Why Unite the World Under One Government

This article is the continuation of a previous article, which explains why the liberal democracy (such as that of countries like Europe, the Americas, Indonesia, and others) is the form of government that is best supported by the Quran.

This article can be found here:

Liberal Democracies: Most Compatible System With Quran

In short, an ideal society rooted in Islamic values and principles is not at all a theocratic society, nor is it a society that exists as multiple nation states.

But rather, an ideal society that is compatible with Islamic values is a society that comes together and unites under a unified global liberal democracy.

Treating Humanity as Brothers and Sisters

One of the central principles of the Quran is that the Muslim community is one family of brothers and sisters. This means that man-made divisions such as borders, political parties, and race must not obstruct the duty of caring for one another.

[49:10] The believers are only brothers, so make amends between your brothers and revere God, so that you may receive mercy.

This verse does not only say that Muslims are friends of one another, but it establishes a family bond. A family bond therefore has consequences: mutual responsibility, shared welfare, unity, and collective dignity.

To illustrate why multiple nation states may contradict Islamic ethics and ideals, imagine a hypothetical world in which every human being is Muslim. In such a world, every person would be the brother or sister of everyone else.

Yet if that world remained divided into separate countries with significant differences in welfare, healthcare, rights, and protections, this would create an unjust situation: some brothers and sisters would live with full dignity and support, while others would be left behind simply because of where they were born.

A unified global liberal democracy, by contrast, would guarantee universal human rights and social protections for all. In such a system, no brother or sister would be denied safety nets, healthcare, or fundamental freedoms based on borders and geography. All would be treated equally.

The Quranic idea of Muslims as brothers and sisters therefore provides a powerful model for humanity at large. It encourages us to imagine a future where we recognize and treat all human beings—regardless of religion, ethnicity, race, or nationality—as fellow brothers and sisters in our shared humanity. Why not care for one another like brothers when we all are very distant relatives of each other biologically?

The best way to make that future a reality is to come together as a unified global liberal democracy.

Note that being united under one global democracy does not mean that everyone must have the same culture, religion, language, or traditions. Just like in the United States, for example, being united under one geopolitical framework does not necessitate stripping the people of their diversity.

Not only that, but being under a single unified liberal democracy does not mean that France, Mexico, Canada, Japan, or any other country must be fully stripped of their autonomy.

The United States of America consists of 50 self-governing states; similarly, a hypothetical United Nations of Earth can consist of 195 self-governing nations, and each nation under this framework can retain their individual provinces and localities. But the supreme law on planet Earth will be the United Nations Constitution in this scenario.

Ending Global Conflict

Most global conflict stems from human greed, tribalism, and stinginess. Uniting the world under a unified global liberal democracy, however, can significantly reduce global conflict by minimizing the division of humanity into competing groups.

Imagine a basketball match between Team A and Team B, and you are on Team A. It is natural to root for your own team and hope the other loses. This is tribalism at its most basic level. The same dynamic appears when humanity splits itself into sovereign nation-states.

When we view our nation as “our team,” we instinctively hope it succeeds—even if that success comes at the expense of other nations and their people.

This tribalistic mindset influences foreign policy. Governments often act in ways that maximize national benefit, even when those actions harm people elsewhere.

This is exactly why nationalism is so powerful. It exploits the deep human instinct of tribalism. As a result, dividing humanity into nations fuels conflict, and this is why war exists today.

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 simply because it wants to conquer and annex all of Ukraine for itself, but if there were no independent state of Russia, then Russia’s government would have no reason at all to conquer Ukraine and shed blood.

But if we imagine a world where every human being is like our brother or sister in humanity, or even a world where every person is like a brother or sister in Islam, this model becomes morally problematic.

Would it be appropriate for a nation to pursue policies that advantage itself while allowing harm to fall upon fellow Muslims, or fellow brothers and sisters in humanity, simply because they live across a border?

There is a general isolationist tendency that any nation, such as America, must prioritize “America First,” or “Bangladesh First” and only intervening in injustices abroad if doing so benefits the interests of your own nation.

While this is a very practical way of governing a nation-state, under this logic, atrocities such as China’s mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims are ignored unless they align with the geopolitical goals of your home nation, such as the U.S. or Europe.

Yet if we imagine a fully Muslim America, how could Muslim politicians justify allowing their oppressed brothers and sisters to suffer on the other side of the world, merely because the issue does not directly affect America? The same question can be applied to all other nations.

Foreign policy in nation-states is self-interested by design, because nation states prioritize their own self-interest, but the “we help only when it benefits us” mindset is wholly incompatible with Quranic ethics. The Quran explicitly condemns such neglect and mandates defending the oppressed wherever they may be in verses like 4:75.

A unified global liberal democracy would eliminate the barriers that prevent effective action. Without borders restricting intervention, or political calculations based on national interest, humanity would be far better positioned to protect vulnerable minorities such as the Uyghurs. Human rights abusers could be held accountable more immediately. This system is far more aligned with the Quran than self-interested nation states.

Moreover, a unified global liberal democracy would replace wars with democratic processes. Instead of violent conflict, disagreements could be resolved through regular elections, political debate, and legal institutions, thus allowing humanity to channel competition and aggressive emotions into something peaceful and potentially constructive.

Freedom of Migration

According to the Quran, the entire Earth is a shared space created for all human beings. It is not the exclusive property of any particular group, nation, or tribe. Therefore, people should be free to migrate, settle, and travel wherever they wish without facing restrictive barriers or excessive legal procedures—just as citizens in the United States can freely move from one state to another.

The Quran emphasizes that mobility is both a right and at times, a moral duty:

[4:97] Indeed, the ones whom the angels take as they wrong themselves. They said, “In what condition were you?” They said, “We were weakened in the land.” They said, “Is God’s earth not spacious enough so that you can immigrate therein?” Thus, the refuge of those is Hell, and wretched has been the destination.

[67:15] He is the one who made the earth tame for you, so walk in its paths and eat from its provision. And to Him is the return.

In the Quran, movement across the planet is portrayed as a natural human freedom: people are encouraged to traverse the Earth and benefit from its resources without being hindered.

If the world came together under a unified global liberal democracy, the freedom of migration in the Quran would be far easier to realize. Borders would no longer function as barriers dividing humanity into isolated groups with unequal access to safety, opportunity, and livelihood.

Equitable Sharing of Earth’s Resources

Islam is known for seeing large, excessive concentrations of wealth, or excessive wealth disparities, as a bad thing.

Its inheritance system, if followed correctly, makes sure that wealth is spread out to the general public over multiple generations. And the Quran makes it mandatory to donate a portion of one’s earned income or harvest to charity.

[6:141] …Eat of its fruit when it bears fruit, and give its due on the day of its harvest…

[70:24] And the ones in whose wealth is a specified due.

[59:7] What was restored by God to His messenger from the people of the towns is for God, His messenger, the relatives, the orphans, the needy, and the wayfarer, so that it does not become merely a circulation between the rich among you….

Uniting the world under a unified global liberal democracy is important to ensure that Earth’s natural resources are shared more equitably among all people.

Today, the world is broadly divided into two categories: the Global North and the Global South. The Global North, which is made of developed regions such as North America and Europe, holds a disproportionate share of the world’s wealth, technological capacity, healthcare, infrastructure, and educational opportunities compared to countries in the Global South, such as Africa.

This divide is largely the result of:

colonialism
geography (such as land-locked countries)
unequal trade
military domination
capitalist competition between nation-states

Regardless of the causes, a world of competing nation-states guarantees the continuation of this inequality.

But a unified world under a single liberal democracy could help ensure more equal distribution of resources, like water, energy, healthcare, education, rare earth metals, gold, etc. There would be no need for geopolitical competition if resource distribution is managed by a global federation.

Furthermore, a unified world government would be far better equipped to address global problems with coordinated global action. Current global problems include but are not limited to:

Climate change and environmental conservation
Global pandemics
Drug and human trafficking
Forced labor
Child slavery

United Nations of Earth

Now that we know how a liberal democracy is the most compatible form of government with Quranic principles, and now that we know how a unified global government is more compatible with Islamic values than separate nation-states, we must take steps and make the United Nations of Earth (UNE) a reality.

This government should be a constitutional federal republic that consists of all 195 nations currently in existence. According to verse 42:38, people’s matters should be decided by consultation amongst themselves.

[42:38] And the ones who responded to their Lord and established the Salat, and their matters are conducted upon consultation between themselves.

This means how people choose to govern themselves must be decided by consultation between each other. In other words, government is formed by a social contract and the consent of the people who are being governed.

Legal constitutions, in theory, are supposed to be a social contract made and agreed upon by the people.

So people from all nations must elect representatives, or delegates, who will attend a constitutional convention and formulate the new constitution of the United Nations of Earth.

Or the alternative is that a handful of founder nations may elect representatives for this constitutional convention, then after the new government has been formed, other nations may choose to willingly join the United Nations of Earth in the future if they agree to the terms of the UNE constitution.

There must be no compulsion or coercion of any kind, nor conquest or any forceful annexation. All member nations of the UNE must join willingly.

The UNE constitution must guarantee to all member nations a republican form government of some kind, whether it is a parliamentary or presidential system, but there must be separation of powers into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

All member nations of the UNE should be self-governing jurisdictions of the UNE and have the right to their own constitutions, as long as their constitutions establish a republican form of government.

To reduce war and conflict, no member nation should be allowed to keep their own militaries. However, national defense forces and militias are allowed to supplement the global police force, or to serve in times of local emergencies.

All powers not explicitly given to the federal government by the UNE Constitution must be reserved for the individual member nations.

In the UNE constitution, universal civil and political rights must be protected that neither any nation nor the federal government can take away, such as:

The right of all adult citizens to vote in any federal election, and the elections in their respective national, statewide/provincial, and local elections as determined by their place of residence

Universal healthcare coverage similar to the successful models seen in Nordic countries or countries like South Korea, universal publicly funded K-12 and college education, universal retirement fund for those who reach retirement age (using a combination of investment-based retirement and government pensions), and other basic infrastructure and social services

A hybrid housing model that combines Finland’s “Housing First” model with Vienna and Singapore’s public ownership model.

The right to non-discrimination based on race, sex, color, creed, and sexual orientation

The 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th, 9th, and 13th amendment rights found in the current United States constitution

Freedom of migration and residence at any state, province, nation, or locality except reservations for indigenous tribes

The right to fair labor standards and to unionize

The right of free international trade and “freedom of the air and seas”; no nations should levy trade barriers against one another or obstruct air and naval traffic in any way, shape, or form.

The government must be mandated by the Constitution to issue common sense environmental protections and regulations for the land and the sea.

The UNE government should have three independent branches: the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. The checks and balances must be strong between them to reduce the risk of tyranny and corruption at the federal government and promote self-government by the nations.

For the judiciary, the supreme court can have original jurisdiction if the dispute is between people of nations, or between nations and the federal government. Otherwise, it should have appellate jurisdiction, and this serves to reduce the workload of the supreme court while allowing more autonomy for all other lower courts.

The judiciary interprets and applies laws to specific cases, and analyzes the constitutionality of laws that are relevant to court cases (also known as judicial review).

The judicial rulings by the Supreme Court of the United Nations of Earth should be enforced by a global police force,

For the legislative, either a unicameral or bicameral legislature is valid, but at least one of the houses must consist of elected representatives from every nation, and the number should be based on proportion of the population. The baseline number of seats could be 9570 which may be adjusted based on the number of additional seats needed by a nation. Each nation would be entitled to 3 representatives, then the rest 8995 are allocated by population, and any missing seats are allocated afterward.

If the UNE is to have a bicameral legislature (such as a senate), then ideally the other house should have equal representation to balance it out. Each nation would be entitled to only 2 Senators.

The job of the legislative in the UNE would be to make all federal legislation, including to regulate the supply of the global currency, regulate all commerce and labor according to what is necessary, regulate commercial waste, taxation, support a global police force, provide for welfare and necessary infrastructure, make lower courts, have the power to borrow money, bankruptcy laws, counterfeit laws, and other basic powers.

To improve representation, the districts should be multi-member districts (MMDs). Each MMD would have 3 seats for the House of Representatives. Canada, for example, is 0.5% of the world population. So it would have 3 minimum seats, plus 0.5% of 8995, which is 45 seats. So in all Canada would have 45 + 3 = 48 seats in the UNE House of Representatives, split equally into 16 multi-member districts.

If hypothetically, Canada was to have 47 or 46 seats, one or two more seats can be awarded to Canada until the number of total seats is a multiple of 3.

Each multi-member district would host elections via the single transferable vote (STV) method, which is excellent for ensuring representation. People’s votes are not wasted in STV. STV encourages the representation of more than two political parties or ideologies, reduces incentives for gerrymandering, reduces the risk of electing extremist candidates, and more accurately reflects the population’s political preferences.

For the executive, the President of the United Nations is supposed to primarily execute the laws of the global federation. His or her job in essence is nothing more than to make sure the laws are being carried out properly by the government. The president should have control over a global police force to help enforce the laws and maintain world peace.

To keep the legislature in check, the president should have the power to veto any bill created by the legislature or sign it into law.

The president must be elected by a worldwide election using ranked choice voting and must win a majority in the global popular vote and win the majority popular vote in more countries than his opponent. This is known as a “double majority”.

To ensure stability and reduce complexity of federal elections, the House, the Senate, and the Presidency will serve 6-year terms, occurring in 2-year intervals. For example, the House elections would happen in 2080, then the Senate elections would happen in 2082, then the Presidential election would happen in 2084, and the next House election would happen in 2086, and the cycle repeats.

Instead of constantly chasing after the next election cycle, each can have 6-year breaks to focus on governing. This will also greatly reduce ballot complexity, especially since those elections are bound to coincide with national, statewide/provincial, and local elections.

So this is a very simple overview of what a United Nations of Earth could look like.

Due to the diversity of the republic, the biggest hurdle is how to communicate with people of different languages. One of the few benefits of the nation-state system is that politicians are able to streamline communications by one common language.

Communication can only work in a global liberal democracy with the help of reliable translation staffers and having a number of official languages, but there is likely not going to be a shortage of people willing to work for the government as a translator.

Or the other alternative is to decide on one language that is widely regarded as very easy to learn and speak and mandate all official communications to be done in that language.

Otherwise, the pros of a unified global liberal democracy will far outweigh the cons in the lens of Quranic and ethical principles, hence we must take steps to make the United Nations of Earth a reality.