Islam and Crime: The Moral Community of Muslims

Abstract

International crime statistics indicate that in Islamic countries crime rates are lower than in other countries. This feature of Islamic countries is most often explained by two factors: a) the relatively low level of development, which has a positive effect on crime rates, and b) the strictness of Islamic penal law. Providing some evidence, this article maintains that the first factor fails to explain properly the difference in the crime rates of Islamic and non-Islamic countries at a similar level of development. It also argues that the second explanation is a reductionist one. Following a Weberian approach, the article develops the argument that the content and structure of Islamic belief and practice is the dominant shared element among Islamic countries. It has given rise to a particular socio-cultural structure among Muslims, one of the impacts of which has been the low crime rate. Islamic beliefs and practice, therefore, are discussed as the main explanatory factor for the low crime rate in Islamic countries. (Keywords: religion, crime, development, Islam, Shari’a, Islamic law, Muslim attitudes.)