Islamic Development Management - Why and What

Summary

The speaker explains why Islamic Development Management (IDM) was established and what it means. He emphasizes that the term is development management, not “development and management.” The field is concerned with managing development according to Islamic principles, rather than merely discussing Islamic ideas about development.

Why establish Islamic Development Management?

• Religious awareness and personal intellectual change: The speaker describes becoming more engaged with Islam while studying in the UK. After returning to Penang, he sought to contribute through an Islamic approach to development.
• Offer an alternative to dominant ideologies: He recalls the influence of Marxist, neo-Marxist, socialist, and other Western—particularly Eurocentric—frameworks in intellectual life. Rather than simply criticizing them, he wanted to present a holistic Islamic alternative.
• Development encompasses human life broadly: Development touches economic, social, cultural, political, and other aspects of life. It therefore provides a broad field in which Islamic thinking can be developed.
• Move from theory to practice: Discussing Islamic development alone is insufficient. It must be managed and applied so that Islamic principles can be realized in practice and contribute to the wellbeing of the ummah.

What Islamic Development Management means

The speaker gives a broad initial definition: managing development in an Islamic way. Its purpose is to fulfil human responsibilities before Allah, including serving Allah and acting as His representative in managing the world. Natural resources are understood as provisions and means of production entrusted to people. This management should be grounded in tawhid, account for both this world and the hereafter, and ultimately seek Allah’s pleasure.

The speaker argues that the field requires redefining key concepts—not simply adopting conventional meanings. Examples include development, management, poverty, justice, and cleanliness.

• Development should encompass human life from its inner and spiritual dimensions outward, including family, society, community, the state, and the universe.
• Management is a human responsibility rooted in people’s role as servants of Allah and managers of the world.
• Conventional assumptions about development should be reconsidered. Physical resources may be limited, but the speaker argues that provision is ultimately determined by Allah. Likewise, wants are not necessarily unlimited: they depend on a person’s nafs and can be restrained by consuming according to needs rather than wants.
• Islamic concepts such as cleanliness should be understood through Islamic teachings—for example, taharah—rather than treated as identical to conventional definitions.

Approach for constructing the field

The speaker sets out several principles for developing Islamic Development Management:

1. Redefine relevant concepts from an Islamic perspective. Examine conventional definitions in light of Islamic doctrines and teachings rather than simply adopting them.
2. Build from within Islamic foundations. The field should arise from Islamic philosophical and epistemological foundations, rather than being formed by inserting Qur’anic verses or hadith into a Western framework.
3. Study Western approaches critically, without simply adopting them. The speaker argues against an “accommodative-modification” method: taking Western theories and methods, then modifying or “Islamizing” them by adding Islamic references. He believes this can leave the underlying Western paradigm intact and even strengthen it.
4. Develop an independent Islamic framework. The task is not merely to graft new branches onto an existing tree, but to establish a new tree rooted in an Islamic paradigm. This does not mean refusing to learn about Western thought; it means studying and critiquing it without accepting it as the foundation.
5. Make the approach practical and applicable. Islamic Development Management should not remain theoretical. It should be usable on the ground and capable of informing real development practice.

The speaker notes that students are introduced to Islamic epistemology and tasawwuf as part of this grounding.

Development administration versus development management

The talk distinguishes between two conventional terms:

• Development administration, commonly used in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, focuses mainly on the government’s responsibilities for development projects, such as planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.
• Development management, which became more prominent later, takes a broader view of the development process and its cycles. It includes not only government but also civil society, NGOs, the private sector, and communities.

This wider perspective also recognizes public participation and grassroots involvement, including bottom-up approaches rather than relying only on top-down planning.

Speakers and sources featured

• Dr. Muhammad Syukri Salleh — the presenter and main speaker.
• Dr. Jose, Dr. Shai, Dr. Zachary, Dr. Hamiza, and Dr. Skinner are also mentioned in the talk but do not appear as speakers in the provided subtitles.