Islam, Civil Society, and Social Work Muslim Voluntary Welfare Associations in Jordan between Patronage and Empowerment by Egbert Harmsen (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2008. 504 pages.)

Abstract

The practice of charity, which is commonly voluntary by definition, is embedded
within religious institutions or communities to support their vision of
social welfare. In this book, Egbert Harmsen underlines some improvements,
advantages, and weaknesses as well as varieties of the roles played by
Muslim-based voluntary organizations in the Middle East in general, and in
Jordan in particular. He reexamines whether such civic values as voluntary,
autonomous, egalitarian, community-based initiatives, self-reliance, and independence
under which civil society organizations developed can impact Muslim
society on a larger scope.
The author reassesses previous research findings, particularly those
presented by such observers as Janine Clark and Sami Zubaida. Clark’s
observation of (horizontal) networks embedded among middle-class
Muslims reveal that the lower class (the poor) does not benefit very much
from the existing social institutions. Meanwhile, Zubaida’s scrutiny of the
(vertical) relation between Muslim associations and their needy clients
shows that the resulting relationships are generally paternalistic. In response
to Clark’s argument, Harmsen points out that while the social institutions
set up by the middle class do serve middle-class families, they by no means ...