Opinion: Nationalism and Islam | Zubair Ahmed Hayat

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"The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war." - Sydney J. Harris - Wikiquote

Credit: BrainyQuote

Times of Ahmad | News Watch | Opinion
Source/Credit: ZAH to AT/TOA
By Zubair Ahmed Hayat | November 13, 2018

It happened just days ago, on 11th November 2018, that the world’s leaders flocked to Paris, France to commemorate the centenary of the end of World War 1. This date is marked as Armistice Day, when a peace treaty was declared between the planet’s warring nations.

On this day solemn tributes are paid to those who died as martyrs for their nations. Then the phrase ‘Lest we forget’ is reflected upon to remember the horrors of war and necessity for peace.

At the Arc de Triomphe, the French president, Mr Emmanuel Macron, led the world in this commemoration and he gave his message for world peace. He said, “It is our deeply rooted obligation to think of the future, and to consider what is essential [for establishing peace].”

He was concerned about the current world trends and warned, “Old demons are reawakening, ready to sow chaos and death.”

Then he said something that those listening and the media understood to be a rebuke to the scandal-ridden President Trump. He said, “Patriotism is the exact opposite of Nationalism. Nationalism is its betrayal.”

Mr Trump who was also in attendance was globally promoting himself as an American patriot and Nationalist. His presidency was proudly implementing ‘America First’ policies in the USA.

Mr Macron understood that war is a natural consequence of Nationalism and so this centenary was the apt occasion to warn mankind of the dangers of Nationalism.

To better understand the subject of Nationalism we can view it from a fresh angle that sheds light on its ability to co-exist with human nature and that inner guide we call our conscience.

To appreciate the truth of this philosophy we can take the very DNA of mankind as our starting point. All will agree that the human species is driven and guided by dynamic human instincts. Instincts such as our urge to survive. The human urges are but one unassailable phenomenon visible in the laws of nature.

Nationalism can be looked at and understood through the prism of two of humanity’s natural drives.

Firstly, human beings have an inner drive to voluntarily and fearlessly go beyond their natural, known boundaries. In the Muslim holy scriptures, The Holy Quran, Allah proudly praises mankind, i.e. His creatures, in this manner:

And one of His Signs is that He created you from dust: then, behold, you are men spreading over the earth. [Holy Quran, 30:21]

This ancient 1400 years old statement is now being ‘preached’ by scientists who say that man originated in Africa and spread across the entire planet - on foot!

Scientists have proven that the man, the woman and their children walked out of their home in Africa going into the absolute unknown, carrying only backpacks. Small tribes or families inhabited the frozen Arctic Circle, the wildernesses of Australia, Alaska, Siberia, the Himalayan heights, the inhospitable deserts, the jungles of Borneo, etc.

Also God reminds us herein that man being just another insignificant species, on Earth (i.e. just ‘dust’) has gone on to become the dominant species on the planet.

What a powerful urge! What an incredible achievement!

Then Allah takes His praise to the next level as He brings to our notice the second trail-blazing initiative undertaken by humanity in the name of progress. The Holy Quran said,

O company of Jinn and men! If you have power to go beyond the confines of the heavens and the earth, then do go. [Holy Quran, 55:34]

We are lucky to be witnesses in this age that mankind has walked on the moon, that the Voyager 1 probe is in interstellar space carrying and Earth location maps and messages for aliens, with Voyager 2 just behind it outward bound in a different direction. Astronauts have already been selected and are undergoing training today to colonise Mars in the 2030s.

Again, what a powerful urge and what incredible achievements!

Take a moment to try to pinpoint which part of the human brain that is making the human species engage in such a ‘crazy’ yet heroic struggle to break out of its own comfortable boundaries. This began at the dawn of the species and is still going on albeit at an ever-increasing pace.

Secondly, there is another instinct in man that has been described beautifully by Hadrat Khalifatul Masih IVra. Commenting on the Holy Quran he states:

“Freedom is a prerogative of all living things, man being no exception. Liberty is the most cherished fruit of life. Man is the epitome of liberty which is ingrained in him. His very texture is woven with the yarn of liberty. 

…man by nature will bow to the authority of society only when he is driven by selfish motives; otherwise he will have to be coerced into submission. 

…Individual liberty has always been intrinsically at odds with the restraints imposed by society. A deeper understanding of the dilemma presented by this equation is most essential for a better comprehension of the forces which finally determine the boundaries of individual liberty on the one hand and the rising power of the society on the other. 

Individual - family relationship, individual - clan relationship and individual - State relationship are all examples of how life can be studied in its institutionalized conduct. If man is by nature free and loves freedom, then why at all bow to any social authority is the prime question which has to be addressed first.

Whenever a social, racial, economic or political order evolves, it always evolves around an unwritten understanding of give and take between the society and the individuals which collectively make the society. 

No individual will ever readily surrender his freedom but only on the understanding that in the bargain he gains more than what he has lost.”

[Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth, pp. 11-14]

The argument raised by Nationalists, in an attempt to counter Globalists, is based on the freedom of the individual man and his birth right to freedom and freewill. This is then grafted onto the nation as its birth right to be free and to do whatever it wants without restriction or censuring from others.

They say that just as a man is free from every negative restriction by society likewise their nation must also be free from so-called ‘enslavement’ to other nations and international institutions or pacts. They are happy to make gain from other nations but not to lose out anything to them.

They ignore that their own very nature, as a whole, is globalist, actually universal. They want to colonise every weak nation [annexation of Crimea, attempts on Ukraine], to export their philosophies of freedom, democracy, religion, culture, music, movies, safeguarding of children, ending cruelty to dogs, all manner of trading, etc., onto the entire planet.

They want to sit as self-ordained judges condemning the acts of other peoples but instantly wail like hyper-sensitive babies if any criticism is passed on them. They harbour grudges for centuries.

They also want to be ‘connected’ fully via social media and television, travelling globally as tourists, sportsmen, scientists and businessmen. Simultaneously they want no ties with or obligations to others as though they are a self-sufficient island onto themselves.

They take pride in building impenetrable walls along their borders, in refusing to act on Climate Change, in publicly insulting any nations and its leadership with the hope to raise their own profile, they call that plain-speaking.

Although man is free and every nation should be free as an entity, yet both must connect with and cooperate with others as neither a man or a nation is truly an island in itself. This just is not the nature of human beings and for how long can nature be suppressed by such an isolationist and limiting philosophy without trouble and disorder arising.

Man is a social, outgoing animal and the globally accepted punishment for man is to imprison him, i.e. he is isolated and restricted from the world. In prison many a man develops mental disorders or commits suicide.

How can a nation ‘imprison’ itself in the guise of Nationalism. Will it become psychologically healthier and deal with its own citizens and other nations in a progressive and praiseworthy way?

One needs only look at North Korea, Communist China and Cuba and of two examples of nations implementing nationalism over decades. It is not difficult to determine the global reputation of North Korea and its leadership, or the reputation of the American presidency which is currently in the hands of the nationalist Trump.

Essentially, if Nationalism is defined as a means of personal identity and recognition of a nation or people so that they become a competitive entity that strives hard to promote the true human values such as absolute justice, mercy for all, etc., then there is nothing wrong with Nationalism.

The Nationalism that tries to establish the opposite values among people is very soon rejected. Look how quickly and passionately the German nation first accepted Hitler’s Nationalism and then rejected it just as passionately and quickly once nations rose up together to put an end to Hitler and his unnatural and inhuman philosophy.

The German nation were overcome by great marketing and a powerful manic trend, yet their conscience always told them that this was not the right way to behave, otherwise they would not have given it up immediately on Hitler’s death.

As opposed to this, when the Prophet Muhammad of Islam (may peace and blessings of God be upon him) died, the Muslims did not give up on his philosophy and efforts because they knew, from the depths of their hearts and from seeing the physical outcomes, that this was the right way to think and live. They knew that any progress for the human species was in the Prophet’s comprehensive message.

Therefore unlike the German nation after Hitler’s death, the Muslims upon their leader’s demise immediately tightened their belts and arose as one entity to conquer the whole world with their natural philosophy in their upraised hand, i.e. the Holy Quran.

It should be clearly understood from the above two ancient but brilliant verses along with corroborating evidence from history and science that human consciousness is driven, by its own inner workings, to find and establish an enduring harmony, peace, oneness or unity between itself and its total environment. From there it next drives itself to constantly seek limitless expansion of that unity.

Read original post here: Opinion: Nationalism and Islam | Zubair Ahmed Hayat


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