Islam
Further information: Divisions of the world in IslamThe phrase "kingdom of God" does not occur in the Quran. The modern Arabic word for kingdom is mamlaka (المملكة), but in the Quran mul'kan (مُّلْكًا), which occurs in 4:54 (Yusuf Ali) "Or do they envy mankind for what Allah hath given them of his bounty? but We had already given the people of Abraham the Book and Wisdom, and conferred upon them a great kingdom." and 6:75 (Pickthall) "Thus did We show Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and the earth that he mighty be of those possessing certainty:"
For Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, belief in the "kingdom of God" may be the belief in God's absolute dominion over all things. Thus, in Islam, every place, all creation, may be considered God's kingdom if those that live there "hold onto good qualities and good actions".
The notion of God's kingdom on Earth, however, constitutes the establishment of and adherence to Allah's laws within human society, in order to maintain a lasting peace and unity within the lives of the devout, at all levels. These include personal, criminal, state and international levels. As such, some Muslim groups hold the view that the kingdom of God constitutes a caliphate/Imamate, a geographical region unified under the faith of Islam, and Matthew 13:31-33 has been suggested by Islamic scholars to be in fact referring to a caliphate which will be spread across three continents. According to mainstream Islamic beliefs, the Second Coming of Jesus and the arrival of the Mahdi will usher in this ideal caliphate/Imamate, which will put an end to the "tyranny of the Antichrist", and this reign will ensure tranquility and peace for the world.
A third perspective among Muslims is that the kingdom of God is a spiritual concept entirely, rather than a material one. After the Day of Judgment, when Allah judges all humankind based on their deeds, one either goes to hell or to heaven; the latter being the eternal kingdom.
Read more about this topic: Kingdom Of God
Famous quotes containing the word islam:
“The exact objectives of Islam Inc. are obscure. Needless to say everyone involved has a different angle, and they all intend to cross each other up somewhere along the line.”
—William Burroughs (b. 1914)
“During the first formative centuries of its existence, Christianity was separated from and indeed antagonistic to the state, with which it only later became involved. From the lifetime of its founder, Islam was the state, and the identity of religion and government is indelibly stamped on the memories and awareness of the faithful from their own sacred writings, history, and experience.”
—Bernard Lewis, U.S. Middle Eastern specialist. Islam and the West, ch. 8, Oxford University Press (1993)
“Awareness of the stars and their light pervades the Koran, which reflects the brightness of the heavenly bodies in many verses. The blossoming of mathematics and astronomy was a natural consequence of this awareness. Understanding the cosmos and the movements of the stars means understanding the marvels created by Allah. There would be no persecuted Galileo in Islam, because Islam, unlike Christianity, did not force people to believe in a “fixed” heaven.”
—Fatima Mernissi, Moroccan sociologist. Islam and Democracy, ch. 9, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. (Trans. 1992)