The opening years of the 21st Century present the Muslim Ummah with remarkable challenges and opportunities. The violence unleashed on 9/11 2001 in the name of Islam, the struggles for justice in Palestine, the political confrontations in Iraq and Afghanistan between Shia and Sunni and Taliban and constitutionalists, elections in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the rise of Iranian determination, all bring into the center of world history the role and purpose of the Ummah in modern times.

A forum is needed wherein wise minds may consider the fundamental teachings of the Holy Koran in the context of evolving human civilization to draw from these teachings sound guidelines for cultural, economic, political and social undertakings. I believe that a sense of deep humility is required in any such consideration of how the Ummah should respond to current trends and opportunities. It is so easy for us as limited creatures living rather far from God’s truth to become arrogant and boastful about our own personal truths and intuitions. We can be more faithful, I believe, to higher purposes through the submission that comes from dialogue and discussion where the insights and ideas of others are taken into account. The World Islamic Economic Forum can be just such a fruitful mechanism for the Ummah to find its highest and best purposes inspired by the mercy and compassion of a God that cares for the good of humanity.

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About the Author

Stephen B. Young is the Global Executive Director of the Caux Round Table, an international network of experienced business leaders who advocate a principled approach to global capitalism. Young has recently published Moral Capitalism, a well-received book written as a guide to use of the Caux Round Table ethical and socially responsible Principles for Business.

Steve Young is married to Pham Thi Hoa and they have three grown children. Young was born on Nov 2, 1945 in Washington D.C. He was educated at the International School Bangkok, Harvard College (graduating Magna Cum Laud) and Harvard Law School (graduating Cum Laud).

Young volunteered for service during the Vietnam War. After a year of language training, he worked in village development for the CORDS Advisory program in South Vietnam from 1968 to 1971. Young has subsequently written several articles on Vietnamese nationalism. With the late Prof. Nguyen Ngoc Huy, Young published a book study of human rights in traditional China and Vietnam. In 1975 Young took the initiative to begin the resettlement program of refugees from Indochina after the Vietnam War was lost.

He came to Minnesota in 1981 to be the third dean of the Hamline University School of Law. Previously, he had been an Assistant Dean at Harvard Law School.

Young has also taught at the University of Minnesota Law School, Vietnamese history for the College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota and Public Office as a Public Trust for Minnesota State University - Mankato. He has published articles on Chinese jurisprudence, the culture and politics of Vietnam and Thailand, legal education, law firm management, Native American law, the history of negligence, and the law of war. His most recent article on legal philosophy discusses the morality of American law.

He has written numerous opinion articles for the Pioneer Press and the Minnesota Journal on Law and Politics and has been published in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Minneapolis StarTribune, and the Minneapolis St Paul Business Journal. This year Young has contributed three chapters to books on ethical leadership, corporate governance and business ethics.

Young has appeared as a commentator on public affairs and international events for KSTP-TV, KTCA-TV, WCCO-TV, and KARE-TV. He conceptualized and initiated the public affairs program Face-2-Face. Young has published regularly on the web magazine Fifthcolumnmag.com He has practiced law for firms in New York City, St Paul and Minneapolis and was appointed Honorary Consul of Singapore in Minnesota for 5 years.

He commenced litigation in Minnesota courts challenging the legality of the legal fees in the State's tobacco litigation and the right of Deep Ecology, a set of religious beliefs, to set public policy for management of national forests in Minnesota.

In 1966 Young discovered - by tripping over a tree root - the bronze age site of Ban Chiang, in northeast Thailand, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Young is currently on the Board of the John Vessey Leadership Academy, a charter school in St Paul, Minnesota, and of Ready4K, an advocacy group promoting the benefits of early childhood education. He has served on the boards of the Citizens League, Resources for Child Caring, Vietnam's Women Memorial, Vietnam Social Service, Minnesota Sons of the Revolution and as Chair of United Arts in St Paul and the Minnesota Museum of Art. He is the founding board chair of the Center of the American Experiment. Young was the keynote speaker at the 2005 annual conference of the European Business Ethics network and one of only two non-Muslims invited to speak at the 2005 World Islamic Economic Forum. This past year Young has spoken to audiences at the Harvard Business School, the Hass School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, the Chicago Business School, and schools at Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle. He was also invited to speak on Moral Capitalism at the University Club in Chicago and the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.