Administrative Development: An Islamic Perspective by Muhammad A.

Al-Buraey
Review by: Sarah P. Voll
The Journal of Developing Areas, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Apr., 1987), pp. 363-365
Published by: College of Business, Tennessee State University
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 Book Reviews 363

shift to ASEAN; and anticipated economic cooperation and "south-south"

trade (but, as already indicated, this has not yet begun). The inhibiting
factors include developed country protection, ASEAN industrial regula-
tion, alternative suppliers of labor-intensive exports, and technological
developments that alter factor proportions in certain activities.
Signs of each of these negative factors are emerging. Suffering from
its huge trade deficit and having secured no redress in currency valua-
tions, the United States is likely to try to stem ASEAN imports. China,
with even more abundant labor, could become the developed world's
supplier of labor-intensive manufactured goods. At the same time,
computer-based technology could convert labor-intensive to capital-
intensive activities. The authors concede that this is already happening
in textiles. Based on the findings of my own research, it is also occurring
in electronics/communications. Through product redesign and automation,
companies have regained lost markets, and some are returning offshore
production to domestic plants. U.S. investment in the region is drying
up, but it may be replaced by a Japanese presence now that the yen
has risen in value. Thus, the continued success of export-oriented indus-
trialization for ASEAN is not assured and will depend largely on Japan
both as a source of investment and as a market for manufactures, and
on Japan's use of ASEAN as a conduit for exporting to the United States.
ROY B. HELFGOTI
New Jersey Institute of Technology

ADMINISTRATIVEDEVELOPMENT: AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE.

By MuhammadA. Al-Buraey. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1985.
Pp. xii + 470, $65.00.
The purpose of this work is to present an Islamic perspective on devel-
opment with a special emphasis on administrativedevelopment. That it
does not quite succeed in its aims is largely the fault of its attempt to
discuss other aspects of development (politicaland socioeconomic)as well
as to provide a thorough context of administrativeand development the-
ory and the fundamentalsof Islam. Thus, the theme of the work tends
to be lost in the orchestration.
The introduction discusses Islam and development, distinguishes
between development and change, and notes that while many elements
of an Islamic society are subject to alterationand innovation,others, those
involving Islamic doctrines and principles, are immutable. An Islamic
model of administrativedevelopment is presented as a viable alternative
to alien models that, in particular, are incompatible with Islamic ethics.
The introduction also contains a review of the literature on develop-
mental models. The reader, however, will obtain little insight into either
the progression of Western scholarship or the status of current scholar-
ship on the subject.
Part I provides the Islamic world view of development. Chapter 1 is
a general background of Islam, its basic doctrines and sources, and its
views on secularism and concepts of freedom, justice, equality (including
a discussion on consultation), and the dignity of man. The focus of the

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364 Book Reviews

chapter is on the tenets of Islam itself, rather than on those aspects that
are relevant to an analysis of Islamic administrative development. Al-
Buraey'sclaim that "the lack of an adequate, objective understandingof
Islam by some scholars and students of orientalism in the West makes
this study a pioneering effort" (p. 91) scarcely does justice to contem-
porary scholarshipon Islam by both'Western and Muslim authors.
Chapter 2 examines the Islamic perspective on human nature and fur-
nishes the Qur'anic citations for the Islamic view of man's functions,
responsibilities, political nature, and social behavior. As the Islamic func-
tions of man center on the worship of Allah and the wise utilization of
nature for his requirements and those of his fellows, an Islamic strategy
of modernization will necessarily differ from models based on other
(Western) values.
Part 2 offers a context for administrativedevelopment: chapter 3 the
politicalframework,and chapter 4 the socioeconomicenvironment.Thus,
chapter3 discusses the inseparabilityof religion and politics in the Islamic
world, the actors in the contemporaryenvironment, and the theoretical
foundationsof an Islamic state. It states that "the theory of state in the
Islamic order centres around providing security, stability, and prosperity
for the whole Islamic Ummah"(p. 150). A review of the Muslim world
indicates the disparityin Muslim states between theory and practice, and
Al-Buraey suggests four means by which an Islamist can establish an
Islamic state: the integrationof an Islamic reform movement with a polit-
ical movement, penetration from within an existing state, opposition, or
withdrawal.
Similarly, chapter 4 discusses the basis of economic development as
found in the Qur'anand the Sunnah and describes the Islamic economy
as based on the labor of every able member of the society and the Islamic
social system as based on principles of brotherhood and the undesir-
ability of concentration of wealth. Again, practice in the Muslim world
is comparedwith theory in its internationalcontext and the discrepancies
noted. While these chapters enable the author to criticize the political,
economic, and social policies and characteristicsof contemporaryMuslim
states, he never systematicallydevelops the relations between the socie-
tal environment and his later discussion of administrativedevelopment.
It is also most evident in these chapters that, although the book was
published in 1985, no new source data have been added since 1980.
The core of this work is Part 3. Chapter 5 first defines administration,
describes the principles of administrationas found in the Islamic sources,
and then traces the development of administrationduring the first 40
years of Islamic history. As examples of that development, the author
focuses on the diwan (secretariat)and the hisbah (the office of the market
inspector whose role is to promote good and prevent evil). As in his
previous chapters, he notes that the values extolled in the early Islamic
manuscriptsare not much in evidence in current administrations.The
chapter provides the source material for an Islamic administrationand
the evidence that, given commitment to Islamic ideals, such an admin-
istration is viable.
Chapter 6 outlines the dynamics of an Islamic model. The goal of an
Islamicadministrationis to maximizeIslamicvalues and in particularreflect

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 Book Reviews 365

the Islamic balance between the material and the spiritual well-being of
individualsand groups in society (p. 307). The author's"Six P's Version"
of the dynamic open system model contains the elements of people (offi-
cials), place (diwan), problem, process, plan, and performance. To be
Islamic, the administration must interpret the elements in an Islamic
framework:that is, the people must view themselves as agents of Allah,
the process must be shura, and so on. The discussion of the process of
shura, with its requirement of consultationand consensus, is perhaps the
book's most interesting piece of analysis and its clearest depiction of the
differencebetween Islamic and non-Islamicmodes of administration.The
chapter also comparesthe Islamic model with models developed by other
public administrationtheorists, stressingin particularthe values each model
attempts to maximize, with the Islamic emphasis on justice; equity; per-
sonal, material, and spiritual growth; consensus; and cooperation in con-
trast to the emphasis on efficiency, productivity, and economy apparent
in the non-Islamic models.
The final chapter deals with the strategy for implementing Islamic
administration,either formally in the context of an Islamic environment
or informallyin its absence. In either case, the change agent is neces-
sarily a committed Islamist who will utilize one of the four strategies
discussed in chapter 3 to establish an Islamic administration. The con-
cludingremarkssummarizethe book and note areasfor additionalresearch.
Al-Buraey'swork is a useful contribution to the growing intercultural
exchange of ideas and a reminder of the degree to which more familiar
constructsare value laden. The publisher, however, should have insisted
on a rigorousjob of editing to sharpen the focus of the book.
SARAH P. VOLL
New Hampshire Public
Utilities Commission

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND MARKETS IN THE SOUTHWEST

PACIFIC: A STUDY OF AUSTRALIA, FIJI, NEW ZEALAND, AND
PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Edited by Michael T. Skully. New York: St.
Martin's Press, 1985. Pp. xviii + 371, $29.95.
This volume surveys the present financial systems of four nation states
that were once British colonies. The editor has written the chapters on
Australiaand Papua New Guinea; Savenaca Narube and Barry T. Whiteside
deal with Fiji; Peter Nicholl and Maree F. King write about New Zealand.
The common form of organization that has been imposed on the four
chapters will help readers find their way around an inevitably detailed
volume.
Each chapter begins with a brief economic and financial overview of
the country. Then follows a categorical description of the existing finan-
cial institutions, which are discussed with respect to their development,
regulation, sources of funds, and uses of funds; these descriptions are
replete with facts and figures. A third section deals with the markets in
each country for money, securities, and foreign exchange (in the case of
Australia, also the markets for stock options and futures). The descriptions

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