Nationalism in Islam

2-6-2003 | IslamWeb

Question:

Is nationalism a call of Jaahiliyaah and is Haram in Islam? Answer in the light of Qur'an and Sunnah.

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. Nationalism in the sense of chauvinism means excessive devotion to a nation, a colour, a race or an ethnic group like Arab nationalism is a sort of Jahiliya (ignorant beliefs of the pre-Islamic era). It is prohibited in Shariah as the person's adherence and devotion should stem from right creed and piety. Allah Says (interpretation of meaning): {…Verily, the most honourable of you with Allâh is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa [i.e. one of the Muttaqûn (pious)] …}[49: 13]. The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "There is no preference of an Arab over a non-Arab, or a non-Arab over an Arab, or a white person over a black one, or a black person over a white one except by piety. In fact, all people are from Adam and Adam is from sand" [ Ahmad and al-Baihaqi ]. The enemies of Islam succeeded in preparing some men from our own community who call for adherence and devotion on a basis other than religion and belief. These men's adherence is for the language, the colour of the skin ----. Such a campaign succeeded in gathering many followers. So, one should explain this to people and warn them against it. Allah knows best.