THE CONCEPT OF MODERN- IZATION: AN ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC THOUGHT Mohammad Mumtaz Ali One of the main characteristics of contemporary Islamic thought, especially within the traditions of Islamic revival movements and the Islamization of knowledge movement, is its critical attitude toward both the Islamic heritage and western ideas, concepts, and theories. Thinkers and scholars of these movements have neither rejected entirely the west- ern contributions toward knowledge, unlike the rejectionists, nor have they accepted it blindly, like the adoptationists. Most thinkers in these movements do not accept western ideas and concepts without a critical evaluation from an Islamic perspective. Khurshid Ahmad aptly remarks: The Islamic movement clearly differentiates between develop- ment and modernization on the one hand and westernization and secularization on the other. It says “yes” to modernization but “no” to blind westernization.’ Such a stance on modernization may not be attributed only to such Islamic movements as the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt,2 established by Hasan a1 Banna,’ and the Jama‘at-e-Islami of the Indian s~bcontinent,~ founded by Abul A‘la Mawdudi,’ but also to the Islamization of knowl- edge movement.6 The type of modernization welcomed by scholars of these movements is not the same as that conceived by the West; rather, it is an Islamic modernization based on an Islamic epistemology. Al- Mohammad Mumtaz Ali is utt ussociute professor itr the Kulliyyuh of Islamic Rweuled Ktrowledge atid Hutnuti Sciences. Itrterttutionul Islamic Utriversity, Selutrgor, Durul Ehsuir, Muluysiu. 14 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 1 4 1 though these scholars have not redefined modernization from an explic- itly Islamic perspective, a working definition of Islamic modernization may be framed from their critical analysis of the epistemological foun- dation of the western conception of modernization. Therefore, Islamic modernization may be redefined as the process of increasing technolog- ical skills and knowledge in the physical and social sciences in order to hamess the bounties and resources of the natural world on the basis of an Islamic epistemology and toward the regeneration of a new Islamic civ- ilization and its sustainable development. Logically, advancement in sci- ence, technology, and the human sciences based on a western epistemo- logical foundation is necessarily denied or rejected in Islamic modem- ization. Advancement in knowledge and science based on an Islamic epistemology, therefore, is considered the first prequisite for Islamic modernization. The process of such a modernization shall not be west- ernization, but Islamization. It is imperative to conceptualize modemization from an Islamic per- spective and to develop a clear conception of Islamic modernization. This paper’s main goal is to analyze the concept of modernity as posed by con- tempomy Islamic thought within the tradition of these movements. The paper summarizes the western conception of modernization, reflections of several contempomy Muslim scholars on some important problems and issues relevant to the concept of modernization, and provides a suggested reformulation of rilodemization from an Islamic perspective. The Western View of Modernization The western concept and theory of modernization was developed during the Renaissance and Enlightenment (the sixteenth and eighteen centuries c.E.) and became widespread beyond the borders of the West during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries C.E? The literature on mod- ernization increased greatly during the late nineteenth century, and development, as an aspect of modernization, has been an important topic of debate and discourse throughout the twentieth century! The West conceives of modernization in several ways: as a process of change in the social structure and social system through an increased knowledge in science and technology; as a movement of transition from traditional society of religion, magic, and superstition to a modem and postmodern society that is free from religious matrix and traditional norms; as a process for change in the set of relationships between the indi- vidual and society; as a process of mobilization, differentiation, industri- alization, and secularization; as a process toward high economic growth, stable democracy, and a capitalist economy; as a process to overcome nature and become independent of its control; as a movement toward the construction of a healthy, peaceful, content, and prosperous society; and as Europeanization, Americanization, and westernization? Modemization is anchored in the opposition to (biblical) revelation by Renaissance and Mi: The Concept of Modernization 15 Enlightenment scholars. These eras, characterized by the conflict between revelation and reason, ended with the emergence of reason as the domi- nant force and the relegation of revelation to the background. Such was the epistemological background that gave rise to modernization theory." Contemporary Islamic Thought on Some Aspects of Modernization Muhammad Iqbal. Iqbal addressed certain issues of immense impor- tance in the western conception of modernization, among them the rela- tion of the human individual with society. He discouraged the extreme forms of this relationship (individualism and collectivism) and held the view that the individual attains self-fulfillment in society." Such a view goes completely against the extreme individualism advocated by mod- ernization theorists. One important change demanded by modernists and developmentalists is the nature of relationships between the individual and society. They contend that the faster a society modernizes, the greater an individual separates and alienates himself/herself from other people, family, community, and society for various reasons. Iqbal viewed society as an indispensable, secure place in which one can develop himself/herself as an individual. He believed that one's individuality can only be preserved within society." Therefore, modem- ized societies are more insecure, due to all kinds of violence, for its pro- ponents maintain that it is the individual that matters, not the security and peace of the society. As for the two most important ideologies of the West, socialism and capitalism, Iqbal believed that both should be condemned in totality for their failure to recognize God and their decepti~eness.'~ Thus, Iqbal assigned such ideologies no place in his scheme of modernization of the Muslim ummah. For this reason, secularization, an essential ingredient of modernization, is rejected outright by Iqbal. The western conception of democracy, an important goal of political modernization and development, is also criticized by Iqbal. He argues that the intellect of two hundred asses may not equal the thought of a per- fect man.I4 For Iqbal, the principle of modernization as conceived from the Islamic perspective is ijtihad. He believed strongly that one of the main causes of the Muslim ummah's deterioration is the absence of ijti- had as a dynamic principle. Ijtihad is instrumental for balanced develop ment and moderni~ation.'~ It is important to note that, as against the West's emphasis on reason and sense perception as the only sources of knowledge for modernization, Iqbal asserted emphatically the importance of revelation, intuition, and inspiration along with reawn and sense perception. He argued that a com- plete vision of reality through reason and sense perception is impossible, for reason and sense perception must be guided by revelation. 16 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 14:l In addition, he asserted that the empirical method recently devel- oped in the West was borrowed from the Muslims of an earlier period. This Islamic empirical theory of knowledge was based on revelation, which, at a later date, was cut off in the West by Kant’s theory of knowl- edge, and which smssed experience and confiied it to the world of phe- nomenon. All of this illustrates Iqbal’s complete rejection of any reve- lation-reason and revelation-science conflicts, from which the theory of modernization emerged.@ Iqbal’s perception of the world and its natural bounties also goes against the western conception of modernization. For Iqbal, the world and its natural bounties a~ not ends in themselves, but rather resources for humanity to utilize for its benefit and success both here and in the he~after.’~ Thus, Iqbal did not approve the materialistic perception of nature. Nature for him was not mere matter. The beautiful picture he painted of the world of nature in his poems shows his great respect for the Creator and the realization of the fact that this world is a place of con- struction for the new world of the hereafter. Such a perception also goes against the desacralization of nature, an attitude that is dominant in mod- ernization. Modernization accords no spiritual dimension to nature and exhorts humanity to conquer it to become independent of it. Suyyid Qu&. Sayyid Qu.tb, an intellectual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, also opposed the emulation of blind westernization. He cri- tiqued western secular theories, ideas, and culture and predicted the fail- ure of the West. He argued that all modem ~t iona l i~ t ic and chauvinistic ideologies have lost their vitality. At such a crucial and bewildering junc- ture of history, Islam alone, in his opinion, could save humanity.’* He wrote that the failure of western leadership is natural, for it lacks the foundational principles required for leadership. Sayyid QuWs char- acterization of a Muslim society is completely antithetical to the secular modernity demanded by modernists. His conception of ajiihili society is one that does not dedicate itself to submission to God in its beliefs, ideas, observances of worship, and legal regulations. For him, modernity as developed by the West is its faithful repre~entative.’~ According to the various modernization theories, a society is trans- formed into a modemized society when it releases itself from God, reli- gion, and spiritual values. For Qutb, such developments indicate thejiihili nature of that particular society. Moreover, scientific and technological advancement in the absence of a moral and spiritual foundation is not the ultimate measure by which to gauge modernization and progress.”This does not mean that Qutb attached no importance to science, technology, or economic factors within a given society. He argued that a civilized Islamic society does not downgrade matter, but rather considers material production to be the backbone of the vicegerency of God on Earth?’ Ali: The Concept of Modernization 17 Contrary to QQtb's understanding, western modernization theory views the advancement of science and technology as necessary to increase material production and material prosperity in order to achieve the ultimate goal: the freeing of society from any religious matrix. QqJb also studied critically the resurgence of science in the West and concluded that it suffered from the lack of a spiritual foundation and a reviving spirit." Science, according to modernists, should be completely free of God and all religious orientation, whereas for QqJb and Iqbal, all knowledge ultimately comes from God. Hence, science and technology and all knowledge as such should be established and developed through recourse to the divine principles enshrined in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. As a result, Qu.tb recommends strongly that Islamic leadership should be well balanced with, on one side, science and technology and, on the other side, with Islamic values in order to be more constructive and dynamic.u Thus Qqtb, like Iqbal, agreed with technologization and industrialization, the important aspects of modernization, but rejected the secularization and westernization that underlie these processes. Abul A'lu Mawdudi. Mawdudi held the view that secularization, one of the important ingredients of modernization, has caused serious prob- lems in the Muslim ummah, in particular, and for humanity in general. Modernization, which owes its origin to the division of life into religious and mundane realms and the subsequent compartmentalization of edu- cation into the secular and the religious, is rejected completely by Mawdudi. He argued that the compartmentalization of religious and sec- ular education is based on a false concept of life, one which divides life into the spiritual and temporal. Such a division is peculiar to Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism, whereas Islam, for Mawdudi, is a compre- hensive and unified system of life, a complete conduct and civilization." Whereas modernization considers bifurcation a key for the material advancement of any society, for Mawdudi life is integral. Therefore, bifurcation is artificial and unreali~tic.~ In Mawdudi's theory of social change, leadership is a decisive fac- tor, as leadership directs the people to follow a particular path.% How- ever, unlike modernization theorists, he did not advocate the emergence of a westernized and secularized leadership. What he preferred is just the opposite: The emergence of a Godconscious leadership is very much needed in order to displace the leadership that rebelled against God. In Mawdudi's strategy for the development of an Islamic ummah, a God- conscious leadership occupies the highest priority, for it leads human society to the path of progress and prosperity here and to ultimate suc- cess in the hereafter.n Mawdudi, like Iqbal and Qqjb, analyzed the growth of science and technology in the West and pointed out its separation of science from 18 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 1 4 1 religion.” He rejected the separation of science from religion, not the existence of science as such, and argued for a balanced approach to development and modernization while accepting scientific and techno- logical knowledge and maintaining moral and spiritual foundations. For him, the Muslim world could import technological skills from the West, as a human contribution to knowledge, but not its culture, values, and morals. He writes: What we must borrow from the West is scientific knowledge and the technique of applying it to the practical problems of life. I consider these to be the common heritage of mankind . . . But so far as the West’s general attitude toward the world affairs, its thinking about man, its view of life and moral values are con- cerned, we do not require them; nor are they acceptable to us.29 In summary, Mawdudi, Qqjb, and Iqbal had similar views on the various concepts and issues of modernization. I s d l Rtij aZ-FtirQi. FiWiqi’s whole thought and the Islamization of knowledge movement stand entirely against the secular conception of modernization. The real malaise of the Muslim ummah, according to him, lies in the intellectual crisis caused by the secularization and west- ernization of knowledge. It is this acute realization that led him to devote his life to the Islamization of knowledge. Fqi maintained that skepti- cism lies at the root of all western philosophies and that its rise and development is made possible by the victory of science over religion.M FarUcii argued that modem westem theories reflect the inherent con- flict in the West between science and religion. This is quite obvious in the conception of modernization as discussed earlier. All modernization theories perceive religion as antiscience, antiprogress, and antidevelop ment. Hence, theorists emphasized the role of the secular leadership in order to displace the religious leadership. Furthermore, F&ikii identified the essentiality of imcin (faith) for knowledge. He maintained that faith is primarily a cognitive category and used the word light as a metaphor for faith in order to explain its central importance in knowledge, without which many aspects of the world and nature would not be revealed to humanity?’ This is in stark contrast to the epistemological foundation of modernization theories. The conception of modernization originally developed on the basis of rationality. Modernization is also conceived as mtionalization, for it stresses reason over faith and revelation. However, for F-i it is unrea- sonable to separate faith from rationality, for it is a fundamental princi- ple for a rational interpretation of any subject. He argued that [faith] is the prime principle of reason and the first principle of rationality.”* Ali: The Concept of Modernization 19 Another important component of modernization is control over nature and humanity's subsequent independence of it and of God. The resulting desacralization of nature forms a part of secularization, which serves as an indicator of modernization. Nature is viewed as an enemy by modernization theorists. Fiiriicjl, like Qu.tb, rejects such a Confronta- tional relationship between humanity and nature and asserts that nature is God's creation and work. Hence, human beings are expected to learn about nature in order to know God, for He is the source of its creation and the source of kn~wledge.'~ Nuquib al-Attas. Al-Attas has discussed such components of mod- emization as secularism and secularization in detail in his Zslam and Secularism. First, he discussed the terminology of secularism and secu- larization and pointed out that the term secular, derived from the Latin saeculum, conveys the meaning of time and location that signifies the present time, this age, and this world alone. Hence secular denotes the condition of the world of that period or age. Al-Attas argues the word contains the notion of relativity.u In his analysis of the concept of secularization, he cites various def- initions of secularization and secularism and contends that secularization is a liberation of humanity from God and religion and that it encom- passes all aspects of human thought and life. He also mentions the inner components of secularization: the disenchantment of nature," the de- sacralization of politic^,^ and the deconsecration of values." These three components form the essential characteristics of modernization. According to him, the disenchantment of nature in the West implies the freeing of nature from its religious overtones,B its separation from God and humanity so that one can no longer regard it as a divine entity?9 and its use according to human needs and plans and, hence, to create histor- ical change and development-" As is evident from the various definitions of modernization, par- ticularly by Black, Rostow, and Huntington, modernization is precise- ly the control of man over nature and his environment- Hence, starting from Fredrich Schiller and Weber" and continuing up to contemporary modernists, the disenchantment of nature and the world imply the same thing. Al-Attas contends that such a disenchantment snatches the whole meaning and the purpose of nature and the world and is com- pletely opposite to the Qur'anic conception of nature as an open book by means of which humanity can comprehend the ultimate reality behind nature. Furthermore, when humanity does not associate any divine entity with nature, there is no higher purpose assigned to nature. Therefore, it is downgraded to the status of a mere material reservoir for humanity's material advancement. Hence, it is regarded only as a means of material development. 20 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 1 4 1 According to al-Am, the second component of secularization, the desacralization of politics, implies the abolition of sacral legitimation of political power and authority." For Alm0ndP3 Apter? Verb," and oth- ers, political modernization implies the transformation of the political order from the traditional and religious to a secular authority free of any religious control. The most appropriate political model for them is democracy, under which people are sovereign and make their own laws on the basis of their reason and experience. It is, therefore, argued that if politics is freed from religious authority, political development and mod- ernization are possible. For al-Attas, the return of Muslim society to the prophetic model in a time-and-space context is real development. Obviously, the prophetic model society of Madinah was completely based on Qur'anic injunctions and principles, which embrace all aspects of life, including the political. The third component of secularization, the deconsecration of values, refers to the dominance of relativity that, according to al-Attas, eventu- ally attributes a different attitude to absolute values and beliefs and makes possible a different attitude to life, one in which humanity never reaches the definite and concrete position of certainty.4 Change is central to secularization and, therefore, history is viewed from the evolutionary perspective. Hence al-Attas observes that secular- ization is also conceived as a process of evolution. Tonnies, Durkheim, Weber, and all other sociologists perceive society as progressing from one stage to another, becoming more mature, developed, and modem- ized at every level. In fact, the very background from which the mod- ernization conception evolved, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, is dominated by such a conception of change." According to al-Attas, the Islamic understanding of change has some definite direction and an ultimate destination, unlike the secular perspec- tive. The Muslim ummah has before it a perfect model established by the Prophet Muhammad. Hence, the Muslim community, having moved from this model, has an obligation and responsibility to change its pre- sent condition and to return to the original model. This change is not slip- pery in nature. Having moved away from the original model, the Muslim community does not need to suffer again from the pangs of change for no reason. This does not mean that Islam is essentially static, but rather implies that the model possessed by Islam is dynamic enough to direct the generation of each succeeding time in history. This dynamism lies in ijtihad. In secular theory, change is, in contrast, indefinite and a continu- ous process, for modernization has no final and ultimate goal. Whether there are five stages of modernization as identified by Black@ or six phas- es as pointed out by Rustow,@they are not final stages. Modernization, as a process, continues even after reaching a higher level of modernity. For this reason, Seitz writes that the highly advanced countries of the Ali: The Concept of Modernization 21 West are suffering from an obsession with materialism because they do not know where to end.” All of this aimless and one-sided development is rehted intellectually by al-Attas.5’ As mentioned earlier, modernization has overemphasized ratio- nalization. Al-Attas discusses the whole problem of rationalism and rationalization philosophically and proiides an Islamic analysis: In the case of Christian theology and its Latinized vocabulary the two terms ‘intellectus’ and ‘rutio,’ corresponding with sapi- ential and scientific knowledge respectively, have been under- stood not as being in conformity with each other, and each has been stressed over the other in different periods of its history; the intellectus in the case of Augustine, and the rutio in the case of Aquinas. Christian theology suppressed the sapiential role of the intellect and stressed the scientific role of the purely rational, which can only operate on nature devoid of spiritual significance and follow its own naturalistic logic to its final conclusion.52 Al-Attas argues that the whole problem of rationality arises because the roles of the intellect sapiential and rational are separated from each other and the rational role is emphasized over the sapiential role of the intellect. It is for this reason that the rational and rationalism cannot per- form their original role of perceiving the spiritual reality behind nature. Contrary to this, Islam does not separate the two roles of the intellect from each other,” For this reason, he maintains that, from an Islamic point of view, rational understanding is not divorced from the compre- hension of the spiritual realities. Thus, he examines critically the western concept of rationality, which is the main spirit of modernization, and condemns it totally. Similarly, al-Attas also analyzed empiricism, which later developed modernization in the name of scientific spirit. He argues that the obser- vational role of the senses or the sense perceptions is also separated from the original role of the senses: to perceive the reality and spirituality behind nature. He is convinced that the whole problem of modernization and of the modem age lies in knowledge as conceived by the West.” Al-Attas proposes Islamization as the only way out of this complex problem, for Islamization would liberate humanity from the clutches of secularization and westernization.” The Need for a Redefinition of Modernization From the brief survey of the reflections of several contemporary Muslim scholars, it is evident that many of the ideas and concepts of modernization as conceived in the West find no place in Islam. Western modernists and developmentalists are acutely aware of the intellectual 22 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 1 4 1 resistance of these Muslim scholars. They declared that earlier western schools never realized, and hence never expected, that Muslim scholars would continue to work for the revival of Islam even in the contempo- rary world. Hence, now that western scholars have realized the poten- tial force and power in the writings of the Muslim scholars and their revival movements, they have forced themselves to give due attention to such cultural and psychological undercurrents in Muslim societies as important determinants of elite behavior.” Western scholars have not only realized the dynamic force of Muslim thought, but also look upon it as an impediment in the way of development and modernization. They have even stated quite clearly that, although some revival is also seen as progress in different non-Muslim societies under different ide- ologies, only Islam has rejected all of the important components of modernization and secularism, democracy, and nationalism?’ The case of Islam is different, when compared to the other ideologies, for it is a complete code of conduct, a complete system of life, and a civ- ilization. It is interesting to note what Huntington has to say about this: The partnership between modernization and westernization has been broken. While continuing to pursue modernization, the Third World is also in some measure deeply involved in and committed to a process of dewesterniZation?* To understand and appreciate the necessity and urgency of redefining and reconceptualizing modernization from an Islamic perspective, it is necessary to comprehend the nature of Islam’s civilization-building pro- gram. In this respect, TW J. al-‘AlwWs observations deserve our atten- tion. He argues that a sound intellectual basis, which is the starting point for build- ing a civilizational-system, must have three characteristics: it must have infallible sources, free from errors and destructive deviation, so that thinking will not degenerate into imagination and meandering meditation; it should be rationally and logically acceptable, so that if ideas are presented to the Muslim mind, they will not be readily discarded; it should also be realistic, so that it will be able to interact with reality to change and influence it po~itively?~ To this end, al-‘Alw&ii identifies the first step as being concerned with a strategy of knowledge. He maintains that the first step should be the redefinition of Islamic epistemology.60 ‘Abdul&miid A b u S u l a m outlines four necessary conditions for the recovery of the Islamic ummah and has similar views: Ali: The Concept of Modernization 23 In the Ummah‘s quest for the recovery of its vitality, there are four pre-requisites: [l] specification of a sound approach [2] unswerving faith in that approach; [3] resolve to do all that is necessary for the attainment of its goals; and [4] provision of all the practical means required to ensure success.6’ It is quite obvious that the basic prerequisite for the ummah‘s recov- ery and a new survival strategy for a civilization is the identification of a sound approach per se. A b u S u l a m discusses three approaches in this connection: the imitative foreign solution, the imitative historical solu- tion, and the Islamic a@h solution. According to him, the last approach is the most relevant for solving the problems of the ummah.6* He also argues that to be successful in the reconstruction of human civilization and leadership, this approach should be based on two impor- tant factors, namely, the impetus of a positive religious outlook and the preeminence of effective thought. As regards the development of an effective contemporary Islamic thought, he writes that there is an urgent need for the reconstruction of the Islamic methodology. He has identified six principles for such an undertaking.@ For the redefinition of modem- ization from an Islamic perspective and for its operationalization, these six principles are considered foundational and basic. In the light of these principles, one may define modernization as the process of the advance- ment of knowledge, science, technology, and skills [as conceived by Islamic epistemology] to derive the advantages of God‘s creation and to acknowledge the unity of God and the unity of His creation, through per- forming the vicegerency [khildfat AZZdz] as a trust, with the ultimate aim of winning God‘s pleasure and thus enjoying justice, peace, and prosper- ity here and in the hereafter. Such a process of modernization would neither concenmte only on the maternal advancement nor would it divide life into the artificial com- ponents of “material” and “spiritual.” Rather, it would take life as an integrated whole and would construct all of life according to the princi- ples of the unity of life and the unity of the purpose of creation. The implications of such a conception would be the unification of the body and the soul as an integrated whole and a unification in which there would be no conflict between the physical and spiritual self, between individual and individual, between humanity and nature, and between God and humanity. Life would be based on a harmonious relationship between God and humanity, reason and revelation, and the material and spiritual aspects of life. Artificial dichotomies and conflicts, mainly between reason and revelation, would disappear. All of this, however, will occur only on the basis of Islamized knowledge. Knowledge will occupy a central position and, therefore, would perceive nature as a friend and as an open book created by God 24 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 1 4 1 to recognize, acknowledge, and submit to Him. On the basis of this, a comprehensive program for the ummah's overall development and modernization v i s -h i s humanity may be planned and implemented. The Phases of Islamic Modernization The process of Islamic modernization probably shall have to pass through Merent phases. We identify below the four phases that are indispensable for Islamic modernization: 1. 2. 3. 4. Conscientious Muslim scholars and leaders will forge themselves into Islamic movements and the Islamization of knowledge movement in order to awaken the epistemic consciousness of the Muslim masses and intelligentsia with the goal of restoring their confidence in the practical- ity and universality of Islam and to inspire the ummah to revive Islam. The Islamic ummah of our contemporary age has already entered this phase. The emergence of an integmted Islamic leademhip that is active at all intellectual, social, and political levels of the ummah. Its members will be committed, courageous, and devoted to the cause of Islam, able to handle skillfully the society's complex systems and mechanisms, and able to implement successfully new solutions to the challenges of our time on the basis of ijtihad. New efficient Islamic institutions and structures at all levels will be developed to guarantee technological and scientific development, economic growth, the mass mobilization of resources, and the proper distribution of wealth in order to maintain social justice. This will be the most challenging Islamic civilization will flourish. It will serve as a witness to the truth (Islam) to humanity in order to attain the pleasure of God and to attain peace, prosperity, and success here and in the hereafter. This phase may be designated as that of Islamization, for eventually it will give rise to a flourishing Islamic civilization. P k . Conclusion This is only a pre- effort to redefine modernization from an Islamic perspective. Our main concern is to show that problems of mod- ernization are mainly due to its epistemological foundation and can only be solved at the epistemic level through the Islamization of knowledge. Therefore, it is argued that without providing the Islamic epistemic foun- Ali: The Concept of Modernization 25 dation, the modernization of Muslim societies will remain a problem and modernity a problematic. Modernization, as conceived in the West, has created problems for the societies in which it originated and for human- ity at large. No solutions or policies suggested by western scholars, among them “triage” as discussed in Femine by William and Paul Paddock64 or the “life boat ethics” as discussed by Garrett Hardha in The Tragedy of the Commons, will save humanity from catastrophe. The Islamized version of modernization alone can rescue humanity. Endnotes 1. Khurshid Ahmad, “The Nature of the Islamic Resurgence,” in Voices of Resur- gent Islam, edited by John L. Esposito (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983). 224. 2. For an in-depth study of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, see IsMq M a d al- Husayn, Al-Ikhwdn al-Muslidn (Beirut: 1955) and Franz Rosenthal, The Muslim Brothers of Egypt, 1949. 3. See Thameem Ushama, Hasan alBanna: Vision and Mission (Kuala Lumpur: A. S. Noordeen, 1995). 4. For a comprehensive study of Jama‘at-e-Islami. see Sayyid Mawdudi, The Message of Jama‘at-e-Islami: A Contribution Towards Islamic Constitution Making (Lucknow: 1948); ‘Twenty-nine Years of Jama‘at-e-Islami,” in The Criterion (Kara- chi) (November/ December 1970): 30-55. 5. See the bibliography on Mawdudi by Qazi Zulqadar Siddiqui, S. M. Aslam, and M.M. Ahsan, “A Bibliography of Writings by and about S. A. A. Mawduli,” in Islamic Perspectives: Studies in Honour of Mawlana Sayyid Abul A‘la Mawahit’, edit- ed by Khurshid Ahmad and Zafar Ishaq Ansari (Leicester, UK: The Islamic Foundation, 6. For an introduction to the Islamization of knowledge movement, see Islami- zation of Knowledge: General Principles and Work Plan, 2d ed. (Herndon, V A IIIT, 1989). 7. See David E. Apter, The Politics of Modernization (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967). 8. See Gabriel A. Almond and G. Bingham Powell, Jr., Comparative Politics: A Developmental Approach (Bombay: Vakils, Feffer and Simons, Pvt. Ltd., 1966). 9. See Daniel Lerner, ‘Towards a Communication Theory of Modernization: A Set of Considerations,” in Communication and Political Development, edited by Lucian W. Pye (New Jersey: 1972). 10. See M. Mumtaz Ali. “Epistemological Foundation of Modernization: An Analysis from an Islamic Perspective.” paper presented at the Twenty-third Annual Conference of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists Binghamton. New Yo& October 1994). 1979). 3-14. 196-221. 11. Mohammad Iqbal, The Mysteries of Selflessness (London: 1953), 5 12. Ibid., 8. 13. Mohammad Iqbal, Javid Nama (London: 196fi), 57. 14. See A. Anwar Beg, Poet of the East (Lahore: 1940), 257. 15. Mohammad Iqbal, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, rev. ed. 16. Ibid., 28-40. 17. Iqbal, Javid Nama, 63. 18 Sayyid Qu.tb, Milestones (Damascus: International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations, 1978), 910. 19. Ibid., 148. 20. Ibid., 184. 21. Ibid., 180. 22. Ibid., 9. 23. Ibid. 24. Sayyid Mawdudi, Mawdudi on Education, edited by Mohammad Rauf (Kara- (New Delhi: Kitab Bhawan, 1994). 146-50. chi: Islamic Research Academy, 1988). 102. 26 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 141 25. See Sayyid Mawdudi, Islamic Way ofLije (Lahore: Islamic Publications, 1%2). 26. Sayyid Mawdudi, The Islamic Movement: Dynamics of Values, Power, and 27. Ibid.. 15. 28. Sayyid Mawdudi, Speeches andlnterviews OfMawdudi (Lahore: 1982), 167-68. 29. Ibid.,166 30. IsmViI al-mi, Taww: Its Implications for Thought andLife (Kuala Lumpur: 31. Ibid.. 49. 32. Wid., 50. 33. Ibid, 54. 34. Syed N a q ~ b al-Attas, Islam andsecularism (Kuala Lumpur: ABIM, 1978). 14. 35. Ibid.. 14-16. 36. Ibid, 14-18. 37. Ibid, 16-17. 38. Ibid., 15-18. 39. Ibid., 16-22. 40. Ibid.. 18-24. 41. See Max Weber. Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology, edited by Guenther Ross and Claus Wittich (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979); Max Weber, Sociology ofReligion (Boston: Beacon Press, 1%3). 42. See al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, 13-46. 43. See Almond and Powell, Comparative Politics. 44. See Apter, The Politics of Modernization. 45. See Sidney Verba. “Sequences and Development” in Crises and Sequences in Political Devebpment, edited by Leonard Binder (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University 46. Al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, 16. 47. Ibid., 34. 48. See C. E. Black, The Dynamics of Modernization: A Study in Comparative History (New Yo& Harper and Row, 1%). 49. Sec W. W. Rostow. Politics and the Stages of Growth (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1970); see also The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1960). 50. See John L. Seitz, The Politics of Development (Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1988). 5 1. Al-Attas, Islam and Secularism. 32. 53. Ibid., 127. 54. Ibid., 41. 55. Ibid. 56. Myron Weiner, “Political Change: Asia, Africa, and the Middle East” in Under- standing Political Development, edited by Weiner and Huntington (Harper Collins Pub- lishers, 1987). 60. 57. Ibid. 58. Samuel P. Huntington, “Goals of Development,” in Understanding Political Development, 26-27. 59. J. al-‘Alwm. “Toward an Islamic Alternative in Thought and Knowl- edge,” The American Journal of Iskzmic Social Sciences 6, no. 1 (1989): 6. 60. Ibid., 7. 61. ‘AbdulHamid AbiiSulaymm, Crisis in the Muslim Mind (Hemdon, Virginia: IIIT, 1993), 4. 62. Ibid., 20. 63. See chapter 4, “First Principles of Islamic Methodology,” in Islamimtion of Knowledge, 33-56. 64. See William Paddock and Paul Paddock, Femine-1975! (Boston: Little Brown, 1%7). 65. See Garrett Hardin, “Living on a Life Boat,” Bwscience (24 October 1974): 561- 68. Change, edited by Khurmm Murad (Leicester, U K The Islamic Foundation, 1984). 2. 1982). 46. PESS, 1974). 283-310. 52. Ibid., 31-32.