Islam Is The Strongest Moral Force On Earth

" ... Islam has probably a billion and a half adherents today. It exists. And it is probably the most compelling spiritual  and moral force on earth today. People hate to hear that. [3]"

Ramsey Clark, former US Attorney General.

There is no doubting it, Islam is a rather unique phenomenon in History. It motivated the Arabs to build a hugely successful civilisation which spread with an energy never before seen on Earth. A civilisation which was to give birth to many of today's sciences and to provide great advances the existing sciences. From the middle of the desert came a religion that inspired a civilisation that led the world for well over a thousand years. Within a matter of a few decades after the Prophet Muhammad (saws) had died, the new Islamic state had conquered lands from Spain through to India.

In relatively recent times its spread has become truly global with Muslim communities living in practically every country in the world. Through traders in 1600's onwards, communities which became established in South East Asia spread the message of Islam, and today, the largest populations of Muslims can be found in these countries. In America and Europe, Islam is now the fastest growing religion and second only to Christianity in number of followers. In Britain, it is estimated that the number of Muslims regularly attending Friday prayers at the mosque will soon exceed the number of Christians attending church on Sunday.

Despite colonial occupation of Muslim lands by Christian Europeans in places for hundreds of years, and extensive efforts at converting the populations to Christianity, the people have kept to the religion of Islam. In many countries today, Islamic political parties are the leading opposition to the (often neo-colonial) governments and are beginning to take the reins of power in others.

There have been periods of weakness and periods of strength, but most Muslims realise that the periods of strength and success correspond to periods where Islamic teachings were the motivating force of the people and of their rulers and that the periods of weakness and failure correspond to corrupt rulers and people neglecting to follow the religious teachings of Islam.