The Islamic Extern.al Critics of Public 
Administration: A Comparative Perspective 

by Naim Nusair* 

"Whence did you enslave people who w�rj:! born free?" 
(Umar Ib_n-al.Khattab) 

The growth of public administration and the increasing influence·of 
administrative agencies on public policy make the perennial p<ilitical 
problem of the control ·of administration more important than ·ever. 
Governmental· activities nowadays touch so· many people, in so many 
ways, that citizens' dissatisfaction with administration is inevitable. 
Ml!-nY countries have sought protections and safe'guards against 
oppressive, mistaken, or careless exercise of pu'blic·authority. 

Although the bureaucrats· ad as a ieveling' and rationalizing foree, 
they are susceptible to certain persistent maladies. W.A. Robson-has 
identified these as excessive·set1se of self-importance; indifference to the 
feelings or· convenience of others, obsessive to established · practice
regardless of resulting hardships, persistent addiction to formality. and 
astigmatic inability to perceive the totality of the government because of 
preoccupation with one of its parts. 1 When tliese maladies exist, they 
may not be instantly recogniz-ed ancr treated, because administrative 
work often occurs beyond the gaze of �rofe'ssional observers. Moreover, 
many of the individuals with whom adrpinistrators j:leal offensively �re 
likely to be anonymo"us and 'ilie injustices'invisibl�.2

The. purpose of this .study is to. show that Is.lam- had. developed 
prominent external. critics of admin1stration .Jong._befOJ;e;the mQ(iern 
countries had developed their current p�otective me.ehanisms aga:inst 
bureaucratic excesses. The main objective is .. to .integrate, the :m�jor 
Islamic critics of administration JounQ in. lsla.i:n,iy literature .and 
their current equivalent in modern countdea so tha.t tb�Y becom� mo.re 
compatible with the contextual timing and demands of daily 
administrative life. A comparative approach will fac-ilitate the 

*Nairn Nusair is Assist.ant Professor of Public },.dministr�tion· at Ylir.mouk University.
Irbid. Jordan. ·
1W.A. Robson, The Go,·enwrs aud the G,uverr1Rd, \7 (1964). 
•C.-.Frarikel, "Bureaucracy -and Democracy' in the New Europe", 93 Dat:dalu;;·4'11. 481.
(1964).

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