THE ECONOMIC DILEMMA OF THE MUSLIM WORLD

Islamic Studies 35:3 ( 1 996)
THE ECONOMIC DILEMMA OF THE MUSLIM WORLD
PART I11
CONDITIONS OF TAKE-OFF
Moral Basis of the Process of Production and Distribution
MALEK BENNABI
(tr.) ASMA RASHID
The ideological basis established by Adam Smith as the rule of economic
dynamics gave free rein to the will of the capital and opened the door to
capitalist transgressions at the expense of public welfare in the political field and
the special interests of the producers and consumers in the economic field. The
outcome proved to be as tragic for the general cultural climate when the
formula, laissez faire, laissez aller," became the basis of individual behaviour
in the name of freedom. Indeed, the outcome was even more universal when one
considers the momentous devclopmcnts and great events which changed the face
of the 20th century, albeit thcy were merely reflections in the cultural and
political field, of what was going on in the economic realm.
The capitalist libertinism was, in practice, the prelude to dialectical
materialism, that is, the apostatical movement in the world. For capital
subsequently played the role of the usher who would open the door to the
communist revolution, notwithstanding the apparent contradiction in such an
assertion. Did capital plan harakiri or did it merely yield to the logic of
convenience? The first aspect does not concern us in this chapter. It suffices to
say that human societies mostly die at their own hands.
What concerns us here is the second aspect. Inertia lies in the nature
of matter if not of animals. When matter is moved it follows the easiest path.
Water will not flow from bottom to top unless subjected to pressure. Man is also
*The notes at the end are these of the translator. Ed.

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ASMA t7~snl~lThe Economic Dilemma of the Muslim World
temperamentally disposed to follow the downward slope, if there is no power
behind him to push him to the top. We may find clarification and confirmation
of this simple observation in the noble verse: ". . . And We guided him to the
two highways? Yet he attempted not the steep . . . " Qur'iin: 90: 10,ll.
So man by nature prefers the downward slope unless something incites
him to attempt the upward steep. The Muslim who entered the political arena
demanding his rights at the end of the last century, was merely the person who
followed the easy path. It would lead to the realisation of certain cheap desires,
sometimes by running alter an independence not backed by basic factors of true
sovereignty, and sometimes by looking for a presence incompatible with the
conditions of stability and higher interests as happened in the case of Pakistan.
The creation of this state was conceived on an utopian basis opposed to the
interest of Islam.'
This deviation in the political field is termed as political error but if we
explore its real cause, we would find it rooted in the cultural realm, or to be
more precise, in moral foundations. Even if they are not explicitly or
deliberately established on the basis of moral values, political standards prove
to be wrong or right only because of the nature of the relation of political reality
to moral values. The politics which basically supports the demand for rights and
neglects the side of duties. is taking this direction merely on the basis of a
choice, tacit or implicit, between two moral concepts: Duty and Right.
The mere choice or preference of any one direction determines the
algebraic relation between right and duty as the basis of the entire social life,
including economics and culture. Hence if we agree on the general meaning of
the two concepts, that is, "duty" is what we give (e.g. to society) and "right"
is what we take - the two representing on the axis of algebraic values, bearing
different signs on the two ends of zero - we can formulate the relation between
the two in a fluctuating form:
Duty + Right = Zero
We shall not be transgressing the bounds of this moral algebraic relation
if we transfer it to the economic field, after agreeing further that "production"
is what we give to society, and "consumption" is what we take. Thus the sum
of these two economic values would fluctuate around zero, having like any other
similar equation. three possibilities:
Production + Consumption = Zero
It behoves us, henceforth, to note the connection between economic and
moral values, a connection overlooked by capitalism with its laissez faire view
of economics. While we see the Prophet, peace be upon him, pointing it out to
us in the case of the beggar who approached him one day, asking for a morsel
of bread. It was his "right" to obtain it from society according to the text of the
Qur'a on z&t. The Prophet, peace be upon him, was the most knowledgeable
person concerning its implementation, just as he was more open-handed than the
generous winds of spring to present this morsel to the poor man who came
asking for it. However, all acts of the Prophet, peace be upon him, were an
exposition and a lesson for his ummah. So, the Prophet beckoned the

Islamic Studies 35 : 3 I 1 996) 295
Companions around him, may God be pleased with them, to equip this beggar
as a wood-cutter, and told the person concerned to gather tire-wood so as to eat
from the sweat of his own hands.
If we analyse the story in its moral context, we see how the Prophet,
peace be upon him, resolved a social crisis which presented itself in the form
of a beggar from among the poor. He preferred its solution in the framework
of "duty" over "right". Or, if we look at its economic dimension, we see him
preferring a solution in the framework of "production".
The stand of the Prophet, peace be upon him, in all other cases
supports this direction. Indeed this guidance for his ummah stands good in the
moral as well as the economic field. We see him giving it to a companion in
another instance. The latter asked from those present what he required and got
it. He repeated his demand and was again granted. When the demand and grant
were repeated a third time, the guidance came in a distinct form. The Prophet,
peace be upon him, told the applicant: ". . . The upper hand is better than the
lower . . ."
The hand that gives is better than the hand that takes. This is the
direction, whether we interpret it morally or economically.
Returning now to the algebraic equation between production and
consumption, and considering it in the light of the economic-moral relationship
presented above, we can now look into its various possibilities. These indicate
three states. A society would rcalise any one of them in accordance with its
cultural orientation. Corresponding to its emphasis on the concept of "duty" or
of "right", its economic equation would be positive if production exceeds
consumption; balanced or zero if the two sides are equal, or negative if
consumption weighs more in the balance.
In the first case, the society can invest the surplus production in future
operations and budget: It is a developing society. In the second case, the two
scales of its budget are balanced so that the one does not outweigh the other,
neither going up, nor going down.: It is a stagnant society. In the third case, the
scale of consumption is preponderant; it neither goes up nor stabilises. It is a
society heading towards collapse.
The shift of emphasis from "right" to "duty" is not something which
comes about spontaneously or by accident. It is a transformation of habits and
dispositions in harmony with the natural human inclination towards the logic of
convenience, reinforced by 20th century demagogy. The latter has made "ME"
a new idol which the individual worships in the name of liberty in the political
field and in the name of rights in the economic field. Even in the field of sports,
one worships the "ME" embodied in the stadiums. Hence the transformation of
inherited focuses or preferences is no easy task but can be brought about only
through a hard struggle against the tendencies which nurture egocentrism in its
two forms: ME and WE.
To counter the cultural revolution - for modifying the emphasis in
favour of duties - there might take place a counter-revolution to prop up the
perverted structure. This is what precisely happened in China when an effort

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ASMA RASHID/T~~ Economic Dilemma of the Muslim World
was made to ease the pressure of rights over production. It was soon countered
by a demand for more rights, for example. in rice ration and wages. This unrest
was most probably directed from quarters outside the country who sought to
cripple the development process by utilising against the workers entrusted with
the execution of the plan "the Leap Forward", their innate inclination for the
easy thing.
It is the height of cunning that a man may be broken up, or cripple
himself with his own hands, without being aware that some imposter had duped
him with the language of rights and liberties.
Individual Biological and Social Equation in Recent Experiments
A society may happen to prepare all that an expert deems necessary and
adequate to tackle a problem only to discover with shock that it could not be
solved on this basis. The Indonesian society lived through just such an
experience, along with Dr. Schacht, a well-known expert of economic planning.
There is no doubt that the failure of his plan for the revival of Indonesian
economy was something the latter had not envisaged. On the one hand, it had
been prepared with technical precision, and on the other, possessed in his eyes
all the necessary material and human resources to guarantee its success. It was
to be implemented in a land blessed with the most fertile soil, producing all sons
of treasures, enjoying a climate which bore fruit in three seasons and was
inhabited by a hundred million human beings endowed with an astonishing
intelligence and a kcen aesthetic sense.
Despite all these ingredients, the plan met with failure. The author may
have looked into the causes ofthis failure but as far as we know he has not left
us a record of such an investigation. Hence we arc entitled 10 ask: What caused
the Schacht plan to stumble and miscarry?
As a matter of fact, we would have to go back to the formation of
Schacht as an economic scientist. His experience was formed in the period
between 1933-1936 in the course of his efforts to revive the German economy.
His plan sought to obtain from the poor German soil and the capabilities of the
German people all the conditions of its success. It did achieve a success which
enabled Germany to confront and withstand the most extreme military and civil
conditions during the 2nd world War.
There is no doubt that Schacht formulated his plan on conditions
provided directly and mechanically by the German people during the
implementation stage. Nor is there any doubt that, later on, he automatically
applied the same conditions to the Indonesian experiment. That is to say, he
formulated his plan on his own personal equation as a member of the German
society while the Indonesian experiment naturally proceeded on the basis of the
equation of the Indonesian individual. Thus the Indonesian experiment tripped
over an error committed by Schacht in his assessment of the human element in
the economic field. For, his mind carried only one form of the human element

Islamic Studies 35:3 (1 996) 297
which he applied to every economic experiment whether within or without
Germany.
However, human reality is to be explained, not on the basis of a single
equation but of a double equation:
(1) Biological Equation puts a man on an equal footing with his
fellow human being in any place, so that he is able to do what another man can,
though certain individuals may be superior to others in certain respects.
(2) Social Equation differs from one society to another, and within
a society from onc period to another according to the degree of development or
backwardness.
As for the first equatioo, it is bestowed by God; He created man of the
goodliest fabric and distinguished him with honour above all in the world (see
Qur'2n 3:95). It is a gift granted by Him, the Mighty and the Exalted, to the
entire mankind.
As for the second equation, it is a gift of society to all its members.
Like a common denominator, it stamps their behaviour and defines the degree
of their effectiveness in confronting difficulties in a way which distinguishes
them from the members of another society or from another generation of their
society, provided the time gap is sufficient to stamp the society with another
style, conforming to a different social equation.
It should be mentioned that from an economic point of view, there are
two sources of social equation: the society we have designated as the northern
hemisphere and the other, which we have designated as the southern
hemisphere. Each of them stamps the behaviour of their individuals with a
definite degree of effectiveness. We can consider the latter as a measure of the
capability of the individual to command, according to his milieu, the means of
social life. Such capability differs today from Washington-Moscow axis (the
northern hemisphere) where civilisational power prevails, to Tangier-Jakarta
axis where such power makes default, as if a sum-total of fundamental
conditions had intervened tacitly, to determine the attitude of the individual in
facing problems and subsequently, the outcome of this attitude. The sum-total
of these conditions forms what we have termed social equation. It tacitly
conditions the attitude of the individual and its rcsults, subjecting the latter to a
sort of inevitability. evoked perhaps by our susceptibilities.
But if' we grasp the nature of this inevitability. we might realise the
extent of its hold on our conduct at the present time and the extent of our
freedom with regard to it. Such a realisation would help us whenever we decide
to change our social equation by means which have allowed other societies to
change it like Japan at the end of the last century or China in the middle of the
present century.
Let us make two suppositions:
(1) A new-born baby arrives on the Washington-Moscow axis. It
will decidedly submit, from the very first moment, to the law of big numbers,
that is, the law of satistics. Thcre would be for it, as a child, in education and
health care and, as an adult, in employment, a share in proportion to the extent

298 ASMA RASHIDIT~~ Economic Dilemma of the Muslim World
of education, health care and employment on the axis of its birth, that is to say.
above 90 % .
(2) A new-born baby arrives on the Tangier-Djakarta axis. It will
also submit to the law of satistics. That is to say, its destiny would be realised
in proportion to less than 40% of education, health care and employment. In
other words, the child would realise itself on the level of its talents in
accordance with its biological equation but in proportion to the social equation
of those who had preceded it in society. For example, if it is born in India, it
would have, regardless of its talents, 25% chance of being an untouchable and
75 % chance of being unemployed.
These two suppositions make it clear that the conduct of an individual
is bound with social conditions preceding his birth. As a consequence, his
efficacy is conditioned by the social equation he finds in his cradle. It imposes
on his behaviour a sort of inevitability which he cannot get rid of except by an
action that would change his social equation, as happcned in Japan during what
is known as the Mciji period, and in China during the revolution, in particular
the cultural revolution.
The people living on the northern axis settled the problem of the social
equation spontaneously through successive experiments since the beginning of
the industrial era. This process led to the appearance of Taylor3 who formulated
his doctrine (Taylorism) as a completion of what time had wrought in the
substance of the social equation which has produced him and his ideas on the
organisation of production.
Dr Schacht himself was but another such product. He automatically
received the same social equation and proceeded to apply it automatically even
on alien soil, as in his project for Indonesia. He did so without reflecting that
the Indonesian society still stood in need of someone who would formulate its
social equation enabling it to implement successfully, on both individual and
collective level, any project requiring orderly and systematic action. Hence, we
can say that the Schacht project failed in Indonesia, despite abundently fulfilling
all the technical and material conditions, for lack of a tacit condition. Since it
did not lie within the field of his competence as an economic specialist, Dr.
Schacht did not think of it.
Certain studies being undertaken in the field of economic development
since the last decade, especially in Paris, scem to show concern for the aspect
we have designated as "social equation", whatever be the name chosen for
indicating it and whatever be the method adopted for its interpretation.
It is noteworthy that certain individuals in the Third World have also
started to contribute their efforts towards this new ijlihod and to enrich it with
the results of experiments gained through their failure or semi-success, as in the
case of the experiment described in detail by an Indian agricultural expert. He
recalls how he worked with U.N. technical advisers for a period of five years,
during which certain positive results were realised because of the technical
method applied under the supervision of the advisers. However, as related by

Islamic Studies 35:3 (1 996) 299
the Indian specialist, the experiment reverted to the traditional methods as soon
as the foreign experts left.
What concerns us in this experiment is that it moved along on the basis
of the equation specific to the loreign experts supervising it, and went back to
operate according to another equation - the equation of the lndian society -
the moment these foreign experts left.
This phenomenon recurs, in one form or another, in all fields of
activity, even the scientific, as an Algerian engineer brother preparing his thesis
for doctorate in Europe, mentioned to me. Since there was an ideological
affinity between us and we had previously discussed the above sub-ject, he
wished to recall for me his personal experience in the laboratory. He observed
that despite his superiority over his colleagues from a theoretical standpoint, on
the practical side, that is to say, from the standpoint of utilising the tools of
practical experiment, he suffered from a certain lack of confidence in these
tools. Hence his complex or inhibition hampered the result or results which his
mind had grasped before others'.
Despite the apparent difference between the two fields, this story is akin
to the one recalled by the Indian specialist. The two differ only in form - this
as an experiment in a li~boratory of plastic material and that in the field of
electronics applied in agriculture. However, they do not differ in their social-
psychological origin, as each story indicates that the formation of both the Indian
and the Algerian experts did not idlow them full control over their scientific
tools, whereas the level of their theoretical knowledge - at least in the case of
the Algerian expert - appeared very high. What struck me in the Algerian
expert as he narrated his story, itnd it is worth mentioning, was that he seemed
to be fully conscious 01' the complex which afflicted him as someone living
through an ordeal.
In any case, each of the two stories implies that scientific technique also
demands a social cqui~tion. The latter is not created spontaneously in the
amphitheatres of universities. It is society itself that bestows it on the individual
amidst habits and traditions on which a child is nurtured from its cradle. It is
denied to a child born in another society where social equation has not been
formed, or has been lost due to definite historical-social causes, as is the case
with the Muslim society today.
Broaching the question of the manner of its formation, we find that
social equation is formed in two ways. It may be wrought by time, with a
recurrence of experiments which are gradually transformed into firmly
established habits, automatically stamping individual and collective behaviour
with the seal of efficacy. Or, it may be formed under the compulsion of a
purposeful will which intends what it does and docs what it intends, in order to
face harsh conditions and imperatives.
There is no doubt [hi11 Western society enjoys a social equation
gradually formulated by time over the centurics and perfected, a1 times, by new
ideas like those of Taylor in thc last century.

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ASMA RASH ID IT^^ Economic Dilemma of the Muslim World
As for the Chinese socicty, it is building its social equation today with
its own hands, that is 10 say, under harsh conditions which have invested each
individual with a conscience. in what we would term a "state of salvation". It
was preceded in this arena by the Japanese society. The latter built its social
equation with its own hands to confront the "state of salvationn it faced a
century back when Commodore Perry knocked at its door in 1853.4
So, the Muslim society faces two choices.
The first choice is that it should let time shape (or reformulate) its
social equation so as to empower it to face the challenge posed by an economic
realm extraneous to it. This way is long and paved with trials and ordeals such
as the Algerian expert lived through or such as those suffered by the Indonesian
people during the implementation of the Schacht plan.
These experiments, even the unsuccessful ones, would gradually create
by their recurrence established habits which in time would form the "social
equation", stamping all activity with necessary efficacy in the economic realm
subject to standards of precision and production.
The second choice is to tackle the problem methodically as did Japan
and China, or as Taylor and his school did in the West which perfected its social
equation in the form of the "taylorian" doctrine.
The Muslim world is facing today a "state of salvation" or, as they say
in military terminology, a "state of emergency". Just as the military command
takes steps to face exceptional circumstances, so must the Muslim world take
stern measures in the economic field.
Need for Self-Sufficiency and Evolution from National Economy to Regional
Economy for Realising Autarky
The world discovered through colonialism all forms of the domination of the
powerful over the weak. Colonialism fettered their freedom of conduct by
military and economic bonds. It even sought, at times, to extend its hold over
the spiritual domain through missionary expeditions whose only concern was to
support the colonial domination through covert means.
Today, in the era of the liquidationof colonialism under the supervision
of a committee of the United Nations bearing this appellation, there does not
remain, in general, scope for military control over the destiny of the peoples of
the Third World. that is to say, a majority of the peoples of the Muslim world.
But colonialism has devised means to compensate its military domination with
economic domination. It has not only enabled him to remain in the former
spheres of its influence but to expand its renewed penetration, which is no
longer met with rejection but greeted with acceptance. gratification and mutual
accords.
Thus, we find a change in appearance whereby the colonist has changed
the sword in his hands with an olive branch, symbol of peace. While we
perceive, from what we have seen of the texture of the new relations between

Islamic Studies 35 : 3 ( 1 996) 30 1
the two economic spheres, that nothing has changed in the conscience of the
northern man. He continues to follow the creed of Liebniz5 who, while laying
down the new basis for methametics, also meditated on the occupation of Egypt
and presented on this account a detailed report to Louis X1V.6 He also
continues to follow the creed of Ernest Renan7 who saw that the "European is
born to command just as the Chinese is born to work in a slave camp, and each
must do what he is created Ibr." Hence the substitution of the sword with the
olive branch has changed nothing but the appearance.
Europe which in the 1 1 th century had forged an alliance to conduct the
Crusadesn and, in 1881, entered into a colonial pact in Berlin, under Bismarck'sY
supervision, for the imperialist onslaught, has today turned itself once again into
a bloc in the form of the "Conunon Market". Apparently constituted to resist the
challenge posed by U.S., Japan and China, it has actually come into being for
launching an economic offensive against the former spheres of European
influence in order to plant therein new pillars of their presence through
economic means.
Accordingly, it behoves anyone concerned with the economic revival
of a Muslim country or Muslim world in general, to take into consideration
internal imperatives some of whose features we have indicated earlier. Likewise,
he must also take into consideration the external imperatives as indicated here.
We must first clarify the logic of the issue by asking: What are the
limits of individual capabilities - we mean to say, with regard to his country
alone - to face internal and external imperatives? That is to say, we must know
clearly the limits of our freedom of action internally, within the framework of
harnessing social energies on the basis of the two postulates mentioned earlier
as essential conditions for setting the wheel of economic dynamics in motion,
and on the other hand, in resisting economic penetration from outside.
It must be noted that only a few countries, like the U.S., the Soviet
Union and China, fulfil the conditions of autarky. For example, U .S consumes
95% of its production within its own frontiers. It me'ms that if it broke off all
economic relations with the outside world, only 5% of its economy or work
force would be affected. In other words, the United States enjoys almost
absolute economic freedom on account of the vastness of its area and its
demographic base, that is, its affluence from the point of view of natural wealth
and human resources.
After the Cultural Revolution, China has become another country which
can harmlessly break off economic relations with he outside world, by means
of the austerity imposed by current internal imperatives in the take-off stage it
is still passing through. Likewise, the Soviet Union can do so less easily than
the United States but more easily than China. As for all other countries, they
cannot resolve all their economic problems within their particular frontiers.
Despite being the third economic power. Japan cannot afford to cut off
its ties with the outside world. That is to say, it cannot form a closed economic
circle within its frontiers except, like Germany, in rare circumstances. The latter

ASMA RASHID~T~~ Economic Dilemma of the Muslim World
was able to survive at least in the first year of the Second World War in a
closed economy, that is, autarky, on the basis of Dr Schacht's plan.
The only Muslim country which can face internal and external
imperatives within its frontiers is, doubtlessly, Indonesia. Nevertheless, it failed
to implement the Schacht plan because, as we have shown, it was applied on
non-objective bases, rhat is, on bases present in Germany but missing in
Indonesia.
We must go a step further in clarifying the logic of the issue. Each
country, Muslim or non-Muslim, can solve some of its problems within its
frontiers, for example, all that concerns justice, administration and law and
order. Likewise, other problems can be solved within the framework of a
regional organisation; Ibr examplc, in the case of Arab countries, those relating
to production and niarkcting of pctrol if an agreement could be reached in this
respect. Finally, thcre are problenls which can only be solved on a global level,
like peace and postal coordination. etc.
Thc drift of thc Europcan nations towards the idea of founding a
European common market is merely the confirmation of a reality dictated by the
evolution of economic relations in the world following the liquidation of
colonisation. That is to say, after European countries like France, England and
Holland lost colonics in Africa and Asia which complemented their economy.
So these countries havc moved towards autarky to confront new internal and
external imperatives.
If we analyse the factors which prompted the European heads of states,
like de Gaulle," to embrace the idea of a common market sacrificing for its sake
certain values like national chauvinism, regarded as sacrosanct a century earlier,
we would find that Europe found this inspiration first and foremost in its old
heritage - when Charlemagne," a contemporary of Hariin al-Rashid," created
on the basis of the unifying Christian creed what came to be known as the Holy
Roman Empire.
Hence, we see how the materialist, secular Europe is not afraid, for the
sake of organising its economy anew, to return to its old era, to the realm of the
sacred and the holy, in order to consolidate the universe of its material interests.
Thus we find that the advanced countries are not afraid of taking a step
backwards, at times, to correct an error or redress an extravagance. While we
see that the leaders ilnd intellectuals in backward countries are afflicted with a
sense of shame on hcaring a word about the need to put to right a negligence or
an excess. As if they were thc people the Qur'w points our: ". . . They forbade
not one another the inequity which they wrought!" (5:79).
We find today many of our brerhren in Muslim-Arab countries dubbing
reappraisal as reactionaryism, without realising that their progressiveness has
grown old, decrepit and time-worn, since people have lost faith in it even in its
very cradle in the Western countries. Whereas the Muslim-Arab countries are
in greater need than any other to review their economy so that they do not
follow models of 19th century Europe and discover their error a century later

Islamic Studies 3 5 : 3 ( 1 9 9 6 I 303
to return once again, after another century, to the European models of the 20th
century.
It is incumbent on the Arab countries in particular to review the
organisation of their economic life according to the conditions that would ensure
the realisation of autarky within their frontiers and on the basis of the conditions
of social investment we have presented in the form of the two postulates. Their
implementation within the frontiers of one country alone might encounter a
degree of difficulty but would decrease in proportion to the expansion of the
area of implementation.
Supposing it lost certain of its states, America would not be able to
realise the conditions of a complete economic circle. For, any change in the
physical-demographic map decidedly changes the conditions of the two
postulates: (I) each mouth eats, and (2) each hand works.
If the change, (according to our supposition with regard to America),
is for worse, it would be far better if we reversed its application, - e.g., with
reference to the Arab world if it united and in proportion to what this area
unified, that is, in proportion to its collective capabilities and needs. However
such an issue cannot be decided off-hand but through a study of the map.
To take an example: Libya has a large expanse of empty lavel, Egypt
has human surplus, while Kuwait possesses a surplus of idle capital. If these
three factors were united in an experimental project, the entire Arab world
would perceivc that the conditions of take-off and self-sufficiency lie in its own
hands whenever it wished to bring about an economic revival. It could do so by
universalising the tripartite experiment indicated above till it becomes an Arab
bloc in the foundation of the new Muslim civilisation.
The Arab world enjoys neglected economic capabilities, such as those
lands where the first human civilisation emerged on the banks of the Tigris and
the Euphrates. Here too tlourished the first Islamic civilisation since the
caliphate of 'Umar, thanks to the resources provided by a soil fed with
thousands of years' alluvial deposits. This al-Sawiid14 which has once again
turned into.swamps. breeding fever where once nourishing food grew.'=
The Muslim world has the power to restore to the soil its function even
from today and with the means presently in hand. It would not face any problem
on the technical side either, if it decided to bring back the Arab brains which
have migrated for various reasons. Among them are cultural reasons related
to a lack of justifications to ensure that resolve is strengthened and ambitions
raised to the level of the responsibilities entrusted to scientists and intellectuals
within the framework of a comprehensive plan. According to this plan, Arab
hands, brains and capital will unite on the Arab soil or on the largest possible
portion thereof, corresponding to the conditions of econonlic autarky. Thus the
people and in particular the leaders would finally perceive that the countries
which cannot face the global economic conditions all alone can withstand them
and make progress if their brains, hands and capital support each other in a
workshop of common action, for the sake of an independent economy which
would not bow to foreign pressure.

ASMA RASHID/T~~ Economic Dilemma of the Muslim World
Whatever the difficulties in the way of the creation of a complete
economic circle - Arab, as a first step, Muslim, the next - its realisation
would be the best proof of straightness in thought and in implementation.
Khruschev16 hinted at pretty much the same thing when he said that "the best
proof of the soundness of our thinking is our economic success";- provided we
change the word "soundness" with "efficiency". For within the compass of those
ideas which are subject to collective implementation, the results do not depend
so much on the "soundness" of the notions applied as on their "efficacy". The
social impact of Communism itself is deeper than that of ideas which are
sounder but ill implemented. Thus, while Communism has been able to create
in the Soviet Union an economic circle that can close on itself, we do not see
the Muslim world even striving to realise economic self-sufficiency. It can only
mean that the Communists apply Marxist thinking more earnestly than the
Muslims apply their Islam.
For, the results especially in the economic field are realised on the basis
of purely social factors which bestow on the ideas applied more or less efficacy.
It suffices to say that the causes which stamp Muslim behaviour in a way which
render their ideas less efficacious in the economic field as compared to those of
others, belong to a passing phase. That is to say, these causes are linked to the
historical phase through which the Muslim society is passing today. It is
incumbent on the Muslims to get rid of them in the shortest possible time
through ways imposed by an era of the acceleration of history. In the economic
field, it means that they should unify their capabilities and needs so as to realise
as quickly as possible, the conditions of autarky - that is, an economic circle
which can close on itself if internal and external imperatives so demand.
CONCLUSION
We have tried in our presentation to liberate Muslim thought from certain
inhibitions which have gained hold on its gtihad, paralysing it in the economic
field. For it sees in this field only a definitive, inevitable choice between
capitalist ideas and order and those deriving from Marxist ideology. We have
tried to show that such determinism has no justification except in our
unquestioning acceptance in advance that there is no scope for Vfihcrci to discover
a third alternative. Whereas, mere re-examination of the role of capital in the
economy, both in its capitalist and Marxist forms, would unveil new horizons
as to the manner of mobilising social energies; horizons, that will provide a
point of departure for the economy and enable the Muslim to confront conditions
of underdevelopment and imperatives of the time, within lawful limits laid down
by God and His Prophet.
Our objective is simply to attempt to break the fetters imposed on our
ijrihcsd by alien thinking and to take certain steps towards a new direction such
as those we have termed social investment or the problem of social equation.
This is needed so that our thinking gets accustomed to pursue other steps which
we could only indicate at the moment.

Islamic Studies 35:3 ( 1 996) 305
Even if the steps we have taken with the reader in these pages do not
prove commendable from a practical point of view, for worse, we believe they
would not be quite in vain. The issues we have underlined and our manner of
tackling them would, at least, serve as an excercise for Muslim thought in
conducting itself freely in face of the economic dilemmas.
Indeed the movement of ideas, whatever its direction, provokes further
thinking to support, correct or even resist it. I also believe that Muslim thought
is called upon to plunge itself in the great battlefield to face the challenge of the
economic universe. This book calls on him to enter it as a free man who does
not bow his head either before the golden calf or before the embellishment of
the Marxist doctrine.
'Government abstention from intetierence with individual action especially in the economic
field. (Loissez faire, laissez aller, literally means 'let make, let go').
'Here, as elsewhere in his writings, Bennabi betrays a tragic ignorance of the genesis of the
Muslim political movement in the Sub-continent, mainly due to dearth of literature on the subject
in Ardbic and French and the culpable failure of the Muslims of the Subcontinent to present their
case abroad.
As a matter of fact, far from being a chance product of the utilisation of a lucky opportunity,
Pakistan was the outcome of a conscious movement and a deliberate effort directed towards a
definite end. In his presidential address at the All-India Muslim League session at Allahabad, 29
December 1930, lqbal expounded at length the historical and philosophical bases of Muslim demand
for self-determination. The religious ideal of Islam, he said. is organically related to the social order
it has created so that the rejection of one will eventually involve the reje3ion of the other. . . The
unity of an Indian nation, therefore, must be sought got in the negation but in the mutual harmony
and cooperation of the many. Calling for the forbtion of a consolidated Muslim state in the best
interest of India and Islam, he concluded: ". . . For India it means security and peace resulting from
an internal balance of power: for Islam an opportunity to rid itself of the stamp that Arab
imperialism was forced to give it, to mobilise its law, its education, its culture and to bring them
into closer contact with its own original spirit and with the spirit of modem times."
Ten years later. voicing the Muslim demand for an independent Muslim state Jinnah presented
the same case as lucidly in political terms. Islam and Hinduism, he said, are not religions in the
strict sense of the word hut are in fact two different orders. Hindus and Muslims "belong to two
different religious philosophies. social customs and literatures. They neither inter-marry nor inter-
dine together and indeed helong to two different civilisations hased on conflicting ideas and
conceptions. . . To yoke together two such nations under a single state, one as a numerical minority
and the other as a majority, must lead to growing discontent and final destruction of any fabric that
may be built up for ihe government of such a state. . ." (Lahore, 23 March 1940). The case for
Pakistan has been vindicated over the years by the continuing persecution of Muslims in Bharat and
the gruesome suppression of Muslims in Kashmir.
'Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915). American economist and engineer who presented
a system of scientific organisation of work, control of the time of execution and remuneration of the
worker.
mough European incursions against Japan began in the last half of the 16th century, it was
the appearance of a powerful American fleet under Commodore Perry in 1853. followed by English.
Russian and French emissaries which finally forced the country to abandon its policy of national
isolation and opened it to foreign trade and residence in 1859.
'Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) German philosopher and mathematician.
y1638-1715) King of France (1643-1715)
'Joseph Ernest Renan (1823-1892). French philosopher and philologist.

306
ASMA RASH ID IT^^ Economic Dilemma of the Muslim World
Wane given to a chain of Christian military expeditions hetween l lth and 13th centuries
apparently for control of the Holy Places hut in effect to bring the Muslim East into subjection to
the West. Militarily a con~plete failure (Jerusalem occupied in 1009 was liherdted by SalHh al-Din
in 1187). the Crusades led to contacts with the East, at the time the seat of culture, science and
knowledge. Acquaintance with Muslim intellectual ideas enlarged the mental horizons of many
among the Crusaders and helped prepare the way for the Kenaissance.
'Prince Otto Von Hisnl;~rck (1815-1898), German Chancellor from 1x62 to 1890. Presided
as "honest broker" in 1878 over the 5-Power Berlin Congress called to adjust the results of the
Russo-Turkish war. It recogn~scd the complete independence of Rumania, Serbia and Montenegro,
autonomy of Bulgaria. and renioved Bosnia-Herzgovina from the Turkish administration to place it
undtr that of Austria. Turkey was also forced to consent to the British occupation of Cyprus.
But Benniabi seems to he rckrring here to the 14-Power Berlin Conference, November 18x4.
also initiatcd and presided over by Bisn~arck in the wake of a general scramble for possession of
parts of Africa. A treaty was signed in February 1885, recognising the titles of the various Powers
over regions already occupied and leaving the door open for further acquisitions.
"'European Econc~mic Community (BEC) was founded in 1957 by Belgium, France, Germany.
Holland, Italy and Luxeliiho~lrg with a view to the progressive esta1)lishnicnt of a customs union and
common market. It has si~~ce been joincd hy Brirain, Denmark, Grcece. 1rel:tnd. Portugal and Spain
and its scope has heen wiclcl~ed. cspeciidly since the Maastricht Trcaty of 1901. to include conimon
defence. common currency ;~ntl monet;uy union.
"Charles de Gaulle (IX9&1070) French General and statesman. As President of the Fifth
Repuhlic he developed ;I foreign policy ol' rational prestige and independence.
"Charlenugne or Charles. the Great (742-814). Frankish king, wits crowned as Emperor of
the Holy Roman Empire hy Pope in Rome on Christmas Day, 800.
"HIN~ al-Rashid, the famous Ahhasid Caliph (780-809). Hitti writes: "The 9th ~ ell~ly
opened with two imperial nilmes standing suprenie in world affairs. Charlemagne in the West and
Harun al-Rashid in the East. Of the two. IIarun was undouhtedly the more powerful and represented
the higher culture".
"Name given to the fertile, cultivated land in Iraq. notahly between Basra and Kufa. Object
of special attention hy the Ahbasids, the lower region of the Tigris-Euphrates valIey, the traditional
site of the garden of Eden. became the richest in the whole empire after Egypt. Besides staple crops
of barley, wheat, rice. dates, sesame. cotton and flex. fruits. vegetable and flowers of both hot and
cold regions were produced in abundance. The gardens of the Ubullah Canal, extending from Basra
to the South East, formed one of the "fi~ur earthly paradises" in the Ahhasid empire mentioned hy
Arab historians.
"It is noteworthy that when the Iraqi govt. Sought to drain these marshes to reclaim them for
agriculture. the Western "humi~nists" raised a hue and cry. Among the most vocal was Prince
Charles of Britain who could hardly contain his "rage and despair" at the "deliberate drainage'' and
consequent destruction of a "unique hahitat" and "ul~ique way of life" and passionately called on
Islam and West to join hands to 11revent a "total cataclysm" li)r the sake of "our common humanity ".
"Islam and West", Islutnir. Stitdies. 34:4. 1 903.
The Prince need not havc harlwurctl ;my fear on that score. In facl, the entire ol-SUIV@ is in
danger of being turned into ow vast sw;mip. according to the 1995ll996 FA0 Report on Irq. It
states that the embargo (which has killed hialfa million children under five) has not nlerely stopped
the large-scale dr:ii~lageIagriculture propranlnle under way before 1990. hut has also drastically
reduced the earlier gains. Alwut half of 0.75 million I~ectarcs reclaimed earlier have heen reduced
to marshy land unsuitable li)r agriculture and the other half also hces sirnili~r fate unless pumping
stations can he put hack into operation. 11 cites the exaniple of Ilusseinya pumping station when: 7
of the I0 pumps are out ofactio~~ because of he non-;~v;iilahility of spare-parts. turning ahout IO.000
hectares of reclaimed land into a virtuid hke of waler while another 5.000 hectares is hst getting
water-logged.
'Wikita S. Khrouchtchcv (1894-1971). who asConiniunist Party Secretary-General and Prime
Minister of USSR (1958-1964). initiated the policy of "de-StAinisation" and peaceful co-existence.