Foreign policy principles: an Islamic Sufi Approach – Part I

Purpose – Governing principles of the world countries' current foreign policies are based on nationalism and in the realization of this aspiration, human rights in other countries are less considered and demands of national interests on other issues are surpassed. Islam, in principle, is opposite to this approach. However, national interests are important in Islam, but Islam does not try to achieve this target by destruction of other countries and rights violations of their peoples. Interests of Islam's government are based on expediency of humankind as a whole and its foreign policy should be arranged in a way to fulfill this target. In this regard, the purpose of this paper is to introduce the basic principles of foreign policy in Islam based on the Sufi standpoint. Design/methodology/approach – Islam aims to improve humanities based on moralities and spiritualities. Some principles for reaching this goal based on Islamic Sufism standpoints are provided. Findings – In total, 32 principles are introduced. Research limitations/implications – Comparative researches in other religions' Gnosticism will be helpful. Practical implications – These principles can be used for applied debates in the field and be ended to new international regulations. Social implications – Delicateness, truthfulness, and righteousness of Islamic Sufism, may turn the attentions of scholars and researchers to this viewpoint, and enable a new set of regulations to be codified. Originality/value – Political scientists have not touched the topic from a Sufi point of view. This paper brings this approach to a new challenging arena.