THE ECONOMIC DILEMMA OF THE MUSLIM WORLD

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300 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
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THE ECONOMIC DILEMMA OF THE MUSLIM WORLD

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