Patriotism Is a Natural Instinct, and Defending It Is One of the Best Deeds, Said AIRA Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the Islamic Research Academy (AIRA), Dr. Nazir Ayyad participated in the activities of the symposium organized by the Coptic Orthodox Church at the Papal Headquarters at Abbasiya. A number of Al-Azhar preachers, priests, and representatives of the youth of the parties and the National Council for Women participated in the symposium and discussed the issue of citizenship.
The Secretary-General said that patriotism is a deep instinct in humanity that Islam has urged and commanded us to preserve and adopt. Thus, one of the fallacies that the enemies of our religion and homelands try to spread is to prove the existence of a conflict between the love of religion and patriotism to cast doubt on religion and to destabilize societies. However, Islam, from the very beginning, emphasized that patriotism is part of religion, and defending the homeland and sacrificing ourselves for its sake is one of the best deeds.
Ayyad added that citizenship in Islam passed through several phases: the 1st stage was in Mecca where Muslims were vulnerable and targeted, but they preserved their homeland and their message, and none of them vandalized anything or assaulted anyone.
The 2nd stage was in Abyssinia where Muslims were few but in a fair society. This stage aimed at the integration into, cooperation with and participation in the new society, without violating its rules and laws.
Then, the Secretary-General explained that the 3rd stage was in Madinah after the blessed migration where there were several diverse sects. This motivated the Prophet (PBUH) to issue the Medina Document, which set the rules for all sects about how to deal, cooperate and coexist with one another.
The 4th stage was at the end of the Prophet’s era (PBUH). In this stage the number of Muslims increased in Medina with the existence of a small number of the followers of other religions. This period witnessed no sectarian tendencies.