Bringing Hayek to the Muslim World

The western media seem more interested in people like Ayaan Hirsi Ali (her approach for reforming Islam would get a hearing only in the west), than those Muslims like Akbar Ahmed and Anwar Ibrahim who have more practical and acceptable reform suggestions to the great majority of the Muslim population.

Following are excerpts from a recent speech by Anwar Ibrahim at Minaret of Freedom;

"Now, this brings us to Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom. I know it is controversial, particularly in the Muslim World, but I believe this is a standard text that we have to reread. Criticize by all means, but have a clear understanding and have the courage like The Minaret of Freedom Institute to articulate and debate these issues, because I believe that there is a deficit when it comes to such discussions. Look at the UNDP’s Arab Development Report, there are flaws, there are limitations, fair enough, but the fact remains, the economic policies have been a disaster. Again, economic policies relate to the issue of governance and the rule of law.

I come to the issue of, the writings of Adam Smith, because I’ve read a number of writings by Muslim economists during the period of the 60s and 70s talking about this obsession with growth without ethical consideration and moral consideration and the rule of law and etc. But if you look at Adam Smith, you must not only read Wealth of Nations, but also The Theory of Moral Sentiments. I think Adam Smith is certainly much more ethical and moralistic in his considerations, than what is generally perceived by many economists that I know [who would promote] growth and policies that will generate development without any ethical or moral considerations. That’s not Adam Smith that I know. I believe that we need to be fair given a lot credit in this issue of moral sentiment after Amartya Sen, the Nobel laureate for economics, has taken a lot of effort to expound the theories of Adam Smith, relating to the Wealth of Nations and Theory of Moral Sentiments.

Now, I’ve read Imad’s paper on this issue where he made a reference also to the 14th century theory of Ibn Khaldun, and also Ibn Taymiyya—but that doesn’t make him a Wahabbi…

Now, the issue of importance of trade and commence, to my mind, is a fact. I mean there is no need to debate or continue with this course on that. Prophet Mohammed (saaws) also traded, Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf was the key Sahabah- keen on trade and business, and was encouraged to do so. But it’s not only a matter of trade, but of free market philosophy in the Prophetic Hadith of Rasul Allah (saaws): at the time when the city of Medina had encountered some problems about the lack of food and goods and there were attempts by the Sahabah to advise him to fix prices, the answer was emphatic, “Only God fixes prices.” Now this is an unequivocal endorsement of the market at the time, even at the time when there was a relative shortage of food. Of course there was a law against hoarding, the law of against excessive profit directed against imperfections in the market, in the economic system. The thrust of this economic policy is a free market—fair and just market operations. This of course is strengthened and elaborated on by Ibn Khaldun and Ibn Taymiyyah. But it is interesting that, recently, John Hicks, the Nobel laureate in economics, stated that he was amazed by the unequivocal endorsement of the free market by Prophet Mohammed (saaws). On a humorous note, he stated that Prophet Mohammed must have been eligible for membership in the Mont Peleron Society."

*If anybody has a reference to the Hicks comment above please drop a line.