is because of this that, however strong
a nationalist brotherhood is, it can be
only as strong as a single aspect of the
Islamic brotherhood, so to substitute it
for the Islamic brotherhood is as
foolish an act as replacing the diamonds
in a citadel with some stones from that
citadel.
So,
children of that country who are
followers of the Qur’an! You have
carried, not for six hundred years but
for a thousand years, since the time of
the ‘Abbasids, the flag of the Wise
Qur’an, over the three continents and
challenged all the world. You have made
your national feelings and solidarity a
stronghold to protect Islam, and,
repelling the dreadful assaults of the
whole world, you have been included in
the meaning of the verse,
God
will bring a people He loves, and
who love Him, humble towards
believers, stern towards
unbelievers, striving in the way
of God, and fearing not the
reproach of any reproachers .
(5:54)
You
should now be afraid of, and refrain
from, being led by the deceitful
instigations of Europe, being included
in the meaning of the first part of the
verse mentioned above,
O
you who believe! Whosoever of you
turns from his religion...
A
reality worthy of note:
The Turks are more in number in the
world Muslim population than any other
people, and all of the Turkish people,
wherever they are in the world, are
Muslims. They are not, unlike other
peoples, divided into two groups, as
Muslims and non-Muslims. Although the
smallest communities are even divided
into two groups, all of the Turkish
peoples are Muslims and some Turkish
communities, like the Hungarians, who
did not accept Islam, have lost their
Turkish identity.
O
Turkish brother! You should, more than
anyone else, be careful! Your
nationality is blended with Islam, being
inseparable from it. If you separate
them, you will be lost! All your past
accomplishments form a pride for you and
an honorable record of your services to
Islam. As it is impossible for any power
on earth to remove this record, do not,
yourself, remove it from your heart!..
¨The
progress of Asian peoples is possible
through religion
The
awakening peoples of Asia follow the
idea of nationalism in blind imitation
of Europe and sacrifice many sacred
things for its sake. However, just like
a suit which, though of the same kind of
cloth, is not fit for every body, or
just as an old prayer leader is not made
to wear clothes suitable for dancing the
tango, so should each people aspire to
an authentic style: if Europe is like a
market-place or barracks, Asia is like
an arable field or a mosque. A
businessman may go to dance but a farmer
not. The conditions of barracks are not
the same as those of a mosque.
-
Also,
the appearance of the majority of
the Prophets in Asia while the
philosophers usually emerge in
Europe is a sign from the eternal
Destiny that the vitality and
progress of Asian peoples is
possible through religion and
spirituality. Philosophy and science
should support religion; they should
not be substituted for it.
-
Second,
indifference to religion, after
false comparison of Islam with
Christianity, is a grave mistake. It
should, instead, be carefully noted
that Europe is devoted to its
religion, that some Western leaders
like Wilson, Lloyd George and
Venizelos are as fanatically devoted
to their religion as a priest.
-
Third,
the comparison of Islam with
Christianity is a false one, since
Europe progressed when it reformed
its religion. Besides, religion
caused internal wars in Europe for
three hundred years and became a
means in the hands of despotic
rulers and priests to crush the poor
and common people and intellectuals.
But in Islam, as witnessed by
history, religious devotion caused
an internal war only once, and
whenever Muslims have followed Islam
earnestly, as in the case of the
Islamic state of Andalusia, that
greatest teacher of Renaissance
Europe, they realized much greater
progress than their contemporaries.
Whenever they, by contrast, have
been indifferent to religion, they
have declined and fallen to a
miserable state.
-
Further,
with its numerous principles of
compassion such as the obligation of
giving the prescribed alms (zakat)
and the prohibition of interest,
Islam protects the poor and common
people, and it regards - through its
many warnings like Will you not
exercise your reason? Will they not
contemplate and reflect? Do they not
ponder? - intellect and science as
proofs for its truths, and protects
men of sciences and encourages them
to further and further researches.
It is thus the citadel of the poor
and of the scientists. For this
reason, it can never be justifiable
to regret being a Muslim.
The
difference between Islam and other
religions including Christianity lies in
the following fact:
Islam
is founded upon pure monotheism, denying
any intermediary or intermediate causal
creative or formative effect in the
universe. Whereas, Christianity admits,
on account of ascribing to God a son or
begetting, influences of this sort, it
allows saints and elders certain
partnership in the manifestation of God’s
sovereignty over the creation, and this
aspect of their way is included in the
meaning of the verse:
They
have taken as lords beside God
their rabbis and their monks and
the Messiah son of Mary, when they
were commanded to serve but One
God. There is no god but He, be He
glorified from their associating
partners with Him .
(9:31)
Because
the Christians who rise to the highest
of worldly posts can remain Christians,
they even become, like Wilson, the late
American president, bigoted Christians
and still preserve their egotism. But
Muslims who hold high office should
renounce egotism and pride in order to
be good Muslims, since Islam is based on
pure monotheism. For this reason, those
who are not able to preserve their piety
either become indifferent to religion or
even lose their faith.
¨To
those who go to extremes in negative
nationalism and separatism, I say:
First,
the surface of the earth, primarily
including our country, has been the
stage for many changes and emigrations,
and once the center of the Islamic
administration was formed in this
country, many of the other peoples, like
moths to a light, flocked to it to
settle. Since those people have
intermingled, it is impossible to
determine their national origins except
by reading the Supreme Guarded Tablet.
That being so, it is meaningless and
harmful to build a society and our
attitudes on nationalism. That is also
why one of the leaders of those who
support racial separation, indeed one
who avowed great indifference to
religion, had to acknowledge: ‘If a
people are of the same religion and
speak the same language, they constitute
a nation.’ In order to determine
national identity, the factors to take
into consideration are language,
religion and a (geographical) land. The
existence of all these three elements
together at the same time means the
strength of the national structure;
however, the lack of any one factor does
not exclude the possibility of a strong
national identity and sentiment.
Benefits
of sacred Islamic nationality
Second,
of hundreds of benefits which the sacred
Islamic nationality has given to the
social life of the children of this
country, I will cite only two examples:
-
The
factor which has enabled this Muslim
state to survive, despite its
population of only twenty or thirty
millions, to maintain its vitality
and existence, in the face of all
the great powers of Europe is the
conviction:
‘If
I die, I will die a martyr; if I
survive, I will survive as a holy
warrior of Islam’. This conviction
comes from the light of the Qur’an
and is enjoyed by the army of this
state. Equipped with this conviction,
that army has welcomed death with a
perfect enthusiasm and terrified
Europe for centuries. What else on
earth could inculcate such a sublime
quality of self-sacrifice in the minds
of the soldiers, make them
single-minded and pure-hearted? What
kind of nationalistic zeal can be
substituted for it and cause a soldier
to sacrifice his life and all he has
for its sake?
-
Whenever
the dragons - the great powers - of
Europe have afflicted this Muslim
state with a misfortune, it has
deeply affected and shaken the whole
Muslim world. And the imperialist
powers who governed Muslim lands
usually felt, for fear of the Muslim
revolts in those lands, compelled to
restrain their urge to attack this
state. What other force can be
pointed to as a substitute for that
continual spiritual support (Muslim
brotherhood) which it is impossible
to regard as trivial? So, those who
offer that mighty spiritual support
should not be offended by projecting
a negative nationalism and
patriotism which cause us to be
indifferent to other Muslims.
¨Patriotism
should embrace, at least, the great
majority of people
To
those who offer patriotism as an
argument for negative nationalism, I
would like to say: If you feel a sincere
love and affection for this nation, your
national and patriotic zeal should be of
a kind to embrace the great majority of
the people. Otherwise, if it only serves
to enhance, briefly, the social life of
a small minority who live carelessly of
Divine commandments, bringing unpitying
disadvantage to the majority, it is
neither nationalism nor patriotism - and
those who follow this way do not deserve
our compassion. Any patriotic zeal
coming from negative nationalism may
benefit at most two out of eight
citizens. While these two may benefit
from that kind of patriotic zeal, which,
in fact, they do not deserve, the other
six are neglected: the old, the ill, the
afflicted, the weak, the children, and
pious individuals seeking light,
consolation and well-being, not in this
world, but in the intermediate and other
worlds for which they labor, and these
individuals need the help of people
blessed with public-spiritedness and
compassion. What sort of patriotism is
it that allows the light of such
individuals to be put out, their
consolation to be removed? Where is the
fellow-feeling for the whole nation?
Where is self-sacrifice for the sake of
the nation?
It
is not permitted, nor is it proper, to
despair of God’s Mercy. I hope that
God Almighty will not ruin, because of
some temporary setbacks, the mighty
community of the citizens of this
country and their magnificent army which
He appointed as the bearer of the ‘flag’
of the Qur’an and employed in its
service for a thousand years. He will
again enable them to disseminate the
light of the Qur’an everywhere, and
thereby continue to perform their
essential duty.
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