Page 34 - A Call for a Turkish-Islamic Union

A CALL FOR A TURKISH-ISLAMIC UNION

The Islamic world covers a huge geographic area
populated by about 1.5 billion Muslims. In this book
we will explain how it is a matter of urgency to bring
about a Turkish Islamic Union.
One of the first things we notice when analyzing
the state of the Islamic world is its many internal di-

visions due to deep-rooted distrust and disputes. Re-
cent history has seen the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq's occupa-
tion of Kuwait, and East Pakistan's (Bangladesh) war
of independence from West Pakistan. The civil wars
and internal conflicts in Afghanistan, Yemen,
Lebanon, Iraq and Algeria due to political and ethnic
differences made it obvious that something is wrong

with the Islamic world. In addition, very divergent re-
ligious views and models are being practiced in the Is-
lamic world, because there is no central authority to
determine what is and what is not compatible with
Islam, establish consensus, and provide guidance to
the general public. Catholics have the Vatican and Or-
thodox Christians have the Patriarchate, but there is
no religious unity or central authority for Muslims.
However, solidarity is central to Islam's charac-

ter. After the death of our Prophet Muhammad (may
Allah bless him and grant him peace), the Islamic

32