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From: kahraman@cae.wisc.edu
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: NATIONALISM IN THE VIEW OF ISLAM by Bediuzzaman Said Nursi
Message-ID: <1990Aug11.155830.13901@laguna.ccsf.caltech.edu>
Date: 11 Aug 90 15:58:30 GMT
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Organization: California Institute of Technology
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	NATIONALISM IN THE VIEW OF ISLAM 

		from the Twentysixth Letter by Bediuzzaman Said Nursi

	O MANKIND! WE CREATED YOU FROM A SINGLE PAIR OF A MALE AND A FEMALE,

	AND MADE YOU INTO NATIONS AND TRIBES, THAT YOU MAY KNOW EACH OTHER.

	QUR'AN: SURA 49, AYAT 13.      

In the same meaning, to know each other in order to establish social relations
and help each other, and not to hate each other, and quarrel with each other.
	This topic has the following seven points under consideration:

2.  To explain the principle of TA'ARUF and TA'AWUN (mutual acquaintance and
and assistance) which the above verse clearly points to, we say that:

	An army is divided into divisions, regiments, battailons, squadrons and
squads in order that the various relations of each soldier and his duties are 
specified and well understood, and that all the individuals within the army 
should perform their duties according to the rules of mutual cooperation and be
guarded against the attack of the enemy.  Thus these divisions and partitions 
are not for the purpose of rivalries and hostilities among the soldiers.  
Similarly, the whole Muslim society is a vast united army which is divided into
tribes and nationalities, yet this society has a multitude of ones in its pious
foundations.  Its Creator is ONE; its PROVIDER of needs is ONE; its BOOK is ONE:
its nation is ONE...one, one, and thousands of ones.
	Thus, this multitude of ones requires and forms the foundation of
kinship, sincerity and unity in the Islamic United Nations (Umma in its true
sense).  Therefore, as the above verse stresses, divisions into tribes and 
nationalities are for the purpose of mutual acquaintance and assistance, not to
antipathy nor for dispute and enemity.

			Translated from Turkish by Professor Suleyman Kurter
		

Note from the post'er:
Yes, let me ask the western white man, inspite of teaching Muslim people not
to be united and in harmony and dividing them among themselves with rivalries
through  the exploitation of their national and racial differences,
and  brain-washing them with negative nationalistic lies, how come the 
west itself is forming increasingly unified institutions such as so called
United Nations, Nato, and European Economic Community?  Isn't it true that the
most hatred filled nations like British, French and Germans can still come 
together on the basis of mere economic and military gains?  Isn't it true that
after WW-I, British and French occupied Muslim countries taught hatred towards
Turks for years and years starting with elementary schools and up?  Isn't true
that they did the same thing to Turks, saying that "look,the Arab fought against
you with British and you should leave Islam just because of that, and agree
to the saying "As dog's skin cannot be fur, a friend cannot be from an Arab" by
exchanging the words Arab and kafir in the original?  Even today, go to any
Muslim country's elementary school history books you'll see Turks being 
pictured as "bloody imperialists", and Arabs as "dirty, fithy desert men"
Dememis mi bir herif, "Kabe pis arabin olsun, bize Cankaya yeter!"  Iste sene
1990, gorun Turkiyeyi, gorun halimizi, gorun Iragi, Kuveyti, Arablari ve ibret
alin.
M. Kahraman.