[Offprint from Louis Cantori, Islam's Potential for Development., Vol. 12, The World & I, pp 38.]
The Islamic approach to development is to reconcile moral and
religious values with economic advancement.
The growing importance of Islam insistently demands a greater degree of understanding of
this faith on the part of the West.
Islam is ascendant in Morocco, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia (where the only contest is its
relative purity), and Sudan and has sole legitimacy as a political actor in Jordan, Syria,
Lebanon, and Yemen. Even in Algeria, Egypt, Palestine, and Tunisia, where its legitimacy
is contested, most observers would concede either the inevitability of its dominance or
its eventual great importance.
The increasing political and economic importance of the Islamic non--Middle Eastern states
of Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia is part of this process. In short, in areas of the
world where the United States and the West have enormous strategic interests--in energy
supplies, trade, and the security of Israel--Islam is in the forefront. It is also
important to stress that Islam's most distinctive feature at present is its modernist
character, not the alleged reactionary nature so often cited in the Western press and
sometimes in American policy circles. In this respect, just as the religion is emerging
politically it is also undergoing profound internal self-examination as it adjusts to
modern political and development challenges.
Until the 1990s, the West either ignored Islam or, on the basis of long-established
historical animosity and prejudicial stereotypes, opposed it. In U.S. policy and
intellectual circles, a residue of this sentiment remains. Islam must be examined without
preconceptions and understood as an expression of each country's political circumstances.
In general, Westerners believe that the Islamic world is intrinsically unable to modernize
or develop economically. This view overlooks the economic achievements of Turkey or, more
dramatically, of Malaysia and Indonesia, whose economic growth rates are among the highest
in the world.
There is indeed a particular Islamic approach to development, one that strives to
reconcile moral and religious values and economic advancement. Despite similarities to the
successful Asian tigers, Middle Eastern states have far weaker economies. It may well be
the case, however, that Islam's ascendancy will provide new leadership and a moral vision
that will stimulate development.
The relationship between Islam and the West has been compared to
that of the West and the eastern bloc during the Cold War. In Islam's case, from the
eighth century, continuing with the Crusades in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, on to
the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the siege of Vienna in 1566, the relationship was
politically polarized. Behind this polarization was an ideological rivalry. Islam
recognized the legitimacy of the prophets of Judaism and Christianity and of its fellow
monotheistic religions, but Christianity found it difficult to concede equal recognition.
This religious diference was accompanied by the alternating political strengths of the two
faiths.
When Europe was at its ebb, from the eighth to the tenth centuries, Islam was politically
robust and culturally brilliant. This period was followed by European expansion, with the
Crusades from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries, and, in turn, the Ottoman Turkish
expansion into central Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. European
ascendancy became clearest in the nineteenth century, with the advent of European
colonialism in Algeria in 1830. After centuries of interaction, Christian and Muslim
attitudes became deeply embedded.
The intellectual development of the modern Arab world has been
one of accommodation to Western culture, Arab nationalism, and, presently, the Islamic
revival. This revival occurred on the heels of Israel's military defeat of the Arabs in
1967. From a secular point of view, the defeat signified the political exhaustion and
humiliation of the Arab leadership.
More important, however, traditional Muslims attributed a disaster of this scale to the
displeasure of God (i.e., they had been religiously derelict). The response has been an
increase in religiosity throughout the Middle East and the entire Muslim world. For
Egyptians, this interpretation was confirmed when on October 6, 1973, a revitalized army
ousted Israelis from defensive positions on the Suez Canal, while Muslim soldiers and
officers saw "angels" dancing on the Bar Lev line.
The Islamic revival also had political ramifications, which have manifested themselves in
two distinct ways. The first and most common is the majoritarian way in the political
mainstream, in cases where the political center has been willing to compromise and
accommodate to populist religious sentiment (e.g., in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and, until
recently, Turkey, as well as Morocco and Yemen). In these countries, Islam has worked
within the existing system. In effect, it has legitimized the political status quo, even
while it worked to re-Islamize society by controlling social services, such as health,
welfare, adult literacy, and so forth.
Majoritarian-reformed Islam has also come to the fore in Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, but
in these cases the political center has chosen repression rather than accommodation.
Moreover, in Algeria and Egypt, majoritarian- reformed Islam has spawned splinter groups
of a violent nature, and these groups have monopolized newspaper headlines worldwide.
Modern science originated in the West in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, and the Industrial Revolution was propelled by the technological
offshoots of that scientific progress. Science and technology are now "being
done" in Asia as well as in Europe and North America. As the phenomenon globalizes,
it is beginning to lose its original cultural roots. More precisely, these roots are
undergoing a dialectal change as different cultures meet and meld.
In the Muslim world, this has meant that while the benefits of science are embraced, an
effort is being made to found science in religious belief. Such diverse personages as
Mawdudi of Pakistan, Sayyid Qutb of Egypt, the Ayatollah Khomeini and Ali al-Shariati of
Iran, and Hasan al-Turabi of Sudan have embraced the progressivism of science.
The results of development are thought to be evident: Economic,
political, and social improvement either occurs or it does not. This is true, of course,
but the underlying principles of development are susceptible to an alternative formulation
and, as a result, the objectives of development can be changed.
The Western concept of development originated in the Enlightenment, with its liberal
assumptions of individualism, secularism, equality, and materialism. Development is
thought to occur when individuals seek to maximize their own self-interests in a society
in which religious values are personal and private. Egalitarianism is believed to be the
norm, and development is thought to happen when political equality is accompanied by a
just, economic inequality based on market competition.
The Islamic approach to development begins with different assumptions but still embraces
capitalism. In some cases, such as Malaysia and Indonesia, very high economic growth rates
are achieved. The Muslim begins by establishing that spiritual advancement is the first
priority ("God does not change the condition of a people until they change
their own inner selves," Qur'an, sura 13.11).
Only when spiritual matters are attended to first will God reward one with material
advancement. The Muslim therefore begins with the concept of the oneness of God (tawhid)
and of the community of believers (umma), the members of which have a
responsibility for one another. The good side of man (taskiyah) should be
cultivated, which creates self-discipline against evil. This creates his well-being, or falah.
The individual Muslim is seen as benefiting spiritually in terms of increasing piety and
rectitude, which are viewed as the antecedents of development. In referring to the Qur'an,
Qutb notes that "while the earth is subservient to you," a balance must be
sought between individual gain and the welfare of society. The specific provision of the
latter is the religious mandate of zakat, or almsgiving.
The concept of tawhid also is associated with political ideals. It suggests the organic
solidarity of society or its corporatism (takafaliya). Individuals are related to
the organic whole by the concept of khilafah, or the vicegerency of the individual as the
expression of God on earth, constituting the brotherhood of man in the sharing of this
vicegerency. Therefore, man is the custodian, or amin, of God's resources,
meaning, in developmental terms, economic resources.
As a result, individuals may acquire wealth in a capitalist fashion but only with the
understanding that such wealth does not belong to them but to God. Justice (adalah)
requires that conditions be placed on the acquisition of wealth because the individual has
a commitment to the elimination of zulm, or inequity. Related to the idea of
individual responsibility and dependence upon God is the injunction against usury (riba).
The system of Islamic banking reflects these principles. Bank deposits are directly
invested in business ventures on a risk basis, and the periodic return is not
predetermined but rather reflects business performance (i.e., it reflects losses and
gains). In summary, Islam creates a conservative political culture that (1) sets moral and
ethical developmental goals; (2) uses the past as a guide to the future; and (3)
subordinates the individual to the requirements of the group and community.
The corporatist nature of religious belief and society is also reflected in political
development. A strong state is assumed, which at a minimum is expected to maintain order
to permit the maintenance of religious practices and collection of taxes. Society itself
is modeled on the ideal of the solidarity of the patriarchal family. The expectation is
that decisions will be made top down. While this appears to be quintessential
authoritarianism, the reality is more complex.
Islamic corporatist society is one whose ideal of solidarity is maintained by the value of
consensus (ijmaa). Individuals should seek to subordinate themselves to the
opinions of others by a process of shura, or consultation. Factiousness (hizbiyya)
is to be avoided. The practical effect is that informal consultation takes place
constantly, and when an election takes place, it is neither a matter of "one man, one
vote" nor necessarily of alternative choices. Instead, it is more likely to be a case
of "one group, one collective vote" and the expression of affirmation rather
than of conflictual choice. Therefore, Islamic "shuracratic" democracy stands in
sharp contrast to the conflictual pluralism of the democratic principles of the
Enlightenment.
The question has been asked at the World Bank, "Why not the
Middle East?" In the 1960s the Middle East and East Asia had similar per capita
income figures, but today figures for East Asia are 10 or more times those for the Middle
East. Further concrete evidence is that East Asia has gross domestic product growth rates
of 9.2 percent (World Bank Annual Report, 1996), the highest such rates in the world.
These contrast with a rate of approximately 4 ercent for the Middle East and North Africa.
The question is particularly interesting because the Asian tigers (for example, Taiwan,
Singapore, Korea, and Malaysia) are also societies that emphasize cultural and religious
values and possess organic, corporatistic societies and strong states.
If the label of corporatism is applied to both groupings of states, what might explain
East Asia's developmental success? Perhaps the most noteworthy difference is that Asian
leaders employ the conservative values of their cultures to construct a developmental
vision. This vision emphasizes not only the moral values of cooperation and mutual
responsibility but also economic improvement.
In addition, the Asians call for self-sacrifice on the part of their workers, based on the
principle of mutual responsibility:
The workers will lift productivity to new heights and achieve enviable savings rates in
exchange for assured employment and provision for their basic needs. The value of social
equity underlies the system. Asian corporatism is a mobilizational corporatism. Middle
Eastern corporatism is unmobilized.
The Middle Eastern state, prior to the current rise of Islamism, has been one whose
leadership has divided its attention between the unresolved conflict with Israel and its
own for moral and productive purposes, it has repressed and exploited them. The Middle
Eastern corporatist state represents the political and economic status quo.
In addition, it has failed to construct the efficient, Asian-style civil service that
makes it possible for the state to plan industrially and work cooperatively with
large-scale private industry. Also, the Asian state uses 20 percent of its government
expenditures on education, compared to about half that in the Middle East (World Bank
Development Report, 1995). As a result, the Asian worker quickly adapts to new technology,
and Asian engineers are able to put their own innovative stamp on modernization and
development.
Islam's progress is so dramatically important that it compels close examination of this
religion of one billion adherents. Until now, the Middle East has had at best a tepid
record of economic development. The corporatist similarities of the countries of Asia and
the Middle East are as striking as their dissimilarities in economic performance. What
appears to be missing in the Middle East is the moral vision that is culturally present in
the Confucian and Islamic societies of Asia. Nevertheless, the ascendancy of Islam in the
Middle East suggests the possibility of a renewed cultural and developmental beginning.
Louis Cantori
9 January 1997.
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[He is the author of numerous articles on Islam, including "Modernization and
Development" in The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World. From 1997-98, he
is scholar in residence as the Major General Matthew Horner Chair of Military Theory,
Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia. He is on leave from the Department of
Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore.]
Copyright © 1997 News World Communications, Inc.
