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Chauvinistic Nationalism Ever since 9-11 Muslims including Arab Muslims are consistently criticizing the hypocrisy and racial discrimination by the people and the governments of the West especially that in the U.S. Not to imply that prejudice against Muslims is not a prevalent problem; however to mention that Arabs even more now are being subjected to discrimination and racism that many of them exercise in their countries of origin. This is not to say that within every nation or state racism against the ethnic minority does not exist. Ethnical supremacy and nationalism have always been a part of our history, from the Ku Klux Klan to the Nation of Islam to the Aryan Nazis to Zionism. Ethnic racism is very apparent in the majority of the Middle East Gulf states. Non-citizen residents are treated as second class citizens where salaries are determined by ethnic origin and by law they are not permitted to own private property or their businesses. In Lebanon, the Palestinian refugee residents are not treated equally to fellow Lebanese citizens. In Egypt, Palestinians carrying an Egyptian refugee status document are always hassled at the border and many times not permitted entry. The list goes on. In his last sermon Prophet Muhammad (saw) asserted that “All of mankind comes from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor does a black have any superiority over a white --- except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood.” How is our situation today? Our brothers and sisters have been suffering for more than a decade due to the constant bombings and sanctions against Iraq. What are the Muslims doing for them? Our leaders in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman are facilitating the imminent attack by allowing the U.S. to establish military bases on “their” land. Somehow Arabs misunderstood that they are superior to all other Muslims because the Quran descended in Arabic. There are many Muslim Arabs who protest against the oppressive and brutal practices of Israel but are hypocritically silent against the oppressive practices towards other Muslims. Even more, many of us are silent against the oppressiveness of our own regimes. While it is acknowledged that the Israeli treatment of Palestinians is inhumane and atrocious, we must also acknowledge that the treatments of Muslims in China, Kashmir, Philippines, Chechnya and India are equally inhumane and atrocious. The Prophet (saw) taught us “that the Muslims are like one body, if any part of it is in pain, then the whole body is in pain.” Although Muslim countries have declared their independence from European Colonialism, sadly their minds still remain captive. Forming a belief that Western ideologies supercede that of the Quran and the Prophet’s (saw) Sunnah. Arab nationalism is a secular political idea which was drawn upon certain Western concepts. (For a detailed discussion refer to http://www.captiveminds.org/issues/nationalism). Our leaders -from Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to Gamal Abdel Nasser to Hafez al-Assad - bred nationalism into our minds further ensuring our division and guaranteeing their control. Nationalist propaganda emphasizes the term ‘Arab’ as opposed to ‘Islamic’; further secluding the non-Arab Muslims. Arab nationalism focuses on the message that all Arabs are one people united by ties of blood, history, language and interests; an identity intuitively ‘hijacked’ from the Islamic constitution, which has set aside one group of Muslims (the Arabs) in negation with the rest of the Muslims who share with this separated group the same cultural and historical elements. Based on this ideology non-Arabs have no chance of becoming members of this ‘Arab group’ neither by obtaining citizenship nor by learning the language. Therefore Arab nationalism is a racist ideology which triggers a racial and ethnical supremacy. Nationalism is understood in terms of linguistic, historical and cultural factors binding a people to a particular territory. Therefore the values which form that society are local and not universal. Islam eliminated all forms of nationalism and racism by uniting all humans under one creed. Islam is a complete system which regulates humans’ lives from birth to death. Islam manifests that the only supremacy belongs to the Creator and not to a single race or ethnical tribe. That the leader is the representative of the people and not their controller. How convenient it has become to twist and use Islam to promote ones agenda. Many Muslims have turned Islam into a mystical theological religion as opposed to an active system for daily life. Contrary to our beliefs and learning, Islam is not just about praying, fasting, hajj and zakah. Islam is a universal message of co-existing in peace and harmony. It is the duty of every Muslim to educate oneself in applying Islam within our daily lives and not just at the Masjid. It is not the intention of this article to offend, but to plead that we rise above nationalism, racism and pride. Our ancestors excelled in math, science, medicine, engineering, architecture and economics. The height of the Islamic civilization was reached by utilizing the principles and guidelines of the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw). Once we can mentally rise above greed, our lust for power and pride, and clear our intentions in serving Allah (swt) only then will the Islamic civilization flourish.
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