MUSLIM CIVILIZATION: THE CAUSES OF DECLINE AND THE NEED FOR REFORM

Introduction

The main idea of this book is that, looking to the past to reform the present and improve the future, a leading and renowned expert in Islamic Economics.

In "Islamic Civilization" Dr. Chapra, having come to the conclusion that economic reform on its own is not sufficient, looks at the bigger picture through a review of Islamic history to identify the causes of decline of the Muslim civilization in order to draw a new future vision for reform, progress and development. The author points out that the Muslim world:

‘Has more than one fifth of the world’s population and is rich in natural resources, it produces only around 8% of the world's purchasing power adjusted GNP. It is plagued by illiteracy, poverty and unemployment and extremely difficult macro-economic imbalances. It is far behind major industrial, and even some developing countries, in almost all fields of life, including the economic, political, educational, technological and military."

The author also proceeds to point out the moral failure of Muslim majority countries with deep-rooted inequalities of income and wealth, conflict and disunity. The masses live in poverty alongside small elites who live in luxury.

The author considers that an explanatory model is needed for the development and decline of civilizations and societies. He mentions a number of European thinkers such as Gibbon, Spengler, Toynbee and Kennedy before focusing on Ibn Khaldun .He spends several pages discussing Ibn Khaldun's model of dynastic rise and decline before proceeding to apply it to the problem in hand.

Ibn Chaldean’s (ابن خلدون) theory of development and decline

In first chapter of this book the author explains Ibn Chaldean’s (ابن خلدون) concepts of statecraft which are condensed into the following point:

• The strength of the sovereign does not materialize except through the implementation of the Shariah.
• The Shariah cannot be implemented except by the sovereign.
• The people cannot be sustained except by wealth.
• Wealth cannot be acquired except through development.
• Development cannot be attained except through justice.
• Justice is the criterion by which God will evaluate mankind.

The author points out that this is a cyclical model where each part impact upon every other part. In view of the interdependence, the failure of any part of the system can cause society to decline. He writes:

"This implies that the trigger mechanism for the decline of the society may not necessarily be the same in all societies. In Muslim societies, with which Ibn Khaldun(ابن خلدون) was concerned, the trigger mechanism was the failure of the political authority which, unfortunately, continues in most Muslim countries until the present time…, and has led to the misuse of public resources and their non-availability for the realization of justice, development and general well-being."

Factors that contributed to the rise of the Muslims

Before considering the reasons for decline it is logical to consider the reasons why Muslim civilization was successful for such a long period. In the author's opinion:

"What Islam did was to activate all the developmental factors in a positive direction. It gave maximum attention to the people, who constitute the primary force behind a society's rise or fall. It tried to lift them morally as well as materially, make them better human beings, and reform all the institutions that affected them. Its revolutionary worldview changed their outlook towards life by injecting a meaning and purpose into it. It made all individuals equal in their position as vice regents of the Supreme Being Who created them as well as the whole universe. This gave dignity, equality and self-respect to all of them, irrespective of their race, sex, wealth or position. It also made this ideal an effective reality by firmly establishing positions of leadership on those who earlier had been oppressed and weakened. It provided sanctity to life, property and individual honor and gave a prestigious place to knowledge by emphasizing its importance in the very first revelation of the Quran. It accorded to women a respectable position in society by declaring them to be a "trust from God" and sisters [not slaves] of men, and enjoined men to treat them well."

The author goes on to discuss how this was associated with advances in agriculture, the development of cities, trade and intellectual advances.

Factors responsible for Muslim decline

The author starts by asking, if Islam was the trigger for the rise of Muslim civilization, why did Muslim societies decline? The author looks at three Islamic institutions which have been alleged by Timur Kuran to be inimical to growth: the inheritance system which does not allow primogeniture, the absence of the concept of limited liability and juridical personality, and the institution of the waqf. He considers each in turn and rejects them as an explanation for economic underperformance.

He then asks whether political illegitimacy was the trigger for the decline. The author points out that Ibn Khaldun (ابن خلدون) and many other classical Muslim scholars have held the view that Muslim history took a wrong turn when the period of the rightly guided caliphs was brought to an end by the accession of Muawiyah in 661. However this appears rather simplistic since dynastic caliphs were in power throughout the greatest periods of Muslim civilisation which did not start to decline for another six hundred years.

Economic decline

The author proceeds to point out the excessive levels of taxation and government expenditure of the Ottoman period when enormous amounts of money were spent on the standing army. He presents a number of statistics to make this case quite convincingly.

However what this analysis fails to do is to explain why at a time when European economies were developing strongly, the Ottoman economy failed to do so.

Decline in education, science and technology

The author of this book specifies the following three important factors for stagnation in the areas of education, science and technology:

1)              Decline in state financial support. "Lack of political accountability was perhaps the most important reason for the near-drying up of state financial support that had previously been generously available. The luxury of the royal courts combined with corruption and excessive spending on military campaigns drained government resources and reduced its ability to finance education, science and technology, infrastructure construction and economic development. The Ottomans, in general, tended to give low priority to education and other nation-building activities. Therefore, the Islamic creative spark, which dimmed by the time the Ottomans came to power in the beginning of the eighth/fourteenth century, was nearly eclipsed in later centuries. Potentially much more significant is the conflict between the rationalists and the conservatives. The author explains that the rationalists came from two main groups: the Mutazilites and the Falasifah.

2)                The inability of the private sector to play an effective role. "The economic problems that the private sector faced, the lack of government support, and the misappropriation of even waqf income by the trustees for private benefit did not however permit an increase in funds for this purpose. The private sector was unable to generate enough resources to spread even literacy and general religious education among the people, let alone build universities and research centers badly needed by the Muslim world.

3)                  The use of force by the rationalists to impose unacceptable views on the public. The factor that hurt the continued flowering of science and technology most in the Muslim world was the conflict that arose between the rationalists and the conservatives as a result of the former's use of coercive power to impose some unacceptable view on the population." … "It was the extremists on both sides who generated a great deal of heat and changed the texture of the whole debate, creating an atmosphere of confrontation." … "What then was it that polarized the then Muslim society into two belligerent groups, when in the same society different fiqhi schools were mutually tolerant and generally coexisted peacefully in spite of substantial differences of opinion among them? The answer may perhaps lie in the use of force by an illegitimate political authority that did not enjoy the trust of the people. …

The author points out that the Mutazilites exploited the political patronage and financial backing of some caliphs, in particular Mamun Al Rashid (died 833) and his immediate successors. At that time dissenters were punished. When they fell out of favour, there was an intellectual backlash with two consequences:

1. Separation between the state (in the person of the Caliph) and the definition of Islam. Instead Islam has since been defined by consensus within the community in the author's view.
2. The alienation of most religious scholars from philosophy and science. The author regards this as the source for the failure of science and technology to develop within the Muslim world. He may be correct although there is a chronological challenge because science continued to develop amongst Muslims for many years after 833.

Contrast between the Muslim and Western Enlightenment Movements

The reasons for the downfall of the 'Enlightenment' movement in the Muslim world were thus the reverse of what led to its success in the West. First, in the West it was the corruption and despotism of the Church that led to the success of Voltaire's call to 'crush the infamous thing' and which shook confidence in the metaphysical beliefs that the Church stood for. … Secondly, orthodoxy in Islam has never been defined by ecclesiastical councils, as in Christianity. … While Western scholars have challenged the authenticity of the Bible, Muslims have … recognized the paramount authority of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet from an early period... The'ulama around whose opinions the consensus was built up, did not impose their views on the people. The people rather accepted their views because of the harmony with the Qur'an and Sunnah, as well as the force of their logic and confidence in their piety, integrity and scholarship. Thirdly, it was the Church which resorted to the Inquisition in the West, it was the rationalists who resorted to it in the Muslim world, though never as harshly as the Church."

The Future of Rationalism in the Muslim World

We now come to the crucial question about whether the re-emergence of scientific inquiry in the Muslim world will give rise to a conflict between reason and Revelation and necessitate a change in the paradigm, in the same way as it did in the West. Note, however, that the Islamic paradigm does not itself necessitate a conflict between reason and Revelation. “Reason can, thus, play a considerable role in the restructuring of Muslim society without coming into conflict with Revelation provided that the state, the rationalists and the conservatives do not try to step on each other's toes, and avoid confrontation and use of force. “The hopeful sign however is that the ongoing spread of democracy will tend to serve as a positive force in favor of moderation because of the necessity of rallying the support of all groups."

Social Decline

"Avoidance of the echelons of power by pious and competent 'ulama has harmed Islam in a number of ways. First, it deprived the Muslim world of political reform. If righteous and prominent 'ulama and Sufis had struggled for political reform and the rights of the people instead of secluding themselves away, they may have been able, gradually over the centuries, to influence and effect the creation of democratic institutions. This might have helped impose checks and controls on rulers' powers, and reduced inequities, the misuse of state resources, and the appointment of incompetent people to senior positions."

"Secondly, the conflict with Mu'tazilism aroused suspicion among the 'ulama aboutfalsafah (philosophy). Unfortunately, the teaching of falsafah was bracketed in those days with a number of physical sciences like physics and chemistry. Accordingly, all these were unwittingly associated with falsafah and were, hence, suspect. "

Deterioration in the position of women

No sociological explanation seems to have been offered so far (of historical factors that brought about the change for the deterioration of the position of women in Muslim societies). It may be worth exploring whether one important cause was insecurity of life and property that resulted from the political upheavals and the weak law and order situation prevailing over a number of countries starting from the later part of the Abbasid dynasty…. The barbarian Mongol occupations may have further accentuated the seclusion to save Muslim women from being subject to molestation. In periods of turmoil, disorder and anarchy, fiqh allows the imposition of restrictions as precautionary measures (sadd al-dhari'ah) to prevent harm – restrictions that are not allowed by the Shari'ah under normal circumstances. Since the turmoil prevailed for centuries, the restrictions which may have been accepted for a temporary period became locked-in through path dependence and became a permanent characteristic of Muslim society

Some Lessons from Muslim History

In chapter seven, the author summarizes some of the main lessons learned in his view from Muslim History:

1- "The question is: why did rulers start to neglect their responsibilities? The answer is provided by the first lesson of Muslim history that accountability before the people is indispensable for motivating rulers to perform their tasks effectively for the well-being of the people. For this purpose Islam instituted the system of khilafah with shura.

2- The lack of political accountability gradually gives rise to a number of ills that hurt both justice and development. One of the first ill effects of this was the loss of freedom of expression whereby it was no longer possible for people to criticize rulers and to discuss government policies openly. This lead to the creation of fertile ground for inequality before the law, in clear violation of the Shari'ah and the formation of a privileged class which could not be subjected fully to the discipline of the Shari'ah. A major mechanism for self-correction in the political system was, thus, nearly lost. Possibilities for reform hence receded more and more into the background. Corruption, inefficiency and inequities accentuated and public resources were increasingly used for the luxury of the royal court and the pursuit of expensive military campaigns aimed at territorial expansion, particularly during the Ottoman period.

3- It is not possible for political authority to impose its own worldview on people. Such efforts rupture the solidarity between people and rulers, accentuate social turmoil and vitiate the atmosphere for development. … Discontent and unrest initiated by efforts to forcefully impose a worldview unacceptable to the people continues to simmer, leading to the breakdown of solidarity between the government and the people, and the accentuation of conflict and tension.

4- Once the people are alienated, the government loses its grass roots support and needs to rely on the help of external guards to stay in power. This, however, proves ultimately to be self-defeating. It makes rulers complacent, further reduces their contact and dialogue with people, leaves conflicts unresolved, increases tensions, lowers development and leads to the domination of the country by outsiders.

5- Islam is not the cause of Muslim decline. Islam has, in fact, itself been, and continues to be, a victim of lack of political accountability, corruption and repression.

Failure to Learn the Lessons

"The primary reason for this overall decline is that the Muslim world has failed to learn the lessons of history indicated in the previous chapter. Lack of political accountability which triggered the decline, has continued until today. The Muslim World has not been able until now to establish a procedure for the orderly transfer of the reins of power to the most upright and competent in the eyes of the people as desired by the Qur'an (49:13), the efficient and equitable use of public resources in accordance with the Shari'ah, and the free and  fearless criticism of public policies."

"Corruption, combined with lack of freedom of expression, tends to corrupt the courts as well, in which case, there is little likelihood that the power elite will be punished. When the wrongdoers are not punished, the vice gets to spread …"

"Democracy, Education and Development reinforced each other in the Western world. Education promoted development and development led to a rise in the demand for education, which it was possible to satisfy because of state support for it as a result of the rise in revenues. Education and development together helped reinforce democracy."

The Need for Reform

In answering the question of where to start reform, the author suggests that "The best place to start is where the Prophet himself (peace be upon him) started: the reform of human beings. They play the role of a locomotive in the rise and fall of any civilization. However, even though they need to receive the topmost priority, this does not necessarily mean that other socio-economic and political factors that have been vitiated over the centuries through the process of circular causation do not need to be given simultaneous attention."

Moral reform: It is necessary to change their (human beings) character, ability, motivation and mental outlook by giving maximum attention to their moral upbringing and education. This is what all the Messengers of God, Tried to do" "History is replete with examples of where a society has reached its climax as a result of moral reform. Intellectual and economic advance have then generally followed" … "if ethical foundation is lacking then civilization collapses even when in other directions creative and intellectual forces of the strongest nature are at work".

Justice, Development and the Alleviation of Poverty: "It may however be difficult to raise the moral caliber of the people unless justice is also ensured. Al Mawardi (d. 450/1058) rightly observed that "there is nothing that destroys the world and the conscience of the people faster than injustice." Justice, in spite of being a distinguishing characteristic of Islamic teachings, is conspicuously missing from Muslim countries and constitutes a source of many internal and external problems. One of the first reflections of any program to ensure justice has to be the removal of poverty, which leads to incapacity, helplessness and crime, and can even, according to the Prophet, drive a person close to disbelief"

 Proliferating Education and Microfinance: "Since the decline in education, research and technology has been one of the most important causes of Muslim decline, it is important to remove the existing gap in these areas between the Muslim and developed countries by providing high quality education and research facilities through the proliferation of properly equipped schools, colleges and universities all over the country. In this process special care needs to be taken to ensure that education is accessible to all sectors of the society and not just to the rich. … It is imperative to considerably reduce the cost of education for the poor. … If the human factor is the most important for development, there is no reason why a greater proportion of government resources should not be allocated for the spread of education, which seems to have been one of the greatest victims of the lack of political accountability in the Muslim world."

"Another important and unavoidable requirement for alleviating poverty is to make microfinance available to the poor to enable them to realize their dream of establishing their own micro-enterprises." “The working of major microfinance institutions has revealed that in a majority of cases the desired improvements have not been realized in the lives of borrowers. The effective rate of interest turns out to be as high as 30 to 45 percent and causes serious hardship to the borrowers in servicing the debt. … It is therefore important that while the innovative group-based mechanism for lending adopted by the Grameen Bank and other institutions in Bangladesh is retained, microfinance is provided to the very poor on a humane interest-free basis. This will necessitate the integration of microfinance with zakah and waqf institutions."

"Even though that the alleviation of poverty may by itself be a great achievement, it will not be sufficient to realize the Islamic goal of human brotherhood. … justice, moral as well as socio-economic uplift, and brotherhood are all interrelated, for it may not be possible to bring about a sustained improvement in one without an improvement in the other areas."

 The reform of all institutions: "Such an overall improvement in the human condition may be difficult to realize without reforming all the institutions that affect human behavior. The most important of these institutions is the family"… "The role of the family needs to be reinforced by educational institutions to provide high quality education in all fields of learning, and particularly in science and technology, to enable Muslim societies to compete successfully in the international arena and to attain a reasonably high rate of economic growth."  "The mosques have a crucial role to play in Muslim societies but they are now unable to do. This is because the imams who are supposed to act as models and play a dynamic role in the moral education and character uplift of their congregations, are not only ill-equipped in terms of education to play this role but are also isolated from their congregations. …"

 Political Reform: Reform and the socio-economic uplift of human beings would, however, be relatively less difficult if the political system were also supportive. Political reform, along with freedom of expression, an honest judiciary, and accountability of the power elite would help at least reduce, if not eliminate, the now prevalent corruption and mismanagement. This would in turn enable the efficient use of public resources for education, health and rural as well as urban development leading thereby to socio-economic uplift."

How to bring about political reform?

"The best strategy for political reform is, therefore peaceful and non-violent struggle, even though this may appear to be time-consuming.

Difficulties that lie ahead

"Making democracy successful in these countries may not, however, be an easy task. This is because of the die-hard autocratic attitude of the present ruling elites, who will perhaps continue to use all means at their disposal to win elections."  … "Incompetent and corrupt political authority accentuates injustice, impoverishes the people and retards development."

Can the Western World Help?

"The Western world can certainly play a catalytic role in the restoration of democracy and the promotion of socio-economic uplift in Muslim countries. This is also in its own long-term interest."  "The West cannot, however, help restore democracy or reduce militancy by the use of force. Force has never worked and will never work."

"What the West needs to do is to change its strategy by adopting three badly needed measures. One of these is to refrain from attacks on Islam by emphasizing the common beliefs of Christianity and Islam. The second is to provide the assistance that the Muslim countries badly need to expedite socio-economic uplift. The third is to promote political reform. Fortunately, this is already happening to a certain extent."

"If the US had diverted the billions of dollars it spent on the destruction of Afghanistan and Iraq to the development of these countries it would have achieved what it aspired for. The West can also help in political reform by monitoring elections and promoting legal and institutional reform. Such help will create a better climate not only for accelerated reform and development but also for mutual cooperation and peaceful coexistence."

Can Islam Play a Catalytic Role Once Again?

"(Islam's) strong emphasis on moral values and character building, socio-economic justice, accountability of the political authority and rule of law, combined with its strategy of using education and dialogue for bringing about change, should prove to be a great blessing for the Muslim world. It encourages simple living, which helps reduce conspicuous consumption and thereby weakens one of the major causes of corruption and low savings and investment. It can also help inculcate in people a number of other desirable qualities like honesty and integrity, punctuality, conscientiousness, diligence, frugality, self-reliance, tolerance, fulfillment of contracts and all socio-economic obligations, and concern for the rights and well-being of others  qualities which are necessary to promote development as well as justice. It places a strong emphasis on family and social solidarity, which are essential for even the survival of a society, leave alone its development. It is also flexible enough to enable adjustment to changing circumstances."

Dr. Chapra gives the example of modern Turkey, where the military's effort to get rid of Islam in the name of secularism brought about nothing but greater political corruption, inflation and social conflict.

The author then concludes the book with two main issues: reform in the understanding of Islam and the role of Islamic movements

Reform in the Understanding of Islam

Dr. Chapra calls for reform in understanding and teaching Islam with more emphasis given to the objectives (maqasid) of Shari'ah, a crucial field of Islamic knowledge needed for the understanding of Islam which has been pushed into the background over the last few centuries, and the nobleness of character, which was emphasized by Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, when he said: "The most perfect of Muslims is he who is best in character". This reform of Muslim character would enable Muslims once again to fulfill the prophet's mission of being a "blessing for mankind".

The role of Islamic movements

"Islamic movements would be more successful if they tried to endear themselves not only to the people in their own societies, but also to the world at large by being a blessing and not a menace… They need to bear in mind that Islamization and the development of their societies after centuries of decline is a difficult task. It can only come gradually through a great deal of hard work coupled with wisdom and patience. … It is necessary for them to establish priorities if they wish to succeed in Islamization and developing their societies and realizing the maqasid." "Their first and foremost priority needs to be to educate people about the high moral standards that Islam expects from its followers."  "Their second, but equally important priority, should be socio-economic uplift by removing illiteracy and poverty, making high quality education available to the poor, increasing the availability of micro-finance as well as employment and self-employment opportunities, and helping solve as much as possible the problems of all people irrespective of whether they are Muslims or not." … "It is only social service-oriented programs of this type, and not just slogans that help minimize crime and conflict and instill in the minds of people the central message of Islam about human brotherhood, justice and the well-being of all."

"The third priority should be the struggle for political reform, freedom of expression and human rights." … "The fourth priority should be to try to create a better understanding among different groups of Muslims and also to build consensus about various educational, social, economic and political reforms through dialogue …"

"Their fifth, but not the least important, priority should be to build cordial relations with other countries and societies."

Conclusion

We can say that, in this book the author and his ability inter-relate different variables and factors which have led to the rise and decline of Muslim civilization, together with the lessons learned that give clear directions and guidance for rebuild for a better future, make this book a very valuable read for understanding the dynamics involved in the progress of the civilization curve.

Many reform efforts in the areas of education, the economy and society have been implemented in most Muslim countries over the last two centuries, and it is clear that in order for these initiatives to succeed, Muslims need to find a sustainable solution in the area of political reform that would enable them to establish a long-term model for political freedom, accountability and efficiency which they urgently need.