Qur’anic Guidance for Good Governance


Book Description

This book is a study of religious principles of good governance in our contemporary societies. Historically, religion has provided guidance for organizing societies. In modern times, however, religious ideas have been marginalized in social science literature. Contributors to this work explore what values and practices the Qur’an can contribute to governing our economic, political, and social life today.




Guidance for Good Governance


Book Description




White Paper on Norms for Good Governance in the Quran


Book Description

Guidance on good governance in the Quran is enthralling. Over and over again the Quran states that good governance stakeholders must beware of leaders like Pharaoh, and policies must not be like those of the people of Noah, the people of Lot and exploiters of the land. Decision making too must be based on mutual consent and overall welfare of the community - upholding justice, rule of law, sharing community resources, promotion of fair trading and ridding off corruption and economic injustice. In a nutshell good governance is allowing only sincere persons use their common sense to decide on policies and in the implementation of those policies because they have nothing to hide thus there will little barriers to being transparent in the process of decision making and their execution. They are humble enough to submit to God's decrees wholeheartedly without any notions of their creed and custom ways are superior to people of other creed. Just refer to verses Q2:42 and Q5:48 of the Quran. This White Paper on Norms for Good Governance in the Quran is intended to be an introduction to how government departments, public and private organizations as well as individuals can apply Islamic principles to enhance work ethics, increase productivity and service levels, prosper the local community and the nation as a whole through higher standards of living. Diagnostic studies on the specific measures needed for each unit must of course be tailored fit to encompass each unit's unique situation and circumstances. Good governance is about getting priorities right for the nation and specific communities with regards to policies for their security, welfare and economic and non-economic activities as well as to how they may conduct personal inter-relationships and use of personal liberties. To a certain extent policies based on Islamic principles surpasses any welfare state configurations because there would be no free-loaders, lesser demand on public funding to all cooked-up causes and less room for unscrupulous corrupt practitioners to flourish. There are enablers to promote better governance of society and to make the economic system more equitable. This is covered in Section E of this white paper. Section D will address work ethics, fair business practices and what constitutes exploitation




The Qur'anic Worldview


Book Description

This is a carefully reasoned, positive, and largely reflective work. Looking back at the various stages of Islamic historical development, AbuSulayman puts forward a thesis that focuses on the recovery of what is termed the Qur’anic worldview. By this is meant an ethical, monotheistic, and purposeful perspective on the world and those within it. Our faith will only be complete when we have become utterly sincere in our love for God, a love expressed in a pure, passionate love for goodness and truth in this world. It was the strict internalization of this perspective and close adherence to the principles of the Qur’an which AbuSulayman contends, played a key factor in galvanizing the devout and intensely God-conscious followers of fledgling Islam to achieve the successes that they once did, the profound historical and global impact of which is still the subject of much study and admiration today. The rebirth of Islamic identity through this Qur’anic worldview is the key requirement of our times and a prerequisite for any future healthy and viable development of Muslim societies.




Leading & Control


Book Description

Having different motives or even sincere reasons people of all walks of life might be hollering others to distance from injustices but to no avail. It has to start with themselves and the community that they belong to. In so doing there will be chance to make headway to establish a way of life more akin to the 'Islamic' genre. Some communities are like a dozen golden fishes in a glass bowl so oblivious to the truth that nobody or nothing can be associated with God because our knowledge is but a dot in a book of 114 chapters. Stop having vain desires. God's dominance pertains to the universe of billions of galaxies of stars. You reap what you sow. Just as the laws of nature and physics apply to all creation mankind too is subservient, especially to Cause and Effect.Striking straight at the heart of mainstream Islamic thinking the author, in the business improvement industry vernacular expounds "Why then is there deadly sectarian strives that has torn apart some communities in the Middle East? It is because present day self-declared Muslims ignore God's vision for mankind (refer Q30:30-32) and choose an unjust way of life centering on cult beliefs and religious practices whereby each religious sect ('shi-ya'an') has its intent on extending its vain desires on others. Written with atypical anecdotes to provoke the layman to view the Quran philosophy beyond dogmatic religious notions, it's an alluring gift for Muslims and non-Muslims because in a brief two hours of reading the Quran guidance related to the prescribed way of life for mankind becomes clear. Any sincere person in the pursuit of the mystical "Salam" will be prompted to constantly be in focus of priority purpose and actions.We will overlay all four functions of management in introducing the first Quran philosophy distinction: Amanah (moral responsibility of fulfilling one's obligations due to God and fulfilling them in accordance with one's station in life and prevailing circumstances, i.e. the trust between God and man).Leading and Controlling attuned with the Quran will result in Governors communicating the vision and yearly direction by which specific communities could be uplifted and society in general benefits from good governance - starting with eradicating glaring injustices and dampened economic conditions. Government department heads ought to constantly prompt different cross-purpose sections to work cohesively as well as prioritize actions to work in tandem with other departments such as enforcement agencies and justice administration to ensure security in the land and an economic system which is fair to all and sundry.Monitoring of policy and law enforcement includes reviewing the impact on the public and whether some rules and penalties ought to be periodically tweaked if society's non-conformance needed to be addressed in a different manner. This is within the ambit of "Controlling" where a feedback system leads to a next cycle of improvements or alleviation of hardship on communities.The Islamic precept of 'amanah' makes the governance administrators accept their role in upholding justice be it related to economic issues, fair trading practices, disrupting peace in the land or fostering equal opportunity in education, health and care for the down trodden. No one is particularly maneuvering constantly for higher positions; being well aware that as a Governor or a judge one would be hard pressed to fulfill the Amanah with God.The management functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling will be addressed in Chapter 1. The gist of a seamless understanding of the message of the Quran ensues from verses Q2:255-257 which relates to God's dominance of creation. Communities wind up saddled with injustices when there are unscrupulous leaders bent on usurping God's throne.Society will fall into discord if the people do not hate immorality and rebelliousness. Instead one should call for decency or reconciliation.




Islam and Good Governance


Book Description

This book advances an Islamic political philosophy based on the concept of Ihsan, which means to do beautiful things. The author moves beyond the dominant model of Islamic governance advanced by modern day Islamists. The political philosophy of Ihsan privileges process over structure, deeds over identity, love over law and mercy and forgiveness over retribution. The work invites Muslims to move away from thinking about the form of Islamic government and to strive to create a self-critical society that defends national virtue and generates institutions and practices that provide good governance.







Modern Day Qur'anic Guidance


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Civil Democratic Islam


Book Description

In the face of Islam's own internal struggles, it is not easy to see who we should support and how. This report provides detailed descriptions of subgroups, their stands on various issues, and what those stands may mean for the West. Since the outcomes can matter greatly to international community, that community might wish to influence them by providing support to appropriate actors. The author recommends a mixed approach of providing specific types of support to those who can influence the outcomes in desirable ways.




Contemporary Bioethics


Book Description

This book discusses the common principles of morality and ethics derived from divinely endowed intuitive reason through the creation of al-fitr' a (nature) and human intellect (al-‘aql). Biomedical topics are presented and ethical issues related to topics such as genetic testing, assisted reproduction and organ transplantation are discussed. Whereas these natural sources are God’s special gifts to human beings, God’s revelation as given to the prophets is the supernatural source of divine guidance through which human communities have been guided at all times through history. The second part of the book concentrates on the objectives of Islamic religious practice – the maqa' sid – which include: Preservation of Faith, Preservation of Life, Preservation of Mind (intellect and reason), Preservation of Progeny (al-nasl) and Preservation of Property. Lastly, the third part of the book discusses selected topical issues, including abortion, assisted reproduction devices, genetics, organ transplantation, brain death and end-of-life aspects. For each topic, the current medical evidence is followed by a detailed discussion of the ethical issues involved.