CC BY
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A. Niazi,
Ph. D. (Hist), IOS RAS,
Deputy editor of the bulletin "Russia
and the Moslem World"
ISLAMIC VALUES FOR THE SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT: THE ISSUE OF CULTURE
AND PROGRESS
The manifestations of the global systemic crisis started to track at the end of the last century. But now the global instability, which covers all areas of human life, has increased dramatically. The instability of the global political, economic, financial and energy systems has increased, cultural development and rapprochement of peoples moves back, the economic capacity of the biosphere is falling apart.
This situation is due to the dictates of neoliberal ideology and practice, established in recent decades. Economic dominance is evident in the neoliberal project, the idea of democratization of the world is secondary. It is used more as a political tool for the promotion of leading transnational capitalist model, and as a selective tool.
The neoliberal economic doctrine was developed in the late 1970s to revitalize the economies of the UK and the U.S. It was assumed a gradual release of the market from the tutelage of the state and of social obligations and the adoption of a new world monetary and
financial system. This project has significantly transformed into a kind of philosophy of the world civilization development over time. Its supporters have started reorganization of the world as soon as the Soviet system began to collapse, proclaiming that the free market was the engine of progress. Neoliberalism radicalized significantly during this time. It was proposed much stricter reforms known as "shock therapy" for post-Soviet economy, in contrast to the recommended earlier for a number of developing countries. There was an attempt to extend the project of neoliberal globalization on the planet after the fall of the socialist camp. Postulates of neoliberalism began to apply in war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan after coalition forces entered there. As a result, long-term socio-economic and political crises have taken place1.
The neoliberal theory has generated the dogma and the West continues to rely on them by inertia in its relations with the East. The West is not homogeneous, but it continues to examine changes at the political level in the rest of the world through the prism of this particular project, giving advice that is often refuted in practice. The formula of progress for others is the opening of the market, following the tenets of monetarism, privatization the state property, the dollarization of the financial system, export orientation, minimization of the social responsibility of the state, its presence in the economy, its protectionist actions, and all this in the most radical forms. In most cases, following such recommendations in practice leads to opposite results2.
Experience of world development shows that the most pressing problems have not been solved within the globalist model in recent decades. It is focused on speeding up economic growth, maximization of consumption and cultivation of hedonism and self erecting various obstacles in its path of socio-economic, political, military, cultural and
natural character, to overcome which is becoming increasingly difficult. At the same time there is an active search for another significant and technological paradigm of development now, designed to change consumer attitude to life on a conscious saving of the world and human in man. Of course, there can not be a universal prescription for curing diseases of our time. It is impossible to make everyone happy, but mankind is capable of creating more fair, reasonable and stable peace. It seems that the concept of sustainable development, created under the aegis of the UN, is a consolidating antithesis to the neoliberal project. The time of its realization and implementation is just beginning.
The key principle of the concept is the need to balance economic, social and environmental well-being. The scheme is offered for inter-supported, socio-natural evolution through the introduction of alternative energy sources, resource-saving and clean technologies, adoption of lean socio-economic models of production and consumption control, which is called "green economy". The new settings are designed around this basic objective: on the world political and economic order, the role of state and market, education and public awareness; problems are solved for self-management and social responsibility of business and government. Serious attention is paid to the support and development of culture, and preservation of traditional spiritual values and their crucial role in the formation of new vectors of progress. The concept of sustainable development regenerates the progressive system of views on the harmonious arrangement of the world. Its content is continuously expanded and crystallized. The theory of sustainable development is international, open to progressive ideas of East and West, is able to expand and absorb the experience of different cultures.
Islamic heritage can give a lot of useful on the way out of the global systemic crisis. Faith, Ethics and Law, linked together in Islam,
have retained to this day the pursuit of justice, mutual responsibility for the present and the future, for the spiritual and physical health, the care of the family and the needy, caring attitude to the world, diligence, temperance, condemnation of greed and parasitism among Muslims. Millions of people follow or try to follow these principles. Islam is a way of life, preserving human dignity and spiritual balance. More and more Islamic social and environmental organizations appear today, contributing to the common cause of protection of man and nature. Serious works on the theory and practice of sustainable development in the Muslim world are beginning to be published. Examples of elements of Islamic economics, social policy and philanthropy are becoming more relevant. These factors can be successfully applied in the common cause of formation of a new vector of progress.
The coordinate system of world development suggests the forced abandonment of the priority of economic growth over social development and ecological safety, which should result in strengthening the regulatory role of the state to tighten control over consumption and production and, in some cases, reductions in the developed countries for the sake of the environment and prevention of conflicts motivated by the struggle for resources3. Many liberal-democratic model of personal priority over the public may change to socially oriented. Certain democratic norms and personal freedoms in their current manifestation of Western will have to sacrifice in favor of the collective rights and responsibilities. Another problem, no less important, is to assist developing countries in acquiring new technologies and, perhaps in exchange for raw materials.
There is a tendency to strengthen the state regulation and the planning of socio-economic development in Russia now. Only fragmentary changes in individual sectors can be seen now. A comprehensive economic restructuring required in the coming years,
and in the mobilization regime4. It is not a return to the directive planning, but to the targeted development programs, the indicative plans, defining breakthrough industries and enterprises and the volume of their financing.
Development of methods to reduce the inflationary component of economic growth and the transition to a full-fledged banking, financial and investment system from the monetarist policy of containment of the money supply, has an important place in the aforesaid macro-economic strategy. Such a system should be aimed at deliverance of the Russian economy from a rigid binding to service the needs of the world market and the interests of foreign creditors, as well as at meeting the monetary demand in the real economy and the expansion of consumer purchasing power.
In this regard, the system of Islamic banking has attracted a growing attention of Russian experts and the public, including the Russian Orthodox Church. It shows stable development of its own financial mechanisms in the past decade5. Experience of Islamic commercial companies, charitable funds and waqf in a number of Muslim countries, the strategic use of state resources, and the planning of socio-economic development, that are based on social and ethical principles of Islam, is no less interesting. This can be called the experience of Islamic economics, which is implemented in different countries in various versions, without presenting a single model. This is only the beginning of the practical ways of the Islamic economic alternative6.
The peculiarity of the Islamic economic thought is basing on the fundamental religious and ethical principles - a ban on usurious percent; a ban on non-working, unearned income received in the course of fraud or gambling; distribution of contributions and taxes to benefit the poor through the various governmental and non-governmental
religious organizations; equality of all forms of property, but the restriction private property in the vital sectors of the existence of the state; ensuring equal access to resources and consumer goods while leaving the state as the main owner on public property - land, water resources and bowels.
Islamic economics puts the ethical principles at the heart of economic relations, rather than the bare material calculation. Private property is sacred in it. Therefore, restriction on the use of private property to the detriment of the interests of the Muslim community itself does not limit the property, but only its use. State social and economic management and planning should be carried out to achieve a balance of personal and public interests, but the freedom of enterprise can be installed in different borders depending on the changing conditions. As a rule, state intervention in its economy grows and manifests itself in the regulation of prices, financial flows, protectionist measures, subsidizing vital industries, reduction of the presence of private companies in them. It is important to note one more fundamental position in Islamic economic theory, which leads to the rejection of the global speculative activities. An unearned income arising from a random set of circumstances (in gambling, for example) without application performance of resources (capital, labor, and so on.) is unrighteous. On this basis, the modern financial system has been sharply criticized by Muslim scholars, since it allows to maneuver the enormous monetary flows at the global level for the purpose of their own extended reproduction without the production of the actual product. The relationship between the real economy and its finances in cross-border speculative operations has been lost. They have gained unprecedented power over the economy, received independence from the productive part. International financial markets have become
increasingly unpredictable and can cause unintended consequences. productive force.
Various alternatives are available to overcome this phenomenon in the world economy - from imposing very high taxes on the super profit of speculators of world class, and to the introduction of the single international means of payment. The concept of the Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance Malaysia is interesting in this context, which proposed a monetary unit for international payments - "the gold dinar"7. Perhaps this concept will be developed in the coming years. Correction of global speculative mechanisms in the direction of tightening control over them will follow, and Islamic banking will have a significant impact on the global credit and economic practice, in particular, the expansion of non-traditional credit transactions, limiting the trans-speculative operations, and may be on the introduction of a single international settlement currency.
The principles and practical steps for the forming of Islamic economics, coupled with examples of social structures of a number of Muslim countries, demonstrate a specific the "third way" of development - a middle way between the extremes of neo-liberalism (deregulation of the economy, naked materialistic calculation domination of selfishness and personal motivation) and rigid socialist (communist) experiments, reducing private property, individual incentives and the freedom of citizens to a minimum. Many countries have been through extreme, and now turn to traditional moral and ethical values in the creation of a new social and technological order.
The Islamic concept of the middle way covers the most important areas of life of Muslims, from theology and education, and to law and economics. Aspiration to balance private and public interests, preservation of high ideals of Islamic culture prevails in it. Islam does not reject the market economy, but it requires a reasonable and fair
regulation of it. At the same time it limits the market society of boundless consumption, calls for moderation and harmony with the environment that meets the fundamental values of sustainable development8.
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Obviously, we are painfully entering a new era of human progress, reinterpreting the past and present, trying to return to the universal morality, notions of honor, duty and virtue which have been accumulated over the centuries. We are gradually returning to the high culture in which traditional social values have unchangeable creative significance. The culture is a point of support for our development, which is called progress.
References
On the neoliberal experiment in Iraq, refer to: David Harvey. Kratkaya istoriya neoliberalizma. Aktualnoe prochtenie [David Harvey. A brief history of neoliberalism.] - Moscow: "Pokolenie", 2007, pp. 16-17. On the neoliberal experiment in Afghanistan, refer to: Niyazi A.Sh .: Afganistanu navyazyvayutsya perezhitki globalizma [A.Sh Niyazi. Afghanistan imposed remnants of globalism] // http://afghanistan.ru/doc/15268.html.
On implementation of neoliberalism in the developing countries, refer to.: Naomi Klein. Doktrina shoka. Rastsvet kapitalizma katastrof. [Naomi Klein. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.] - Moscow.: Dobraya Kniga, 2009. -p. 656.
The functioning of communities by increasing the exploitation of nature has its limits. Depletion of ecosystems under intensive resource consumption causes serious disruptions in the life of society. Many socio-economic models, whether developed or developing countries, are beginning to lose the prospect of development. They also inhibit the overall global development, built on the wasteful, consumer attitude towards nature and man
Ob alternativnoy sisteme mer v gosudarstvennoy politiki modernizatsii i razvitiya otechestvennoy ekonomiki [Alternative system of measures in state policy of modernization and development of the domestic economy] (section offers scientists Economics Department of Social Sciences) // Rossiyskiy ekonomicheskiy zhurnal.
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2011. № 4. S.Yu. Glazev. Kak ne proigrat v voyne. [Glazyev S.Yu. How not lose the war.] Internet izdanie 2014, p. 192 http://bankknigs.com/knigi/290526-glazev-s-yu-kak-ne-proigrat-v-voyne.html Date of Treatment: 01/06/2015 Gremuchaya smes. [Explosive mixture] Interview with RAS Academician Oleg Bogomolov (led Oleg Nazarov). Literaturnaya gazeta. № 51-52, 24030 December 2014, p. 3. Iskander Iskhakov. Pochemu voprosy islamskogo banking azainteresovali tsentralnyy bank RF? [Iskander Iskhakov. Why is the Central Bank of Russian Federation interested in questions of Islamic banking?] 09.22.2014. http://www.muslimeco.ru/opubl/393/ Date of Treatment 01/23/2015 Chaplin suggested to establish a system of orthodox banking. 11/11/2014. http://lenta.ru/news/2014/11/11/orthodox/ Date of Treatment 11/20/2014 Ahamed Kameel Mydean Meera. Islamic Gold Dinar. - Selangor: Pelanduk Pub., 2002 Medina al-Islam. All-Russian weekly newspaper. May 31 - June 2008, number 22 (71) Nizhny Novgorod, p. 5.
V. Naumkin. Islamskaya kontseptsiya ustoychivogo razvitiya. [V.Naumkin. The Islamic concept of sustainable development] // Islam v sovremennom mire. Science Quarterly Almanac. № 1 (11), 2008. Nizhny Novgorod. Publishing House "Medina". pp. 5-9.
The article was submitted by the author for publication in the bulletin "Russia and The Moslem World".
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I. Babich,
Dr. of Science (Hist.), Chief researcher at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, RAS MUSLIMS OF MOSCOW: THE FOUNDATIONS OF RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE AS ELEMENTS OF CIVIL ACCORD IN RUSSIAN SOCIETY*
The process of religious revival occurs spontaneously in the most cases both without appropriate support and control of the religious structures, and without cooperation with the state ones. Islamic and Orthodox development takes place with difficulty in Russia, in spite of the state assistance. The growth of ethnic and religious factors in the lives of Russians does not help with unification of the citizens - with
* The article was prepared within the project of the Russian Science Foundation «Mechanisms for civil accord in multiethnic states: Russian and foreign experience» N 15-18-00099 (Head, E. Filippova).
