Islam Transcends National and Cultural Boundaries (Abdullah Cheng）
Dear brothers and sisters,
The teachings of the Qur’an are always relevant to all stages of our lives. We might assume that many of the problems that are addressed in the Qur’an only exist in the past and not in today’s world anymore, such as racism, slavery, and tribalism. However, in reality, these problems not only still exist in our societies, they are even worse than before, and disguised under different names. Not using these names doesn’t mean that they don’t exist anymore. These problems are primarily within the non-Muslim societies, however sadly, many Muslims are also affected with these diseases unknowingly.
Allah (SWT) reminds us in the Qur’an:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا ۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ
O mankind! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may ˹get to˺ know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you. Allah is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware. [49:13]
Every one of us are made differently, and each one of us belong to different nations and cultures. There is nothing wrong with attributing ourselves to our ethnicity and culture and appreciating our lineage, just as how our Prophet (ﷺ) emphasized his identity of being the son of Abdul Muttalib while trying to unite the new Muslims of Quraysh after the Conquest of Makkah. [Sahih Bukhari 2864]
It is natural for us to identify ourselves as Taiwanese, Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Pakistani, however, that shouldn’t take us too far to the extent where we emphasize our nationality more than our Muslim identity.
Once during the lifetime of the Prophet (ﷺ), there was a fight between a Muhaajir and an Ansar. The both got angry, and the Ansar called the other Ansar: “يَا لَلأَنْصَارِ” “O people of Ansar, help me!” And the Muhaajir also called the other Muhaajireen: “يَا لَلْمُهَاجِرِينَ” “O people of Muhaajireen, help me!”, and it turned out to a fight between the two groups. When the Prophet ﷺ heard this, he became extremely angry, and he scolded them: “What is this? What is this call from the days of ignorance? Throw it away, it is disgusting” [Sahih Bukhari 4905]
This clearly shows us that fighting other people not for the sake of Allah but for the sake of tribalism and nationalistic pride is a sickness and disease of the heart that we should all get rid of. Some of us are so obsessed and attached to our cultural and national identity to the extent that we forget about the brotherhood in Islam. Our Prophet (ﷺ) predicted about the future, saying that: “A time will come when nations will gather together against the Muslims, as if they are gathering each other around some food”. Someone asked: “Will that be because we are the minority and few in numbers?” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied: “No, you will be many at that time, but you will be as useless and weak just like the foam (bubbles) of a flood, and Allah will take away the fear from your enemies, and He will put a weakness into your hearts”. Then they asked: “What is this weakness?” He said: “Love for the Dunya, and hatred of death.” [Sunan Abi Dawud 4297]
Even though in terms of number, we Muslims are among the biggest population in the world, but the Ummah is weak and distracted by the love for this world. On top of that, the borders of country nations are dividing our unity. The love and pride that people have over their country nation become so much that they become more sensitive and defensive when somebody says something bad about their country more than when somebody insults our Prophet ﷺ. When someone criticizes a certain policy of the country or the government, some of us become furious and fight back like warriors, spending hours and hours to fight with people on social media. But when people are accusing the religion of Islam and making fun of our beloved Prophet (ﷺ), these same people don’t even stand up. Why the double standard, and why the hypocrisy?
This may lead to a greater danger of worshipping the nation rather than worshipping Allah. Allah is Al-Hayy Al-Qayyum, He is the Ever-Living and All-Sustaining, while nations rise and fall. Allah is Al-Razzaq, Allah is the Ultimate Provider, while nations rely on the provisions from Allah. Not a single nation in the world remained peaceful without war throughout history, no nation in history remains alive forever. This is to remind all of us: do not be too proud of your country, it is not going to exist forever; but neither should we be hopeless and desperate, thinking that certain countries will remain forever, because one day it will fall, but Allah is the One who decides when that happens. What we should do as Muslims, is to be aware of our own identity, to put Islam before anything and everything, and to not allow differences in culture and nationality to be a reason to divide ourselves.
May Allah protect the Ummah from all around the world, may Allah unite the hearts of the believers, and may Allah make us firm in our religion.
The teachings of the Qur’an are always relevant to all stages of our lives. We might assume that many of the problems that are addressed in the Qur’an only exist in the past and not in today’s world anymore, such as racism, slavery, and tribalism. However, in reality, these problems not only still exist in our societies, they are even worse than before, and disguised under different names. Not using these names doesn’t mean that they don’t exist anymore. These problems are primarily within the non-Muslim societies, however sadly, many Muslims are also affected with these diseases unknowingly.
Allah (SWT) reminds us in the Qur’an:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا ۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ
O mankind! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may ˹get to˺ know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you. Allah is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware. [49:13]
Every one of us are made differently, and each one of us belong to different nations and cultures. There is nothing wrong with attributing ourselves to our ethnicity and culture and appreciating our lineage, just as how our Prophet (ﷺ) emphasized his identity of being the son of Abdul Muttalib while trying to unite the new Muslims of Quraysh after the Conquest of Makkah. [Sahih Bukhari 2864]
It is natural for us to identify ourselves as Taiwanese, Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Pakistani, however, that shouldn’t take us too far to the extent where we emphasize our nationality more than our Muslim identity.
Once during the lifetime of the Prophet (ﷺ), there was a fight between a Muhaajir and an Ansar. The both got angry, and the Ansar called the other Ansar: “يَا لَلأَنْصَارِ” “O people of Ansar, help me!” And the Muhaajir also called the other Muhaajireen: “يَا لَلْمُهَاجِرِينَ” “O people of Muhaajireen, help me!”, and it turned out to a fight between the two groups. When the Prophet ﷺ heard this, he became extremely angry, and he scolded them: “What is this? What is this call from the days of ignorance? Throw it away, it is disgusting” [Sahih Bukhari 4905]
This clearly shows us that fighting other people not for the sake of Allah but for the sake of tribalism and nationalistic pride is a sickness and disease of the heart that we should all get rid of. Some of us are so obsessed and attached to our cultural and national identity to the extent that we forget about the brotherhood in Islam. Our Prophet (ﷺ) predicted about the future, saying that: “A time will come when nations will gather together against the Muslims, as if they are gathering each other around some food”. Someone asked: “Will that be because we are the minority and few in numbers?” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied: “No, you will be many at that time, but you will be as useless and weak just like the foam (bubbles) of a flood, and Allah will take away the fear from your enemies, and He will put a weakness into your hearts”. Then they asked: “What is this weakness?” He said: “Love for the Dunya, and hatred of death.” [Sunan Abi Dawud 4297]
Even though in terms of number, we Muslims are among the biggest population in the world, but the Ummah is weak and distracted by the love for this world. On top of that, the borders of country nations are dividing our unity. The love and pride that people have over their country nation become so much that they become more sensitive and defensive when somebody says something bad about their country more than when somebody insults our Prophet ﷺ. When someone criticizes a certain policy of the country or the government, some of us become furious and fight back like warriors, spending hours and hours to fight with people on social media. But when people are accusing the religion of Islam and making fun of our beloved Prophet (ﷺ), these same people don’t even stand up. Why the double standard, and why the hypocrisy?
This may lead to a greater danger of worshipping the nation rather than worshipping Allah. Allah is Al-Hayy Al-Qayyum, He is the Ever-Living and All-Sustaining, while nations rise and fall. Allah is Al-Razzaq, Allah is the Ultimate Provider, while nations rely on the provisions from Allah. Not a single nation in the world remained peaceful without war throughout history, no nation in history remains alive forever. This is to remind all of us: do not be too proud of your country, it is not going to exist forever; but neither should we be hopeless and desperate, thinking that certain countries will remain forever, because one day it will fall, but Allah is the One who decides when that happens. What we should do as Muslims, is to be aware of our own identity, to put Islam before anything and everything, and to not allow differences in culture and nationality to be a reason to divide ourselves.
May Allah protect the Ummah from all around the world, may Allah unite the hearts of the believers, and may Allah make us firm in our religion.