Word: islamics
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Those are only a few of the voices of Islam, as powerful and compelling today as the muezzin's ancient call of the faithful to prayer. The voices speak Russian and Chinese, Persian and French, Berber and Malay, Turkish and Urdu?and Arabic, of course, the mother tongue of the Prophet Muhammad and language of Islam's holy book, the Koran. Islam is the world's youngest universal faith, and the second largest, with 750 million adherents, to about 985 million for Christianity. Across the eastern hemisphere, but primarily in that strategic crescent that straddles the crossroads of three continents...
Iran is not the only country where the power and zeal of a revivified Islam is being felt. Earlier this year Pakistan added measures from the Shari'a?the Islamic code of justice based primarily on the Koran?to its criminal and civil laws. In Kuwait, a revised version of the Shari'a is being adopted in the legal code of that oil-rich desert state. Responding to a groundswell of Muslim fundamentalism, Egypt's People's Assembly is also debating the imposition of the Shari'a, which could close down the bars, nightclubs and gambling casinos that glitter along...
Cyrus Vance: "The Islamic resurgence in a number of countries indicates a return to fundamental roots and a greater reliance on principles that were pushed aside in the move toward modernization." The revival of Islam does not portend a regressive return to the past or a rejection of all international ties, in the Administration's view. Muslim nations will continue to require economic support from and want to cooperate with Western industrialized countries...
...strategic matters also, U.S. analysts believe that Islam and the West have compatible goals. Basically, Islamic states are antiCommunist. Says a senior State Department official: "I think we share a common concern and can work together to develop a set of friendly relationships, which can lead to ultimate stability in the region." Whether or not that proves to be the case, the West can no longer afford to ignore or dismiss the living power of the Prophet's message...
Perhaps the most reliable barometer of Islam's revival is observance of the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that devout Muslims are expected to make at least once in their lifetime. Participation has been growing steadily since 1974. Last November's pilgrimage was the biggest in history. Nearly 2 million people converged on the arid Plain of Arafat near Mecca to live in tents and perform the arduous five-to seven-day ritual that has remained unchanged for 14 centuries. More than ever before, the pilgrimage was a spiritual kaleidoscope of races and faces and languages from 70 countries, from...