Book Reviews 191 Political Development: An Islamic Perspective Zeenath Kausar, ed Petaling Jaya, Malaysia: The Other Press, 2000. 262 pages. Political Development: An Islamic Perspective is divided into two broad parts: the conceptual foundations of political development and its case stud­ ies. Part One contains seven chapters that deal with the conceptual founda­ tions of political development, thereby signifying the importance of clari­ fying the concept so that an Islamic alternative to political development can be found. Part Two contains three chapters, each a case study of the politi­ cal development experience in Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Sudan. Khurshid Ahmad, a central figure in the London-based Islamic Foundation, provides the much-needed position from which an Islamic perspective on political development should begin. His chapter, "Islamic Approach to Development," outlines the philosophical foundations of an Islamic approach to development and the goals of a development policy. He begins by uncovering the flaws of western thinking on development, Book Reviews 193 tary intervention and the use of Islam as a symbol of legitimacy in Bangladesh (Syed Serajul Islam); national development planning, political stability, and lslamization in Malaysia (Zeenath Kausar); and the lslamization process in Sudan, where the people are divided along religious and ethnic lines (El-Fatih A. Abdel Salam). One commonality among the three case studies is the importance placed by the governments on lslamization and Islamic symbols as a source of their legitimacy, although the three polities were originally founded on secular principles. Perhaps this suggests that the worldwide Islamic resurgence of the late 1970s may have a significant impact on Islam's place in the governance of a Muslim state. In general, this book is a good first attempt at presenting Islamic alter­ natives to the question of political development as understood from the Islamic perspective. The book is also a fine contribution toward the lslamization of knowledge. It presents western ideas and concepts of polit­ ical development, and identifies their weaknesses and flaws before putting forward the Islamic perspective and alternative. If the book needs some improvement - and it does - for an expanded volume, then it needs more case studies ( especially from the Middle East) and a concluding chapter. Other than that, the book is a noteworthy contribution to the field of knowledge and political science by Muslim scholars and will be a good source for both undergraduate and graduate students. More importantly, in my opinion, it also inculcates a sense of mission in Muslim readers to achieve lslamically oriented political development. Tunku Mohar International Islamic University Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia