Fundamental Principles of Islam

State is the responsibility not of individuals but of the society to which they belong. In Islam there are certain injunctions of an individual and personal nature, such as ritual fasting, which depend solely upon the will of the individual for their accomplishment. But the establishment of a political system on the basis of Islam depends upon the will of society as a whole. Only if there is a Muslim society possessed of the collective will to accept and institute Islamic government can a political system based on Islam, with all its social caveats, be established. The Challenge of Fundamentalism With reference to the Muslims of the present day, the news most highlighted in the media relates to Muslim fundamentalism. Experience has shown that there is nothing more destructive than fanaticism—the driving force of Muslim fundamentalism. However, it is not generally appreciated that Islamic fundamentalism, launched in the name of Islam, has been dealing a death blow to the image of Islam as a religion of peace and mercy. For it is this Muslim fundamentalism which, today, has converted the image of Islam into one tarnished by violence. Let us place this form of extremism in a historical perspective. At the time of the emergence of modern Western civilization, the greater part of the world was politically dominated by Muslims. The Ottoman Empire at the western extremity and the Mughal Empire on the eastern border had become symbols of glory for the Muslim Ummah. These Muslim empires came into direct conflict with the Western empires and, in the long run, the Muslim empires were vanquished. This brought to an end 1000 years of their political supremacy. People in general tend