Administrative development: An islamic perspective Muhammad A. Al‐Buraey Kegan Paul International Ltd., 1986, 470 pp.
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230070421 |
| Author | Richard A. Chapman |
| Date | 01 October 1987 |
| Published date | 01 October 1987 |
Book
Reviews
417
Taken as a whole the book is a useful introduction to urbanization theory and to
perception analysis, but the serious student should be warned that there is much
more
to
these subjects than the text implies.
FRANCIS
J. C. AMOS
Institute
of
Local
Government Studies, University
of
Birmingham
ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENT: AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE
Muhammad A. Al-Buraey
Kegan Paul International Ltd.,
1986,
470
pp.
It is not unusual to hear social scientists concerned with the Islamic world regretting the
absence
of
a
single volume which consisely explains the relevance of Islam to the practice
of modern government and administration. Substantial religious studies in Arabic
or
partial
studies by social scientists in English
or
other Western languages have not satisfied this
need. It
is
therefore a great pleasure to welcome this book, developed from his Ph.D.
dissertation for the University
of
North Carolina, by the Chairman of the Management
Development Programme at the University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi
Arabia.
Dr Al-Buraey set himself the difficult task of using a systems approach, together with
his extensive knowledge
of
Islam, to develop what he calls an Islamic perspective on
development. The systems approach is used because it emphasizes the interaction
of
the
governmental
or
administrative system with its environment, and Islam
is
regarded by
Islamists as a complete code
of
life
in a way that Christianity and Judaism appear to be
inadequate.
To
Islamists, Islam is not only a religion, it
is
an ideology-a unique religio-
political system with its own political theory and rules
for
political and administrative
practice. Islamists regard Muslim states as different from Islamic states because the former
are simply states governed by Muslims, whereas the latter are states adhering to the Islamic
Law and seeking
to
attain Islamic ideals by devoting their full resources to conducting their
affairs within the Islamic framework: the difference
is
the contrast between the existing
and the ideal. It
is
therefore helpful that Dr Al-Buraey devotes the first part of his book
to explaining the meaning
of
Islam, together with an exposition
of
its fundamental theories
about man, government and society.
In Part I1 the author concentrates on political and socioeconomic development.
He
explains that because
of
various attempts to emulate Western political institutions there
are at present
54
Muslim states in the world, and he categorized them into
23
dictatorships,
11
distorted democracies,
9
monarchies and
1
Islamic Republic. He
sees
modernization as
a concept which embodies Western civilization with its culmination in scientism and materi-
alism. In contrast, the goal
of
development in existing Muslim societies is to achieve the
ideals
of
a genuine Islamic state, ruled, formed and guided by the shari’ah-the comprehen-
sive Divine Law which applies to all Muslims and to non-Muslim citizens
of
an Islamic
State.
In Part 111 Dr Al-Buraey expounds his perspective on Islamic development. It
is
an
approach intermingled with religion, values and ethics. From the early documents of the
religious leaders numerous rules for administrative behaviour and procedure may be
extracted, and these are supplemented by the wisdom
of
the pioneers
of
Islamic adminis-
tration. They are brought together, using a systems approach, to form ‘an ideal Islamic
administrative model’. The result is an emphasis on the dignity
of
the individual, social
equity and personal growth,
so
that Islamic values are emphasized within a framework
of
rules and advice for practising administrators.
The result is a fascinating and authoritative book by an enthusiast. Unfortunately the
book has some
of
the qualities
of
a thesis: the literature review is thorough, and non-
essential references and explanations are provided with meticulous scholarship; for publi-
cation as a book it might have been rewritten in half its length. Dr Al-Buraey
is
clearly a
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