Assalmu alaykum,
To love one's country or to identify with it isn't a bad thing at all. Of course, our primary identity is that of Muslims, alhamdulillah, and this identity comes before anything else, whether it be ethnicity or nationality or occupation or even as a relative or friend...
And so long as you recognise the fact that the beauty of Islam is that it has united us all to be one Ummah, with transcends all divisions of nationality or race or blood, and belonging to a specific country to race doesn't make you superior to anyone else, then to say 'I love my country, or proud to be from it,' wouldn't be against Islam. We are all equal before Allah swt, His slaves and worshippers, and no one is superior or inferior to the other, no skin colour or culture is better or worse than another. It reminds me of this verse from the Qur'an, which says it all alhamdulillah.
O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted. 49:13
So obviously, we are all equal in status, but as long as we don't claim superiority it doesn't mean we can't acknowledge where we are from. I'm proud to be British, I am proud to be of Afghani/Pakistani heritage, it is a part of who I am, and it doesn't effect the way I behave with my friends who are Kurdish or Arab or Malaysian, because we are all Muslims first and foremost alhamdulillah, and the way Islam has united believers, from all cultures and nationalities, under the banner of Tawhid is beautiful.
I could write a lot on this lol, but it'll become an essay and I have revision to do,
born in France I think. You may find some of the topics in series very interesting. Listen and share with us what you learn. We may benefit from it as well.
