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perfection . As a result of this , human beings are to see themselves as the vicegerent of God on earth or �������� made in God ’ s image ( Nasr , 1966 , pp . 15-38 ), to be continuously judged by their actions hereafter . It is both the recognition of this metaphysical relationship and the responsibility placed upon the individual Muslim to act accordingly that is said to stimulate ethical practice and promote societal welfare ( �������� ) throughout the ����� ( community ), thus proposing the maintenance and rejuvenation of society through its working together ( ������� ), rather than a linear progression towards an ultimate society .
In contrast to the certainty that is expressed in the ����� , a degree of uncertainty does however exist due to the nature in which the implementation of a religious system relies upon the actions of humankind . For example , in view of global changes Islamic scholars ( ����� ) have sought new evaluations of life and in doing so have looked towards interpretation ( ������� ) as a critical means of maintaining or promoting societal welfare ( Ahmad , 2006 ). 1 Obviously , this is not a perfect process as demonstrated by the various schools of thought that have emerged over Islamic development . In fact , the divergent nature of Islamic interpretations and sects immediately implies a diversity in Islamic development thought that is arguably a key to healthy development of Islam .
In the view of Western development , Islam has been accused of being an impediment to growth due to the use of invocation of the ����� in responding to conditions affecting Muslim societies ( Lewis , 2002 ). However , these arguments not only oversimplify the West ’ s interaction with regions of predominately Muslim faith , but also misunderstand the way in which the Islamic response over the past few centuries has shown itself to be a by-product of Western dominance . For example , Muslim scholar and economist Muhammad Baqir Al-Sadr ( 1935 – 1980 )— mirroring the words of various Western critics of the " Washington consensus " questioned the methods used by Western states , which sought to impose
… the life-style of the European man as a leading practice and to mark out the steps of this practice in order to build up a perfect and complete economy capable of raising the backward Islamic countries to the level of the modern European nations . ( Al-Sadr , 1982 , p . xix )
Such uncertainty has therefore led to an expansion in practices seeking to find Islamic solutions to an appropriate way of life . Similarly to Western prescriptions though , many have failed to ascertain the complex manner in which society adapts or evolves . For example , at one end of the Islamic revivalist spectrum fundamentalism ( epitomized by the ������� or ������� ) advocates a return to a way of life evident in the early centuries of Islam ( Kroessin , 2011 ). At the other end , nineteenth and twentieth century scholars such as Jamal al-Din al-Afghani ( 1838 – 1897 ), Muhammad Abduh ( 1849 – 1905 ), Sayyid Abul Aala Maududi ( 1903 – 1979 ), and Sayyid Qutb ( 1906 – 1966 ) have sought to utilize Western theory , using socialist and democratic idioms in conjunction with Islam as a solution to societal ills . In the formers case , the ����� could be obtained via the imposition of archaic societal structures based on inaccurate assumptions that reject interaction ( internally and externally ) and ultimately deny the possibility to adapt . However , even in the more adaptive latter trend there are elements of constraining positivist and linear thinking . As Tripp ( 2006 ) writes , “… many believed that the proper ends of society could be rationally discovered ” ( p . 74 ).
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