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June 29, 2006

More on Islamocapitalism: Ibn Khaldun & Tax Cuts

"In the days of the caliphate," Stephen Glain reminds us in a Newsweek op-ed titled "Islam in Office", "Islam developed the most sophisticated monetary system the world had yet known." Mr. Glain also refers to the pro-market ideas of Ibn Khaldun, the renown Medieval Muslim scholar, who advocated less taxes and more individual enterprise:

Anticipating supply-side economics, Khaldun argued that cutting taxes raises production and tax revenues, and that state control should be limited to providing water, fire and free grazing land, the utilities of the ancient world. The World Bank has called Ibn Khaldun the first advocate of privatization. His founding influence is a sign of moderation.

It is notewhorty that the first advocate of privatization was a Muslim scholar. Here is yet another indication of the fact that Islam is very open to individualism — but not collectivism.

Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 4:38 PM | Comments (3)

June 25, 2006

A Righteous Rabbi

Just like there are "Righteous Gentiles," there are many righteous Jews. Rabbi Stephen Julius Stein of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple is apparently one of them. In his Los Angeles Times piece, Islam's Ann Coulter, Rabbi Stein makes a very considerate criticism of the anti-Islamic propaganda carried out by the Syrian-born ex-Muslim psychiatrist Wafa Sultan.

Mrs. Sultan seems to have grown a self-hatred similar to that of Ayaan Ali Hirsi, the Somali-born Dutch parliamentarian and scenarist of the controversial film, Submission. Both critiques of Islam seem to direct their bad experience with some Muslims to the religion itself. It is very heartening to see that equitable non-Muslims such as Rabbi Stein — and Judea Pearl, the father of the murdered journalist Daniel Pearl, whose objection to Mrs. Sultan is mentioned in Rabbi Stein's piece — don't buy into and stand against such unjust Islam-bashing.

"We need the thoughtfulness, self-awareness and subtlety that comes from progressive religious expression," says Rabbi Stein, "[and] we have that in Judaism, in Christianity — and in Islam." He is right and righteous indeed.

Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 9:03 PM | Comments (1)

June 19, 2006

Islamocapitalism: Islam & The Free Market

[Originally published in Tech Central Station; also available in Malay]

Is Islam compatible with modernity? This has become a hotly debated question in the past few decades. Much of the discussion focuses on issues relating to political liberalism — democracy, pluralism and freedom of thought. Another important dimension of modernity is, of course, economic liberalism. So we should also ask whether Islam is compatible with it, i.e. a free market economy, or, capitalism.

Most Islamists would reply to this question with a resounding "no!" Since they perceive Islam as an all-encompassing socio-political system, they regard capitalism as a rival and an enemy. The struggle against both communism and capitalism has been one of the standard themes in Islamist literature. Sayyid Qutb, the prominent ideologue of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, wrote a book titled Ma'arakat al-Islam wa'l-Ra's Maliyya (The Battle Between Islam and Capitalism) in 1951. At an Islamic conference held in the Spanish city of Granada on July 2003, attended by about 2,000 Muslims, a call was made to "bring about the end of the capitalist system."

However such radical rejections of the capitalist economy don't seem well-suited to the theological attitude and the historical experience of Islam towards business and profit-making. As a religion founded by a businessman — Prophet Muhammad was a successful merchant for the greater part of his life — and one that has cherished trade from its very beginning, Islam can in fact be very compatible with a capitalist economy supplemented by a set of moral values that emphasize the care for the poor and the needy.

Continue reading "Islamocapitalism: Islam & The Free Market"

Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 4:40 PM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2006

Join the Scientific Dissent From Darwinism

[Originally published in IslamOnline]

"[An] 'ism' of great danger to Islam... is Darwinism," said Seyyed Hossein Nasr, one of the leading Muslim thinkers of our time, in his book Islam and the Plight of Modern Man. He is certainly right. Darwinism is indeed a dangerous idea, and the reason for that is its seemingly scientific affirmation of the naturalist philosophy - the belief that nature is all there is and that life on Earth, including humans, is the product of the blind forces of nature. If one accepts that philosophy, then one will have little reason to believe in Allah, the Lord and Creator of everything.

Continue reading "Join the Scientific Dissent From Darwinism"

Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 7:39 PM | Comments (5)

June 10, 2006

Another Praise for Rethinking The Kurdish Question

Fikret Bila, an op-ed writer for the prominent Turkish national daily, Milliyet, has commended Akyol's Rethinking The Kurdish Question in his column. "Mustafa Akyol, a young researcher" wrote Bila,

"[has] treated the Kurdish question in a multidimensional way. His research is quite scholarly. The work, which makes use of national and international resources, handles the question in its regional framework. Akyol bases his study on scientific resources and analyzed his findings from a liberal point of view.

Akyol reaches the conclusion that approaches such as autonomy, a federation or independence can’t be seen as workable, permanent solutions. As a young researcher, Akyol sees the solution in integration. He gives advice on how to improve this. He sees democracy and Islam as a common point in solving this problem (in this respect, I think secularism should be highlighted more). Akyol suggests that Turkish identity should be seen as an upper identity and that a democratic, economic integration in a unitary structure would bring a solution. It is of great value that researchers, scholars and the young population are thinking about this problem.

Posted by Mustafa Akyol at 5:36 PM | Comments (0)