Islam does not recognise the concept of a nation. It does not see the world as made up of different nations with defined territorial boundaries. Islamic view of the world is based on an entire global community of faithfuls believing in the Prophet. It divides the world into two camps – Dar-ul-Islam (abode of Islam) and Dar-ul-Harb (abode of infidels). The founder of Jamaat-e-Islami, Maulana Maudoodi said that the Koran sees the world as divided into two parties – one, Allah’s party and the other, Satan’s party.

A country is Dar-ul-Islam when it is ruled by Muslims. A country is Dar-ul-Harb when it is not ruled by Muslims. Further, it is the duty of every Muslim to wage a holy war, Jehad, against the Dar-ul-Harb until it is brought under Islamic rule and turns into Dar-ul-Islam. Not only can a Muslim proclaim Jehad, but he can call the aid of a foreign Muslim power to make Jehad a success, or if the foreign Muslim power intends to proclaim a Jehad, help that power in making its endeavour a success.

Islam does not recognise the different cultures emanating from different soils. It classifies culture into two categories on the basis of religion– Islamic culture and non-Islamic culture. Moreover, it does not recognise territorial affinities. Its affinities are social and religious and therefore extra-territorial. It is this aspect which leads every Muslim living in Dar-ul-Harb to state unequivocally that his loyalty is first towards other countries which fall in the category of Dar-ul-Islam.

A meeting was held in Delhi on 20.1.1980 to protest against the Soviet attack on Afghanistan, in which the Muslim leaders said that they were Muslims first and if anywhere in the world, Islam was endangered, it was their prime duty to protect it. Imam Abdullah Bukhari of the Jama Masjid in Delhi had also voiced similar sentiments from time to time.

It is said that Maulana Abul Kalam Azad believed that the idea of independence of a nation was a conspiracy of the Western leaders on the basis of which the Western powers were categorically bringing an end to the Islamic dominion. In 1921, he wrote in Al-Hilal that the loss of dignity of Turkey was like the last rites of the entire Muslim world. Whenever a non-Muslim power attacked an Islamic country, Jehad became the duty of every Muslim. The leadership of the Congress, during the Khilafat Movement, hoped that by their stance they would win over Indian Muslims forever. But it never happened.

According to Maulana Mohammad Ali, a Muslim is first a Muslim and then an Indian. “It is this sentiment which explains why the Indian Muslim has taken so small a part in the advancement of India but has spent himself to exhaustion by taking up the cause of Muslim countries and why Muslim countries occupy the first place and India occupies a second place in his thoughts,” writes Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in Pakistan or the Partition of India.    

Maulana Maudoodi was of the firm opinion that Islam and nationalism were opposed to each other in spirit and objective. Where nationalism exists, Islam cannot prosper; where Islam exists, there is no place for nationalism. The progress of Islam implies uprooting of nationalism. The Muslim Ulema do not believe in the commonly accepted concept of nationalism. They believe in the concept of ‘Islamic Nationalism’.

Islam does not differentiate between political and religious powers. In fact, Islam entrusts both the powers to the Mosque. The Khalifas established their political power over a large part of the earth by the use of military power and forced their subjects to adopt Islam on the point of the sword. All Muslim scholars agree on the fact that Islam, unlike other religions, is a complete lifestyle and regulates the entire life of an individual. Religion and politics are inseparable in Islam.

The Islamic view attaches no importance to questions like to which country a ruler belongs or what language he speaks. It is important from the Islamic point of view that the ruler is a devout Muslim, follows the Islamic customs religiously, practices Sharia and protects the Muslims.

The sum and substance of this proselytising faith, to put brutally, is that all those Muslims who were not Arabs, and converts at different points of history were expected to cut down their past cultural heritage, faith and even the roots from where they sprang up. Part of the neurosis is that a Muslim always has to prove himself. He has to be more royalist than the king, as the French say.

This is what was the secret of Islam’s imperial drive to extend its reach and root out the unbeliever. It is this wish to destroy the past, the ancient soul, the unregenerate soul. This is the great neurosis of the converted Muslim.