ABSTRACT
Arab nationalism or Arabism in its contemporary concept is the belief that the Arab people are one people united by language, culture, history, geography and interests, and that a single Arab state will be established to unite the Arabs within its borders from the ocean to the Gulf. The Arabs’ belief that they are a nation is ancient, and its beginnings may be difficult to know. Arab pride in their race appeared in Arabic poetry. During the era of Islam, nationalism was embodied by the Arabs’ feeling that they were a distinct nation within Islam; for example, when Saad bin Abi Waqqas, the commander of the Islamic forces in Iraq, wanted to urge his men to great deeds, he resorted to inciting their pride in their Arabism (You are the faces of the Arabs, their notables, and the choice of every tribe, and you are the glory of those behind you). Moreover, this feeling increased during the Umayyad era. In the modern era, this idea was embodied by ideologies such as the Nasserist movement and the Baathist movement, which were most common in the Arab world, especially in the period of the mid-twentieth century until the end of the seventies, which was characterized by the establishment of the United Arab Republic between Egypt and Syria and witnessed many other unitary attempts. This paper discusses the problem of religion and nationalism, explaining how it raises a torrent of questions, discussions, and controversy that reach the point of hostility and hatred among those who believe in Arab nationalism as the path to achieving identity, and those who call for Islam as an authentic and undisputed identity for the Arab person. Therefore, there is a division between the Arab current, which adopts the Arab Nationalism League, and the Islamic current, which adopts the Islamic League. This paper will explain the positions of both currents; it will clarify whether it is possible for religion and nationalism to coexist in Arab reality from the point of view of these two currents.