Loyalty to One's Nation as A Muslim

“Love of one’s country is a part of faith.” (al-Sakhawi) This is a powerful Islamic message found from the sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Apart from what country you live in or being an American, it is an inherent part of human nature to acknowledge the benefits of where one lives and the desire to uplift and establish harmony in one's surroundings. There can be nothing more loathsome than one who does not appreciate those that have contributed to his success and scorns them, such a person with such a poisonous mindset would quickly find a way to ruin everything around him.

As such patriotism is not something to actively practice but I would say patriotism goes hand in hand with self preservation and creating harmony, and creating peace and harmony is the main message of most mainstream religions. There is no religion that tells its followers to go out and create chaos even if they are surrounded by people whose beliefs they may not agree with, much less people who have the same faith as them. Yet loyalty to faith over loyalty to God is a topic brought up both by outsiders and Muslims themselves, indicating that somehow being loyal to Islam would mean that they would have to be disloyal to their country. However, nothing could be further from the truth; of the three Abrahamic religions, Islam is the most comprehensive, the most inclusive. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) suffered severe boycott, violence, and brutality for nearly thirteen years after announcing his prophethood, but rather than responding with violence he chose to leave that city. The same has been advised to Muslims who are not allowed to peacefully practice their religion in a country, that if the situation becomes so severe that it is no longer tolerable they may relocate from their areas. However Muslims are advised to not focus on what the society where they live can give to them, rather what they may contribute to the society where they live: whether that be money, social welfare programs, volunteerism, teaching, and the overall assistance and uplifting of others. There should be exceptionalism, there should be competition, it's fine to living a comfortable life, but when your comfortable life comes at the expense of ignoring the misery around you and not meeting the basic necessities of humanity, then you are setting your society up for social unrest according to Islam; so there is no one more concerned and more focused on the well being of their fellow citizen than a Muslim.