DO U CONSIDER UR SELF MUSLIM OR BANGLADESHI?

[Fary]

Thank you all for your meaningful input into my original post. As to where I saw the quote that "Allah admires patriotism"..all I can vaguely remember are those quotes from the Quran that they show on BTV just before or after Azaan. I was much younger then, and I may be mistaken..but for some reason that quote had stuck to my mind, and popped up when this topic was opened.

You are all very strong in your beliefs, which is good to see. As for me, I look at Bangladesh as mostly a muslim country. So patriotism or nationalism..or love for your fellow muslim brothers and sisters...whatever you may wish to call it...it all boils down to the same thing. I don't see anything wrong with loving your own country above an beyond any other country....for that is where my true roots lie, and no other country can give that to me.

The way that I have been brought up is that I don't identify a person as someone belonging to any religious background....I don't try and find out a person's religious background before I mix with them...if I see a person in dire needs of help, I will not stop and ask him, "Brother are you muslim?" but I will lend my hand forward to him regardless of his race and ethnic background. Eventually, if he feels I have done a good deed, he may want to follow my footsteps, and THAT i believe is the true essence of being a true muslim.

When there are deaths due to Tornadoes in USA, I do not stop my mourning just because those people are probably Christians... On the contrary, I mourn for the deaths of HUMAN LIVES.
I may be wrong, but I do not mix with a person just because he/she is from a particular ethnic or religious background...but rather because I enjoy their company and because I feel I can learn something from their company. I do not believe in discrimmination.
As to why I see myself more as a Bangladeshi than a muslim, even though I practice Islam to the best of capacity (I know I have faults, and I do not deny them)...it is because when you live in a foreign land for so long, you get used to people asking you "WHERE R U FROM?" rather than "WHAT IS YOUR RELIGION?". My daily lifestyle (how I talk, how I act, what I cook, what I wear) revolves more around my nationality than my religion, and hence, I feel I can better picturise myself as a Bangladeshi...although, having said that, I do realize there is a thin line between our daily practices as a Bangladeshi and as a Muslim.
Allah hafez!