“Every land where we are is the land of our God.”

Author: Dr. Farid Yunus, former professor of Middle Eastern cultural anthropology and Islamic philosophy, founder and innovator of Islamic democracy (California, USA), member of the Advisory Board of Sangar

A dear friend from Holland asked my opinion about the situation in Iran and the possibility of its disintegration. He is a very talented and knowledgeable person, he received his higher education in Islamic sciences in Qom, Iran. I wrote him my opinion. He agreed with my opinion. I sent my opinion to one of the professors in Qom, and he called my opinion “excellent” in response and added that I probably lived in Iran for many years. I have not lived in Iran. I taught cultural anthropology in the Middle East for many years.

In this article, I want to write that there is no nationalism in religion. If statesmen were wise, we have enough potential to revive the great cultural geography. Neocolonialism has divided us under the banner of nationalism and religiosity, and this is not good for the people of our region.

The Quran says that all believers are brothers and sisters in religion (Innamal muminini Ikhwa). But Shia and Sunni scholars interpret the verse "Ikhwa" to mean only "brother" and exclude "sister". And "Ikhwa" comes from "ah" and "akht", which means man and woman. You refer to this verse when you say "Dear brothers and sisters" at the beginning of your speech. This verse is important from the point of view of cultural anthropology because religion and faith consider all Muslims as brothers and sisters.

Religion and faith have no borders. A French Muslim is our brother. An American or Iranian Muslim sister is a sister to us. The Quran also says that the earth of God is wide, you should migrate when you are under pressure. In this verse, the Quran rejects dependence on a piece of land for the sake of an absolute birthplace and encourages people to travel because the land of God is vast. You can live wherever you want. Iqbal Lahori also refers to this verse when he writes, “Every land where we are is the land of our God.”

The homeland (watan) we cry for daily means the final destination - the grave, not the birthplace. In the book “Mursad al-Ibad” an exquisite work of Sheikh Najmuddin Razi we read:

“...remind them who are busy with worldly affairs. Those days of the Most High God when they were near His Holiness and in a state of closeness, let them again be touched by affection and love, rush to their true home and homeland, and remember them. Let them return if there is love for this country in their hearts, this is a sign of their faith (hub al-watan min al-iman). And if this love does not stir and does not seek to return, and their hearts are occupied with this world, this is a sign of disbelief".

When the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) left Medina with a large army to conquer Mecca, having conquered it, which was his hometown, and Mecca the Great was in this city, he did not remain in Mecca or his hometown. Interestingly, he died in Medina and was buried there. It is for this reason that according to Islamic law, it is not permissible to transfer the deceased to his birthplace.

Nationalism, created and woven by the Christian West, penetrated Muslim countries and began the colonization of believers and Muslim peoples. They were divided into Shiites and Sunnis; thus, discord and enmity were created and woven. Nationalism, which is rejected in religion, and ethnocentrism, which is not in religion, have given birth to each other and divided Muslim countries into parts. We have not woken up yet, and the ignorant Muslim insults his people, race, and nationality and has become a victim of exploitation and neo-colonialism. He does not suspect that they have divided and ruined us for years in the name of nation and religion.


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