| The Rise Of Islam Will Continue All of these developments indicate something striking: Islam is spreading quickly in America and gradually gaining power. The coming chapters will show how this growth is not limited to America, but how Islam is spreading everywhere in the world. These are very significant developments and, God willing, are signs of many more important developments. Therefore, these events are good news for believers and a cause for joy and excitement. In the Qur'an, God announces that true religion will indeed triumph, as in: It is He Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the True Religion to exalt it over every other religion, though the idolaters hate it. (Qur'an, 61: 9) Thus, while evaluating these developments we must not forget that all of them are promises of God. Such an attitude is important, if they are to be appreciated as they should be. Otherwise, these events will be regarded as ordinary happenings in the general flow of life and simply as the results of a few political developments. But the truth is quite different. In fact, God has determined every moment that we experience according to His Destiny for us. Where and how people approach Islam, how many Qur'ans a bookstore sells, how a state official begins to take in interest in Islam and when, where, and how this interest will be expressed are all developments that God has already determined.
Although we know that God creates a reason for every event, we must always remember that He has already determined our destiny. Given this awareness, we realize that we should thank God for the blessing of creating us to live in this time, when such important developments are taking place. We say this because every event that we experience is a step leading to greater and more important developments, and every such event announces the good news that the blessed time for which Muslims have been waiting for centuries is approaching. Our thanksgiving for this blessing must take the form of both words and deeds. In other words, we must work to quicken the spread of the Qur'an's moral teachings, struggle against any irreligious ideologies and ideas that impede this development, and take every opportunity to convey these teachings. One other point also should be kept in mind: Along with this rise, Muslims could continue to face various pressures from certain quarters. However, such concerns are beyond the scope of this book. Nevertheless, they cannot make us ignore the fact of Islam's rapid growth throughout the world, the increasing interest in Islam, and the continued growth of the Muslim population. Thus we must not confuse interest in Islam, especially in the West, with the prejudiced, anti-Islam, and anti-Muslim attitudes and hostile stances observed in some circles. These two topics must be discussed separately.
Similarly, when the Western world examines Islam, it must consider the moral values of the Qur'an and those who have sincerely adopted them. If they do not, instead of making decisions and policies that would contribute to world peace and ensure security and well-being, differences could be magnified and dialogue impaired. The basis for a dialogue between two civilizations will be established by the goodwill of believers, who conscientiously live according to the high morality that God commanded. Strengthening such a dialogue means that every viewpoint and ideology that violently agitates against peace and well-being by fomenting conflict, argument, and war will be eradicated. The fundamental support for the struggle against terror, violence, and every movement that damages world peace must be negotiation, dialogue, and a discussion at the level of ideas. This approach is the best way to prevent steps taken to bring world societies into peace and security from inadvertently harming innocent people and being used for other purposes.
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