Islamic nationalism

For relation between Islam and nationalism, see Islam and nationalism.

Islamic nationalism, also known as Muslim nationalism, is a form of religious nationalism that seeks to advance Muslim interests by combining nationalism with Islamism. It holds the view that all Muslims constitute a single nation, known as the Ummah, by virtue of their adherence to the Islamic religion and should unite under a single universal Islamic state. As such, it is often equated with pan-Islamism. Critics argue that nationalism is inherently incompatible with Islam, as Islamist ideology rejects the Western notion of nation-states, which usually appeal to unity based on linguistic, cultural, ethnic, and territorial factors. ^{[1] [2]}

Examples

Pakistan

Main article: Muslim nationalism in South Asia

Unlike the secular form of nationalism which is espoused in most other countries, Pakistani nationalism is religious in nature, consisting of Islamic nationalism. Muslim nationalism is an essential part of the creation of Pakistan. Before India's independence, the All India Muslim League first espoused the interests of India's Muslim minority and in the face of the impending independence of India, switched its position to demand freedom from India's Hindu majority in the form of the creation of Pakistan.

While religion was the basis of the Pakistani nationalist narrative ^[3] the country's creation can easily be seen as the one form of the culmination of Muslim nationalism in South Asia, especially of the kind of Muslim nationalism lead by Muhammad Ali Jinnah's All India Muslim League. Pakistani nationalism is closely associated with Muslim heritage, the religion of Islam, and it is also associated with pan-Islamism, as it is described in the Two-nation theory. It also refers to the consciousness and the expression of religious and ethnic influences that help mould the national consciousness. Pakistan has been called a "global center for political Islam." ^[4]

Palestine

Hamas views Palestine as a holy land and considers it a primary front for jihad, framing its resistance as an Islamic way of fighting Israeli occupation. The group has sought to fuse Islamism with Palestinian nationalism, presenting itself as a nationalist movement with an Islamic nationalist agenda, distinct from secular nationalist movements. Article 12 of the 1988 Hamas charter asserts that "Nationalism from the point of view of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part and parcel of religious ideology." ^{[5] [6]}

References

1. Hutchins-Viroux, Rachel; Tranmer, Jeremy (2009-01-23). Nationalism in the English-Speaking World. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 63–65. ISBN   978-1-4438-0469-1.
2. Roy, Olivier (2003). "Islamism and Nationalism". Pouvoirs (in French). 104 (1): 45–53. ISSN   0152-0768.
3. Ahmed, Ishtiaq (27 May 2016). "The dissenters". The Friday Times. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
4. Ḥaqqānī, Husain (2005). Pakistan: between mosque and military. Washington: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. p. 131. ISBN   0-87003-214-3 . Retrieved 23 May 2010. Zia ul-Haq is often identified as the person most responsible for turning Pakistan into a global center for political Islam. ...
5. Dalacoura, Katerina (2011-04-29). Islamist Terrorism and Democracy in the Middle East. Cambridge University Press. pp. 66–67. ISBN   978-1-139-49867-8.
6. Abhyankar, Rajendra M. (2008). West Asia and the Region: Defining India's Role. Academic Foundation. p. 466. ISBN   978-81-7188-616-6.