"Five Pillars of Prosperity: Essentials of Faith-Based Wealth Building by Dr. M. Yaqub Mirza provides readers with a balanced and sensible approach to financial planning and security. The book is unique in that it is written by a leading Muslim financial expert who draws on Islamic teachings while showing how these Islamic values are consistent with Jewish and Christian values. Though the primary audience may be American Muslims, anyone interested in financial security will find this practical guide helpful in making wise financial decisions. Dr. Mirza presents a powerful and provocative case for arranging one's life - and the material pursuits - in ways that not only benefit the reader but also society at large. He shows how the attainment of wealth and prosperity can be achieved by following five key activities: Earning, Saving, Investing, Spending, and Giving. The author closes with a discussion on wealth building strategies and wealth preservation. Additionally, he has provided a section of resources and an extensive bibliography for further reading. The book is rich in investment strategies and advice and though the topic is often complex Dr. Mirza's writings are clear and accessible to a general audience"--

How nations can promote peace, prosperity, and stability through cohesive political institutions "Little else is required to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism, but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice; all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things." So wrote Adam Smith a quarter of a millennium ago. Using the tools of modern political economics and combining economic theory with a bird's-eye view of the data, this book reinterprets Smith's pillars of prosperity to explain the existence of development clusters—places that tend to combine effective state institutions, the absence of political violence, and high per-capita incomes. To achieve peace, the authors stress the avoidance of repressive government and civil conflict. Easy taxes, they argue, refers not to low taxes, but a tax system with widespread compliance that collects taxes at a reasonable cost from a broad base, like income. And a tolerable administration of justice is about legal infrastructure that can support the enforcement of contracts and property rights in line with the rule of law. The authors show that countries tend to enjoy all three pillars of prosperity when they have evolved cohesive political institutions that promote common interests, guaranteeing the provision of public goods. In line with much historical research, international conflict has also been an important force behind effective states by fostering common interests. The absence of common interests and/or cohesive political institutions can explain the existence of very different development clusters in fragile states that are plagued by poverty, violence, and weak state capacity.

The moral virtues are the foundation and support of prosperity as they are the soul of greatness. They endure for ever, and all the works of man which endure are built upon them. Without them there is neither strength, stability, nor substantial reality, but only ephemeral dreams. To find moral principles is to have found prosperity, greatness, truth, and is therefore to be strong, valiant, joyful and free.If, for instance, a literary, artistic, or spiritual genius should begin by trying to make money, it may be, and often is, to his advantage and the betterment of his genius that he should fail therein, so that he may achieve that more sublime success wherein lies his real power. Many a millionaire would doubtless be willing to barter his millions for the literary success of a Shakespeare or the spiritual success of a Buddha, and would thereby consider that he had made a good bargain. Exceptional spiritual success is rarely accompanied with riches, yet financial success cannot in any way compare with it in greatness and grandeur.

American opportunity is not dead. Bestselling author and entrepreneur John Hope Bryant outlines the mindset and practices that will allow us to achieve the American Dream, no matter what our current circumstances are. Americans have lost faith in their country. With job security disappearing and fewer glimpses of a better future, it can feel like we are barely surviving, much less thriving, in today's problematic economy. Americans want the "old" America back-- the America where opportunity comes knocking at the front door. But the real problem, John Hope Bryant says, is that we're forgetting that this is still the Land of Opportunity--a site of upward mobility, a place teeming with different ways to create and grow wealth. The opportunities of today are not only greater than the obstacles, but they are greater than they have ever been. What we need, he says, is a mindset shift--a way of recalibrating to recognize that there is still a bounty of resources for establishing entrepreneurship and success in this country. The first step for us, for America, is to remember our storyline--how, coming up from nothing, we established and harnessed the invincible American Dream.

Long-term economic prosperity cannot be achieved unless it is built on a solid foundation. That solid foundation consists of four pillars: governments, businesses, religions, and banks.Each pillar is a key element in the prosperity of a nation and this includes its government, its businesses, it religions, its banks, and ultimately its citizens. When one or more of the pillars is missing or is unnecessarily restricted then that nation will not experience long-term financial prosperity.

Be faithful in your giving and God will reward you financially. It's not always stated that blatantly but the promises of the Prosperity Gospel--or the name-it-and-claim-it gospel, the health-and-wealth gospel, the word of faith movement, or positive confession theology--are false. Yet its message permeates the preaching of well-known Christian leaders: Joyce Meyer, T. D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, and many more. The appeal of this teaching crosses racial, gender, denominational, and international boundaries. Why are otherwise faithful Christians so easily led astray? Because the Prosperity Gospel contains a grain of biblical truth, greatly distorted. For anyone who knows that Prosperity Gospel theology is wrong but has trouble articulating and refuting the finer points, this concise edition contains all the robust arguments of the hard-hitting original edition in a shorter, more accessible form.