Abstract

Modern human societies, floating on the so-called secular values, seem to be disoriented, despondent and disarrayed without having specific goals in life and commitment to God and His creation, and thus suffering from unprecedented level of moral decadence. Humanity is at the cross-roads of secular (atheistic) and sacred (religious) approaches to civilization. Secular humanism without any theology of its own and promising no answer to the riddle of death is hardly in a position to guide mankind about the meaning and purpose of life and what is universally good or bad for them. On the other hand, religious ethics and morality are commitments to safeguard social people from wrong doing and promote a world of universal good and brotherhood, peace and trust. Islam and all other revealed religions, for example, have the holy commitment to call all humans to bid the right and forbid the evil and establish the religious world order and the ‘City of God’, with piety, peace and prosperity as its centre piece. It is, therefore, argued that for ensuring social stability and sustainable development morals founded on the eternal and universal values enshrined in all the major religions can play a pivotal role.

Key words: Sustainable development, social stability, ethics, morality, religion, secularism, summum bonum.