Since there is no separation of state and religion in Islam (the paradigmatic example is that of Prophet Muhammad and of a polity ruled by Islamic law, in which he served as the judge, the commander in chief and the prophet), Islam since its inception has been conceived as both a moral and political order. Through a brief survey of classical and modern Muslim thinkers, the present paper analyzes t
he strengths and weaknesses of the diversity of voices that have attempted to articulate an Islamic World order. In this context, the ideas of some of the leading Muslim traditionalists and modernists of the 20th Century will be discussed in order to shed light on two central questions: (A) In what ways an Islamic World Order is different from other Third World ideologies that attempt to chart a separate non-Western ideological course? (B) What are the limitations of an Islamic World Order in light of the present state of political and intellectual malaise in the Muslim World? There are over 170 million Muslims in Indonesia, over 70 million in China and over 54 million in the former Soviet States. The majority of Muslims, according to population studies, are youth and children. Children below five years of age represent 43 percent of the Muslim world! By the year 2020, our population is expected to reach 2.5 billion, Insha Allah. In Canada, startling statistical data has been released. One in three children born in Canadian hospitals today is from a Muslim family. What does this mean to us? The future is bright for Muslims if we make the right choices today. We are blessed with amazing riches in the Muslim world. Over 40 percent of the mineral wealth of the planet lies under Muslim countries. We have thousands of doctors, engineers, scientists and intellectuals. We spend billions in technology, especially for the military. But we still are humiliated and destroyed. We cannot wake up in the morning and forget Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia, and other parts of our Ummah. Tribalism will lead us to destruction. Divisions based on color, organizations, and groups will decimate our ranks. We need people who put the Qur’an and the Sunnah above everything.
