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A comprehensive essay on modernization theory
A comprehensive essay on modernization theory
A comprehensive essay on modernization theory
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Chapter 2: Modernization of Muslim Society and Education: Need for a Practical Approach Modernization has been defined as the process of social change towards those types of social, economic and political system that have developed in Western Europe and North America from the seventeenth to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and have been introduced in the Asian, African and South American continents. Muslims have to renew their Islamic tradition so that it is practicable and suitable for the modern age. However, the modernization made should not break down and deviate from the ‘ideal type’ of Islamic norms and standards. There are some failures that can be clearly seen in the aspects of politics, economy, social and also education and culture. In the aspect of politics for example, leadership assumes power with popular support and exercise authority by the power of law in order to have a functional rapport between the state and its citizens. Leaders impose themselves as a self-styled class of rulers. Otherwise, Islam strictly enjoins the principle of consultation and consensus ...
Expansion of the Muslim Empire The Muslim empire expanded vastly from 622 CE to 750 CE. This empire could be compared to the Holy Roman Empire, one of the greatest in the world. There are three main reasons to explain how the Muslim empire reached its height: battling for land, signing peace treaties, and granting stipends. Every Muslim who was in the military fought against other civilizations for land. After that, they made an agreement, or a peace treaty, with the people of the land they conquered.
Islam has been a dominant force throughout Turkish history. During the Ottoman Empire, Islam ruled every part of the theocratic state, but after the demise of the empire, Turkey's rulers led the country away from political Islam. The modern Turkish state has a strictly secular government, and Islam has been relegated to the personal sphere. Although Turkey has experienced a rise in fundamentalism in the past twenty years, the separation of church and state has remained relatively intact. Even with this increase of fundamentalist Islam, the wide majority of Muslims in Turkey are moderate and tolerant. They have adapted to modern life and value Islam for its moral and spiritual messages. Islam is a guide for right living and ethical conduct rather than a political system. Turkey constantly struggles to balance Islamic life with a secular government. Although the government wants to maintain a strict separation between religion and politics, it cannot ignore the power and influence that Islam has in the lives of the Turkish people.
The culture of Islam has its positive aspects, as well as its negative aspects. Islam bestowed many unfortunate people the opportunity to gain more knowledge about their surroundings, and the adversities that they may face on a daily basis. Islam also created alliances, and trade contracts with other surrounding countries, allowing them to receive resources that other religions and groups could not envisage. However, to gain these privileges, Islam had to first fester the lives of many civilians that dared step in its path. Islam not only ruined the lives of people, but it ruined whole kingdoms. Many people felt an...
The Islamic tradition, as reflected in Naguib Mahfouz’s Zaabalawi, has over the course of history had an incredible impact on Arab culture. In Mahfouz’s time, Islamic practices combined with their political relevance proved a source of both great power and woe in Middle Eastern countries. As alluded to in Zaabalawi, Mahfouz asserts the fact that not all Muslims attain religious fulfillment through this common tradition, and other methods outside the scope of Islam may be necessary in true spiritual understanding.
Islam’s golden age was a period of time of great achievements. Politics, arts, education, medicine, science, and architecture benefited greatly during Islam’s golden age. Typically, when people speak of a “golden age” they refer to a time period of great advances and accomplishments. Under this definition, we can conclude that the United States, with its advanced technology, and breakthroughs in medicine, science, astronomy, and architecture, is in a golden age today.
Islam: An Introduction by Catharina Raudvere. New York: I. B. Tauris, 2015, pp. viii+261. ISBN: 9781848850842 (Paperback). The book spreads on nine chapters and an epilogue.
The United States of America is the society I am using to compare to the Golden Age of Islam. Just like the golden age, the United States of America, in the 21st century is like it. It is like the Golden Age because just like the golden age of Islam; it has artistic, medical and technological, economics, politics, and social developments.
With every culture there comes a point in their history where someone or something comes along, changes the way things were being done, and becomes a precedent to carry out standards which become a part of their antiquity. The Middle East has grown to be one of the most globalized nations based its people, culture and its religion of Islam. The induction of Muhammad and his teachings originated reason and alertness for major changes that would make the Middle East what it is today. The advent and the spread of Islam were the leading cause for key changes such as, the emphasis of religion, the importance of education, and, women’s rights in the Middle East.
September 11, 2001 forever changed the landscape of the generalized view of the Muslim community in the United States; these acts created a defining stereotypical image that all Muslim’s are extreme terrorists, or condone such behavior. Although this view of the Muslim community was not necessarily new, it was not widely acknowledged in America until the events of September 11th as it was continually thrust upon the public by print and news media. This study will discuss the dichotomy between representations of the Muslim community held by many in the Western culture as well as the psychological cause and effect of such depictions. The sociological “norms” as determined by popular American culture, the development of “terrorist” stereotypes through modern media, and the cause and effect postcolonial literature has had on the subject are all topics that will be evaluated. The objective of this research is to provide enhanced comprehension of the situational attitudes held by Muslims and Americans alike. Also, this will offer an educated understanding of the gap between what is believed and what is factual, in hopes of creating emphasis for the need of a new approach in creating a discrimination free partnership with the Muslim community while maintaining awareness and security.
This model should connect different organizations in the Muslim world together and should give a deep insight about the main principles that motivate people and organizations. This model should also offer a better understanding of the situational and cultural factors that exist in Muslim societies (Ali, 2009). Moreover, developing such a model can help to understand the nature of leadership and to understand the factors that help shape leaders in the Muslim world. Additionally, the model will offer researchers an opportunity to understand Islamic culture and the complex environment at economic organization and the developmental and organizational issues in many Muslims countries (Ali, 2009). It will also help to limit the gap between leaders and followers in Muslims societies because organizations in Muslim societies suffer from deep and serious crises (Ali, 2009). These crises can be solved when managers and policymakers in the Muslim world become more pragmatic. They also should know the differences between what is ideal and what is reality, and to know when they should adopt the principles of their faith (Ali, 2009). Furthermore, while Islam is spreading around the world, tribalism remained entrenched in Arab politics and social organization and confusion has persisted for many non-Muslims about what Islamic,
“Are political Islam and democracy compatible?” This question has been troubling both Muslims and non-Muslims living in East and West for a long time now. Contemporary Islamic political thought has become deeply influenced by attempts at reconciling Islam and democracy. Muslim thinkers who deal with political debates cannot disregard the significance of the democratic system, as it is the prevailing theme of modern western political thought. Hence, it is necessary for any alternative political system, whether it is religious or secular, to explore its position with regards to democratic government. In fact, a large literature and media publications have developed over the last century on this heated discourse of democracy versus Islam. While many argue that Islam has all the ingredients of modern state and democratic society, many other reject the phenomena “modernism” and “democracy” as a whole because of their “foreign nature”—alien to “Islamic values”. For Islamists and modernists, the motivation for such effort to either embrace or reject democracy often is to remove suspicion about the nature and goals of Islamic movements and Islamic revivalism or resurgence. But before diving into this discourse, one needs to understand the definition and origins of “democracy.” Although purely a Western ideology in its origin, there is no consensus on the definition of “democracy” as a political system. The Oxford English Dictionary describes democracy as: “A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives” (“democracy, n.”). In my paper, I will examine whether or not democracy and Sunni political Islam are compatible through the eyes of three revolutionary Sun...
The Shahadah, or testimony, is the first of the five pillars of Islam. In order to officially convert to Islam, it is required to recite the Shahadah three times, “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” This has been a practice within the Islamic faith for hundreds of years. Yet, even within the Islamic faith there are differing versions. Those who practice Shia Islam add, “and Ali is the friend of God” to the end of the Shahadah. This, among many other practices, is an example of the religious plurality that exists within the Islamic world. The Islamic world is home to a large and diversified religious community that, on the surface, seems homogenous in its religious practices. But many religious schools of jurisprudence, schools of theology, and other religious movements exist under the umbrella of Islam, these schools bring religious diversity to Islam that seek to meet the diverse needs and wants of the religious marketplace of the Islamic world. Though the United States is often used as the example to describe religious pluralism, there are many instances in the Islamic world that can even rival the plurality of the American religious market. The Muslim Brotherhood is a prime example of an Islamic organization that has become deeply entrenched in society. Through the extensive use of social services and extreme religious power, the Muslim Brotherhood has been able to enjoy a large membership base, devoted to their cause, and dedicated to its principles. Every year, many Muslims will embrace Sufi Islamic practices into their lives. The Islamic world is not an exception to the religious economies model and is, in fact, a very religiously diverse region of the world.
Modernization is the term used for the transition from the traditional society of the past to modern society as it is found today in the West. Modernization theory refers to a variety of non-Marxist perspectives which have been put forward to explain the development or underdevelopment of countries. Modernization theory is a model of economic and social development that explains global inequality in terms of differing levels of technological development among societies. Modernization theory presents the idea that by introducing modern methods in "technology, agricultural production for trade, and industrialization dependent on a mobile labour force," the underdeveloped countries will experience a strengthening in their economies. Modernization theory offers an account of the common features of the process of development drawing on the analysis of Durkheim and Weber. Development implies the bridging of these gaps by an imitative process, occurring in stages, such that traditional sectors and/or countries gradually assume the qualities of the 'modern' western countries. There are many proponents of Modernization Theory, such as, Walter Rostow, W.A. Lewis, Talcott Parsons, and Daniel Lerner, however the theory has it's roots in the ideas of Durkheim and Weber. The proponents of the modernization theory all felt that the rest of the world needed to look to the Western model of modernity and pattern their society like the West in order to progress. Modernization theory was developed as an alternative to the Marxist account of social development. Modernization Theory Divides the World into two kinds of societies: "modern" and "traditional." Traditional societies are backward looking : Dominated by religious a...
The Achievements of The Islamic Civilization Islam, one of the most successful religions was started by Muhammad in Arabia and had a massive impact on the world. If it weren't for Islam the world would have been a very different place to live in. Muslims didn't always invent things; sometimes they improved on other people's inventions e.g. the number system, the astrolabe and much more. The first Muslims were Arabs and they went on to conquer many countries.
To begin with, modernity is a term that “signals a particular kind of society that only came into existence over the past 200 years or so, first in Western Europe, then elsewhere. Modernization refers to a society that is moving toward modernity.” (Veeser, p. 3) There is a close association between modernization and westernization because “earlier ideas assumed that modernization was in fact Westernization.” (Veeser, p. 3) Western Europe was the first to act in the process of modernization which included urbanization, widespread literacy, usage of inanimate power, rising per capita income, and the widespread participation of populate in political affairs along with the West’s rational and scientific orientations toward the world. When this