In the world in which we live, Allah bestows many favours on man. All the needs of each living being are benevolently met; no detail is forgotten.


Let's think about ourselves as examples. From the moment we wake in the morning, we need many things and encounter many situations. In brief, we survive due to the many favours bestowed upon us.


We can breathe as soon as we wake up. We never experience difficulty in doing this, thanks to our respiratory systems functioning perfectly.


We can see as soon as we open our eyes. The sharp and distant images, all three-dimensional and fully coloured, are perceived by our eyes, and indeed owe their existence to the unique design of eyes.


We taste delicious flavours. The relative proportions of the vitamin, mineral, carbohydrate or protein content of the food we eat, or how the excess of these nutrients are stored or utilised in the body never concern us. Moreover, we are mostly never aware that such complicated operations take place in our body.


When we hold some material in our hands, we immediately know if it is soft or hard. What is more, we need no mental effort to do this. Numerous similar minute operations take place in our body. The organs, responsible for these operations, have complicated mechanisms. The human body functions almost like a factory of enormous complexity and ingenuity. This body is one of the major favours given to man since man leads his existence on earth with it.


At this point, a question remains to be answered: how are the raw materials necessary to operate this factory supplied? To put it another way, how do water, air, and all the other nutrients essential for life come into existence?


Let's think about fruits and vegetables. Melons, watermelons, cherries, oranges, tomatoes, peppers, pineapples, mulberries, grapes, eggplants… all grow in soil from seeds, and the seed has a structure sometimes as hard as wood. However, while considering these, we should avoid habitual ways of thinking and employ different methods. Visualise the delicious tastes and odours of strawberries or the ever-changing odour of melon. Think about the time and energy spent in laboratories to produce similar odours and about the repeated trials that resulted in failure. Indeed, results obtained by scientists in laboratories prove to be no better than the unsuccessful imitations of their natural counterparts. The varieties of taste, odour and colour in nature bear indeed matchless attributes.


That all vegetables and fruits have distinct tastes and odours and carry individual colours is the result of the design particular to them. They are all favours Allah bestows upon man.


Similarly, animals, too, are created specially for human beings. Apart from serving as food, man finds their physical appearances appealing. Fish, corals, star-fishes decorating the depths of oceans with all their beautiful colours, all kinds of birds adding charm to their habitat or cats, dogs, dolphins and penguins… they are all favours from Allah. Allah stresses this fact in many verses:


And He has made everything in the heavens and everything on the earth subservient to you. It is all from Him. There are certainly signs in that for people who reflect. (Surat al-Jathiyah: 13)


If you tried to number Allah's blessings, you could never count them. Allah is Ever -Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat an-Nahl: 18)


He has given you everything you have asked Him for. If you tried to number Allah's blessings, you could never count them. Man is indeed wrongdoing, ungrateful. (Surah Ibrahim: 34)


The living beings mentioned above are only a tiny part of the favours and beauties Allah bestows. Wherever we turn, we come across creations reflecting the attributes of Allah. Allah is ar-Razzaq (the Ceaseless Provider), al-Latif (the Subtle One, He who creates things most subtly), al-Karim (the Generous One), al-Barr (the source of all goodness).


Now, take a look around you and think. And never plead ignorance of the fact that everything you possess is a favour to you from your Creator:


Any blessing you have is from Allah. Then when harm touches you, it is to Him you cry for help. (Surat an-Nahl: 5

Assalamu aleikum,


Written by an unknown writer


The Creator and the created



The busy moments of life cover up the truth of reality as we go unaware through our lives, until death catches up.


Sometimes I just stop and think. Time freezes for a second and I seem to become attuned to a reality that exists far beyond the petty struggles of everyday life. Gazing at the outline of desert hills in the distance or a lone, brightly colored flower, whose skinny, straggly stalk grows out of a bare, dry rock, struggling in its upturned motion toward the light of the sun. At other times, I lie beside the window at night, staring at the sky and the twinkling brightness of stars that shine so many milllions of light years beyond my reach, and yet whose light filters through the heavens to reach me, in my isolation; meeting in the twisted turns of time and destiny. How long did it take the light of that star to reach my eyes? How many people walk beneath its shimmering, timeless beauty, vamping out laughter and loutish cries of vanity, oblivious to the wonders that envelope them in life.


I ponder on the steps I've walked through the days since I was born. The people whose paths crossed mine in friendship and love and others whom I carelessly ignored. The hard lessons of life that shaped my mind and heart and steered my thinking toward the Power that rules this glorious manifestation of Creation and Life. Contorted cries of pride and self conceit seem out of place in a world that slaps down the oppressor; whose deeds follow in a trail of fire and blackness. One day the deeds sent forth will catch up with the tyrant and choke the vanity from the same lips that ordered pain, poverty and death.


Nothing escapes the Creator. No silent word whispered in the dark of night, goes unheard. No evil intent hidden in the recesses of the heart, goes unknown. No stifling corruption or bandits hand, goes unseen. The feeling of freedom that pushes the oppressor to more and more power, is in reality an illusion. For every word and action bears a consequence that bounces like so many ripples on a pond, from a pebble carelessly tossed in sparkling waters. Long after the hand that threw the stone has gone, the ripples continue to form their circles and shapes. Like the words we utter into the wind, which carries the sound of our voices in waves of air that continue to orbit the earth until the day that all will be renewed and then we will hear those same words, see those same actions and the fruit of our toil.


Wasted time and life. How can a day pass where we cease to feel the beauty of life? Seek to understand the truth that emanates from our very existence? How can the Creator be ignored, when all that surrounds us, teems with life and meaning? The sand in our shoes, is carelessly discarded. How many oceans and seas carried each minute grain to its destiny? The very air we breath and food we eat, stand as marks of the Mercy of the Creator, Who supplied us with all our needs. Yet we eat and drink, without gratitude and without feeling for the needy.


All within and around us belongs to the Creator. The wealth, we say we worked for, is a gift, for who gave us the strength and ability to work? Who provided the means of effort? The air? The salts and minerals that constitute our very being? Do we dig the earth in greed, oblivious to the wonder of the hands and minds we bear? Or the wonders that the treasure-filled earth bears for our use?


These precious moments of reflection, cast my mind upon the shore of truth; light; beauty, that stand as proof of life and death and the life that follows it. For as surely as the star casts its light on this dreary earth, all in creation will bear witness to me and my life's doings.


Either speaking for my good or my damnation.

Dear All


The main objective of this System of Governance is to provide the individual with full scope of self-development, which means nourishment of his/her physical body as well as development of his/her personality. Its basic principles are that the individual is the focus of values and the system exists to enable the individual to develop and express him/her self to the full extent of their capacity. One of its spikes will be the system of education. It lays primary stress on personal growth. A System of Governance based on these principles will be composed of free individuals, each enriching their life by working for the enrichment of all life, and each moving onward by helping others to do the same but within the boundaries the Quran has prescribed. You have visualized so far, that the governance in consonance with the Quran is not an end in itself; it is a mean towards the achievement of higher objectives as an end. In other words, according to the Quran's concept, the governance is the collective system in which the facets, the attributes of Allah Almighty, materialize concretely in the human affairs. Philosophically we call it objectivization of permanent values. And since these permanent values are the reflection of ideal nature of the human, the governance is the collective system/order, through which the latent potentialities of the individual members get developed. In the language of philosophy we call this process as actualization of realizable human potentialities. This is the very concept of the governance, which the Quran burgeons with the verse of Al-Hamdo Lillahe Rabb el Aalameen (1: 1). And looking to the resulting consequences of its pragmatic form the spontaneous remarks that emerge are: this is the worthwhile, the worth-appreciating system, which cultivates the nourishment of the entire humanity in resonance with what the Quran enjoins. For this noble purpose of nourishment, the humans, according to the Quran, are expected to enter into a contract between this Quranic System of Governance and the individuals of this State. The binding of this contract is that the individuals of this State hand over their acquired or intuitive earnings, their lives and wealth, to the System of Governance, and as a reward thereof this System grants them Al-Jannah, the Heaven Quran chapter 9 verse 111 – the state of perfect self-fulfillment. Like any mundane contract, this covenant comprises:


1. The buyer -Allah Almighty (God)


2. The seller -the believer


3. The goods sold -the life and the possessions of the believer


4. The price - Al-Jannah


And the detail of Al-Jannah as a state of life has been given in the entire Quran. This state of life includes the attainment of all the pleasant entities of this life and the development of the latent potentialities of the human self due to which the human becomes able to pass the next higher plane of life. In this Heaven, providing the basic necessities of life becomes the prime duty of the System of Governance. That is why the Quran makes it very clear when it says: At present with the kind of life you are leading you do not have to worry about your food or clothing. You suffer neither from thirst, nor from the heat of sun. You get all the food to eat, water to drink,clothes to wear, and houses to live in. All this is available without struggle. This was the society in which mankind was living in the early stages of human life -Quran chapter 20 verse 118-119- And along with that it was also conveyed that they will have no fear or grief of any kind. It will, therefore, be the prime responsibility of this Quranic System of Governance that it provides the basic necessities of life: articles of subsistence, clothing, housing facilities, education, protection and security to the entire humanity.


Summarizing this concept we can say that according to the Quran, it is incumbent upon this System of Governance to provide for the basic necessities of each and all members comprising it, and make suitable arrangements for the development, nourishment of their human potentialities. In this way the System of Governance that is established in the name of Allah Almighty is bound to proclaim: Bindings for Momineen -Quran chapter 6 verse 152- It is distinctly clear from this that no system of governance could discharge this responsibility unless, and until it has the various means of production under its control and the necessary resources at its disposal. It may be reiterated, and should in no case be lost sight of, that this System of Governance takes under its control means of production with a view to discharge its huge responsibility of providing necessities of life for all the members of the society. If it fails to do so, it shall have no right to touch these resources. The underlying principle for the growth and development of human personality is expressed as: an individual should work hard, earn and produce as much as possible, keep what is basically and essentially necessary for his/her own upkeep, and hand over the rest to the System of the Governance for meeting out the necessities of others in need. For this purpose the Quran ordained: They also ask you as to how much they should spare for the help of others. Say: all that is surplus to your needs -Quran chapter 2 verse 219- And in this accomplishment their attitude should be such as to declare: And say to the people for whom they do all this, We do not do all this as a favor to you. No, not at all! We do not expect anything in return; not even a word of appreciation. In fact we are doing our duty and our interest lies only in this. So by doing this we are nourishing our own selves, even the Divine attributes grow in our personalities. This is the objective of human life -Quran Chapter 76 verse 9-


Regards


Nawaz


www.parvez-video.com

Assalamu aleikum,


The Scientific World Is Turning to Allah



By Harun Yahya


"As people have certainly been influenced by me, I want to try and correct the enormous damage I may have done." (Anthony Flew)


The newspapers these days are echoing with these regret-filled words by Anthony Flew, in his time a well-known atheist philosopher. The 81-year-old British professor of philosophy Flew chose to become an atheist at the age of 15, and first made a name for himself in the academic field with a paper published in 1950. In the 54 years that followed, he defended atheism as a teacher at the universities of Oxford, Aberdeen, Keele and Reading, at many American and Canadian universities he visited, in debates, books, lecture halls and articles. In recent days, however, Flew has announced that he has abandoned this error and accepts that the universe was created.


The decisive factor in this radical change of view is the clear and definitive evidence revealed by science on the subject of creation. Flew realised, in the face of the information-based complexity of life, that the true origin of life is intelligent design and that the atheism he had espoused for 66 years was a discredited philosophy.


Flew announced the scientific reasons underlying this change in belief in these terms:


"Biologists' investigation of DNA has shown, by the almost unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce [life], that intelligence must have been involved." (1)


"It has become inordinately difficult even to begin to think about constructing a naturalistic theory of the evolution of that first reproducing organism." (2)


"I have been persuaded that it is simply out of the question that the first living matter evolved out of dead matter and then developed into an extraordinarily complicated creature." (3)


The DNA research which Flew cites as a fundamental reason for his change of opinion has indeed revealed striking facts about creation. The helix shape of the DNA molecule, its possession of the genetic code, the nucleotide strings that refute blind chance, the storage of encyclopaedic quantities of information and many other striking findings have revealed that the structure and functions of this molecule were arranged for life with a special design. Comments by scientists concerned with DNA research bear witness to this fact.


Francis Crick, for instance, one of the scientists who revealed the helix shape of DNA admitted in the face of the findings regarding DNA that the origin of life indicated a miracle:


An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going. (4)


Based on his calculations, Led Adleman of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles has stated that one gram of DNA can store as much information as a trillion compact discs. (5) Gene Myers, a scientist employed on the Human Genome Project, has said the following in the face of the miraculous arrangements he witnessed:


"What really astounds me is the architecture of life… The system is extremely complex. It's like it was designed… There's a huge intelligence there." (6)


The most striking fact about DNA is that the existence of the coded genetic information can definitely not be explained in terms of matter and energy or natural laws. Dr. Werner Gitt, a professor at the German Federal Institute of Physics and Technology, has said this on the subject:


A code system is always the result of a mental process… It should be emphasized that matter as such is unable to generate any code. All experiences indicate that a thinking being voluntarily exercising his own free will, cognition, and creativity, is required… There is no known natural law through which matter can give rise to information, neither is any physical process or material phenomenon known that can do this. (7)


Creationist scientists and philosophers played a major role in Flew's acceptance of intelligent design, backed up by all these findings. In recent times Flew participated in debates with scientists and philosophers who were proponents of creation, and exchanged ideas with them. The final turning point in that process was a discussion organised by the Institute for Metascientific Research in Texas in May, 2003. Flew participated together with author Roy Abraham Varghese, Israeli physicist and molecular biologist Gerald Schroeder, and Roman Catholic philosopher John Haldane. Flew was impressed by the weight of the scientific evidence in favour of creation and by the convincing nature of his opponents' arguments, and abandoned atheism as an idea in the period following that discussion. In a letter he wrote for the August-September, 2003, edition of the British magazine Philosophy Now, he recommended Schroeder's book "The Hidden Face of God: Science Reveals the Ultimate Truth" and Varghese's book "The Wonderful World."(8) During an interview with the professor of philosophy and theology Gary R. Habermas, who also played a major role in his change of mind (9), and also on the video "Has Science Discovered God?," he openly stated that he believed in intelligent design.


The "Intelligence Pervading the Universe" and the Collapse of Atheism



In the face of all the scientific developments outlined above, the acceptance of intelligent design by Antony Flew, famous for defending atheism for many years, reflects a final scene in the process of collapse being undergone by atheism. Modern science has revealed the existence of an "intelligence pervading the universe," thus leaving atheism out of the equation.


In his book "The Hidden Face of God," Gerald Schroeder, one of the creationist scientists who influenced Flew, writes:


"A single consciousness, a universal wisdom, pervades the universe. The discoveries of science, those that search the quantum nature of subatomic matter, have moved us to the brink of a startling realization: all existence is the expression of this wisdom. In the laboratories we experience it as information that first physically articulated as energy and then condensed into the form of matter. Every particle, every being, from atom to human, appears to represent a level of information, of wisdom." (10)


Scientific research into both the functioning of the cell and the subatomic particles of matter has revealed this fact in an indisputable manner: Life and the universe were brought into being from nothing by the will of an entity possessed of a superior mind and wisdom. There is no doubt that the possessor of that knowledge and mind that pervade the universe at all levels is Almighty Allah. Allah reveals this truth in the Qur'an:


''Both East and West belong to Allah, so wherever you turn, the Face of Allah is there. Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing."
(Qur'an, 2:115)


1- Richard N. Ostling, "Lifelong atheist changes mind about divine creator," The Washington Times 10 December 2004; washingtontimes.com/national/20041209-113212-2782r.htm


2- Antony Flew, "Letter from Antony Flew on Darwinism and Theology," Philosophy Now; philosophynow.org/issue47/47flew.htm


3- Stuart Wavell and Will Iredale, "Sorry, says atheist-in-chief, I do believe in God after all," The Sunday Times, 12 December 2004; timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1400368,00.html


4- Francis Crick, Life Itself: Its Origin and Nature, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1981, p. 88


5- John Whitfield, "Physicists plunder life's tool chest", 24 April 2003; nature.com/nsu/030421/030421-6.html


6- San Francisco Chronicle, 19 February, 2001


7- Werner Gitt, In the Beginning Was Information, CLV, Bielenfeld, Germany, pp. 64-7, 79


8- Antony Flew, "Letter from Antony Flew on Darwinism and Theology," Philosophy Now; philosophynow.org/issue47/47flew.htm


9- "Atheist Becomes Theist: Exclusive Interview with Former Atheist Antony Flew;" biola.edu/antonyflew/index.cfm


10- Gerald Schroeder, The Hidden Face of God, Touchstone, New York, 2001, p. xi

Most Americans haven't seen the growing legion of wounded troops returning from Iraq who are cared for at military facilities sealed off from the public. The media, in turn, have focused on the hit-and-run guerrilla attacks that claim one or two GIs in Iraq almost daily. Little attention has been paid to the long, difficult and very personal struggles that ensue in wards at BAMC and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.


http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/wounded/gallery.htm

visit muhammedhasenoglu.com for further reading


God's commandments about the status of women and the relations between men and women, which have been revealed to us through the Qur'an, consist of full justice. In this regard, Islam suggests equality of rights, responsibilities and duties between the two genders. Islam is based on sympathy, tolerance and respect for human beings, and does not discriminate against women in this matter.


The examples of good morals communicated to us in the Qur'an are universally compatible with human nature, and are valid for all stages of history.


Respect for women and women's rights fall within this. In the Qur'an God insists that the tasks and responsibilities of women are the same as those of men. Furthermore, while performing these tasks and responsibilities men and women must help and support each other:


The men and women of the believers are friends of one another. They command what is right and forbid what is wrong, and establish prayer and pay alms, and obey Allah and His Messenger. They are the people on whom Allah will have mercy. Allah is Almighty, All Wise. (Qur'an, 9:71)


God emphasizes that believers will be rewarded in the same manner according to their deeds, regardless of their gender.


Their Lord responds to them: 'I will not let the deeds of any doer among you go to waste, male or female - you are both the same in that respect... (Qur'an, 3:195)


Anyone who acts rightly, male or female, being a believer, We will give them a good life and We will recompense them according to the best of what they did. (Qur'an, 16:97)


In another verse, Muslim men and women are considered together, and it is stressed that both have the same responsibility and status in God's sight:


Men and women who are Muslims, men and women who are believers, men and women who are obedient, men and women who are truthful, men and women who are steadfast, men and women who are humble, men and women who give alms, men and women who fast, men and women who guard their private parts, men and women who remember Allah much: Allah has prepared forgiveness for them and an immense reward. (Qur'an, 33:35)


In the Qur'an there are many more verses stating that men and women are exactly equal in terms of their tasks and responsibilities and their rewards or punishments in return. There are a few differences in social issues, but these are for the comfort and protection of women. The commands of the Qur'an regard the congenital differences between the two genders resulting from their creation, and suggest a system maintaining equal justice for men and women in this light.


Islam does not see women as objects. Therefore, it is not seen appropriate that a woman of good morals should marry a man of bad morals. In the same way, it is not permitted for a woman of bad morals to marry a man of good morals:


Corrupt women are for corrupt men and corrupt men are for corrupt women, Good women are for good men and good men are for good women. The latter are innocent of what they say. They will have forgiveness and generous provision. (Qur'an, 24:26)


Also as regards marriage, the duties and responsibilities of couples towards each other require equality. God demands that both spouses be protective of and supervise each other. This duty is expressed in the Qur'an in the following words.


They are covers for you and you for them... (Qur'an, 2:187)


Many rules and commandments exist in the Qur'an regarding the protection of women's rights on marriage. Marriage is based on the free will of both parties; the husband has to provide economic support for his wife (4:4); the husband has to look after his ex-wife after divorce (65:6).


The Islamic Emancipation of Women


As the verses make clear, Islam brings justice to male-female relations and puts an end to harmful practices resulting from customs and traditions of pre-Islamic societies. One example is the situation of women in pre-Islamic Arab society. The pagan Arabs regarded women as inferior, and having a daughter was something to be ashamed of. Fathers of daughters sometimes preferred to bury them alive rather than announce their birth. By means of the Qur'an, Allah prohibited this evil tradition and warned that on the Judgment Day such people will definitely have to account for their actions.


In fact, Islam brought with it a great emancipation for women, who were severely persecuted in the pagan era. Prof. Bernard Lewis, known as one of the greatest Western experts on the history of Islam and the Middle East, makes the following comment:


In general, the advent of Islam brought an enormous improvement in the position of women in ancient Arabia, endowing them with property and some other rights, and giving them a measure of protection against ill treatment by their husbands or owners. The killing of female infants, sanctioned by custom in Pagan Arabia, was outlawed by Islam. But the position of women remained poor, and worsened when, in this as in so many other respects, the original message of Islam lost its impetus and was modified under the influence of pre-existing attitudes and customs. 1


Karen Armstrong, another Western expert on Islam, makes the following comment:


We must remember what life had been like for women in the pre-Islamic period when female infanticide was the norm and when women had no rights at all. Like slaves, women were treated as an inferior species, who had no legal existence. In such a primitive world, what Muhammad achieved for women was extraordinary. The very idea that a woman could be witness or could inherit anything at all in her own right was astonishing. 2


In fact, during the many centuries that followed Prophet Muhammad, women of the Islamic societies had a much higher social position than the women of Christendom. Karen Armstrong emphasizes that, during the Middle Ages;


... the Muslims were horrified to see the way Western Christians treated their women in the Crusader states, and Christian scholars denounced Islam for giving too much power to menials like slaves and women. 3


Anna King, a modern Muslim woman and a convert - or, better to say, a revert - to Islam, explains the Islamic emancipation of women as follows:


Islam first gave women their rights in a time when women were nothing but the property of men. Islam gave women the right to buy and sell on their own, own businesses and express her views politically. These were all basic rights which the American woman was not granted until relatively recently! It also encouraged women to study and learn Islamic knowledge, breaking a ban which several religions had stipulated, which forbid women to acquire any religious knowledge or touch religious texts... It also abolished the practice of marrying a woman without her consent. Thus, one would have to be very stubborn indeed to refuse such obvious facts and proofs that Islam was women's first liberator.


The tendencies to see women as "an inferior species" who has no right for education and that must be totally secluded from the society arose much later in the Islamic world, as a result of deviations from the right Qur'anic path.


Mentality that despises women, excludes them from society and regards them as second class citizens is a wicked pagan attitude which has no place in Islam.


In fact, devout women are depicted as good examples for mankind in the Qur'an. One is Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. Another is the wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh who, despite her husband's wickedness, is also described as an ideal Muslim. (see, 66:11-12) The Qur'an also describes very gentle conversations between the Prophet Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (27:42-44), and between Moses and two young ladies (28:23-26), which symbolize the civilized social relationship between the two genders.


It is impossible for a Muslim to have a bigoted approach to women. In a society where true Islamic morals are practiced, immense respect and sympathy will be shown to women, and it will be ensured that they can live in freedom and comfort.


The fundamental rule in Qur'anic exegesis is ensuring that the derived meaning is in conformity with the integrity of the Qur'an. When this is considered, it is seen that all the rules mentioned to us by Allah regarding women form a social structure allowing them to live in the most comfortable and happiest way. In a society where all the moral values mentioned by Islam are practiced comprehensively, the social position of women becomes even more exalted than in societies that we today regard as modern.


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Occasionally a person faces various physical and spiritual sorrows and troubles in the world. Amongst these are feelings so intense that they cannot be compared with any other physical pain. This feeling that causes such great distress in the human soul is a feeling called 'regret'.


There are two completely different forms of regret, however. The regret felt by people of faith and the regret that non-believers experience.


Believers are the people who have an absolute faith in the fact that events take place by God's Will, and whatever befalls them does so by God's Will. This explains their all-important distinctive attribute of putting their unyielding trust in God, at good times, in trouble or when they make a mistake. Upon making a mistake, a believer immediately repents with sincerity and hopes for God's forgiveness. As a result, he does not suffer from a distressful and long-lived feeling of regret. The regret felt by believers urges them to ask for repentance, to purify themselves and prevents them from repeating this error. It helps them rectify their errors and prevents them from plunging into a distressful and pessimistic mood. Moreover, this regret does not reduce their enthusiasm, devotion, or religious zeal nor does it drag them downward into a spiral of apprehension and depression.


Regret felt by disbelievers, on the other hand, is very distressing and constant, as they do not put their trust in God when they encounter a difficulty or commit a transgression. Throughout their lives, they often use phrases like "I wish I had not done this..." "I wish I had never said this...", and so on.


More importantly, they are subject to a much greater regret in the Hereafter. Those who lived a life apart from the religion (deen) in this world will regret every moment of their lives. They were warned before and invited to the straight path. They had enough time to contemplate and embrace the right way. Yet they did not listen when they were warned, ignoring the Hereafter as if they would never die. Then in the Hereafter, they will have no chance to get back to this world and correct their errors. In the Qur'an, their regretful expressions are related as follows:


We have warned you of an imminent punishment on the Day when a man will see what he has done, and the disbeliever will say, 'Oh, if only I were dust!' (Surat an-Naba': 40)


If only you could see when they are standing before the Fire and saying, 'Oh! If only we could be sent back again, we would not deny the Signs of our Lord and we would be among the believers.' (Surat al-An'am: 27)


They will say:


They will say, 'If only we had really listened and used our intellect, we would not have been Companions of the Blaze.' (Surat al-Mulk: 10)


Keep in mind that that day no one's regret will save him from God's wrath. The only way to avoid this regret is to submit to God while there is still time and to comply with the commands of God.


Respond to your Lord before a Day comes from God which cannot be turned back. On that Day you will have no hiding-place and no means of denial. (Surat ash-Shura: 49)

Many contemporary philosophers think that the future of the Islamic world has a direct bearing on world peace and security, for it is potentially a serious power. Approximately one-fourth of humanity follows Islam, their lands contain rich natural resources, and the entire region has a great strategic importance. Until the Second World War, most Muslim countries were European colonies. Some of them had to undertake wars of liberation to gain their independence. This situation changed the look of Islamic geography. However, the real change took place after the cold war ended. Until then, the Islamic world was considered in terms of Africa, the Middle East and Asia; now, it has become more of a Eurasian affair with Albania and Bosnia to the west and Chechnya and Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to the east. In the 1980s, Turkey was the only Muslim country represented in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Now there are nine Muslim countries:Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.8


Such changes in the Islamic world's demographic distribution have had an impact on the term "Islamic geography." Until the beginning of the twentieth century, except for short-term invasions, Muslims for the most part lived on Muslim soil under Islamic rule. From the beginning of the twentieth century onward, Muslims have migrated by choice to Europe and America, where they gradually became significant minorities. Currently, Islam is the fastest growing religion in those lands. This increase has enabled these Muslims to play a more active role in Western society and politics.


Therefore, Islamic geography does not only refer to Muslim-majority or Muslim-ruled lands, but comprises a much greater area. From the Caucasus to Tanzania, and Morocco to Fiji, the Islamic world now stretches over a huge area and covers the lands that gave rise to the greatest civilizations in history. The region's geopolitical, cultural, and geo-economic qualities place this geography on the agenda of international relations and world politics even today.


The crossroads and transit routes of world trade are located within this area. Considering that the canals and straights joining the Black and Mediterranean seas, the Mediterranean Sea with the Persian Gulf, and the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean are under Muslim control, the Islamic world's importance in terms of global balance becomes better understood. Additionally, the world's richest lands, in terms of such strategically important natural resources as oil and natural gas, are located in Muslim countries. The effective use of these resources represents a strategic opportunity for the Islamic world to increase its impact on world politics.


The current situation clearly suggests that Muslims will influence the developments of the twenty-first century in one way or another. However, what really matters here is that this influence must benefit the Islamic world in particular and humanity in general. The first thing that comes to mind at this stage is whether the Islamic world can play such a role, given its present condition. No doubt, Muslims have the necessary ability and awareness to shoulder this responsibility. However, looking at Muslim nations today reveals many problems, among them the lack of established democracy, the inability to keep up with technological progress, and an underdeveloped economy. An Islamic world preparing to play an active role in world politics must solve these and similar problems first.


The Islamic world's disunity and fragmentation is an even more urgent and vital problem that must be resolved. The fact that the Muslims have not been able to create a powerful and active Islamic Union is a major contributor to many of today's ills. When a strong Islamic Union is formed, such problems will either not arise or will be resolved far quicker than anticipated.


It must be stated here that the diversity found in the Islamic world, as well as the existence of various schools of Islamic thought, is not an issue in this regard. Likewise, unity does not equal the same practice or system. Rather, this diversity must be united under the umbrella of faith and on the basis of mutual tolerance and solidarity. Differences of thought, practice, or point of view are normal and common in all societies. Islamic morality requires that Muslims never forget that they are all brothers and sisters, irrespective of their differences. Whatever the race, language, nation, or branch of Islam one might follow, all Muslims are brothers and sisters. Therefore, such differences must be appreciated as a source of richness instead of as a source of potential conflict and fragmentation. Such a mistaken view only diverts one's attention from the real issues and delays urgently needed and important preventive action.


Subsequent chapters will deal with the need for an Islamic Union and what it will mean for world peace from economic, sociological, and political perspectives. However, first we must investigate the process that led to the Islamic world's disintegration and how this development can be reversed.


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Determination is the most significant attribute of a believer. A believer never loses his enthusiasm and devotion. He engages in his struggle only to earn the pleasure of God. That is why, no difficulty proves to be a hindrance to his endeavours. His only goal is to deserve the favour of his Lord; and he shapes his life accordingly.


God certainly puts the determination of believers to the test in various ways; either by periodically giving them trouble or making them undergo suffering. Details of the test are given in the verse below:


We shall test you with fear and hunger, with loss of life and property and crops but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere. (Al-Baqara, 155)


However, a believer with total commitment displays his patience under all circumstances. God praises this attitude of believers in the following verse:


How many of the prophets fought (in God's way), and with them (fought) large bands of godly men? But they never lost heart if they met with disaster in God's way, nor did they weaken (in will) nor give in. And God loves those who are firm and steadfast. Their only words were: "Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and anything We may have done that transgressed our duty; make us firm of foot and help us against those that resist faith." (Al-Imran, 146-147)


Lack of commitment, on the other hand, is not a trait attributable to believers. The following verse confirms this fact:


Only those ask you for exemption who do not believe in God and the last day, and whose hearts are fieled with doubt, so that they waver. (Al-Tawba, 45).


Desiring the hereafter and striving for it with all their might, as well as avoidance of extravagance in daily affairs are indications of determination demonstrated by believers. Those who "strive with all their might" are thus described in the Qur'an:


Those who wish for the hereafter, and strive for it with all their might and have faith- they are the ones whose endeavours are acceptable (to God). (Al-Isra, 19)


Determination, consequently, is a significant attribute of believers. Those who seek an "immediate gain and an easy journey" (At-Tawba, 42) fail to show an unyielding determination. Believers, on the other hand, accomplish what is expected of them and display an unchanging determination until they meet their death.


The community of Kahf, into whose hearts God put courage, (Al-Kahf, 14) sets the best example for believers in the sense of determination. Continuity in worshipping is also important in the sense of consistency. Only death puts an end to the determination of a believer. A believer is responsible for showing patience and fulfilling his pledge to God until death comes.


Truly, those who plight their fealty to you do no less than plight their fealty to God: the hand of God is over their hands: then anyone who violates his oath, does so to the harm of his own soul, and anyone who fulfils his pledge to God, will soon be granted a great reward by God. (Al-Fath, 10)

Dear All


The governance has nothing to do with the matters pertaining to religion and ethics. The governance is comprehensive and composite, encompasses the entire life of the individual members of the society and is never accountable to anyone for its functions and decisions. It engrails its power from the geographical boundaries for its nationalism.


These are, in brief, the salient features of the modern system of governance. But from the Quran's point of view, this all is basically wrong. The Quran develops its foundation on the concept of ideology, which is the other name of Deen ,system of life and Iman, acceptance. The State developed on this concept is called the Quranic State, which encompasses two groups of people:


(i) the group whose members believe in the Quranic concept of Ideology and


(ii) the group whose members do not believe in this Ideology. The members of the first group run the administration of this State and also look after the human rights of the second group so that the members of this group are not deprived of any human right. The concept of Ideology makes it clear that the System of Governance is not all-powerful; it operates only within the limitations of the Ideology. It cannot function beyond these sanctions. These are permanent and the system is not empowered to cross them, neither  longitudinal, nor latitudinal. This concept of Ideology basically transforms the idea of nationalism as false and farce. Now the foundation of the nationalism rests on boundary walls of the ideology and never on the geographical boundaries on which the country is founded, and never on color, creed, language or caste of its people. Thus living in the same country without believing in its ideology, do not make them the members of that nation, and on the contrary, not living in that country, but believing in this ideology makes them the members of that nation. Beyond any shadow of doubt it can be said that it is based on: Laa Elaa ha – Illa Ullaho – Muhammad-urr-Rasool Ullah


This is nothing but Kalema, the theory of life, or the concept of life. In the present day terminology, it is called Ideology.


Regards


Nawaz


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