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The relationship between Islam and nationalism, from the beginnings of Islam until today, has often been tense, with both Islam and nationalism generally opposing each other.
The 13th verse of Al-Hujurat states: "O people, We have created you male and female and made you into nations and tribes that you may know one another [not to fight each other]. Verily, the most noble of you to Allah is the most righteous of you. Verily, Allah is knowing and aware." [1] [2]
Some Muslims believe that Muhammad condemned nationalism in many ahadith, stating "Whoever fights under a banner of foolishness [tribalism], supports tribalism, or gets angry for the sake of tribalism, he will die in a state of ignorance". [3] When asked about nationalism he answered by saying "Leave it, it is rotten". [4] Some Muslims believe that he declared nationalists as non-Muslims by saying "He is not one of us who calls to tribalism. He is not one of us who fights for the sake of tribalism. He is not one of us who dies following the way of tribalism". [5] He had travelled to Medina to solve the long and bloody conflict between the Khazraj and Aws tribes. Eventually, both tribes converted to Islam and became the Ansar. Muhammad also said that the Ghuraba will be "those who disassociated themselves from their tribes." [6]
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, various nationalist ideologies emerged from the Middle East, including Turkish nationalism, Arab nationalism, Iranian nationalism, and all 3 of these ideologies paved way for Kurdish nationalism, which started off as a defensive movement against them. This was also the period when the Salafi movement, Islamism, and Pan-Islamism emerged, with the latter rejecting the concept of nations in favour of one Islamic nation. [7]
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani led an Internationalist and anti-nationalist movement and wanted unity among Muslims. Afghani feared that nationalism would divide the Muslim world and believed that Muslim unity was more important than ethnic identity. [8] Muhammad Rashid Rida, a student of Afghani and of Afghani's disciple Muhammad Abduh, would continue this belief. Rida believed that the unification of the Islamic community would only be possible through the restoration of an Islamic caliphate which implements the Sharia . Rida called on Arabs to make a pan-Islamist project aimed at the revival of the Islamic caliphate which incorporates all Muslim lands. [9] Rida also called upon Muslims to build a political system based on Islam; rather than nationalism, which he frequently condemned as a Western ideology. [10] [11] [12]
Around 1908 was when Turkish nationalism began significantly rising. Towards the end of the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish National Movement led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had made way for the ideology of Kemalism, which became the founding ideology of Turkey. The Kemalists aimed to Turkify and secularise and Turkey and went as far as banning the hijab and the adoption of the Turkish adhan. [13] In Turkey, the radical Kemalist reforms led to a birth of the ideology known as the Kurdish-Islamic synthesis. Many decades later, during the Cold War and Operation Gladio, the Turkish–Islamic synthesis emerged, where Alparslan Türkeş, an advocate of the Turkish adhan, began opening Grey Wolves training camps with American support to train its members to fight against leftists, Alevis, Kurds, as well as Islamists that did not accept Turkish nationalism. [14] [15]
In 1925, with the rule of the Pahlavi dynasty, Iran had also became a secular state with nationalist policies. Iran had been increasingly secularised and also Westernised until the Iranian Revolution which made Islam the basis of Iranian politics. Ruhollah Khomeini also aimed for the unity of all Muslims under the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist. Khomeini made many attempts to bridge the divide between Sunnis and Shias and also to eradicate nationalism in Iran. [16]
Arab nationalism emerged in the 1920s and became the leading ideology in the mashriq. Its influence grew and Arab nationalists seized control of various Arab countries. Gamal Abdel Nasser later came and boosted Arab nationalism, and political parties like the Ba'ath Party did as well. Islamism began challenging Arab nationalism and being its top political opponent. [17] Arab nationalism decreased due to lost morale after the Six-Day War. [18] [19] The Muslim Brotherhood then stepped up its actions against Arab nationalism, especially in Egypt and Syria, which were the leading places for Arab nationalism. [20] The Syrian Ba'ath Party regularly attacked religion, and came into conflict with other Arab nationalist ideologies like Nasserism, which was accused by the Syrian Ba'athists of betraying socialist ideals. Nasser later accused the Ba'athists of being anti-religion and promoting sectarianism among Arabs. [21] [22] The Iraqi Ba'ath Party, especially during the rule of Saddam Hussein, was a secular and socialist party just like the Syrian Ba'ath Party. However, the Iraqi Ba'ath Party had a much stronger Anti-Iranian sentiment [23] [24] and only turned religious after the Faith Campaign after Iraq's defeat during the Gulf War but kept the nationalism. [25]
Hizb ut-Tahrir is extremely opposed to nationalism. [26]
Despite the inconsistency of Islam and nationalism, Pakistani nationalism is religious rather than secular, with Islam being the center of it. [27] Hamas also mixes Palestinian nationalism with Islamism, which makes it have conflicts with ISG and other Salafist organizations. Jaish ul-Adl mixes Baloch nationalism with Islamism, Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Islam and Other Rebel Groups mix Syrian nationalism with Islamism , The Taliban's official ideology combines Islamism with Pashtunwali and Afghan nationalism, also being one of the causes of the Islamic State–Taliban conflict. Al-Shabaab incorporates an Anti-Ethiopian sentiment, inspired by Somali nationalism, into its ideology. [28] [29]
Islamism refers to religious and political ideological movements that believe that Islam should influence political systems, and generally oppose secularism. Its proponents believe Islam is innately political, and that Islam as a political system is superior to communism, liberal democracy, capitalism, and other alternatives in achieving a just, successful society.
Saddam Hussein was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 to 2003. He also served as prime minister of Iraq from 1979 to 1991 and later from 1994 to 2003. He was a leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and later its Iraqi regional branch. Ideologically, he espoused Ba'athism, a mix of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism, while the policies and political ideas he championed are collectively known as Saddamism.
The Arab Socialist Baʿth Party, also anglicized as Ba'ath in loose transcription, with baʿth meaning resurrection, was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bīṭār, and associates of Zakī al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused Baʿathism, which is an ideology mixing Arab nationalist, pan-Arab, Arab socialist, and anti-imperialist interests. Baʿthism calls for the unification of the Arab world into a single state. Its motto, "Unity, Liberty, Socialism", refers to Arab unity and freedom from non-Arab control and interference.
Field Marshal Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was an Iraqi politician who served as the fourth president of Iraq, from 17 July 1968 to 15 July 1979. He was a leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and later the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party and its regional organisation Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region, which espoused Ba'athism, a mix of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism.
Michel Aflaq was a Syrian philosopher, sociologist and Arab nationalist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its political movement; he is considered by several Ba'athists to be the principal founder of Ba'athist thought. He published various books during his lifetime, such as "The Road to Renaissance" (1940), The Battle for One Destiny (1958) and The Struggle Against Distorting the Movement of Arab Revolution (1975).
Pan-Islamism is a political movement which advocates the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Historically, after Ottomanism, which aimed at the unity of all Ottoman citizens, Pan-Islamism was promoted in the Ottoman Empire during the last quarter of the 19th century by Sultan Abdul Hamid II for the purpose of preventing secession movements of the Muslim peoples in the empire.
Zaki al-Arsuzi was a Syrian philosopher, philologist, sociologist, historian, and Arab nationalist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its political movement. He published several books during his lifetime, most notably The Genius of Arabic in its Tongue (1943).
Nasserism is an Arab nationalist and Arab socialist political ideology based on the thinking of Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of the two principal leaders of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and Egypt's second President. Spanning the domestic and international spheres, it combines elements of Arab socialism, republicanism, secularism, nationalism, anti-imperialism, developing world solidarity, Pan-Arabism, and international non-alignment. According to Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, Nasserism symbolised "the direction of liberation, socialist transformation, the people’s control of their own resources, and the democracy of the peoples working forces."
Syrian nationalism, also known as Pan-Syrian nationalism, refers to the nationalism of the region of Syria, as a cultural or political entity known as "Greater Syria".
'Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi was a Syrian author, a liberal thinker, and Pan-Arab solidarity supporter. He was one of the most prominent intellectuals of his time; however, his thoughts and writings continue to be relevant to the issues of Islamic identity and Pan-Arabism. His criticisms of the Ottoman Empire eventually led to Arabs calling for the sovereignty of the Arab Nations, setting the basis for Pan-Arab nationalism. Al-Kawakibi articulated his ideas in two influential books, The nature of tyranny and the struggle against slavery and Mother of All Villages. He died in 1902 of “mysterious” causes. His family alleged that he was poisoned by Turkish agents.
The Iran–Iraq War was fought for nearly eight years and left a lasting legacy on Iran and Iraq. The Battle of al-Qadisiyya was the engagement between the Arab-Muslim army and the Sāsānian Iranian army during the first period of Muslim expansion which resulted in the Arab-Muslim conquest of Iran. In the centuries following the battle, Qādisiyyah became enshrined in Muslim collective memory as a symbol of the successes of early Islamic history. Already during the period of the Crusades, Muslim leaders referred to Qādisiyyah as a point of reference to which they compared their own achievements. Academic studies of the narratives of Qādisiyyah and other early Islamic battles have revealed numerous topoi that make up a common schema of the Arab-Muslim conquests; the generation of these literary layers seems to have begun immediately, as story-tellers (quṣṣāṣ) embellished their narrative in order to create an entertaining story or to glorify past ancestors.
The 1963 Syrian coup d'état, referred to by the Syrian government as the March 8 Revolution, was the seizure of power in Syria by the military committee of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The planning and the unfolding conspiracy of the Syrian Ba'athist operatives were prompted by the Ba'ath party's seizure of power in Iraq in February 1963.
Ba'athist Iraq, officially the Iraqi Republic (1968–1992) and later the Republic of Iraq (1992–2003), was the Iraqi one party state between 1968 and 2003 under the rule of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. This period began with high economic growth, but ended with the country facing severe levels of socio-political isolation and economic stagnation. By the late 1990s, the average annual income had decreased drastically due to a combination of external and internal factors. UNSC sanctions against Iraq, in particular, were widely criticized for negatively impacting the country's quality of life, prompting the establishment of the Oil-for-Food Programme. The Ba'athist period formally came to an end with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the Ba'ath Party has since been indefinitely banned across the country.
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, also referred to as the pro-Iraqi Ba'ath movement, is a Ba'athist political party which was headquartered in Baghdad, Iraq, until 2003. It is one of two parties which emerged from the 1966 split of the original Ba'ath Party.
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region, officially the Iraqi Regional Branch, is an Iraqi Ba'athist political party founded in 1951 by Fuad al-Rikabi. It was the Iraqi regional branch of the original Ba'ath Party, before changing its allegiance to the Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath movement following the 1966 split within the original party. The party was officially banned following the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, but despite this it still continues to function underground.
Munif al-Razzaz was a Jordanian-Syrian physician and politician who was the second, and last, Secretary General of the National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, having been elected to the post at the 8th National Congress held in April 1965.
Neo-Ba'athism is a far-left distinct variant of Ba'athism that was formed as a result of the 1966 Syrian coup d'état led by Salah Jadid and Hafez al-Assad, which moved the Syrian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party into a militarist organization that became independent of the National Command of the original Ba'ath Party. Neo-Ba'athism has been described as a divergence from Ba'athism proper that had gone beyond its pan-Arabist ideological basis by stressing the precedent of the military and purging the classical Ba'athist leadership of the old guard, including Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar. The Neo-Ba'athist regime, which espoused radical left ideologies such as Marxism, abandoned Pan-Arabism, and sought to strengthen ties with the Soviet Union, came into conflict with Arab nationalists such as Nasserism and the Iraqi Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. Since their seizure of power in Syria, neo-Ba'athist officers purged traditional civilian elites to establish a military dictatorship operating in totalitarian lines.
The Arab Nationalist Movement, also known as the Movement of Arab Nationalists and the Harakiyyin, was a pan-Arab nationalist organization influential in much of the Arab world, particularly within the Palestinian movement. It was first established in the 1950s by George Habash with the primary focus on Arab unity.
Arab nationalism is a political ideology asserting that Arabs constitute a single nation. As a traditional nationalist ideology, it promotes Arab culture and civilization, celebrates Arab history, the Arabic language and Arabic literature. It often also calls for unification of Arab society. It bases itself on the premise that the people of the Arab world—from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea—constitute one nation bound together by a common identity: ethnicity, language, culture, history, geography, and politics.
Ba'athism, also spelled Baathism, is an Arab nationalist ideology which promotes the creation and development of a unified Arab state through the leadership of a vanguard party over a socialist revolutionary government. The ideology is officially based on the theories of the Syrian intellectuals Michel Aflaq, Zaki al-Arsuzi, and Salah al-Din al-Bitar. Ba'athist leaders of the modern era include the former president of Iraq Saddam Hussein, former president of Syria Hafez al-Assad, and his son, the current president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad.
The Grey Wolves, the unofficial militant arm of the MHP, has been involved in street killings and gunbattles.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)The Grey Wolves – The most prominent organization of the violent right wing in Turkey is the Grey Wolves. The Grey Wolves are named for a mythical she-wolf who led ancient Turks to freedom. Its wolf's-head symbol is displayed by MHP members and other nationalists. The Grey Wolves have been implicated in many attacks against leftists, Kurds, Muslim activists, and student organizations. They have also been implicated in attacks supporting the Turkish occupation of Cyprus. Mehmet Ali Ağca, who was convicted of shooting Pope John Paul II, was a former Grey Wolf.
Abdillah, a representative of Hizb ut Tahrir-Batam, confirmed that nationalism is dangerous for Muslim beliefs. Nationalism is a sense of identity with the nation.
Zia ul-Haq is often identified as the person most responsible for turning Pakistan into a global center for political Islam. ...
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