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Religion and Politics

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RELIGION AND POLITICS 1

Religion and politics are quite interwoven into society both in the developed world as well as in the developing world. In this paper, I will discuss the major religions of Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism and how these faiths interrelate to politics of nations. Islam has always been a very mixed within state and society as a whole, with no true line between church and state. Islam began in the Arabia by the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century, and is the second largest religion in the world today. Muslims are the followers of the Islam and believe in only on God, or Allah. Muslims base their beliefs on their holy book the Koran and the Sunnah. The Sunnah provides the five basic Pillars of Islam. These are: declaration of faith, praying five times a day, giving money to charity, fasting, and a pilgrimage to Mecca at least one time. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/ataglance/glance.shtml) Since there is really no true division of church and state, Islam teaches religion, but also how to run a state, government, conduct business, etc. An Islamic state is based on five principles as follows. 1. Sovereignty of power. Muslims believe that Allah is the all-powerful who knows what is good and bad for society. They use the laws in the Koran to base concerning life and believe that laws must be put to practice by an Islamic state for the greater good of human beings. ( http://www.angelfire.com/bc3/johnsonuk/eng/dawa/politic.html) 2. Man is the agent to represent Allah. In this, man is to always behave as Allah would want him to behave. 3. Consultation. Islam also teaches how to run a government and make decisions based on the Koran and Sunnah, by the Shura (consultation and participation). 4. Accountability of
RELIGION AND POLITICS 2 government. The Islamic political system

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