The Discourse on Islam and Development: Western and Muslim Scholars’ Opinions (original) (raw)

The Investigation on the Relationship between Religion and Development: By Focusing on Islam

2020

Religion and Development relation is one of the most arguable phrases amongst politicians, philosophers, clerics, scientists, sociologists, and even the public. The main objective of this research is to clarify the relations, contrasts, and interactions between religion and the major types of development including social, political, economic and scientific developments, by focusing on Islam religion. A review of the literature was performed concerning religion and development relations and conflicts, by focusing on Islam religion and then the unprocessed tips of the review were characterized. Regarding the clarification of the key points of the literature, three main sectors were considered in the research. The first sector of the research mainly focused on the philosophical views on religion, which were analyzed by main evaluation of three famous philosophers' ideas: 'Kant', 'Hegel' and 'Weber', and then a critical discussion on Weber's idea about Is...

Islam and Development

The backwardness of many contemporary Muslim countries is blamed by some writers on various aspects of Islamic beliefs and behavioral injunctions. It is shown in this paper that many of these arguments are based on flimsy grounds. This issue of whether Islam is an obstacle to development is dealt with. An attempt is made to introduce a better explanation for underdevelopment of many Muslim countries (at least in the Middle East area). Historical-institutional factors are emphasized. A case is made that, given the unique institutional nature of Islam, foreign domination (by the Ottoman Empire and later by European colonialism) resulted in stunted institutional development in the former territories of the Ottoman Empire, which is a basic reason for the present backwardness.

The Investigation on the Relationship between Religion and Development By Focusing on Islam20200412 126743 2i47fk

Religion and Development relation is one of the most arguable phrases amongst politicians, philosophers, clerics, scientists, sociologists and even the public. The main objective of this research is to clarify the relations, contrasts and interactions between religion and the major types of development including social, political, economic and scientific developments, by focusing on Islam religion. A review of the literature was performed concerning religion and development relations and conflicts, by focusing on Islam religion and then the unprocessed tips of the review were characterized. Regarding clarification of the key points of the literature, three main sectors were considered in the research. The first sector of the research mainly focused on the philosophical views on religion, which were analyzed by main evaluation of three famous philosophers' ideas: 'Kant', 'Hegel' and 'Weber', and then a critical discussion on Weber's idea about Islam and development was applied. The second sector was specified to 'Religion and Development' and mainly discussed the role of religion in development through poverty reduction, the interconnection of religion, spirituality and social development, religious education effects on social development, and the relation of religion with political development. The third sector was specified to 'Islam and Development' and mainly discussed the Islamic golden age of science, major reasons of today's backwardness (non-development) of most Islamic countries, and Quranic instructions regarding adaptability of Islam with development. The findings of the current research approved the research hypothesis as: 'Religious instructions (included Islam) are not in conflict with development', rather, it could have positive effects mainly on social development and it can pave the way for society to develop. Turkey was considered as a study model, as a successful developed Islamic country demonstrating the non-conflicting relation of Islam and development.

The Investigation on the Relationship between Religion and Development By Focusing on Islam20200412 91671 1onliyz

Religion and Development relation is one of the most arguable phrases amongst politicians, philosophers, clerics, scientists, sociologists and even the public. The main objective of this research is to clarify the relations, contrasts and interactions between religion and the major types of development including social, political, economic and scientific developments, by focusing on Islam religion. A review of the literature was performed concerning religion and development relations and conflicts, by focusing on Islam religion and then the unprocessed tips of the review were characterized. Regarding clarification of the key points of the literature, three main sectors were considered in the research. The first sector of the research mainly focused on the philosophical views on religion, which were analyzed by main evaluation of three famous philosophers' ideas: 'Kant', 'Hegel' and 'Weber', and then a critical discussion on Weber's idea about Islam and development was applied. The second sector was specified to 'Religion and Development' and mainly discussed the role of religion in development through poverty reduction, the interconnection of religion, spirituality and social development, religious education effects on social development, and the relation of religion with political development. The third sector was specified to 'Islam and Development' and mainly discussed the Islamic golden age of science, major reasons of today's backwardness (non-development) of most Islamic countries, and Quranic instructions regarding adaptability of Islam with development. The findings of the current research approved the research hypothesis as: 'Religious instructions (included Islam) are not in conflict with development', rather, it could have positive effects mainly on social development and it can pave the way for society to develop. Turkey was considered as a study model, as a successful developed Islamic country demonstrating the non-conflicting relation of Islam and development.

Discourses on Development and the Muslim World

International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2019

Development is one important issue facing most Muslim countries today. Although there are different stages of development, all of the Muslim countries at this time are considered as developing countries as per the United Nations (UN) country classification. However, it is important to note here that actually the discourses on development used to differentiate countries between developing and developed have been debated for a while. One critical discourse contends that even those countries considered developed are actually still developing, considering that all countries are basically reacting and evolving to cope with different challenges in their own respective economies. In view of the above, this paper attempts to assess discourses related to development in developed countries as well as developing ones (including Muslim countries). This paper will also review the present state of the Muslim World that is relatively lagging behind, and what should be done about that. The research methodology applied will be based on literature review related to discourses on development, and some empirical evidence related to those discourses. The paper shows that actually each and every country has its own unique approach to develop, and there will not be a one size fits all development discourse for many different countries in the world. Learning from the history, Islam, as a belief system, made a significant role in transforming the early Muslims from backward nations to the most developed ones at that time. In addition, there has been an endless quest in developed countries themselves for more social justice and for more meaning of life. Therefore, the paper argues that formulating Islamic-based development discourses will benefit not only the Muslim world (to make it better their present state of development) but also a global community (to make a more just and humane world).

Religiosity in Development: A Theoretical Construct of an Islamic-Based Development

2012

This paper attempts to seek for an answer for the religiosity in Islam visa -vis the conventional understanding of the religiosity; and secondly, it attempts to develop a theoretical construct of an Islamic-based development and visualize the form of development that this theoretical construct entails with. The endeavor is based on two premises. Firstly, the meaning of religiosity as is held by conventional view is different from the meaning of religiosity viewed from Islamic perspective. Secondly, the focus on religiosity in many literatures is generally confined to the religiosity of the human beings, not on the religiosity of the exogenous aspects of human life such as development. These premises are portrayed in the first section of this paper. The subsequent section then outlines the dimensions of the religiosity in an Islamic-based development. It shows that there are five dimensions of the religiosity of an Islamic-based development, viz. Divinistic, Dogmatic, Holistic Integration, Transitory, and Instrumentalistic. While these dimensions are developed from the basic doctrines of Islam, the deliberations in the earlier section are based on a textual analysis of the available literatures on religiosity.

Islam and Human Development

International Journal of Excellence in Islamic Banking and Finance, 2014

The paper aims to present the Islamic appraisal of established theories in academic literature of development economics, both in classical and neo-classical economics. The paper also explains the Islamic concept of human development and shows it to be more welfare maximizing to humans in their entire life span which includes afterlife. The paper extensively reviews the development literature in mainstream economics and Islamic economics. The paper also uses basic mathematical formulation to explain the concepts. The paper explains the Islamic concept of human development and shows it to be more welfare maximizing to humans and to society. It discusses how Islam is not the source of underdevelopment in Muslim countries and cites the external factors responsible for underdevelopment besides weak internal administration, commitment and management. The paper is one of the few attempts to cite and critically appraise specific development theories from Islamic perspective.

Islam and the Path to Human and Economic Development

2010

Acknowledgments xvii 1 The Evolution of the Western Concept of Development 1 2 Development as Human Well-being 3 The Foundational Elements of Development in Islam 4 The Dimensions of Development in Islam 5 The Institutional Structure of Development in Islam 129 6 Conclusion 179 Notes 1 5 Glossary of Arabic Terms 7 Bibliography 3 Index 219 and Global Scholarly Publications for allowing us to borrow freely from an earlier publication. We are grateful to Anwar Aridi for compiling the glossary and compiling the endnotes. We thank Kristin Devine for her copyediting, indexing and for cleaning up the manuscript. The manuscript has been enhanced by our editor, Farideh Koohi-Kamali and her associates at Palgrave Macmillan, Robyn Curtis and Heather Faulls, and by our copy editor, Rohini Krishnan. We are indebted to our wives for their encouragement, understanding, and support. We remain responsible for any remaining shortcomings. Chapter 1 The Evolution of the Western Concept of Development The concept of development in the West, which has evolved over a number of years, today can mean quantitative growth, qualitative improvement, and expansion in the capabilities, capacities, and choices of individuals, groups, or states. Development is conceived as more than a quantitative change in some index, such as a higher level of per capita income; it is about being more, not having more. To appreciate the context for Islamic thinking on development, it is helpful to briefly review the historical origins and evolution of the Western concept of development. There are two distinct periods marking the evolution of the development concept in the West: the first period is from 1700 to 1945, covering largely the development of the capitalist economies of the West, and the second is after WWII, focusing on the less-developed economies. 1

Development and its Actors: The Milieu of Islamic-based Development

IJUS | International Journal of Umranic Studies

This article looks at the evolution of Islamic-based development as a field of study and then examines the concept of Islamic-based development actor (or IbD Actor). The emphasis of this article is on the importance of humans as the actors of development. It is the humans, as the central figure that defines which development paradigm is to transpire as development occurs at the hands of humans. However the differing development paradigms between the Islamic-based to that of conventional strike at the very core – the philosophical underpinnings. The conventional development paradigm influences even the Muslim countries. The dominance of conventional development has even overshadowed the concept of Islamic economics, one facet of Islamic development. With such antagonism natural conflict arises. This results in the achievement of the ultimate goals of the development paradigms to differ completely. Hence the dilemma to man as the actor of any development process who need to decide whi...

The Islamic Worldview and Development Ideals

Journal of Islamic Banking and Finance, Volume 35, Number 1, Jan–Mar 2018, pp 33–44., 2018

The concept of development and progress ultimately depends on the belief and value systems of the human population at large. In neoclassical economics, development is defined and measured narrowly in terms of economic growth only. This is in stark contrast with Islamic notions of human development. In the Islamic worldview, human life is purposeful, and human development can only be meaningfully measured in the backdrop of this purpose. The purpose of the article is to articulate the Islamic worldview and critically evaluate the modern secular notions of development by comparing and contrasting these with Islamic developmental ideals.