Nationalism: Good or Bad?

In the history books, we commonly see the word 'nationalism' everywhere. Even the main purpose of learning that subject is to instill the spirit of nationalism in the students and also others. However, have you ever think that it is good or bad?

First, let us take a look at the definition of NATIONALISM. Nationalism is the spirit of being loyal to own races and nations and also to give full commitment to preserve the importance of the races to compete with others. What do you think when you read it? Isn't it connected to the racism issues?

Now, let's take a deep look into the Islamic concept. Islam approves the work to preserve own nations and races. It is a must to protect our nations from the enemies and threats. Even Rasulullah s.a.w. loves his own family, Quraisy. Allah had also created a 'surah' based on the Quraisy tribe.

“Because it is a norm for Quraisy, their norms to travel in winter and summer. Thus, they should worship the God of this house(Kaabah), who has given them food to avoid them from being hungry and making them in peace from fear.”

(Quraisy:1-4)

So, it is proven that nationalism is not totally wrong. But there are two conditions that have to be fulfilled in order to make it as 'ibadah':

1. It does not exceed the love for Islam.
   
   Islam is not the property of any race. No one can actually claims that Islam is only for Arabs or Malays or Palestinians. Even Americans can revert to Islam. So, the love to Islam should be put much higher compared to other things. As an example, if someone with other races reverts to Islam, we should treat him or her as a brother.
   
   

“A muslim is a brother towards another muslim”

2. It recognizes other races' rights
   
   Don't be too obsessed about ours that you denies others' rights. For example, we cannot reserve a public place as ours. It is a public place and anyone should have their rights to have a rest or eat there.

“All people are the same, except for their faith”

Long ago, Rasulullah s.a.w. developed Madinah by uniting people of many races under one faith: Islam. The native people of Madinah called Ansar and the migrates from Makkah called Muhajirin were united although they came from different places. As they were both Islam, they could live together in peace and harmony.

But why nowadays, the 'bad' nationalism is widely hold? In 1924, the Ottoman's Empire was defeated and the main factor was they ignored the unity based on faith. They preferred their races to Islam. And then, countries based on races were developed. That's why we could see most nations are ruled by mostly one race. For example, Malaysia is for Malays, Japan is for Japanese and so on. Don't you realize that it is one of the ways to defeat Islam? History of Otoman's Empire had proven that nothing was more important than the unity based on our Islamic faith.

In a nutshell, a strong nationalism is bad because it contradicts with Islam. People should unite based on their faith, not races or nations. American Muslims, Palestinian Muslims, Japanese Muslims and any other Muslims should be in one line because we are all in one faith. However, Islam does not prohibit us from protecting our countries. Instead, we will be given much benefits from Allah when we strive for our beloved countries. Thus, protect your country and at the same time, unite under one faith.