Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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The relationship between neighbors is highly guarded in Islam. In the Qur'an Allah says, "And serve
Allah. Ascribe no things as partner unto Him. [Show] kindness unto parents, and unto near kindred,
and orphans, and the needy, and unto the neighbor..." (Qur'an, 4:36). Several quotes from Prophet
Mohammed point to this close-to-sacred relationship. Mohammed was quoted as saying, "He whose
neighbor is not safe from his harm and dishonesty, will not enter Paradise." He also said, that "The
archangel Gabriel kept exhorting me about the neighbor to the point that I thought he would grant him
the right of inheritance." He also said, "By Allah, disbelieves a person who sleeps with a full stomach
while his adjacent neighbor is hungry. Mohammed was also quoted as saying, "In the Day of
Resurrection, the first adversaries are two neighbors."
17
Muslim jurists relied on incidents involving Prophet Mohammed's experience and expanded them to
similar cases. For an illustrative discussion on Muslim jurists' ruling concerning harm and cleanliness
in the Islamic city, see Chapter 1, "Islamic law and neighborhood building guidelines," in Hakim
(1988).
John Dyckman, A. Kreditor and T. Baneijee. "Planning in an Unprepared Environment: The Case of
Bahrain" TPR 2 (1984): 214.
19
For discussion of applicability of "Western-developed urban models, see B. J. Walter "Planning for
Whom" In Urbanization, National Development, and Regional Planning in Africa, edited by S. El-
Shakhs and R. Obudho, 93-109. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1974; John Freidmann, "Intention
and Reality: The American Planner Overseas," A1P Journal 3 (May 1969): 187-194.
20 The government collects the Islamic taxes (zakat). They are levied on invested capital (2.5%),
livestock and some types of personal property and belongings, such as gold, silver and jewelry, among
others. The government's reliance on oil revenues diminishes its needs for revenues from zakat. There
is no income or sales tax. Still, some government departments require fees in return for rendering
services such as application processing, permit issuing and the like.
2
* Samuel Huntington. Political Order in Changing Societies (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968):
159.
22 See for example, Janet Abu-Lughod, Rabat: Urban Apartheid In Morocco (Princeton: New Jersey:
Princeton University, 1980); M. Bonine, "The Urbanization of the Persian Gulf Nations," in The
Persian Gulf State: A General Survey, edited by Alvin Cottrell, C. E. Bosworth, R. Burrell, K.
McLachlan, and R. M. Savory, 225-278 (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1983); and Saad
Eddin Ibrahim, "Cairo: A Sociological Profile," in The Middle East City: Ancient Traditions Confront
a Modern World, edited by A. Saqqaf, 209-226 (New York: Paragon, 1987); S. El-Shakhs,
"Development Planning in Africa: An Introduction," in Urbanization, National Development, and
Regional Planning in Africa, edited by S. El-Shakhs and R. Obudho, 3-12. New York: Praeger
Publishers, 1974; and Bob J. Walter, op. cit.
23 In many Developing countries, the middle class has contributed to coup d'e'tats and advocated
revolutionary change once it reached a mature level (Heller and Safran, 1984).
24
Ibid.
25 Samuel Huntington. Political Order in Changing Societies (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968):
155.