Is Islam Responsible for An Underdeveloped Muslim World – Responding to the Weber's Contention

1 Durham University – Durham Centre of Islamic Economics and Finance

IS ISLAM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE UNDER-DEVELOPMENT OF THE MUSLIM

WORLD – A RESPONSE TO THE WEBER’S CONTENTION

Muhammad Arsalan Aqeeq

Durham University – Durham Centre of Islamic Economic & Finance

[email protected]

Islam hinders Growth – the discriminately pervasive & inconsistently articulated,

nevertheless frequently tested contention of Max Weber, a leading thinker in the

western religious anthropology. A nonchalant review warrants contextualization of

Weber’s work, his claim in the backdrop of his articulation of Islamic and growth -

before labelling it as essentialist or orientalist or Eurocentric or wrapping him

under Weberism. It was his famous work ‘The Protestant Ethics (PE) and Spirit of

Capitalism’ in 1905, where he asserted on the movement of protestants, their

puritanism, ascetic morals setting the foundation of the rational capitalism. As J.S

Komo puts it, that the central question that Weber pursued his whole life was, as to

why anywhere outside the occident, no path of rationalization was followed in

art, science or economic development. So, perhaps he was more of Eurocentric

essentialist – wherein his verdicts on Islam is just one of the many societies under

his lens, lying outside the occident, and the ‘Growth’ as he see it, is essentially an

yield of rational capitalism. His bent toward the rational capitalism, was due to its

inherent moral spirit of money making act and an ethical duty resting on self-

discipline, hard work and self-accountability.

An interesting glitch here is that, out of the two parts of equation i.e. ‘Islam’ and

‘growth’ (presumably rationally capitalistic), the former has been amassing scrutiny,

despite of having revealed ontology, in contrast to the ‘growth’ which is taken as

immutable (Tripp, 2006). Sociologist in the second half of the twentieth century like

that of French Marxist Rodinson, Bryan Turner and Kuran tested Weber’s thesis and

attempted to respond to it.

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Rodinson (1966)

The French orientalist Maxim Rodinson’s Islam et Capitalisme (1966) work was in

emergent perhaps radical effort to liberate orientalism from the tunnelled view of

Weberism and did reasonably well in achieving it. He criticized western monopoly on

rationality and modernity. His central argument was to establish the bent of Quran

towards rationality.

Bryan Turner’s Weber and Islam (1974)

Turner took a systematic approach to dismiss three out of four thesis of Weber

except for patrimonialism. However, notwithstanding the fact that his refutation for

Weber thesis on Islam’s hedonism, lack of freedom of markets and labor, rational

law, bourgeois and fragmented economic character are all born and nourished in

the womb of patrimonialism to which he had to surrender. Even Weber’s

criticism on Islam turning in to an ‘accommodating’ religion from a ‘transformational’

one, owes its origin to patrimonialism.

Timur Kuran

Though principally discontented with Islamic legal constructs being inimical of

modernity and rationalism (Kuran 2012), however in his work ‘Islam and Mammon’

refuted the idea of Islam being deleterious to growth, by witnessing the golden era of

Islamic society in the pre-medieval time (8th to 12th century). However under the

same grain of thought, he related the static worldview of Islam, that contributed to

Islam loosing grounds to the west in trade and commerce – which eventually led to

colonialism.

The Rush for the Ceteris Paribus

A critical synthesis of the thesis produced by Weber and its rebuttal from Rodinson,

Turner, Kuran or Said’s Orientalism (1978) reveals that, they substantiated their

arguments citing evidences around two axis – either on the instances from Islam

as practiced by a certain muslim society in an specific time space (Weber, Turner,

Rodinson) – or on the dimension driven from the Islamic doctrine, its ontological

sources, its epistemological schism (Rodinson) or a combination of both. This

methodological approach in all its interactionism tends to yield internally

inconsistent and isomorphic generalization. Citing quran and Sunnah as


Rodinson did, or the pro-commerce Macca in the prophets era, or its transformation

from tribalism to a state can be a valid response but cannot be a comprehensive

rejoinder. This leaves gaps for the thinkers – for a consistent consolidation across

both the axis referred earlier i.e.

i). the Islamic doctrine and its encapsulation of rationality, growth and

development and

ii) A systemic contemplation of the Muslim society (in all its heterodoxy) to

rationalize the reality which is often quoted by the critiques to criticize Islam itself. A

holistic account on the above, would consummate the response, as there is no

ceteris paribus clause to this complex social reality.

Been there done that!

Weber was more insistent on the ability of PE to form a set of function that defined

economic rationality. But the debate of Reason Versus Revelation, which

enlightened the west in post medieval era, remained pervasive in the Muslim world

as early as six centuries prior to the western enlightenment– as evident in the

significant work of muslim scholars like Ghazali, Ibn-e Rushd, Ibn-e Tayimiyah, Ibn-

e- Khaldun (Chapra 1999). It was this awareness that was yielding Muslim’s

scientific contribution to philosophy, astrology, chemistry, medicine and so forth –

which was curbed to conservatism again by none other than the patrimonial and

intrusive nature of the polity.

What went wrong?

In the wake of above synthesis, it would not an arm’s chair speculation, if

patrimonialism is blamed for its moral degeneration, departure from rationality and

thus an economic downturn. The basic factors of the much ostentatious ethics of

capitalism are addressed by subset of axioms i.e. ikhtiyar (free will), fard

(responsibility), haqq (right), amanah (trust) islah (reform), equilibrated by Adal wa’l-

ihsan, optimized by Rububiyah and Tazkiyah and governed by Khilafah, Akhirah

under the tawhidi frame (Asutay 2007) - wherein IE with its spiritual and moral

dimensions – have the ability to address Weber’s own discomfort on PE ethic’s

orientation towards jungle capitalism (Weber 1978: 614).


Even muslim scholar like Ibn-e-Khaldun back in the fifteenth century, have candid

theories to incorporate polity, justice in this world (Adl), Gods appraisal of it

(Al-mizan) and the role of wealth to sustain people, whose well-being derives

the legitimacy of the sovereign (Chapra, 2000: 147-148). The Khuldunian doctrine

was even cogent enough to portend the fall of a civilization being dependent on the

social well-being of the society – perhaps partly rationalizes the Muslim loosing

grounds in commerce in the medieval age, falling prey to colonialism.

But is this superstructure independently formed by religion, or due to its

reciprocal interplay with social formation and modes of production (Ayubi,

2004). The modes of production, to shape in a capitalistic superstructure has to be

industrialized with large scale output – which was not been the case in the pre-

colonial or medieval Muslim society. Hence, neither the base, nor the religion

(political influenced) were able to shape in a social formation to eradicate

patrimonialism vis-à-vis enter the western contour of rational capitalism.

Economic Development - Is it a ‘One-Size-Fit-All’?

A keen analysis of diversified economies, governments and societies provide us

valuable insights and evidences, though fragmented, but are enough for the thinkers

to think otherwise:

We cannot expect that all nations will adopt like systems- for conformity is the

jailor of freedom and enemy of growth.

John F. Kennedy

Weber’s essentialism has already failed in his pessimism for China and

Japan.

We find that development states can be authoritarian with the examples of

China, Singapore, South Korea, UAE and even Vietnam and Cambodia.

Whereas for the Muslim world, numerous exceptions can be witnessed. For

example indigenous formation of capitalistic markets in Egypt by the local

merchants without any influence of the west (Gran et. al 1982).


Muslims are stereotyped to cause fatalism in to societies, but at the same

time J.S Komo’s account on advent of Muslim traders in the peasant society

of Malayas offers an altogether contrasting shade of Islam.

Even in the present day postcolonial Muslim world, countries from the far-

east, (Malaysia and Indonesia) subcontinent (Pakistan and Bangladesh) and

the European Union candidate i.e. Turkey which have taken the democratic

development route.

The undemocratic Middleastern thawra and thawri states, still based on

tribalism, kinship and rentierism, though Industrialized through the advent of

oil, are still in their reconciliatory phase, wherein the modes of production

along with social formats and religion are redefining the superstructure as

well as the governance as witnessed in the ongoing arab spring, and the

revolution in Tunisia and Cairo.

Essentialist approaches, neither in the days of imperialism, nor in the present

world carved a positive impact. We see the examples of Afghanistan and

Iraq which despite of being a military success, ended in to political failure. The

self-interested Sykes- Picot Treaty to divide the Ottoman Asia back in

early 20th century forms the flashpoint of the extremists ISIS resentment

(CNBC, July 2014).

To conclude, I would quote Rodinson ‘Islam has served as a means and

justification of both liberation as well as oppression’ thus to say, Islam isn’t

identifiable with any economic system or political tendency, and can allow for

varying forms’ (Rodinson,1966). Thus to assert that, it should be left to the

organic reconciliatory process of internal factors, mean of coercion,

worldview and the aspiration of the society to tailor their superstructure.

Totally accepting or denying the sceptics or doing it partly is not the purpose.

It is about recognizing and corroborating the socially constructed reality to

achieve the socio-economic well-being of the mankind.


References

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Is Islam Responsible for An Underdeveloped Muslim World – Responding to the Weber's Contention