Islamic nationalism

For relation between Islam and nationalism, see Islam and nationalism.

Islamic nationalism, also known as Muslim nationalism, is a form of religious nationalism that seeks to advance Muslim interests by combining nationalism with Islamism. It holds the view that all Muslims constitute a single nation, known as the Ummah, by virtue of their adherence to the Islamic religion and should unite under a single universal Islamic state. As such, it is often equated with pan-Islamism. Critics argue that nationalism is inherently incompatible with Islam, as Islamist ideology rejects the Western notion of nation-states, which usually appeal to unity based on linguistic, cultural, ethnic, and territorial factors.^[1][2]

Examples

Pakistan

Main article: Muslim nationalism in South Asia

Unlike the secular form of nationalism which is espoused in most other countries, Pakistani nationalism is religious in nature, consisting of Islamic nationalism. Religion was the basis of the Pakistani nationalist narrative.^[3] Pakistani nationalism is closely associated with Muslim heritage, the religion of Islam, and it is also associated with pan-Islamism, as it is described in the Two-nation theory. It also refers to the consciousness and the expression of religious and ethnic influences that help mould the national consciousness. Pakistan has been called a "global center for political Islam."^[4]

Palestine

Hamas views Palestine as a holy land and considers it a primary front for jihad, framing its resistance as an Islamic way of fighting Israeli occupation. The group has sought to fuse Islamism with Palestinian nationalism, presenting itself as a nationalist movement with an Islamic nationalist agenda, distinct from secular nationalist movements. Article 12 of the 1988 Hamas charter asserts that "Nationalism from the point of view of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part and parcel of religious ideology."^[5][6]