Islamic Perspectives on Sustainable Development Mohammed I . Ansari Economic prognxs in the twentieth century has been spectacular by common Statistical stan-. Along with this enviable record have come two important realizations: the immense material wealth has not made people happier than they were before,' and it has resulted in a gradual de- pledon and, in some cases, an outright destruction of scarce ecological and other tesoutces. This has forced many social scientists to rethjnk the necessity-even the desirability-of indiscriminate economic progress. No other single topic of discussion seems to manifest these concerns more than that of sustainable development. This paper looks at sustainable development from an Islamic per- spective. Its theoretical arguments proceed as follows: Islam means peace and harmony and, therefore, the Islamic way of life entails living in peace and harmony. An active promotion of the harmonization of indi-vidual, social, and ecological intensts would ensure sustainable development. The discussion is then framed in the context of the ordained role of human beings as God's trustees. Under this arrangement, God is the real owner of all resources, and humanity is allowed to use them to its Mohammed I. Ansari is an Bssociate professor of economics at Athabasca University, Athabasca, Alberta, Cauada. The author is extremely grateful to Professor Masud Chou- dhury for his valuable comments and suggestions and asserts responsibility for any emrs. 'As Abramovitz (1979) aptly puts it, "Now, a quarter century later, two things are abundantly clear. P i by all the usual measures, the growth that was sought was, in fact, achieved-indeed achieved in uaexpected, unprecedented, and overflowing degree. It ap pears in broad measu~es of real national d u c t per head, and it appears in the narrowest measures of coflsumption per head. In tge developed countries, at least, the growth was widely shared by all income classes. So we have had it, and had it in great measure. But, seumd, the expected sense of hei kned satisfaction, reflecting an appreciation of social enchantment' with growth." See Easterlin (1974) and Scitovsky (1964, 1976). gains and of bettered individual ip ves, is much less clear. Instead, the talk is all of 'dis- Ansari: Islamic Perspeczives on Sustainable Development 395 advantage as long as this trust is not violated. The paper concludes that in.a truly Islamic society, sustainable development is a logical outcome of a normal life and that there is thus no need for a separate strategy of sustainable development. The rest of the paper deals with the concept of sustainable development and highlights its multifaceted na-, explains the endogeneity of sustainable development in Islam, examines the Islamic characterization of the role of human beings and shows how such a role ccmfom to the requirements of sustainable development, and ends with some concluding remarks. What Constitutes Sustainable Development? For a long time, the issue of economic development was an exclusive domain of the sphere of positivist ideology within the field of economics. In fact, economic development and economic gmwth were treated as synonymous, which usually meant an increase in some measUte of na- tional income and/or concomitant increase in the standard of living. The subsequent development of the so-called Basic Needs Approach to economic development repmented a significant advance in positivist thinking: for it shifted the emphasis from income growth to the delivery of goods and seMces to specified groups of people in society. Thus, for the first time, people became relevant to this paradigm. After this ad- vance, there wete numemus attempts to construct composite indices that sought to improve the concept and meaning of economic development (i.e., M o m s 1979; United Nations 1970; and Adelman and Monk 1967). Even with this shifting emphasis, the positivist approach to develop ment temained entirely economic. For the most part, the pursuit of self- intemt was relied upon not only for the achievement of individual well-being but also of social well-being. Adam Smith's invisible hand was there to see to that. Broader ecological questions were either down- played or treated as peripheral. As the less-than-perfect record of main- stream economics in this regard has been a topic of much discourse, there is no need to go into details. As a result, many scholars took exception to the positivist approach to development. The discussion began to revolve around such concepts as "authentic" and "sustruna ' ble" development. Literatwe on the normative approach to development is quite extensive (Goulet 1988) and its review 'The Bnmdtland Repo~t (WCED 1987) defined sustainable developent as follows: "In essence, Sustainable development is a process of change in which the exploitation of resou~ces, the direction of investments, the orientation of techuological development, and iostitutional c e are all in harmony and enhance both cunrent and future potential to meet human n 3 a d aspirations." 396 The Amencan Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 11:3 is beyond the scope of this paper. However, its two most important, but not mutually exclusive, relevant featum are the following. Fitst, the fact that development is a value-laden issue is now being tecognized more than ever before. According to Denis Goulet (1971): Development is above all a question of values. It involves human attitudes and prefemces, self-defined goals, and criteria for determining what ate tolerable costs to be borne in the course of change. These are far more important than W r mource allocation, upgraded skills, or the rationalization of administrative pl-OCed-. Second, it is being recognized that development is a multifaceted concept. Goulet (ibid.) expresses it the best when he says: This total concept of development can perhaps best be expressed as the "human 8scent"-the 8scent of all men in their integral humanity, including the economic, biological, psychological, social, cultural, ideological, spiritual, mystical, and tdanscendental dimensions. That normative apptoach to development has many more dimensions than just the economic is abundantly clear from Goulet's observations. For the sake of brevity, however, we will limit our discussion to thtee main dimensions: economic, social, and ecological. Of course, the core nquirement for any development has to be an improvement in the eco- nomic conditions of individuals in a given society. In this sense, the positivist apptoach to development forms an integral part of the norma- tive a p p m h But a bmader dimension is that of social justice. Since we all ptefer to live in a society, our sense of well-being is influenced by the way otheB live in that same society. Similarly, other people's well-being is itdluenced by our own way of life. This interdependence of our well- being is a type of extemality that cannot be i g n o d if a society is to achieve meaningful development. While the interdependence in welfare has been widely recognized (Veblen 1934; Duesenberry 1949; A m w 1951; Bergson 1954; Scitovsky 1954; Hirsch 1976; Easterlin 1980; and Frank 1985), its analysis has been largely outside the purview of the positivist appmch. Fmlly, our actions both as consumers and producers have ecological implications. The overawhing emphasis on attaining efficiency in resource allocation within the positivist framework has led to unptecedented levels of pollution and ecological disaster. Such externalities are usually treated Aasari: Islamic Peqe&ives on Sustainable Development 397 as peripheral in mainStrea m economics. And yet our well-being, even OUT existence, is inextricably embedded in the quality of the ecological con&- tions within which we live. The second law of thermodynamics, common- ly known as the law of entmpy, presents a compelling argument for the need to include ecological considetations in any meaningful development (Geotg-u-Rmgen 1975, 1977). The Endogeneity of Sustainable Development in Islam Before we embark upon a detailed analysis of a sustainable develop- ment from an Islamic perspective, it is important to point out several things. First, the ultimate objective and meaning of life for a true Muslim is his/her salvation? Furthermore, every action of a true Muslim bestows benefits upon the individual both in this life and in the hereafter. Second, Islam does not pmvide a specific theory or subscribe to a specific system, in the sense of a bounded class of models and paradigms, in either an economic or a political sense. Although one does not find a formal Islamic theory of sustainable development, its absence in current literature on Islamic economics does not mean that such a theory cannot be built. The Qur’anic ptinciples of sustainable development pmvide us with the premise for constructing such a theory.‘ The following Islamic precept, in particular, seems to provide the necessary building blocks for a formal model. As Islam means peace and harmony, an Islamic way of life implies living in peace and harmony. One can think of three different but not mutually exclusive aspects of living in peace and harmony’: to live in peace and harmony with oneself, with fellow beings, and with everything else that God has cmted (ani- mate and inanimate). Living in peace and harmony in the first sense amounts to what Maslow would term the pemnal aspect of self- 3Explaining this, Goukt (1980) says that ”high indices of suicide in ‘developed’ couutries have often blinded observers to the truth that material sufficiency, or abundance, may be less essential-even for survival-than is the presence of meaning. In order to survive one must want to survive, but how can OIL^ want to survive unless life has a meaning? Accordingly, having a meaningful existence may well be the most basic of humanneeds” ‘See Choudhury and Ansari (forthcoming) for a detailed discussion of one such 51he distiocCion between baqq Am (d- to God) and haqq al ‘ihid(&ies to Others) is of special significance here. AU activities of a Muslim me geared e i h toward the fulfillmeat of duties and obligations due directly to Goda toward the fulmhnent of duties and obligathm due to omself, fellow human beings, d other matures model. 398 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 11:3 actualization, by which is meant fostering one's well-being by satisfying all spiritual and material needs. In the second sense, it means fulfilling the equity and social justice needs. Once again, the satisfaction of spiritual needs would follow automatically. This may be regarded as the social aspect of self-actualization. W l y , living in peace and harmony also meam using all available resou~ces in ways that are economically efficient and ecologically sound. This Constitutes the ecological aspect of self-actualization, which also fulfills the individual's spiritual needs. Let us examine how Islam deals with various aspects of sustainable development. Islam elevates earning a living &ugh hard work to an act of wotship. A Muslim can adopt any occupation that does not transgress the Shari'ah (the Islamic legal code). This means two things: a) affairs must be conducted honestly (i.e., cheating and fraud are prohibited, as are such practices as adulteration, hoarding, speculation, false advertising, bribery, and charging or paying interest, and b) certain professions, among them gambling, prostitution, tsle manufacture and sale of drugs and alcoholic beverages, pornography, and the manufacture and sale of statues, are prohibited. These activities are considered harmful to others and, therefore, against the well-being of society at large. As a general rule, a transaction is forbidden if it means gain fot one individual but loss for another. Thus, mutual consent alone is not enough for a permissible transaction: it must also be socially optimal. The acquisition and accumulation of wealth is permitted if it is pursued thtough lawful means, if the individual meets all of the attendant obligations (i.e., paying zakat and such voluntary taxes as Sadaqah and Wraruj), and if it does not distract one from the remembrance of God. The effort to acquire wealth is reg& as beneficial for both the indi- vidual and society. Fot this m n , the ptophet is repotted to have said: "A thankful rich man is better in the eyes of God than a discontented poor person." It is instructive to note that 'Abd al R a b G n ibn 'Awf, one of the richest and most generous of the Companions, was one of the ten people informed by the Prophet that they would reside in paradise. Where does Islam stand on the issue of social justice? Islam considers pursuit of mutual i n t e e as an important means of achieving social jus- tice. Mutual interest is attained by exchange, according to the regulations of the Shari'ah, between partners. As long as these tenets are observed, individuals seeking to improve their economic condition are seen as pro- moting social justice while pmmoting mutual interest. However, Islam recognizes the- possibility that wealth may be distributed unqually within a society, for all individuals are not created alike in terms of mental and Ansari: Islamic Perspectives on Sustainable Development 399 physical capabilities: some am more gifted than othefs; and individuals suffer misfortun- that deprive them of their due share of material pos- sessions. For these reasons, some individuals need help and assistance. The principle of mutual interest is used in such cases to establish social optimality in the distribution of resowes and wealth. Zakat and suduqah (voluntary charity) am part of an effective social apparatus to ensure distributive equity and social justice. The act of giving is so im- portant that generosity and charity have b declared a trade without a loss. That Islam views social justice as vital is evident fmm the fact that it repeatedly urges Muslims not to seek salvation through self-alienation or monastic life, as this would entail one's withdrawal from the active pmmotion of society's well-being.' Islam also recognizes the intedependent nature of individual welfare. Such feelings as avarice, envy, and jealousy influence our sense of well- being in important ways." Human aspirations know no bounds, and so Islam emphasizes self-discipline. As no craving is ever satisfied, and so eventually a source of dissatisfaction, Islam urges modemtion The Islamic Characterization of Human Beings and the Ecology That Islam does not offer a formal model for the emhancement of personal well-being and pmmotion of distributive equity and social justice should be clear from the preceding discussion. Islam also does not offer a uniquely formal model for the enhancement of well-being in the ecological sense. Instead, it presents principles that can be used for the %or example, the Qur'an (432) states: "And covet not the thing in which Allah hath made some of you excel others ... Fvy not one another) but ask Allah for His bounty." The Prophet is reported to have said. When one of you looks at someone who is superior to him m pmperty or appearance, he should look at someone who is inferior to him" (Mannan 1986). 'while discussing the ecotlomic thought of al GhazMi, Gbazanfar and Islahi (1990) state: "Fwther, he identifies as of One3 callin three reaso~ls why one must pursue ing others in need. Anything less would be religiously blameworthy." 'Ansari (1991) has shown the interdependent nahve of welfare by formulating a simple but elegant relative welfare function. He defines one's welfare 8s a function of a ratio of the actual to the desired level of consumption, where the desired level of con- sumption is a function of changing human aspirations. Human aspirations, in turn, are influenced by such feelings as avarice and envy. It is thought that al G M - discussed a similar Islsmic social welfare function. As Ghazanfar end Islahi (1990) state: "An over- riding theme throughout his works is the concept of 'madahah,' 0r.social welfare or utility (common good), a umcept which encompasses all human affam, economic and others, and which establishes close links between the individual and society." economic activities: (1) self-su fp" iciency, (2) the wefbeing of one's family, and (3) assist- 400 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 11:3 development of appropriate models. Thus, sustainable development, in the sense of maintaining ecological balance, also needs to be understood within this implicit but potentially formal fmmework. Islam is a monothe- istic religion that has a holistic view of the world In Islam, the true ownership of all ~ e s o u ~ c e s resides with God. Sharing this ownership with anybody would be sharing God, which would amount to associating othezs with God (shirk). HUmanity is God's supreme creation, and its role is to serve as God's vicegerent (WUrliJah). While superior human intelli- gence means power and control over all other things on earth, this power is not absolute, for we cannot violate the basic premise of this trusteeship while using it to our advantage? Since the environment and ecology are part of God's creation, their misuse may be interpreted in two ways: as a transgtesSion of the absolute authority of God and as harming both the violator and the petson who is injured. Thus, any misuse of the environ- ment that involves waste and destruction is a sinful act in both senses. Conclusion This paper has examined sustainable development from the Islamic perspective. It argued that since Islam offers a complete code of life, it covers all aspects of human life both in this life and in the heteafter. 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