The Ultimate Goal: Developing the Islamic World

One of the Islamic world's most serious problems is its general underdevelopment. Therefore, one of the Turkish Islamic Union's priorities must be to develop the Islamic world by supporting the poorer countries and resolving their economic problems. This can be done by fighting poverty,—encouraging new investments, creating jobs,—achieving law and order throughout society, removing economic injustice and guaranteeing social justice, and strengthening international as well as regional cooperation and dialogue.

Problems and tensions within the Islamic world caused by financial inequality must be reduced. A union and cooperation between Muslim nations in the economic, political, and, most importantly, the cultural arenas will enable the underdeveloped nations to advance rapidly. Moreover, those that have the necessary infrastructure in place will be enabled to maximize their productivity. Such a union will benefit economic growth and scientific and technological development.

AN INTERVIEW WITH MR. ADNAN OKTAR BY MPL, NOVEMBER 21st, 2008 Adnan Oktar: What comes to my mind when the Ottoman Empire is mentioned is justice, love, plenty, peace, respect, glory, kindness and beauty, and those glorious Ottoman domes, Ottoman music, Ottoman food, Ottoman manners, those great sayings and words in the Ottoman language and a splendid political mechanism that spread justice across the world. The world needs a new, modern Ottoman Empire in the way it needs water. In other words, a Turkish-Islamic Union under Turkish leadership, a great Turkish-Islamic Union supported by the Turkic states. That means the earth literally becoming a paradise. It means enormous economic wealth for Europe, America, Russia and China. That is because the oil and minerals of all Islamic and Turkic countries will flow to them. They will develop their own trade with the technical means and equipment to be acquired from there. They will come and build hospitals and plants and roads. We will go and do useful things in their workplaces. There will be a mutual exchange of technology, science and art. Terror will come to an immediate end. It will be stopped definitely and totally. There will be no money spent on terror. There are traditions telling us that as a result, since there will be security and stability, plenty and abundance will fall down like rain. There will be stupendous well-being. Our age is the Ottoman age. The age of a Turkish identity. It is the age of the Turkish-Islamic Union. It is the age when Islamic social justice and moral values will dominate. We will see all of this in the next 10 to 15 years, insha'Allah. … Turkish-Islamic Union will put an end to that joylessness. There will be an explosion of joy and happiness. There will be an air of rejoicing. Everyday will be like festival. Syria will still be Syria, for example, in the Turkish-Islamic Union, and all countries will retain their unitary structures. But they will be filled with a fervent love and great abundance. The opening of the borders and an end to oppression means stability. It means the lowering of taxes, an end to all the pressure on people's minds, in other words great well-being. People are highly talented when it comes to love, joy and business and art. But that pressure on their minds just has to be lifted. There will be a huge dynamism and opening up of minds when that pressure is done away with. Allah will bestow a great power of production and great things will begin to be done. They will build great roads, for instance, and create great works of art and gardens and parks and everything. But they must not be pressurized. They must not be crippled by high taxes, interests and social pressures. By Allah's will, people will do great things in a climate of freedom. That is why there is no need to consider these things in great detail in the Turkish-Islamic Union. These things just need to be resolved: the passport and visa regimes must be lifted. A spirit of joyous love and brotherhood must prevail among countries, based on love and fear of Allah. We are all manifestations of Allah. Christians and Jews too are created by Allah. They live out their destinies. And we feel affection for them as servants created by Allah. Once that is put into practice it will mean a spontaneous end to terror. Terror will come to and without even being told to in such a climate. In such an environment, terror will have lost its whole technical infrastructure. It will have no ideological foundation, no social foundation, no philosophical foundation, no nothing. It will collapse of its own accord. They will surrender themselves and it will all be over.

Economic growth will increase investment in science and technology, and technological advancements will fuel further economic growth. Economic development will raise educational standards, and society will develop in many ways. Under the umbrella of the Turkish Islamic Union, individuals will be able to travel freely without the obstacles of visas or borders, and a system of free trade and enterprise will drive the Islamic world's rapid growth and development.

This development will naturally result in the Islamic world's modernization and reaching the standards found in the developed world. While Islam's economic principles diverge from the hedonism that dominates the majority of the West, free trade is just as essential to Islamic societies as it is to Western societies. Islam recognizes everybody's right to private ownership and free enterprise, but Islamic morality places certain responsibilities on individuals in order to achieve social justice. The poor have a share in the wealth of the rich, but not in the form of enforced taxation. Rather, the rich give this share to the poor willingly because of their beliefs. Islam's version of social justice is not achieved by central planning and enforcement, as socialism proclaimed but failed to deliver, but by the society's dominant moral values. Islamic morality also prevents the rich from indulging in conspicuous consumption and extravagance.

The materialistic social model encourages consumption, selfishness, and the ruthless oppression of others by individuals who have lost their respect and love for their fellow citizens. Over the past two centuries, this social model has come to dominate the majority of the Western world and has eroded its moral values. As a consequence, many Western countries are forced to fight widespread drug abuse, prostitution, corruption, gambling, alcohol abuse, and organized crime. Furthermore, weakening religious beliefs has created an identity crisis: Materialist philosophies, which assert that the purpose of life is to acquire material wealth and live a life of pleasure, cannot satisfy people's spirituality and so end up creating a void of aimlessness. Under the banner of freedom, its adherents abandon themselves to their own selfish desires.

Good land yields up its plants by its Lord's permission, but that which is bad only yields up scantily. In this way We vary the Signs for people who are thankful. (Surat al-A'raf: 58) We did not create the heavens and earth and everything between them, except with truth. The Hour is certainly coming, so turn away graciously. (Surat al-Hijr: 85) (to the left) The United Arab Emirates, (to the right) Malaysia

Islamic morality, on the other hand, frees people from all kinds of worries and anxieties that trouble their minds. Believers only heed Allah and seek to win only His good pleasure. Fully aware of their responsibilities to our Lord, they live by their conscience at all times and, as such, are content and well-balanced individuals. They offer their environment goodness and beauty. This morality frees people from the pressures of envy, excessive desire, fear of the future and death, and other attitudes and fears that are incompatible with religious morality. Freed of these negative characteristics, they experience the freedom and peace derived from submitting to Allah.

Therefore, the development and advancement encouraged by the Turkish Islamic Union will not be identical to the development envisaged by the West. During its period of development, the West experienced great social injustice. For instance, the driving force of development in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century England was ruthless exploitation. The working classes endured terrible working and living conditions. Children as young as 7 or 8 were made to work in filthy coal mines for 16 hours a day; many of them died before they were 20 years old. In the 1840s, the average life expectancy of coal miners fell to an average of 17 years.¹⁶ On the other hand, the rich lived in excessive luxury and extravagance. All industrialized Western countries went through these horrific experiences, and they built themselves upon the exploitation and oppression of millions of poor people.

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

The developmental model of a society dominated by Islamic morality will comprise social justice. The West suffered great injustice during its own development because its leaders adhered to materialism's misconceptions of human nature. Islamic morality, however, requires people to be entrepreneurs and pioneers in all fields, as well as compassionate, selfless, and just to others. Throughout the rise of Islamic civilization, Muslims were world leaders in economics and very successful traders. However, the resulting wealth did not remain in the hands of the few, but spread throughout society. Such social aid institutions as charitable organizations, social complexes, soup kitchens, caravanserai (large inns), public baths, and libraries show that wealth and culture did not remain in the hands of a few Muslims, but were accessible to all. The envisaged Turkish Islamic Union must adopt this developmental model.

Allah knows what you keep secret and what you make public. Those you call on besides Allah do not create anything. They are themselves created. (Surat an-Nahl: 19-20)  Nadir Divan Begi Madrasah, 1622, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.

Another aspect of this developmental model is open-mindedness. Islamic morality requires Muslims to be open-minded or, in other words, that they maintain relations with other cultures and benefit from their achievements. For this reason, Muslim thinkers and scientists examined earlier Greek, Chinese, Roman, and Indian scholarly works, from which they acquired knowledge and then developed and enriched with an Islamic understanding. The Islamic world of today must examine other cultures, in particular those of the West, benefit from their accumulated knowledge, and then use and advance them further for their own—and humanity's—benefit.

Trying to isolate the Islamic world from other cultures making it self-contained will not benefit Muslims. Islamic morality demands that technology be used to the full. For instance, Muslims must build their own film industry to teach humanity righteousness and goodness, as a counterweight to films that seek to impose a materialistic twist on Islamic morality. If some art trends contain negative influences, Muslims must produce a more beautiful and splendid art form. If people admire the impressiveness, cleanliness, comfort, and liveliness of cities, Muslims must build even better cities and make the world an even better place in which to live.

Surely Muslims can build a civilization comparable to the great Islamic civilization of the past, but to do so they must live according to the aesthetics and artistry, open-mindedness, moderation, and justice of the Qur'an's values. Islamic art, culture, and civilization will not only bring prosperity to Muslims, but to all of humanity. The world's greatest libraries, most stunning architecture, cleanest streets, the brightest lit roads, and best schools, universities, and hospitals will be built by Muslims, and all people will have equal access to them.

The rise of Islamic civilization is possible under the leadership of an Islamic central power, and the twenty-first century can be an enlightening one for the Islamic world. At a time when globalization is gaining momentum, Muslim nations must resolve their conflicts; enter into joint scientific, technological, and trading ventures; and combine their forces in the interest of all Muslims.

Finally, it must be stated that Muslims do not divide the world into two opposing poles: "Westerners" and "Muslims." First, the majority of Western people are People of the Book and therefore share many of the Muslims' moral and religious values. That is why many aspects of Western culture (e.g., freedom of belief, democracy, and family values) are central to Islamic morality as well. On the other hand, many people in the West have chosen Islam as their religion and continue to do so. Considering that the Qur'an's values have so far not been made available correctly and comprehensively in the West, it is realistic to expect many more people to embrace Islam. Muslims must adopt this attitude to the West and its culture. Also, they must remember that some circles have been under the influence of materialistic philosophies for over two centuries, and that they still need to be freed from their prejudices. This is the responsibility of Muslims.