Football World Cup and Nationalism
Sultana X
The west views people by the colour of their skin, their language, race and the land they belong to, hence dividing the people in smaller nation states. The Nation States feel proud of who they are and feel the need to compete with others in order to dominate or show their superiority. We see this very clearly in the advent of distractions such as the World Cup, where people belonging to each nation unite upon the piece of land they belong to. We see how Football has become like a religion to some people, where they have their false prophets like Beckham, who they imitate. They have their fiqh of football, which they strictly follow and have lengthy discussions on. And last but not least they have the glorious history of their team, which they very proudly recall to show the greatness of their team or Nation.
The concept of Nation State is not only found in sports events such as Football or Cricket, rather in anything and everything which may be associated with the specific Nation. This whole idea of Nation State evoluted from Nationalism, which came from the Kuffar as the most harmful disease to the Ummah. It is of vital importance that we do not get affected by this disease, and have the Islamic Aqeedah as the only basis of unity amongst the ummah.
Qawmiyah (Nationalism) can be defined as a bond between people from the same race such as Arabs, Turks, Blacks, Whites, Sub-Continent, etc. who are proud of their race and work to dominate others. This feeling (Nationalism) comes into being when the thinking level of a person is very shallow because nationalism is an extension of the overpowering tendency in individuals over other people. Consequently, conflicts arises between people for mastership and status. Resulting in racism and the notion of supporting themselves against all others becomes their objective. For these reasons nationalism is a very shallow type of thinking and will always result in internal conflicts if not busy with external conflicts.
A prime example of Nationalism in the Sub-Continent region are the movements oriented towards different Muslim ethnicity. Such as for Muhajirs, Sindhis, and Punjabis. There is always blood shed amongst these Muslims for superiority over one another. If India was to attack Pakistan these nationalistic movements would forget their objectives and start defending Pakistan.
The Muslims in Middle Eastern region are all too accustomed on hearing empty slogans calling for Arabism. There was Gamal Nasser of Egypt and Saddam Hussein who tried to rouse the peoples emotions during the Gulf Crisis. It is these types of rulers who try to further separate the Ummah by promoting racial tensions towards other Muslim from different regions. Another form of Nationalism is the league of Arab States. Which further promotes the concept of Nationalism by making Arabs believe in the sovereignty of the Arab States and recognize the borders which were drawn by British and French agents.
By examining the history one would clearly realize that the most evident cause for the destruction of the Khilafah was nationalism. The main tool used by British and other colonial powers to achieve this goal was nationalism. The strongest nationalistic movements that caused the destruction of the Khilafah was Arab and Turkish nationalism. Anyone, can clearly see the destruction it has caused the Muslim Ummah. Presently, the Ummah after being divided into 46 states has lost the essence of one Muslim Ummah with one Muslim land.
The correct bond is that of the Aqeedah (belief) in which is not based on emotions, but on the intellect. Meaning this belief is based on the existence of Allah (SWT) who has created humans. And who has revealed Islam as a system to govern the human beings. If this Aqqedah (belief) is properly established then all other relationship based on blood, land, or any considerations are eliminated.
Were not Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali (Arab), Suhaib (Roman), Salman (Persia), and Bilal (African) brothers regardless of their different watan (homeland)? Where was then the nationalistic attachment? The Prophet (saaw) always indicated to us that Islam is the only attachment amongst Muslims. The first document he ordered to be written in Medina was the Misak al Medinah (The Covenant of Medinah). The first item in the covenant is the declaration that all Muslims constitute one Ummah separate and different from all people of the world; he (saaw) never abrogated this rule. On the other hand he (saaw) continuously emphasized it and prohibited us from giving tribalism (basic form of nationalism) any weight. It was reported by Abu Dawd and Tirmidhi that the Prophet (SAAW) said: "Undoubtedly Allah has removed from you the pride and arrogance of the Age of Jahilliyah (Ignorance) and the glorifications of ancestors. Now people are only of two kinds: Either believers who are aware or transgressors who do wrong. You are all the children of Adam and, Adam was from clay. People should give up their pride in nations because that is a coal from the coals of hell-fire. If they do not give this up Allah will consider them lower than the lowly worm which pushes itself through khur(dung).
As for Wataniyah (patriotism) it is an attachment that exists amongst individuals who share a common land. This attachment results from their love for a particular land and appears when the land is threatened. It is due to this reason patriotism is a temporary attachment. It only appears when the land is attacked or threatened.
The concept of patriotism did not exists amongst Muslims, until the beginning of the 19the Century.
This concept of motherland (Watan) and the love for one's motherland (wataniyah) was introduced by Colonialist through Muslim leaders who were fascinated by the West. Thus, wataniyah is a foreign element that has no origin in Islam.
By looking at our example to follow Prophet Muhammad (SAAW) who loved Mecca, but when he was ordered to leave it with his companions they left without any hesitation. In addition the Muslims stayed in Medinah and fought in defense of Dar al Islam against their fathers and brothers from Mecca. Even when the Prophet (SAAW) conquered Mecca he left for Medinah, the Khalifahs after the Prophet (SAAW) remained in Medinah. Ali (RA) moved the capital of the khilafah from Medinah to Kufah. Where was the patriotism in the Prophet or the Sahabahs ?
If Islam strongly rejects such an attachment to a piece of land, then how does Islam view the land?
And what attachment exists amongst Muslims?
Islam views the Earth either as Dar al Kufr (Land of Kufr) or Dar al Islam (Land of Islam). Dar al Islam is a piece of land where the Shariah is applied and the land is secured by Muslims. Whereas, Dar al Kufr is a piece of land where the laws other than Islam are applied and the land is secured by the Kafirs. Based on this Islamic principle there is no such thing as a Palestinian, Syrian, or Pakistani land.
All of these lands are Muslim lands for all Muslims.
Muslims cannot have any loyalty to any piece of land in the Muslim world. It is haram to feel loyal to a land rather their loyalty is only to Islam. Muslims must realize that these lands belongs to every single Muslim. And they can live as long as they want anywhere in the Muslim world without visas and borders.
Since Allah has blessed us with ideology of Islam it becomes mandatory on us to behave according to the concepts of Islam. We are obligated to base our emotions on the Islamic thoughts and concepts. Prophet (SAAW) said " You will not become believers until you set your emotions and desires according to what I have brought." So, it's haram to set Nationalism or Patriotism as an attachment amongst Muslims. As the Prophet (SAAW) said: "Verily, only the believers are brothers." "Who invites to tribalism (nationalism) is not one of us." The only watan (homeland) for Muslims is Dar al Islam (Domain of Islam).
Source: Islamic Revival Homepage http://pzq.cjb.net
