Islams Reformers

another as such, not disturbing the members of other religions or
sects or doing harm to them is not a defect but a virtue for
nationalism and shows that Islam, the religion we belong to, is the
righteous religion and that Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm), our
exalted prophet, is the blessing over all the worlds of beings. The
word ‘nationalism’ is not a meaningless, out-of-date word as it is
used by the governing minority in some technologically advanced
countries, e.g. in East Europe, especially in Russia. Those who
exploit the people believe in and are attached to it only as much as
the irreligious are attached to morals. A person needs to be among
one’s nation so that he may lead a comfortable life. He has to live
in a society so that it may protect his existence, rights and needs;
this is what civilization means. And this society is his own nation.
We have already said that men should live in society in order to
protect the rights which one cannot gain by himself. Living in a
society requires reciprocal help and sacrifice. Let us study the
matter to see whether one would rather sacrifice one’s life for
one’s religion or for one’s nation.
A nationalist may think this way: the feeling of dying for the
nation should be in common. It should be considered an injustice
for one person to die while another person enjoys living. The profit
of the nation is necessary for my own profit. If I sacrifice myself in
that way, I will be sacrificing the real purpose for the sake of the
means. I, first of all, think of myself. I cannot sacrifice myself for
another person. If self-sacrifice is for receiving fame and
reputation, who on earth wants to be annihilated for temporary
fame and honour? No one knows on what hill and in what dale the
soldiers who, in an army of millions, died for their nation, are, and
their names have been wiped out from the hearts of people. Those
men sacrificed their possessions along with their lives. To be more
clear, they are, on their account, in a pitiable condition, rather than
being praiseworthy. If the self-sacrifice I would render for the
nation would not be appreciated and, in addition, if I would be
deemed guilty because of those who envy me, what would become
of me?
In nationalism, there is no thoughtful or logical reason that
forms the power of self-sacrifice in man. Nor can self-sacrifice
based on unreasonable feelings receive its reward. Especially the
progressives and exploiters, who govern the nation, will never
sacrifice their lives for the sake of such feelings. It happened so in
communist countries. As it was witnessed in the Second World
War, those who had fought in the battlefield and won honour
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