Development Demystified: An Islamic Perspective
in Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiqi (Ed.). Islam: A Contemporary Perspective (Chicago, USA: NAAMPS Publications), pp. 43-57.
10 Pages Posted: 1 Jan 2018 Last revised: 29 Dec 2023
Date Written: 1994
Abstract
Whatever way "underdevelopment" is defined and whether one accepts or rejects any such definition, the following questions remain unresolved: why "underdevelopment" persists, particularly in the Muslim world? Is it a permanent feature of Muslim societies? Are poverty and deprivation, hunger and famine, infant-mortality and illiteracy, epidemic and disaster, political turmoil and repression, external dependence and national beggarliness indelible characteristics of Muslim societies and compatible with Islam?
The main thesis of this paper is that there is no secret about development and underdevelopment. And, if there is not, then, Muslims who aspire a global transformation of the Ummah, regardless of their professional and academic backgrounds, must re-examine their orientation and explore new perspectives to diagnose and address this issue.
Keywords: Development, underdevelopment, Islamic model
JEL Classification: 01
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation