On Nationality

I was explaining to Ibn Benito Almagro the Muslim concept of a global community, that this is the first point of allegiance rather than a national boundary.

 While I don’t see it in a religious sense, I think to have an identity tied to a border drawn by empires is one of the most ridiculous ideas in the world.

 So a line drawn fifty or a hundred or even two hundred years ago is meant to be the prime marker for how we see ourselves?

 This boundary line is meant to stand above family connection or the immediate and specific place that a person lives.

 I distrust the idea of nationality. Too often it ends up creating a false sense of pride that drives othering, separation and superiority.