Developmental trends in contemporary Muslim experience

For almost two centuries now, development has been one of the most pressing questions confronting Muslim leadership. Since the Ottoman Sultan Salim III introduced his modernization programme, many models and projects aimed at bringing about better social, economic, and political conditions have been produced.
This paper examines the two contending models of development in Muslim society: the secular and the Islamic. The examination is done with the aim of discovering the historical patterns which govern the process of social change in general. Towards this end, the paper begins by outlining the Qur'anic model of historical progress, and then uses the outlined model to explain historical changes experienced by Muslim societies.
The paper contends that while the dominant Islamic model of development draws on the Qur'anic model, it fails to heed the Qur'anic injunction to study the history of peoples in order to gain further insight into the phenomenon of progress. The paper concludes that while moral reform is essential to social progress, genuine progress requires, as well, intellectual and organizational development. Thus any project of development which neglects to recognize the dialectical relationship between the psychological, cultural, and material aspects of social life, is bound to fail to effect real progress.