Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy

Volume 17, 2018

Islamic Philosophy

Latīf Hussain Shah Kazmi
Pages 31-38

Islamic Ethics of Global Peace

Presently, we are living in international and inter-cultural society or what is called global society. The question of global peace and prosperity has emerged as the foremost challenge of our times. The need for global peace can be authenticated from various ideological, theological, religious and spiritual perspectives. A purely intellectual and subsequently scientific and technological approach to social, political and economic problems can again culminate into great wars across the globe. We, the philosophers, have to strive to make room for faith, love, tolerance and devotion in inter-personal as well as inter-national affairs, if we earnestly want global peace and progress. In this paper, I shall try to shed some light on the abovementioned issue with reference to the basic sources of Islamic cultural and spiritual tradition. The entire focus of the Islamic teachings, including the Prophetic behavior and the practices of his faithful companions, Imams, Sufi-poets and philosophers, powerfully oriented Muslims to adopt Islamic ethical teachings for peace, universal goodwill and service to mankind with love and care. They transcended all kinds of prejudices or even considerations of caste, color, gender, race, culture and geographical divisions. They fostered horizontal and liberal values of love and tolerance. Their universal and perennial spiritual vision was anchored on One Supreme God —the Creator and Sustainer of them all; the Supreme personification of Truth, Beauty and Goodness. Unfortunately, however, the modern puritans are displaying great misunderstanding of the spirit of the Qur’an and are shutting off the doors for a universal, tolerant and judicious interpretation of the Islamic Weltanschauung. Therefore, during current tumultuous and terror-shaken scenario, there is a great need to initiate, appropriate and appreciate the real Islamic spirit, its ethnico-cultural legacy and value-system on positive lines along with other great religions of the world. A truly global dialogue from Islamic perspective can help bringing about peace and prosperity for the entire human race. No doubt, Islam has such great ideals and moral standards to offer with a view to solving of the moral crises of the global human society.