_ By Shaikh Zakzaky (h).
We should be very careful also less we create what is called Islamic nationalism. There is the tendency to have such, because nationalism like I said earlier on is a sort of natural urge, where you have love towards your own area, your own people and country, even if it is your home town. And those who created Nigeria and placed those to run it on their behalf know this very well. Thus, they always employ the idea of divide and rule. They can, for example, say if you don’t have an urge for Nigeria as a nation let us give you the urge for a state or region within it. If you can’t have such urge for a state, let us give you the urge for local government. If not, the urge of being a Hausa man, if you don’t have the urge let us tell that man he is Kataf, and only to descend at you, we will give him gun to do so.
Islamic nationalism is another evil just like nationalism generally; whereby the
Muslims will choose to call for the territory (we see them as a territorial group and also as a tribe). For example they have been identifying Hausa with Islam, as if Hausa and Islam are synonymous, (or Hausa, Islam and the North), and even some Muslims have the tendency and urge to confuse these three.
Hausa to us is nothing more than a language and anybody who so wishes can speak it. If you speak it fluently, whether you are a Muslim, Christian or a pagan you are a Hausa man. Islam is another thing entirely.
Similarly, the North is a territorial area and in fact exists much more only in the
imagination of the people and belief in their own hearts. But the reality is that you can hardly demarcate the North. However much you want to demarcate the North some will say no this part is not Northern because they are not Muslims.
So let us not conceive the message of Islam, which was sent to all mankind through the view of Islamic nationalism. We are not saying “we Muslims”, rather we are saying Islam. When you say we Muslims then you are including even those nationalist Muslims and part-Muslims among you, considering them right and every other person wrong. For example, about one year ago when there was an attempted coup de tat that gave an
opportunity to candle the fire of Muslim nationalism, with issues like, ‘look it’s a
Christian that wants to overthrow a Muslim president’. Not minding that this Muslim president is a hypocrite to both Islam and the nation. He wanted to at one time to be a hero of the Muslims such that the Muslims would say ‘oh! They want to overthrow our president, we Muslims!’
No!!! Islam is an ideology not a geographical area or a cultural group. If it is (the issue) of a geographical area, he belongs to you, that is to say your own geographical area, if it is a cultural group, he belongs to your own cultural group, but once you say Islam, you will find that he is at variance with Islam. Therefore we should be careful not to promote Muslim nationalism in the name of Islamic ideology.
Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi Ta’la wa barakatuh.
NB: This lecture was originally transcribed by Muhammad M. Ahmad but later edited
with minor changes to fit reading format by the lecturer himself.
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Shaikh Zakzaky