Is Islam Responsible for the Under-Development of the Muslim World A Response to the Weberrs Contention

Abstract

Islam hinders Growth – the discriminately pervasive & inconsistently articulated, nevertheless frequently tested contention of Max Weber, a leading thinker in the western religious anthropology. A nonchalant review warrants contextualization of Weber’s work, his claim in the backdrop of his articulation of Islamic and growth - before labelling it as essentialist or orientalist or Eurocentric or wrapping him under Weberism. It was his famous work ‘The Protestant Ethics (PE) and Spirit of Capitalism’ in 1905, where he asserted on the movement of protestants, their puritanism, ascetic morals setting the foundation of the rational capitalism. As J.S Komo puts it, that the central question that Weber pursued his whole life was, as to why anywhere outside the occident, no path of rationalization was followed in art, science or economic development. So, perhaps he was more of Eurocentric essentialist – wherein his verdicts on Islam is just one of the many societies under his lens, lying outside the occident, and the ‘Growth’ as he see it, is essentially an yield of rational capitalism. His bent toward the rational capitalism, was due to its inherent moral spirit of money making act and an ethical duty resting on self-discipline, hard work and self-accountability.This leaves gaps for the thinkers – for a consistent consolidation across both the axis:i) the Islamic doctrine and its encapsulation of rationality, growth and development andii) a systemic contemplation of the Muslim society (in all its heterodoxy) to rationalize the reality which is often quoted by the critiques to criticize Islam itself. A holistic account on the above, would consummate the response, as there is no ceteris paribus clause to this complex social reality.In conclusion, as Rodinson said ‘Islam has served as a means and justification of both liberation as well as oppression’ thus to say, Islam isn’t identifiable with any economic system or political tendency, and can allow for varying forms’ (Rodinson,1966). Thus to assert that, it should be left to the organic reconciliatory process of internal factors, mean of coercion, worldview and the aspiration of the society to tailor their superstructure. Totally accepting or denying the sceptics or doing it partly is not the purpose. It is about recognizing and corroborating the socially constructed reality to achieve the socio-economic well-being of the mankind.