Allah created the earth and then bestowed on man His favor to extract sustenance from it. He also creates the sun moon and the stars to create a just equilibrium and harmony in the universe. The sun provides energy for the growth, sustenance and wellbeing of the humans’ plants and the animals. Gradually man began to extract more than his personal needs from the earth and the boom of economics, trade and commerce started, creating, cycle’s imbalance, disharmony, wars, poverty, and injustice throughout the globe. This disharmony caused by greed not only blemished the humans, but the animal life also suffered by disappearance of species. Pollution and contamination of the environment resulted from race to accumulate and hoard the world’s wealth in a few hands. Man, disobeyed Allah’s universal laws and Allah’s Covenant. In return for all of Allah’s favors Allah commands: Justice, Al-‘Adl. Justice, fairness honesty, integrity and even-handed dealings are a prerequisite of every Muslim’s conduct when dealing with others whether socially or in business transaction Doing what is good and that is beautiful. Al-Ihsan. This attribute includes every positive quality such as goodness, beautiful, pleasing, harmony. Human beings have an obligation to do what is wholesome and beautiful in their relationship with Allah and His creatures. Provide for those near to you, qurba and kith and kin. Help them with wealth, kindness, compassion, humanity, and sympathy. Allah forbids Al-Fahasha, all evil deeds, lies, false testimony, fornication, selfishness, ingratitude, greed, and false belief. One must fulfill the Covenant of Allah and who so ever does beautiful and righteous deeds Allah will give him or her new life and reward them with greater wages. Allah commands justice, the doing of good and liberality to kith and kin and He forbids all shameful deeds and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, that ye may receive admonition. Fulfill the Covenant of Allah when ye have entered into it and break not your covenants after ye have confirmed them: indeed, ye have made Allah your surety; for Allah knows all that you do. (Qur’an 16:90-91)ô Whoever works righteousness, man or woman and has Faith, verily, to him will We give a new Life, a life that is good and pure and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best their actions. (Qur’an16:97) Tawhid the main pillar off Islam signifies that human’s economic life depends wholly on Allah’s Laws of the universe that their relationship to those who believe is through the obedience to the Covenant of Allah. Allah maintains in the Qur’an that there is no creature on earth the responsibility of whose sustenance is not assumed by Allah. No creature crawls on earth that Allah does not nourish. He knows its essential nature and its varying forms; every detail has its place in the obvious plan. (Qur’an 11:6) How are the people in need provided for their sustenance and needs of daily lives? All wealth belongs to Allah who bestows it on some persons more than others. This wealth is given in trust, whereby the possessor is obliged to give the surplus in Allah’s cause, to his kin, to the widows and orphans and to the needy first in his community and then in the other communities around him. Wealth is to be shared so that not a single individual of the Ummah, or indeed in the world should go hungry or without education and shelter.

The classic study of post-Cold War international relations, more relevant than ever in today’s geopolitical climate—with a foreword by Zbigniew Brzezinski. Since its initial publication in 1996, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order has become one of the most influential books ever written about foreign affairs. Samuel Huntington explains how clashes between civilizations pose the greatest threat to world peace, but also how an international order based on civilizations is the best safeguard against war. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order explains how the population explosion in Muslim countries and the economic rise of East Asia have changed global politics. These developments challenge Western dominance, promote opposition to supposedly “universal” Western ideals, and intensify inter-civilization conflict over such issues as nuclear proliferation, immigration, human rights, and democracy. In his incisive analysis, Huntington offers a strategy for the West to preserve its unique culture and emphasizes the need for people everywhere to learn to coexist in a complex, multipolar, multi-civilizational world.

“Dazzling and instructive . . . [a] magisterial new book.” —Walter Isaacson, Time "An astute analysis that illuminates many of today's critical international issues." —Kirkus Reviews Henry Kissinger offers in World Order a deep meditation on the roots of international harmony and global disorder. Drawing on his experience as one of the foremost statesmen of the modern era—advising presidents, traveling the world, observing and shaping the central foreign policy events of recent decades—Kissinger now reveals his analysis of the ultimate challenge for the twenty-first century: how to build a shared international order in a world of divergent historical perspectives, violent conflict, proliferating technology, and ideological extremism. There has never been a true “world order,” Kissinger observes. For most of history, civilizations defined their own concepts of order. Each considered itself the center of the world and envisioned its distinct principles as universally relevant. China conceived of a global cultural hierarchy with the emperor at its pinnacle. In Europe, Rome imagined itself surrounded by barbarians; when Rome fragmented, European peoples refined a concept of an equilibrium of sovereign states and sought to export it across the world. Islam, in its early centuries, considered itself the world’s sole legitimate political unit, destined to expand indefinitely until the world was brought into harmony by religious principles. The United States was born of a conviction about the universal applicability of democracy—a conviction that has guided its policies ever since. Now international affairs take place on a global basis, and these historical concepts of world order are meeting. Every region participates in questions of high policy in every other, often instantaneously. Yet there is no consensus among the major actors about the rules and limits guiding this process or its ultimate destination. The result is mounting tension. Grounded in Kissinger’s deep study of history and his experience as national security advisor and secretary of state, World Order guides readers through crucial episodes in recent world history. Kissinger offers a unique glimpse into the inner deliberations of the Nixon administration’s negotiations with Hanoi over the end of the Vietnam War, as well as Ronald Reagan’s tense debates with Soviet Premier Gorbachev in Reykjavík. He offers compelling insights into the future of U.S.–China relations and the evolution of the European Union, and he examines lessons of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Taking readers from his analysis of nuclear negotiations with Iran through the West’s response to the Arab Spring and tensions with Russia over Ukraine, World Order anchors Kissinger’s historical analysis in the decisive events of our time. Provocative and articulate, blending historical insight with geopolitical prognostication, World Order is a unique work that could come only from a lifelong policy maker and diplomat. Kissinger is also the author of On China.

The 1990-91 Gulf War, the Israeli-PLO agreement, instances of political and economic reform, and the radical political reassertion of Islam, all indicate that the post-Cold War Middle East is in the grip of dramatic changes. This has generated considerable enthusiasm. Yet such transformation to the political landscape bring with them daunting difficulties. The Middle East faces a host of problems urgently in need of solutions if a successful new world order is to be built on the ruins of the old. In this book, an international group of scholars addresses these issues, and considers the options for the political, social, and economic reconstruction of the region. Themes covered include: democratisation; the Arab state system in the new global environment; the civil war in Arabia; security structures; the Arab-Israeli conflict; the role and potential contribution of pan-Islamism and pan-Arabism; and the prospects for economic revival. Throughout, the linkages between regional dynamics and the changing global environment are highlighted. Case-studies are drawn from the whole region: from North Africa to the Gulf, and from Syria to Yemen.

This book provides a highly original account of the changing meaning of democracy in the contemporary world, offering both an historical and philosophical analysis of the nature and prospects of democracy today.

The aim of this work is to warn of worse things to come by means of an ideology-critical analysis of Islamic fundamentalism. The argument "Nobody could have known that", which in reality should read "Nobody wanted to know that", is today once again beginning to promote the wishful thinking of an "inherently tolerant and peaceful Islam". If no balance can be achieved between Western and Quranic thinking, the worst must be expected. The "supra-naturalistic value system" of Islam is to be critically reflected upon from the philosophical position of realism (understood as a value-neutral collective term for many philosophical currents), which assumes the existence and at least partial recognizability of an extra-subjectively existing external world.

Civilizations and World Order: Geopolitics and Cultural Difference examines the role of civilizations in the context of the existing and possible world order(s) from a cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary perspective. Contributions seek to clarify the meaning of such complex and contested notions as “civilization,” “order,” and “world order”; they do so by taking into account political, economic, cultural, and philosophical dimensions of social life. The book deals with its main theme from three angles or vectors: first, the geopolitical or power-political context of civilizations; secondly, the different roles of civilizations or cultures against the backdrop of “post-coloniality” and “Orientalism”; and thirdly, the importance of ideological and regional differences as factors supporting or obstructing world order(s). All in all, the different contributions demonstrate the impact of competing civilizational trajectories on the functioning or malfunctioning of contemporary world order.

In spreading the message of freedom, equality, and human dignity, Nelson Mandela helped transform not only his own nation, but the entire world. Now his most important speeches are collected in a single volume. From the eve of his imprisonment to his release twenty-seven years later, from his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize to his election as South Africa's first black president, these speeches span some of the most pivotal moments of Mandela's life and his country's history. Arranged thematically and accompanied by tributes from leading world figures, Mandela's addresses memorably illustrate his lasting commitment to freedom and reconciliation, democracy and development, culture and diversity, and international peace and well-being. The extraordinary power of this volume is in the moving words and intimate tone of Mandela himself, one of the most courageous and articulate men of our time. "There is no easy way to walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountain tops of our desires." -- Nelson Mandela, September 1953

Providing an in-depth and extensive analysis of the concept of power as articulated by Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah (1935–2010), this case study analyses the systemic conceptualisation of power and his argumentation of sacralising Islamised power. The volume also offers a quick overview of how the concept was understood and articulated by other Shi‛ite jurists such as Ayatollah Khomeini. Examining Fadlallah’s oeuvre, in particular his seminal book Islam and the Logic of Power [ al-Islam wa-mantiq al-quwwa ], this book focuses on the narrative itself, which played a central role in the radical transformation that occurred in the Shi‛te concept of empowerment and its recognition as a necessity. The analysis of Fadlallah’s conceptualisation and argumentation illustrates the mechanism of sacralising righteous power as well as the means of gaining it. Fadlallah reinterpreted Shi‛sm as a project of empowerment to initiate and sustain an “impulse of power” amongst the Lebanese Shi‛tes in the most critical moment of modern Lebanese history. Dealing with the concept of power in Shi‛te political thought from a theoretical perspective, the study has an innovative approach that offers an insight into how the transformative narrative is constructed and what makes it convincing. Shedding light on the content and logical structure of Fadlallah’s argumentation, this volume will be of interest to scholars and students researching contemporary politics, Islam, and the Middle East.

This book presents the first comprehensive survey of the multiple versions of Islam propagated across geographical, political, and cultural boundaries during the era of modern globalization. Showing how Islam was transformed through these globalizing transfers, it traces the origins, expansion and increasing diversification of Global Islam - from individual activists to organizations and then states - over the past 150 years. Historian Nile Green surveys not only the familiar venues of Islam in the Middle East and the West, but also Asia and Africa, explaining the doctrines of a wide variety of political and non-political versions of Islam across the spectrum from Salafism to Sufism. This Very Short Introduction will help readers to recognize and compare the various organizations competing to claim the authenticity and authority of representing the one true Islam.