The New World Order, Muslim Predicament, and the Way Out
Zubair Hasan
Professor Dr.
Department of Economics,
Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences,
International Islamic University, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
The article highlights the emergence of the New World Order which is primarily led by the U.S., and the challenges that it poses for Muslims. It looks at how economic and religious factors can shape world history. The main aim of nations is to try to achieve dominance over one another, which can lead to forceful nations enslaving weaker ones. The New World Order comprises of privatisation, globalisation, and liberalisation. These do not come without their own problems, for instance, globalisation cannot be applied in the same way to the difficulties individual countries face. Weaker countries often find themselves at a great disadvantage and are subjected to the control of more powerful countries. The article also looks at the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which actually serves its own economic purposes, as well as examining the sales of arms. The gap between the rich and the poor has steadily widened, as although the population itself has increased, the income of the poor has remained stagnant, whereas the rich have seen their income continue to increase. Muslims themselves seem to be in a vulnerable position economically as they are morally and politically divided. Colonialisation of Muslim countries did leave them with positive contributions in some areas; it also however, had harmful effects, such as exploiting their economy and separating religion from politics. Yet, the most damaging was the secularisation of education. This has resulted in a lack of religious content in the curricula, and has forced the emergence of two divisions, which are modern Islam and conventional Islam. The author stresses that Muslim countries should work together to alleviate their economic situation and to reorganise their education system in order to enable them to bravely face challenges of the New World Order.