Third International Islamic Geographical Conference Kuala Lumpur Muharram 16-21, 1409/ August 28-September 2, 1988

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 ...