Book Reviews
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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: A N 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 t o 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 religiopolitical 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. H e sees modernization as
a concept which embodies Western civilization with its culmination in scientism and materialism. In contrast, the goal of development in existing Muslim societies is t o achieve the
ideals of a genuine Islamic state, ruled, formed and guided by the shari’ah-the comprehensive 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 administration. 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 nonessential references and explanations are provided with meticulous scholarship; for publication as a book it might have been rewritten in half its length. D r Al-Buraey is clearly a
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Book reviews
man of considerable stature in his subject, and the book demonstrates his critical faculties
in some areas. However, the presentation of his Islamic model might have been improved
had it contained more critical reasoning and less confident assertion. In general, this is an
important book which should stimulate much further research, especially as the author
suggests an extensive programme of topics for future projects. It cannot be compared with
similar works because they do not exist in this detail or with this degree of authority.
This much-needed study will be welcomed by all students of public administration and
development.
RICHARD
A. CHAPMAN
University of Durham