The Fundaments and Principles of International Relations in Islam

As the most perfect and the last divine religion, with around one a half billion followers in about fifty countries in the world, Islam must have provided Muslims with instructions and principles, or there must be rules and principles in Islamic texts, which Muslims can put to use in their interactions with other nations. This article aims to infer and present the Islamic fundaments and principles of conduct and interaction in the international system from the Quran, Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad, and conduct of Imam Ali. First, each fundament is discussed briefly, and then the principles deriving from the corresponding fundament are presented, without any explanation. By fundaments we mean the unchangeable Islamic teachings and ideas which constitute the infrastructures of Muslims’ belief and thought; and by principles, we mean the major grand strategies which are inferred from fundament and can be put into practice in different eras. Although these principles may be fixed in each era, they can be interpreted and modified in different eras depending on the sociopolitical circumstances of each epoch.