Islam Final Paper

Islam Final Paper
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The term Muslim World or Ummah became more pronounced after the death of Prophet Muhammad and it is sometimes difficult to find a common definition because Ummah contains many components (Abu-Nimer & Kadayifci-Orellana 2008). Muslims follow the teachings of Islam and all of them are normally referred to as the Isaac Ummah. The Islamic civilization is also referred to as the Islamic Ummah in a cultural sense. All non-Muslims that live in this type of civilization are never part of the Muslim Ummah. All Muslim-majority towns, districts, states, countries and even religions are collectively referred to as the Islamic Nation (Ahmad, 2009). The status of the Muslim world is normally influenced by nationalist and Pan-Islamism currents. All the people that belong to the Islamic nation share culture, ideologies and religious beliefs. Most Islamic countries use this term and Allah to also refer to Muslims as Ummah in the Quran.
The constitution of Medina further clarifies the usage of the term Ummah to give it a broader meaning (Ahmad, 2009). Initially, the Islamic nations consisted only of Arabs, but Islam has grown to embrace other races and tribes. Akgündüz (2009) observes that the emergence of Muslim states and countries meant that the governments in those regions would be led by Muslims. The Muslims leaders set up governments based on Islamic law and ideologies. The application of Islamic history and cultural norms in governing Islamic states has its benefits and shortcomings (Akgündüz, 2009). Most Muslim leaders have always been accused of being dictatorial but supporters of Islamic states argue that Islamic rule defends the common man. This paper will predict the future of Government in the Muslim world and at the same time recommend the most probable ways in which Muslim leaders can design institutions of government for efficient, effective and responsive governance (Aksan, 2003).
Governance Challenges in the Muslim World
According to Aksan (2003), there are quite a number of challenges that most Islamic states face and some of them include regional divisions, ethnic conflict, lack of political accountability and transparency, dictatorship, illiteracy, violations of human rights and war. Most of the problems are interconnected but illiteracy is the root cause of most of these problems (Al-Atawneh, 2009). The Western counterparts are far much ahead when it comes to dealing with these issues because most Muslim countries have not been able to deal with most of these ailments. It is difficult to know why the Muslim world has a lot of challenges without first of all understanding the difference between Islam and culture, true examples of Muslim leaders and the general history of the world. The backwardness of Muslim nations is most of the time blamed on Islam but that is always a contrary opinion. Islam has always been known as a religion of development, civilization, innovation and progress (Al-Atawneh, 2009). These issues can therefore be explained from a historical point of view.
Arjomand (2009) observes that the collapse of the Islamic Caliphate in 1924 led to the end of Islamic civilization giving way to European dominance. The new im...