ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books On the Shore of Contemplation, Volume 1 Foreword by the Publisher We live in an age of mass confusion in which the political landscape of countries around the world is changing at a rapid pace. It is an era in which nations are unilaterally deciding to invade sovereign, free countries under the pretext of ‘liberation’, ‘freedom’ and putting an end to ‘state-sponsored terrorism’ – an act which “they” refer to as ‘pre-emptive strikes’.

It is also a time in which countries are actively and whole-heartedly engaged in the greatest crimes against humanity which can be classified as nothing other than genocide and the enactment of their own state-sponsored holocaust by subjugating those whose land they occupy and enacting fear on their neighbors who want nothing other than to live in peace and harmony.

In such times of peril and strife, it becomes incumbent upon everyone, however the Muslim in particular, to understand the global political maneuvers, rhetoric used to mislead the innocent people and the tactics employed to oppress the downtrodden peoples of the world – regardless of their color or religion – and to have a comprehensive awareness of the various political theories and ideologies present.

This will help in being able to better analyze and understand the various theories, see which one truly offers ‘freedom’ to the masses and help alleviate the present predicament which a majority of the countries of the world – particularly the ‘Muslim’ countries - are facing. In addition, from the point of view of the Islamic teachings of the Qur`an and Sunnah, it is incumbent that the Muslim understands the role which ‘religion’ plays in ‘politics’.

Indeed, in the Islamic world-view, there is no difference between ‘religion’ and ‘politics’ as one of the roles of ‘politics’ or ‘government’ was to grant humanity the freedom to worship their Lord in the way in which He wants them to submit to Him (SWT). However, it must be kept in mind that the ‘submission’ to Allah (SWT) is not limited to the daily rituals such as prayers (salat) , fasting (sawm) , pilgrimage (hajj) and other such actions.

Rather and more importantly, it extends to rules of social engagement, economic policy and covers the entire life of the human being – from birth to death – and in all areas of life.