Answer:
The Quran states that Islam is the universal religion and is a mercy to all creatures.1 Islam is a religion of
peace. As a universal faith, that has been subject to diverse interpretations, Islam offers a living
demonstration of qualities to which all human beings can relate: compassion, mercy, tolerance, and love.
Bearing the label “Muslim” is no guarantee of living by its teaching since Muslims are not a single,
homogeneous entity. Grave risks arise from thinking that they are.
Islam is more than a system of theology, it’s a complete civilization.2 The classical history of Islam proved
the Islamic universality: Islam rejects discrimination, racism, and teaches men and women to disperse
within the land and seek the bounty of God.3 More clearly the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad instructs
his followers to seek knowledge, even to China.4 Indeed, this hadith calls for globalization at doctrinal and
practical levels.
Islam became the global power when the peoples of Arabia, Africa, Europe and Asia admired and followed
the Islamic civilization and culture. The presence of Islam has contributed to the welfare and the prosperity
of the peoples. The civilized peoples closely related to the basics of Islamic doctrine, ethics, values, morals,
law, and their customs. Islam and its history have taught globalization at the most general level, that refers
to a process of change which affects all regions of the world in a variety of sectors including the economy,
science and technology and to some extent – politics, the media, culture and the environment.
The characterization of globalization may be thought of initially as the widening, deepening and speeding
up of worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of social life, from the cultural to the criminal, the financial
to the spiritual.5 The 12th Century was “The Golden Age of Islamic Globalization”.
The majority of Muslims are not located in the motherland of Islam, but Indonesia, India and Pakistan.
The faces of Islam in these geopolitical locations are more moderate than what has developed in the Middle
East. However, the global interaction among the people of Muslim countries does not only introduce
moderate Islam, but also militant ideas and practices as the resistance to the common enemy, namely the
West. With this in mind, this paper attempts to explain the nature of Islam, its interaction with the West and
its responses to the Western global economy and military as part of the triggering factors of how global
resistance towards the West is expressed in the most inhumane form, such as terrorism.
Explanation:
