Umer Chapra - Muslim Civilization: The Causes of Decline and the Need for Reform

Abstract

Chapra’s book comes at a time when it is most needed. This is an era of upheavals and attempts at ‘revivalism’ in the Muslim communities and countries across the world. Chapra examines the factors responsible for the decline in Muslim civilization and tries to offer suggestions on alternative routes for the Muslim world to regain its rightful position among the world’s civilisations. The book begins with raising some fundamental questions as to the reasons behind the current material and moral bankruptcy throughout much of the Muslim world. The author points at the contemporary disparity between the natural resources in the Muslim world and its poor indices of development. He argues that Islam was once a leading civilisation and a beacon for humanity. According to the author, its eclipse led to the crucial question of what has gone awry.