THE ECONOMIC DILEMMA OF THE MUSLIM WORLD

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.