Islam and Peace
Islam in 21st Century
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ambitions of this life could not escape the
inevitability of limitations and disadvantages.
Amidst the glittering heap of wealth, the happiness
remained a mirage for him.
A glimpse of this tragedy of the modern age can be
had from Vance Packer’s 358-page book,
The Ultra
Rich
published from New York in 1989. The book
contains real life portrayals of thirty super rich
Americans, each one worth 425 million dollars or
more. The author interviewed them personally and
observed that all of them, without exception, were
suffering from discontentment. Their palatial
mansions have so vast lawns that a 707 Boeing
plane can easily land there. But all this material
abundance is like a verdant cage” according to one
of these ultra rich people. Another one feels
disgusted of his wealth and says, “I don’t know
what the hell to do with it!”
Such experiences of “materialistic religion” have
made the modern man doubtful towards
materialism. This ‘new religion’ could neither
respond to his intellectual queries nor provide
peace and contentment which he instinctively
