What is a nation? How is a nation defined in terms of political science?
A nation is an entity which:
- Is a piece of land
- Has a population
- Has a government to rule
- Has sovereignty.
For India, that is Bharat, we have a big land mass – stretching from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Gujarat to Nagaland. We have a big population. We have a government and a constitution and legal framework to rule us.
And finally we have independence. India, that is Bharat is ruled from within, not from outside.
Why is the concept of Bharat in-compatible with Islam?
Please refer the article here. It explains the basic motive behind the foundation and growth of Islam. Islam and “BHAHRAT” as a nation state are incompatible due to the following reasons.
- First, Islam propagates that Mecca is the Center of the world. All Islamic scholars accept this. Even Zakir Naik also accepts this. Islam wants world accept the supremacy of Arabia by associating divinity to it through various spiritual injunctions inside Islam. For Bharat (or any other) to be a nation, the center of gravity cannot lie outside.
If Bharat's center of gravity lies outside of Bharat, then Bharat
cannot be sovereign and hence it doesn't qualify to be called a nation.
- Second, Unlike Bhagawat Gita, the Holy Quran is not just a spiritual scripture. It regulates many non-spiritual activities like say criminal codes, economics and personal laws etc. Quran says that any institution propagating anything incompatible with Holy Quran is haram/sin and punishable by Allah on the day of judgement. In other words, the Holy Quran assumes a higher place than the Constitution of India and the laws, rules and regulations of a Sovereign Govt. This violates the basic concept of a nation.
It is no surprise Zakir Naik says that in case of conflict between Holy Quran and Indian Constitution, Quran would assume a higher place than Indian Constitution.
- Third, Every sovereign nation has a state head. In case of India, it is our president. For a sovereign nation, the citizens have liberty to agree or disagree with the head (as a person), but they must accept the institution of the state head. For e.g., I may have ideological differences with the President of India, but I being a Citizen must accept the post of President as my head. Islam has a concept called Caliph or Khalifa. Khalifa stands abolished from 1924. When it existed, the Khalifa was not only the spiritual head, but also the political head of all Muslims around the world. All Muslims must accept the Khalifa as their leader. This is in violation of the concept of a nation state. India (or any other country) cannot be called a nation if its citizens accept another leader seated in Mecca or Turkey or Afghanistan as their leader.
Since, Gandhiji supported the Khalifa I doubt his intentions of building a sovereign India.
Because of the above reasons, Islam and Bharat are incompatible. The above rationale not only applies to a “Hindu” Bharat, but to any other sovereign nation where the majority are Muslims. In other words concept of Islam and a nation state are anti-thesis to each other.
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