CRITIQUE OF DEVELOPMENT THEORIES AND THE FEATURES OF ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The present study aims to critique development theories and examine the features of Islamic development. The research method is descriptive-analytical and is based on library resources. Development is not a purely economic phenomenon; rather, many non-economic factors are involved. Moreover, achieving development is not possible through imitation or blind following; rather, it depends on conscious movement guided by identity-forming and identity-defining elements. The findings indicate that, unlike modernization theory, dependency theory accepts an exogenous model of development. This model has an external origin and orientation and is essentially imitative, derived from developed countries. In this model, little attention is paid to the internal conditions and circumstances of society, and by adopting the standards of capitalist systems, efforts are directed toward achieving Western-style development. This school has also faced numerous criticisms, including that by descending into rhetoric and sloganizing at a high level of abstraction, it has lost its scientific credibility. Furthermore, by placing excessive emphasis on external factors, it neglects the role of internal driving forces such as class struggles and the state. It presents an inaccurate image of peripheral societies as helpless and constrained. Consequently, new dependency theories have emerged, in which dependency is viewed as a harmful factor on the development path. However, unlike earlier studies, these theories do not emphasize a general model of dependency, nor do they focus solely on external factors, the purely economic nature of dependency, or the one-sided nature of underdevelopment