ABSTRACT
The twentieth century witnessed the popularization of the notion of ‘Islamic economics’, which is the idea that economics should be structured according to the timeless principles of Islam. This ascendancy of Islamic economics in the Muslim world was triggered by the desire to restructure society according to socalled Islamic injunctions. However, discussions of contemporary Islam in the West tend, in general, to be framed in black-and-white terms, with the religion depicted either as a backward, dangerous and hateful force or as a misunderstood and moderate foundation for peaceful living. Having said that, there is no doubt that discourses involving Islam are welcome in every hue, either because of their informative content or as manifestations of growing ideological controversies. Nevertheless, there are a few studies of exceptional value that stand out from the mass of publications and deserve to be read by every serious observer, even if one does not fully agree with their content. Timur Kuran’s chapter on economic underdevelopment in the Middle East is one of these few. In his chapter, he provides prominent examples of proposed linkages between culture and economic development, arguing that the suggested cultural obstacles do not elucidate the Middle East’s observed trajectory, at least not by themselves. He argues that attitudes inimical to economic progress were also present in periods when the region was remarkably creative and adaptable. This is unfortunately not the case with the present enforcement of the Islamic law of sale, which would amount, he argues, to replacing the institutions of modern economic conditions with ones that reflect the needs of a millennium ago, and would also harm productivity. The problem with these campaigns that aim at building a distinctly Islamic economic system is that they are inspired by cultural and specifically religious goals, rather than by efforts to stimulate economic life, whereas, he argued elsewhere, the inspiration for economic development must come primarily from outside Islam and Islamic precedents. Here, I would like to underline what to my mind is one of the major problems of economic underdevelopment: the weakness of civil society.
