INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC FAIR RATIONALE
Humanity in Turmoil
Behold, thy Lord said to the Angels: “I will create a vicegerent on earth.” They said: “Wilt thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood, whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy name?” He said: “I know what ye know not.” (Al-Quran, verse 2:30)
And sure enough… historically, we have had: world wars, colonization, genocide, land grabs, and arms race. Today, HUMANITY is in turmoil – economic oppression/manipulation causing widespread poverty and famine; morally and physically unclean and reckless way of life ending in mental disorders and deadly diseases; Godless life philosophy giving way to rampant immorality, crime and violence; satanic ambition for absolute power generating ever more destructive and dangerous wars with increasing use of weapons of mass destruction on defenseless countries/civilians; and not least, uncontrolled greed and excessive life style culminating in a worrying state of the environment.
Latest statistics on global wealth distribution indicate top (richest) 1% of world’s population own almost HALF of the world’s wealth, while the bottom (poorest) half share a miserable 1% of the wealth. Poverty and famine are widespread. Immorality is rampant. Godlessness is on the increase and busy ‘re-defining’ human rights and gaining immunity for acts no matter how heinous (Abu Gharib, Guantanamo Bay prisons, etc). Through manipulation and distortion of historical facts and gross misrepresentation by the mainstream media, the long time defender of humanity – religions such as Islam, are demonised and blamed for everything. Thanks to a series of maim-and-blame games (including the infamous 9/11) by ever scheming power crazy world dominion fanatics, the inter-culture and inter-human relations are at all time low.
We truly and firmly believe Islam can help address all humanity’s problems and save it from certain self-destruction otherwise.
Divine Guidance
The Quran proclaims: O mankind! We created you from a single pair, male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know one another – not that ye may despise each other. Verily, the most honored among you in the sight of Allah is the one most righteous of you. (Al-Quran, verse 49:13)
The present appalling condition of humanity is proof enough that mere human ‘solutions’ to world’s problems have taken us and are taking us no where. Divine Guidance is a pre-requisite to a truly fulfilling and rewarding existence, even in this world! Without it, the world will never see real and lasting peace.
The fact that humanity has benefited tremendously from Islamic thought and practices in the golden age of Islam, is no big secret today. Those were the days when the Islamic civilisation revolutionised the world, not only through its examples of high ideals, morality, and ethics, but also with the introduction of modern scientific knowledge and methodology to the world. Directly and indirectly inspired by the Qur’an, Muslims of the yesteryear contributed mathematics, physics, chemistry, optics, astronomy, geology, medicines, philosophy, architecture, etc, to the world. It quickly paved the way to today’s modern era of science & technology, though not much acknowledged in the west.
Sadly, while the material progress brought about by science & technology appeals greatly to the world, the ideals and ethics based on Divine guidance and principles did not quite ‘catch on’ to the same degree. This has proven disastrous, as very quickly humanity fell victim to the horror of ideology, science & life style without Divine guidance. The discovery of nuclear energy lead to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki tragedy. Ever since, a constant threat of total extermination of mankind from the planet looms over us till today. The planet itself is in danger of an ecological and climatic nightmare as Godless ideologies gave birth to greed and excessive living.
Yet, Islam as the rahmat-ul-‘alameen (blessing to the whole world), has so much more to offer – from matters of personal hygiene & codes of conduct, to no-nonsense crime prevention measures, to concepts and guidelines on business transactions, to finance/banking system which ensures justice in wealth distribution and keeps economic oppression in check: …but Allah has permitted Trade and has forbidden Riba’ (interests)… (Al-Quran, verse 2:275)
Ummah in Crisis
Ironically, due to long periods of subjugation, colonisation, distraction and state of forgetfulness, present day Muslims are among the most ‘backward’ people – though never in the spiritual sense. Many Muslim countries today are among the poorest and backward nations in the world. The Qur’an teaches unity, yet disunity has now characterized much of the Muslim world. The Qur’an stresses on knowledge and enlightenment, yet Muslim countries spend much less on education, research and development than on luxury items. Islam permits/encourages trade and our great Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was once active in business, yet Muslims in many countries today are lagging behind in commerce. The Qur’an advocates strong defense, but many Muslim countries take the advice lightly, somehow believing the world was now ‘peaceful and civilised’ enough.
Of late, using the so called ‘war on terror’ as a convenient tool, the long time oppressors of humanity have succeeded in introducing or stepping up the social and political chaos in the Muslim world. Adding salt to the injury, there are also on and off attacks on Muslims’ religious sensitivities and on Islam itself. Sadly, in handling these challenges, the response of the Muslim world has been weak and ineffective. No doubt, this is an ummah in CRISIS…
It is high time Muslims make a come-back and put our own house back in order, before proceeding to lead the world out of the mess it is currently in.
The Role of Islamic Products & Services
Provided the ‘good-people-of-the-world’ begin to take charge of the situation, there should still be hope for humanity. Dialogues between faiths, cultures and nations of the world need to be intensified. The role of ‘traditional religions’ is not to be underestimated. Islam for one has a lot more to offer the world. In fact, we believe a big part of the real and lasting solution to the world’s problems is to be found in the Islamic “products and services” both in form and in spirit.
Some examples of Islamic “products & services”: Islamic codes of conduct for a high moral society; choice and handling of food and drinks for healthier living; clean living and individual responsibility & accountability in a plague environment; punishment for crime and crime prevention; Islamic legal system for a more assured dispensation of justice; basic principles of business and other economic activities for a more just distribution of wealth; media & journalism guided by the high standard of the Islamic sense of truth, responsibility and accountability; even Islamic rules-of-war to ensure safety of non-combatants and the environment, in case wars become inevitable.
To help build a better world, the Muslims must explain Islam to the world and introduce Islamic concepts and ‘products and services’, in the way that can readily be understood by all. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) hinted 1400 years ago that overwhelming proportion of wealth in this world is in TRADE. With poverty at the center of many of humanity’s woes today, we need to base our efforts around trade. Besides poverty elimination, trade can also be an effective remedy to war – where there is trade there will be that much less incentive for war. But, we need to be mindful of not repeating past errors, lest trade can actually become the reason for war! Honest and politically-neutral analyses of most of the major wars including the two World Wars, revealed that it was indeed the case that unfair trade motives were at least contributing reasons for the wars. We need the sort of ‘pure trade’ which is free from immoral tendencies, greed and political coercion. Yes, this would probably be quite impossible without Divine guidance that comes with a higher awareness of personal responsibility and accountability.
Wellbeing of Humanity
Yes, for the Muslims, it is time to continue with the glorious past Islamic tradition of making crucial and lasting contributions to the wellbeing of humanity. Trade is our great tool, not just toward common prosperity, but also toward peace. Where there is trade there is that much less incentive for war. Such will be the beginning of a great ‘win-win’ cooperation between the Muslims and the rest of the world – the way it should be, used to be and still is, where a relationship is on mutual respect basis. It will be a great antidote to misunderstanding, suspicion and distrust.
The International Islamic Fair
Some governments in the Muslim world – including the Saudi Arabian, the United Arab Emirates, and the Malaysian governments, have done rather well to put in place various administrative, economic, business/trade, and legal infrastructures that can benefit the people. But governments can only do so much. The rest is up to the people – you and me. Like the famous saying: “you can bring the horse to the stream but you cannot make it drink!”
There is a need for an annual international event at the people-to-people level to efficiently mobilize the Ummah on the intellectual, economic and social fronts. It must be grand and high profile enough to make an impact, but must not be allowed to congeal into another ‘strictly big business’ affair, or just another official event for purpose of filling up the calendar of Islamic programs for the year. The International Islamic Fair (IIF) is dedicated to the pursue of the economic, intellectual and social change primarily in the Muslim world at the people-to-people level.
But ‘fixing problems’ in the Muslim world per se is hardly enough. To help build a better world and bring about world peace and true prosperity to all, Muslims must be proactive in bridge building effort with the rest of the world. We should seek to explain Islam and introduce Islamic ‘products & services’ to the world while carrying on with trade.
The three-in-one INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC FAIR (IIF) with its three sub-events – Trade Exhibition, International Conference and Gala Dinner Concert, is the perfect answer at the perfect time.
Utopian Dream?
But are the IIF Vision, Mission and objectives realistic? We most certainly think so, otherwise we would not have bothered! For those still in doubt, please consider the following:
Firstly, the world’s current Muslim population of around 1.5 to 1.8 billion forms a significant section of the planet’s inhabitants. Secondly, almost two-thirds of the world’s hydrocarbon energy resources (a major driver for economic growth) are in Muslim countries.
Thirdly, Islam as is widely known, is not just a “religion” in the secular sense of the word, but a comprehensive “way of life” that comes complete with the necessary social, economic, and legal “infrastructures” to support an alternative model of existence which can potentially and effectively address practically all current social and economic ills of the world. Lastly, and perhaps not so well known to all Muslims, is the fact that there is and has always been a large base of non-Muslim communities and businesses deriving great social and economic benefits from their dealings with Muslims all over the world, and hence very much aware of the potential for global peace and prosperity through a win-win relationship with the Muslim world.
If the Muslim world is in a ‘dream’, it is the state of unawareness or forgetfulness of these facts on the ground, or equally problematic, the inability to see that the current absence of needed “social and economic cooperation” among Muslims is due to lack of trying, beyond mere rhetoric and formalities. It is time to review our past methodology, our past actions, or perhaps more accurately, our past inactions! We need to try harder, work smarter and focus on doing the right things. We need to engage the world, not run away from it – no matter how ‘rough’ it gets. If the Muslim world continues on this path, we firmly believe success is just around the corner, inshaAllah.
But, first and foremost, there have to be among the ummah those who are willing to take up the challenge, because: Allah will not change the lot of a people until they make an effort to change it themselves!
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