Is the love for Saudi Arabia referred as Nationalism?

Question

Some Muslims love Saudi Arabia because it is a land if Tawheed, free from Shirk...and some people defend saudi Arabia from allegations..

So are these people referred as to the people who love Asabiyyah, fight for Asabiyyah (nationalism/tribalism) ??

Answer 1

There are many reasons to love Saudi Arabia as a Muslim:

1. They are our Muslim brothers regardless of their mistakes.

2. Their land is the land of the Prophet (SAW) and they are the people of the the Prophet (SAW) (Arabs).

3. They are the caretakers of the two Holy mosques.

So as muslims, we should love them:

"None of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." (Jami' Al-Tirmidhi)

The problem comes when we think of them as infallible. Of course they are not infallible. They do and are doing many bad things. So, we should understand what they are doing that is against Islam and condemn it:

If any one you sees something objectionable, he should change it with his hand if he can change it with his hand. But if he cannot (do so), he should do it with his tongue, and if he cannot (do so with) his tongue he should do it in his heart, that being the weakest form of faith. (Sunan Abu Dawud)

On the other hand, there are people who hate Saudi Arabia and try to find fault in everything they do. To those people, I will say that they are the best we have right now. Would you rather have the world sanctioned Iranian government ruling Arabia? Or would you rather have the military coup-prone Egyptian government rule the Holy Mosques? We need to recognize the good Allah has given us through Saudi Arabia (namely stability) and also recognize the bad they do. Not blindly hate them.

With regards to allegations, we have to be extra skeptical when we hear of allegations against Saudi Arabia or any Muslim country for that matter.

A Muslim is he from whose hand and tongue the [other] Muslims are safe. (Sahih Muslim)

Whenever you're about to make a judgement in your mind, think: Would you convict your blood brother with the amount of evidence that you have seen? If not, why would you judge your brother in Islam with the same evidence? Especially so for Saudi Arabia because their integrity and safety is (at least for now) the integrity and safety of the Holy Mosques.

In conclusion, as muslims, there are many reasons to love Saudi Arabia which are all because of our deen. Anything more (loving it for something besides Allah) would be considered Asabiyyah. But, Asabiyyah is only with regards to Niyyah. You could love, fight for, and defend Saudi Arabia and it would not be for Asabiyyah if you do it for the love of Allah.