Third International Islamic Geographical Conference Kuala Lumpur

Abstract

Development and the Muslims The Department of Geography, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, hosted the Third International Islamic Geographic Conference at Institute Aminuddin Baki, Genting Highland, Malaysia Muharram 16-21, 1409/August 28-September 2, 1988, to discuss the effects of development on Muslim communities. Sponsorship for the meeting was jointly provided by the International Islamic Geographical Society, the International Institute of Islamic Thought, the Association of Muslim Social Scientists of the United States and Canada, the Malaysian Institute of Policy Research, and the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Altogether twenty-four papers were presented during eight sessions to some seventy participants from nine countries, including thirteen attendees from outside Malaysia. The first session on “Muslims and Development” included three presentations. Mansur Ahmad Saman led the discussion by exploring the generic meanings of “Islam” and “development” in his paper “Islam and Development: the Region Within.” Mansur argued that because Islam sanctions peaceful living, it is a necessary condition for development, although the state of peace itself may not be a sufficient condition of the same end. In the second paper, “Muslims and Economic Development,’’ A.H.M Sadeq observes that although Islam provides all the incentives for economic development, and despite the fact that Muslim countries as a whole are wellendowed with natural resources, they have continued to lag behind in economic development. Sadeq was hopeful that the future is bright for Muslim countries, if only there were more efforts towards economic cooperation among them. S. Parvez Manuror concluded the session with a deliberation an “Ideology of Development: An Islamic Critique.” In this lengthy discourse on the concept of “development,” the author asserted that the “The modern theory of devebpment aims .at the realization of certain societal values within a political framework, At worst, perpetuates the view of man and the universe which ...