Ireland best embodies the Islamic values of opportunity and justice, according to a survey by a leading US academic

The Telegraph The Koran’s teachings are better represented in Western societies than in Islamic countries, which have failed to embrace the values of their own faith in politics, business, law and society, a leading academic at George Washington University has said.

A study of 208 countries and territories has found that the top countries in both economic achievement and social values are Ireland, Demark, Luxembourg and New Zealand. Britain also ranks in the top ten.

The first Muslim-majority nation is Malaysia ranking at 33, while the only other state in the top 50 is Kuwait at 48.

Hossein Askari, an Iranian-born professor of International Business and International Affairs at George Washington University, said Muslim countries used religion as an instrument of state control. He said: “We must emphasise that many countries that profess Islam and are called Islamic are unjust, corrupt, and underdeveloped and are in fact not ‘Islamic’ by any stretch of the imagination.

“Looking at an index of Economic Islamicity, or how closely the policies and achievements of countries reflect Islamic economic teachings – Ireland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore, Finland, Norway, and Belgium round up the first 10”. “If a country, society, or community displays characteristics such as unelected, corrupt, oppressive, and unjust rulers, inequality before the law, unequal opportunities for human development, absence of freedom of choice (including that of religion), opulence alongside poverty, force, and aggression as the instruments of conflict resolution as opposed to dialogue and reconciliation, and, above all, the prevalence of injustice of any kind, it is prima facie evidence that it is not an Islamic community,” he said. An Overall Islamicity Index analysing social rules and human rights measures found that similar rankings were generated in 2010. “New Zealand, Luxembourg, Ireland, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Netherlands; and again only Malaysia (38) and Kuwait (48) make it into the top 50 from Muslim countries,” he said. “Islam is, and has been for centuries, the articulation of the universal love of Allah for his creation and for its unity, and all that this implies for all-encompassing human and economic development.”

How Islamic are the Islamic Countries

A study conducted by Prof. Hussain Askari of George Washington University entitled *“How Islamic are the Islamic Countries”* showed that most of the countries that apply *Islamic Principles* in their daily lives are not ones that are traditionally Muslim.

New Zealand ranked 1st,

Luxembourg 2nd,

Ireland 3rd,

Iceland 4th,

Finland 5th,

Denmark 6th

Canada 7th.

Malaysia 38th,

Kuwait 48th,

Bahrain 64th

and the surprise *Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ranked 131st*.

The study, published in the *Global Economy Journal* might be shocking to most of us but when we look around us and see the reality of the situation, we find that the results of the study are accurate and true.

As Muslims we seem to care only about performing religious Obligations/Rituals/Sunnah (prayer, fasting, niqab, beards, etc), reading the Qur’an and the Hadiths, but we don’t practice what we espouse. We listen to religious lessons and sermons more than the other people on the face of the earth, but we are still not the best of Nations. In the last 60 years, we have listened to 3,000 Friday sermons.

A Chinese merchant once said: “Muslim merchants come to me and ask me to put fake international labels and brands on their goods. When I invite them to eat, they refuse because the food is not Halal. So it is Halal for them to sell fake goods?”

A Japanese Muslim said: “I traveled to the West and saw Islam in practice applied in the daily life of non-Muslims. I traveled to the East, I saw Islam but did not see any Muslims. I thank Allah I knew Islam before I knew how Muslims act.”

Religion should not be reduced to Prayer and Fasting. It is a way of life and it is about how we treat others.

Performing a religious obligation is up to you and it is something between you and Allah. However, good ethics is something between you and other people. In other words, if we do not put Islamic ethics into action and practice, corruption will become rampant and disgrace will be our future.

We should not judge a person based on how he performs religious obligations for he might be a hypocrite.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Verily, the bankrupt of my nation are those who come on the Day of Resurrection with prayers, fasting and charity, but also with insults, slander, consuming wealth, shedding and beating others.”

I believe *Islam* (external aspect of faith) is incomplete without *Imaan* (internal aspect of faith) and *Ihsaan* (social aspect of faith). Ponder, understand and realize this.

Lord Bernard Shaw is said to have said: Islam is the best religion and Muslims are the worst followers.