Muslim Ummah In The 21st Century

[Rehmat]

The Muslim Ummah was a global political and economical power for several centuries, and it was not until the time of the Western Elightenment that its stagnation or decline began to occur, which lasted for more than 300 years. The re-emergence of the Muslim world as a powerful political and economic force is a recent phenomenon, and a lot of critical thinking is taking place within the Ummah and in the capitals of its adversaries. The rediscovery of its past glory, moral superiority is critical part of this recovery.


At present, the Ummah is 20 percent of the human race, or over 1.3 billion people – some 900 million in 57 Muslim nation-states and 400 million in over 100 communities in the rest of the world. With over 30 million Muslims in Europe, and more than 10 million in North America, Islam is the second largest religion in Europe, Canada and USA. The 57 nation-states occupy 23 percent of the world area.


The Muslim countries, though rich in natural resources, lag behind in economic and industrial capabilities due to continuous exploitation by their past colonial masters through their proxy governments. Muslim countries have huge financial resources, but weak in field of modern technology, management and mass production techniques. 87 percent of their trade is with non-Muslim countries, which shows their strong link with the global economy. If properly, harnessed under a sincere Islamic leadership, these resources would certainly bring back the Ummah to be a leading power in the 21st century.