Balancing the external and internal elements of the Islamic movement's work

(Perspectives, Crescent International, July 2010.)

The key objectives of the Islamic movement are the reassertion of Islamic values in Muslim societies, and the establishment of Islamic states in place of the corrupt, self-serving regimes that currently predominate in the Muslim world. Achieving these broad objectives depends on two key elements of the movement’s work. The first is external, to defeat the enemies of Islam whose aim is to prevent this from happening and to ensure that the Muslim world remains divided, weak and easily exploited. The second is internal, to understand what is involved in the reassertion of Islamic values and the establishment of Islamic states, and to make progress towards these objectives. The inability of many Muslims to understand that both these elements are equally important, and to balance them, accounts for many of the issues that the movement currently faces.