Islam - A Complete Way of Life

Crime, Poverty, Social deterioration, Political corruption, Racism and Apathy; These words evoke an all too familiar vision that characterizes our homes, our communities, our countries, and the world at large. Philosophers, Sociologists, Politicians, and ordinary citizens have aspired to devise viable solutions to these modern ailments; however, contradictory to the desired outcome of these efforts, the magnitude of the problems is rapidly increasing.As testimony to this fact stand the volumes of statistics generated weekly by the agencies monitoring the world situation. Every solution implemented by the current world order only breeds more problems, and the existing problems continue to grow with each passing year. The persistent inadequacy of the West in dealing with these issues raises questions as to the source of its failure. Any viable solution to these problems must consist of both, the correct idea, as well as the mechanism and the resources to implement that idea. Therefore, the failure of the West could either stem from a lack of resources, or be deeply rooted in the ideas upon which Western Civilization is built, Capitalism and Secularism. As demonstrated by the numerous social and economic programs already implemented, which have mobilized an enormous amount of manpower and wealth, one can clearly see that the resources are not in scarcity. Consequently, the problems in the Western societies must emanate from the secular, capitalist mentality upon which the deployment of the resources is based. This failure of Capitalism is well recognized; however, the paradigm of the Capitalist ideology is deeply rooted in the society and has yet to be broken.Thus, today, the societies of the world find themselves at a crossroads. Humanity can either continue to tread down the road of failure, marching to the tune of Capitalism and Secularism, or it can search for a new path, a new ideology to direct its thinking and its efforts. Surely, the World is in need of a new and correct ideology, and it is with this vision that it must evaluate Islam.