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Standing Up For The National Flag
Is it permissible to stand up for the national flag and anthem and remain so in reverence?
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21 Replies
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Standing Up For The National Flag
updated 2 years, 8 months ago
3 Members
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21
Replies
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It is only natural to have feelings of love for one’s homeland and respect for its flag and national anthem. Hence, there isn’t any problem in standing up out of these sentiments.
You may also find the following video interesting:
https://youtu.be/YCLEzFjCPWk -
Dr. Israr sahab is of the opinion that it is a form of shirk
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Please share video link for Dr. Israr Sahib. He may be talking about a specific situation.
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Brother Burhan, I have a different opinion. Excessive dedication to national anthem, flag or pledge of allegiance creates a divide among humans. Basically a divide of us against others. We are best while others are not so good. If you look at the history, mostly oppressive regimes and dictatorships use strict allegiance to flag, anthem, leader, or other items. Such regime forces people to perform these acts frequently to brain wash and control them.
For this reason such allegiance or acts of respect are dangerous. I think these items are against the concept of all humans being one and equal.
See the words of pledge of allegiance below, verses a rough example below how a pledge should have been stated.
HOW IT IS…
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS…
I pledge allegiance to respect and withhold equal rights to life, liberty and justice for all humans (or life forms) regardless of nationality, race, color, form, ethnicity, religion or physical condition. I dedicate myself to respectfully coexist and preserve all life forms, nature and environment for the benefit of all.
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Jinab Nadeem sahab I agree with each and every sentence of your reply. But my main concern is whether it is shirk or not. I live in a country where the constitution is not based on book of Allah Subhana Wa Tallah. To stand up for such constitution in reverence seems to make the humans which laid the foundations of this constitution equal to Allah which is definitely a form of shirk.
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Brother Burhan. To my understanding, shirk is when we say someone gave birth to Allah or Allah has given birth to a child. Or if someone says that Allah is dependent on someone. Or if someone compares Allah with one of his creation.
When we repect flag, or sing an anthem or say pledge of allegiance, we do not break any of these rules.
So in my opinion it is not Shirk or not even close to shirk.
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Nadeem sahab,
That brings me to the other question which I posted earlier: Is worshipping any other entity other than Allah SWT shirk? The definition which you gave will not accommodate worshipping others shirk.
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Worshipping in a sense of calling another entity or someone else as a creator or partner in the creation and management of the universe will be shirk. Normally worshipping means someone paying respect to a creator and if that is not Allah then it is shirk.
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Also standing up or following constitution is just following any other agreement. I am not sure which country you live in and what is written in the construction. If there is nothing in constitution that qualify as shirk or nothing immoral or unIslamic acts we are committing to, I do not see anything wrong.
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Nadeem Sahab,
Allah SWT has given clear instructions in Qur’an about “Hadood” like the punishment of zina, robbery and instructions like inheritance laws. If a constitution has laws which do not follow these instructions, isn’t that a direct violation of the Qur’anic text? How can a person agree to this agreement?
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But it is not Shirk. Allah has suggested those laws for our benefit. In our private life for personal matters as a believers we should follow those laws. But if the community decided on different laws and those are forced on you, then Allah doesn’t hold you responsible. In worst case you can move to another country, but I do not think there is a single country on this earth where all and complete Islamic laws are implemented.
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The only time I wont take an oath if it involves shirk, immoral or unislamic act that go agsinst fundamentals of Islam. For example if constitution said, that we need to agree that there is no god or Jesus is the son of god or an idol is a god of rain or if constitution said that I must drink alcohol or eat pig meat, must have extramarital relations, or pledge allegiance to a new prophet or will follow another religious book than Quran, etc.
Not having Islamic laws in a country doesn’t break any fundamental beliefs of Islam. When it comes to Islamic laws even two Muslims do not agree on a single Islamic law. For example at what point should we cut a thief’s hand.
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Here is the link to Dr. Israr’s video.
He is right when he says that if a flag or an anthem represets something against Islam then standing up in respect for it is wrong.
He is absolutely incorrect that it is a form of shirk. If it is, then standing up for guests, parents or respectable persons is a shirk too. He did not explain how he concluded that standing up for a symbol a shirk.
Shirk is only when we consider someone to be god or god like or belper of god in creation and management of universes and if we consider someone beget Allah or if he is begotten.
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Is it shirk to make Sajdah in reverence for anyone other than Allah?
If yes, then standing up which is a form of ibadah (as in Qiyaam) shall also be considered shirk.
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Brother Burhan. Standing up with what intention? Are people considering flag as a god?
As I said earlier, if someone stands up to welcome guests or in respect of an elderly, would it become shirk?
It is all by intention.
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Nadeem sahab,
What if someone’s intention is just to respect and not to worship and he bows down in prostration? Is it shirk?
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In Quran, if I remember correctly, prophet Youseph’s sibblings or I believe his father fell into Sajdah when they recognized him in Egypt. Does that mean they considered him god or committed shirk?
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Also Sajdah by itself is not shirk, but Sajdah to a god other than Allah is shirk.
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Kindly check the attached sahih hadeeth. Even if that Sajdah is not shirk but Prophet SAW didn’t allow it.
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Leaving the part of National Anthem, how do you respond to the part on National Flag on the above YouTube video
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https://youtu.be/sAMHIemEPIUWhat's wrong with his line of reasoning?
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