Muzzafer on Global is at Ion

8/6/2019 Muzzafer on Global is at Ion

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Chandra Mazaffars IslaMIC CrItIque

of GlobalIsatIon:

aMalaysIanContrIbutIontoaGlobalethIC

davId l. Johnson

La Trobe UniversiTy CenTreforDiaLogUe

Working PaPer2006/3


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ChandraMazaffars IslaMIC CrItIqueof GlobalIsatIon

aMalaysIanContrIbutIontoaGlobalethIC

DaviD L. Johnson

La Trobe UniversiTy CenTreforDiaLogUe

Working PaPer2006/3


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Prof i le

David L. Johnston lived for over fifteen years in Algeria, Egypt and the West Bank, wherehe served as a pastor and teacher. He then completed his PhD work at Fuller Theological

Seminary (Pasadena, California) in Islamic Studies; continued his research and taught part-

time at the Religious Studies Department at Yale University and is now a Visiting Scholar

at the University of Pennsylvania. His published articles and essays have focused on the

intersection of theology and law in contemporary Islam and his forthcoming book

(London: Equinox, 2007) is entitled, Toward a Muslim-Christian Trusteeship of Creation.

Abst rac t

This paper seeks to elucidate how Malaysian political scientist and human rights activist

Chandra Muzaffar (b. 1947) leverages central aspects of Muslim theology in order to

construct an inter-faith vision of the unity of humankind, with the aim being to confront

and transform the current western-led forces of globalization. The first part highlights

Muzzaffars critique of the international flow of capital, goods, services and even labor,

powered by transnational corporations and accompanied by the diffusion of western ideas,

tastes and values. The ironic reality of a postcolonial world is that these new forces of

control (globalization) have managed to keep non-western societies in a state of servile

dependency. Against this backdrop, Muzaffar would like to see a coalition of world faiths

uniting around the unassailable dignity of the human person and thus providing the needed

inspiration and guidance behind the movement of human rights and democratic

governance that has floundered until now in its secular incarnation. Islam, in particular,

with its central concept oftawhid, the unity of God, is organically connected to the divine

mission entrusted to humankind (as Gods trustees) to foster justice, equality and freedom

in global politics, and in the micro dimensions of human society, to spread the virtues of

love, compassion and restraint. An analysis of Muzaffars Islamic theology of humanity

displays a hermeneutic of ethical priority over traditional scripturalist concerns, showing

that he has placed his thought at the center of contemporary Islamic reformism.


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David L. Johnston, Chandra Muzaffars Islamic Critique of Globalisation:A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic

2

Chandra Muzaffars Islamic Critique of Globalisation:

A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic

David L. Johnson1

In t roduc t ion

Nearly three millennia ago, notes Malaysian scholar and human rights activist Chandra

Muzaffar, the Zoroastrian faith preached the unity of the human race. For Muzaffar, all

religions consecrate the dignity of the human person, yet today the irrepressible movement

toward the economic interdependence of all peoples we call globalization is sadly lacking

in religious ethical values.2

This paper presents Muzaffars critique of this western-

dominated phenomenon of globalization, first through his sociopolitical and economic

analysis of its forces, and then through his proposal to add Islamic thought to other

religious voices in the task of redirecting and transforming the destructive nature of these

forces.

Musl im Wri t ing on Global isat ion

By way of providing some context to Chandra Muzaffars thoughts on globalization, I offer

here a window on other Muslim thinkers dealing with this topic. Hartford Seminary

scholar Ibrahim Abu-Rabi devoted two chapters to Islamic responses to globalization in

his magisterial work, Contemporary Arab Thought.3 Since his principal analytical tool is critical

theory, he is naturally drawn to the extensive work on the political economy of the Arab

world by Egyptian neo-Marxist Samir Amin4 and the writings of Antonio Gramsci on the

intelligentsia. One of his conclusions is that the Muslim community in the West has failed

to produce its own intellectuals, those thinkers that can be in a position to aid the Muslim

community in its daily encounter with modernism and globalization.

5

1. Authors email: [email protected]

Living in the westis in an ideal position to reflect from within, so to speak, on the nature of globalization

2. Globalization and Religion, Islamonline, March 26, 2002. Co-published with The International

Forum for Islamic Dialogue with permission from the author. Accessed 1-18-06. Available at:

http://www.islamonline.net/english/views/2002/03/article16.shtml.

3. Ibrahim M. Abu Rabi, Contemporary Arab Thought: Studies in Post-1967 Arab Intellectual History

(London and Sterling, VA: Pluto Press, 2004).

4. Amin, an Egyptian with an academic career in France, is the author of over thirty books and now

heads up the Third World Forum based in Dakar, Senegal.

5. Ibid., p. 167.


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and guide the Muslim world in understanding the multitude of hazards created by neo-

liberalism and the new forces of the market. Unfortunately, such thinkers have actually

produced little light on the subject. But this is true generally, throughout the Muslim

world, he moans. Part of the problem, as he sees it, is an almost total obsession with

issues related to tradition, authenticity and identity. For Abu- Rabi, it is high time to

transcend the conceptual formulations of nineteenth century Muslim thinkers, such as

Muhammad Abduh, Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Sayyid Ahmad Khan and others, by inventing

a novel Islamic manner of thinking that creatively responds to the rigorous rules of critical

philosophical and ethical thinking. And especially so, when it comes to the complex issue

of globalization:

No thinking can fathom the problematic of globalization unless the thinker is

totally abreast of recent trends in critical theory, economic and social thought

in the Muslim world and in the West, and the ethical response contemporary

Islamic thought must present in order to reassert its vitality and relevance.

Islamic thought must incorporate critical tools, besides those of revelation, in

order to provide constructive answers to the problems of the contemporary

world.6

As we shall see, Chandra Muzaffar subscribes to many of those views. Yet in spite Abu-

Rabis heavy emphasis on Arab Leftist thinkers, his survey of current Arab reflection on

this topic is unique and worth summarizing here. The Arab intelligentsia seems to agree onthe following points:

The fall of the Soviet Union has created a dangerous vacuum, which the UnitedStates has ominously filled with a show of might on the military, economic and

political fronts.

US hegemony has negatively impacted the Arab political climate, particularly bystrengthening authoritarian regimes like Egypt, which then do its bidding.

The economic gap between the ruling elites, who submitted to western businessinterests and as a result profited handsomely, and the bulk of the population has

widened considerably.7

Israel seems to be the only country that has managed to benefit from globalization.6. Ibid.

7. In Egypt, for instance, this was already noted by sociologist Saad Eddin Ibrahim in the mid-1990s:

The new middle class (professionals, technocrats, and bureaucrats) is becoming impoverished and

feels a loss of its century-old role as the leading political force in society. The lumpenproletariat is

the fastest growing of Egypts socioeconomic formations. No longer confined to small pockets in big

urban centers, the lumpenproletariat now forms about one-third to one-fourth of Egypts total

population (Egypt, Islam and Democracy: Twelve Critical Essays, Cairo: The American University

in Cairo Press, 1996, pp. 76-77).


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Islamism has been on the rise, mainly because the impoverished middle classes andthe poor see this movement as their only hope.

Though globalisation seems unstoppable, the cultural imperialism of the US could be

thwarted by a united Arab front.8 Also, stronger ties should bind Arab states in order to

counter some of the enormous problems [economic and political] engendered by

globalization.9

For Abu-Rabi, the three main groups of intellectuals are the Marxists, the nationalists and

the islamists.10 For the Marxist thinkers, globalization is a self-sustained process that

began in the sixteenth century and developed to become a dominant world civilization.11

The cultural invasion (al-ghazw al-thaqf ) spearheaded by Americanization is mostly

feared by the Islamists, and to a lesser degree by the Arab nationalists. Indeed for the

Marxists, globalization is a logical extension of the project of modernity as it unfolded

through the 1950s and 1960s, notwithstanding Gamal Abd al-Nassirs efforts to delink

Egypts economy from the west. But all three formations deplore the economic and

political dependency of their countries on the dictates of global capitalism. In fact, islamist

writers like Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Muhammad Qutb (brother of Sayyid Qutb), who have

both devoted a book to the issue of globalization, make a distinction between awlama

(globalization) and lamiyya (universality), arguing that only Islam is meant to achieve

universality.12 In this sense, the global domination of western-led capitalism is a religious

usurpation of the divine role ascribed by God to the Islamic message. At the same time,complains Abu-Rabi, islamists in general refuse to analyze the structural dynamics of this

phenomenon and draw serious ethical conclusions.13

All three Arab tendencies, however, deplore the negative political and economic fallout of

globalization. American University in Cairo economist Galal Amins analysis would mostly

be acceptable to Marxists and islamists as well, though he focuses much of his attention on

the state.14

8. Abu-Rabi, Contemporary Arab Thought, pp. 186-87.

He observes that with the fall of the Iron Curtain the process of privatization

9. Ibid., p. 196.

10. I prefer to use the lower case i on this word as it refers to an ideological position more than a

religious one.11. Ibid., p. 195.

12. Qaradawi, Al-Muslimn wa-l-awlama (Muslims and Globalization, Cairo: Dar al-Tawzi wa-al-

Nashr al-Islamiyya, 2000); Qutb, Al-Muslimn wa-l-awlama (Muslims and Globalization, Beirut:

Dar al-Shuruq, 2000). One could argue as well that Qaradawi has profited in his career from the

largesse of oil-rich Qatar, where he has been in exile for over three decades. The Gulfs petrodollarsreflect these rulers deep indebtedness to the geopolitical status quo. It may not be in Qaradawis

interest to critique these global structures in depth.

13. Abu-Rabi, Contemporary Arab Thought, p. 196.

14. Abu-Rabi also devotes much space to Syrian Marxist philosopher Sadiq Jalal al-Azm who writes

that, in view of the post-Cold War status quo, Lenins maxim that imperialism is the highest stage of


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has accelerated in the Arab world and that these states have become soft states, meaning

that they follow the whims of their ruling elites, who see personal gain in this

liberalization of the economy and have no interest on the welfare of their people in the

long term.15 A soft state, then is one that abdicates its role as the arbiter of the common

good: [Amin] contends that the Arab state has reduced its role in managing the economy

and allowed privatization to rule without accountability. The end result of this practice has

been the selling of the fortunes of the Arab states to multinational companies that aim only

to maximize their own profits.16

The above discussion covered the Arab world, yet views expressed are similar to those of

Muslims in other parts of the world. A high-profile Pakistani anthropologist, now Ibn

Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at the American University, Akbar S. Ahmed, has also

written on Islam and globalization, yet with more emphasis on the media and culture.17

Though his analysis is more moderate and his tone relative to Western hegemony more

irenic than many Muslim writers, his conclusions are similar. The West, because of its

global power, needs to take the initiative. In particular, he notes, the interests of the

multinationalslike those dealing with oilseem to drive policy. Not just Muslims, but

many people around the world suspect that recent American incursions into Afghanistan

and Iraq have more to do with oil than democracy.18

Additionally, his vision for a spiritual

renewal as a necessary building block for a new global ethic closely resembles Muzaffars

writings.

In the Prologue of a book gathering the papers of eleven participants of a symposium on

Islam and globalization in Malaysia, the chairman of the Institute of Islamic Understanding

Malaysia (IKIM) writes that the international system is heavily inclined to favour the

capitalism was wrong. Imperialism in one form or another runs throughout the history of capitalism,

only we have just entered a new stage, that of globalization. As Abu-Rabi explains al-Azm, he

defines globalization as a deep transformation in the capitalist system which engulfs the entirety of

humanity, and which is dominated by the Center and guided by the hegemony of a global system of

unequal exchange. In this system all resources and goods are commodified and thus capitalism has

been able to reproduce itself on a magnificent international scale without losing its hold on the world

economy (ibid., p. 190).

15. Ibid., p. 192.16. Ibid. Significantly, Amin singles out Thomas Friedmans The Lexus and the Olive Tree (Anchor

Books, 2000) for particular criticism. He finds his apologetic for American-led globalization weak

and disingenuous. In addition, according to Abu- Rabi: Friedman espouses the Israeli version of

globalization in his debates with Arab and Egyptian intellectuals (Contemporary Arab Thought, p.

192).17. Ahmed was also High Commissioner for his country to the UK, where he resided for many years,

teaching at Cambridge and often interviewed in the British media on things Islamic. His first book on

this theme was Postmodernism and Islam: Predicament and Promise (London: Routledge, 1992).

18. Akbar S. Ahmed, Islam Under Siege: Living Dangerously in a Post-Honor World(Cambridge, UK:

Polity, 2003), p. 156.


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industrialized West, a fact that imposes severe strains on the developing world.19 The

alarming reality for Muslims, however, is that despite representing a fifth of the worlds

population, they account for less than 5 percent of the worlds gross domestic product,

despite owning 54 percent of the world oil revenues. More than 600 million of the worlds

Muslim population lives below the poverty line.20

All of these Asian Muslim economists in the wake of the East Asian crash of 1997-1998

expressed anxiety, at the very least, as they described the unbridgeable technological gap

between center and periphery, recalcitrant farm subsidies in the west, the volatility of

currency markets and the uncontrollable flows of commodities and investments. Even the

East Asian Tigers were feeling left behind in a game in which the odds were rigged

against them. Significantly, one of the experts called for a common market between the

fifty-five countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Yet he was not

optimistic in seeing its realization.21

As it turns out however, Chandra Muzaffar, from the

same country where this book was published, was writing and bringing people together to

discuss these issues already in 1991, long before anyone was using the word

globalization.

Muzaffar and Global isat ion

The wheelchair-bound Malaysian political scientist in his 1993 book, Human Rights and theNew World Order, deepened his longstanding advocacy for Third World empowerment and

intentionally borrowed from the Gulf War II22 discourse of President George H. W. Bush

on the New World Order.23

This paper begins with that book because it was his first

one to directly confront the world system that later came to be known as globalization.

19. Tan Sri Dato Seri (Dr) Ahmad Sarij bin Abdul Hamid, Prologue, in The Economic and Financial

Imperatives of Globalization, eds. Nik Mustapha Nik Hassan and Mazilan Musa (Kuala Lumpur:

Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia, 2000), p. xii.

20. Ibid., pp. x-xi.

21. Syed Nawab Haider Naqvi, Exogenous Shocks and Islamic Economic Response, in The Economic

and Financial Imperatives of Globalization, pp. 193-221.

22. For Iraqis the first Gulf War was their war with Iran in the preceding decade.

23. Penang, Malaysia: Just World Trust, 1993. This book is a collection of essays, newspaper articles and

speeches given by Muzaffar in 1991-1993. Here is a succinct summary on his view of the New World

Order: If the Gulf War was an early hint of politics in the New World Order, it merely reiterated awell-established truth: that for the United States and its allies, democracy and human rights were

secondary to oil, regional power structures, international leverage vis--vis Japan and Germany and

global domination and control. For theseand not freedom and democracywere the real reasons

for the Gulf War. There is nothing to indicate that as the New World Order comes into full view

things will change for the better (pp. 37-8).


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Over the years, Muzaffar has managed to keep one foot in the academic world and one in

the NGO world. Most recently he was professor and director of the Centre for

Civilisational Dialogue, University of Malaya, and he has authored or edited over twenty

books. His NGO career started with the founding of the multi-ethnic National

Consciousness Movement (ALIRAN), seeking to remold his diverse country, both

ethnically and religiously, into a more democratic and politically participative society. A

decade later he became the president of the International Movement for a Just World

(JUST), an agency seeking to promote human dignity and social justice in the global arena.

JUST remains Muzaffars main platform today, a base which allows him to continue

research and writing, lecturing and lobbying around the world for the establishment of a

more just and compassionate human civilization on the basis of shared spiritual and moral

values.24

Disparities of power and wealth, coupled with concerns for the application of human rights

norms, were the driving forces of Chandra Muzaffars activism in the 1970s and 1980s.

Thus when the USSR collapsed and the sole superpower was able to marshal a UN-backed

attack on Iraq as retaliation for its invasion of Kuwait, most Muslims felt betrayed by the

Saudis (and even Syria, which sent soldiers). Muzaffars concerns were elsewhere, however.

He was more interested in the new configuration of power as it was expressed on the world

scene. Thus, from his book on the New World Order (NWO), I offer a summary of his

views at that time, as found in his third chapter, Global Domination and its Impact Upon

Human Rights. Muzaffar sees the negative impact of the NWO on human rights in sixareas:

The Global Economy

The system is controlled by corporations and elites in the North, in such a way as to

ensure that their interests would be protected and enhanced even if it is to the

detriment of the rest of humanity. This is evidenced by the interdependent workings

of the global financial institutions: the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary

Fund (IMF) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)all of which

are under the effective control of the Group of 7 (Britain, Canada, France, Germany,Italy, Japan and the United States).25

24. Chandra Muzaffar is also on the board of directors of the International Committee for the Peace

Council, the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (Belgium), and

nearly a dozen others.

With statistics at hand, Muzaffar shows how

from 1960 to 1989 the richest 20 percent of the worlds population significantly

increased their proportion of global Gross National Product (GNP) from 70.2% to

82.7%), whereas the 20 percent of the poorest saw their share plummet from 2.3 to

25. Ibid., p. 19. Russia has now been added, though its official role in the Group of 8 is not quite on par

with the others.


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1.4%.26 The South includes among its population one billion living in absolute poverty,

one and a half billion without primary health care, and one billion of illiterate adults.

What is more, indebtedness of the poor nations to the IMF reached 1.2 trillion dollars

in 1986. In effect, the servicing of external debts alone swallows up a huge chunk of

the budget of countless countries in the South. . . . UNICEF points out that as many

as 650,000 children die across the Third World each year because of the debt.27 Even

more ominous for the future is the fact that while the South rightly expects capital to

flow in from the North, urgently needs transfers in technology and access to its

products in the Northern markets, none of these expectations have been realized in a

substantial way. Only greater dependence seems to be the result of this ongoing

process. As a result, the economic and social human rights of these people are violated

to an ever more egregious extent.28

Global Politics

Here too human rights are trampled, in that the UN General Assembly, which used to

channel to some extent the aspirations of the poorer countries, is increasingly sidelined

by the Security Council, and particularly so after the second Gulf War. The Security

Council is in fact the least democratic body in the UN to begin with: its permanent

members are only powerful nations, each of which has veto power. Then it has

become clear that this body is now beholden to the interests of the worlds only

superpower. At least two proofs that it is the United States and its allies who dictate to

the Security Council, argues Muzaffar, are the Security Councils imposition of

sanctions on Iraq even after it withdrew from Kuwait (which was the reason they were

imposed in the first place) and the overwhelming endorsement by the Assembly (most

of whose members are from the South) in December 1991 of a US sponsored motion

to revoke an earlier resolution equating Zionism with racism.29

The end result is that

there remains little freedom of choice for UN members in a post-Cold War world.

Global Military Power

Political rights mean little, remarks Muzaffar, in a situation where devastating fire

power is concentrated in the hands of a super state.30

26. Muzaffar adds that this accelerating gap in wealth is dramatically illustrated by consumption patterns:

the North (about one quarter of the worlds population) consumes 70% of the worlds energy, 75% of

its metals, 85% of its wood and 60% of its food (ibid.).

Few around the world missed

27. Ibid., p. 20.

28. These rights are guaranteed by the 1966 UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Muzaffar devotes his eleventh chapter to questions related to the UN (Human Rights, the United

Nations and the NWO).

29. Ibid., p. 21. He adds, A large number of Assembly members, it is alleged, were bribed and

blackmailed into supporting the US motion.

30. Ibid., p. 22.


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the clear signal sent out by US leadership in the second Gulf War. A dramatic

demonstration of military hardware and muscle was no doubt intended to serve as a

warning to countries that would not tow the US line.

Global Media Power

It has been estimated that about ninety per cent of foreign news and information in

the print media circulating in the world is controlled in one way or another by four

agencies located in the North.31 Already by then Cable News Network (CNN) was

dominating global television news. For Muzaffar, the western bias was particularly

evident during the Gulf War, when no serious questioning of the war itself appeared in

the war coverage. Quoting from Ramsey Clarks edited book, Muzaffar writes, they

[the media] formed a near-single voice of praise for US militarism often exceeding the

Pentagon in bellicosity.32 In reality, this means that on certain important issues

people everywhere are denied access to the real facts, to the truth. . . . Most of all, they

are dissuadedthrough media propagandafrom acting on behalf of truth and

justice.33

Global Culture

Through the mass media, especially the electronic media, Western foods, Western

fashions, Western music and Western movies have been popularized to such an extent

that in many instances they have displaced indigenous cultural forms and practices.34

The extent to which this taste transfer is taking place raises the question of the

psychological subservience of the dominated, and the need to defend the right of the

indigenous cultures to survive.35 Human civilization could only become impoverished

with the unrestrained reach of McWorld.36

31. Ibid.

32. War Crimes: A Report on United States War Crimes Against the Iraqi People , Ramsey Clark et al.,

eds. (New York: The Commission of Inquiry for the International War Crimes Tribunal, 1992), p. 23;

quoted in Muzaffar,Human Right and the NWO, p. 23. Clark is a former US Attorney-General.33. Ibid.

34. Ibid.

35. Ibid., p. 24.

36. See Benjamin Barbers analysis of the wests relentless advertising campaign through its

multinationals, or, put differently, the soft imperialism of the American infotainment industry(Hollywood, MTV, CNN and the like), and, more deviously, the conditions imposed on developing

countries by the IMF and WB for debt servicing, in essence requiring free trade, which translates to

allowing free reign to multinationals in reality. All of this is McWorld ( Jihad vs McWorld:

Terrorisms Challenge to Democracy (New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, with a new introduction,

2001).


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Communication and Humanity

On the one hand, the news media has brought the worlds suffering into everyones

home through televisiona fact that reinforces a collective sense of human solidarity.On the other, however, by focusing on civil and political human rights violation

exclusively, the mainstream media keeps hidden multiple violations of economic and

social rights by the North. And even with regard to that first category, why is it, asks

Muzaffar, that the Tienanmen Square massacre was so widely publicized, whereas the

South Korean massacre at Kwangju (with many more victims) was virtually ignored?

This is because South Korea is a US ally, alleges Muzaffar. Such double standards put

Western domination in a bad ethical light.

When it comes to solutions, Muzaffar is no less forthcoming. First, in order to reduce the

Wests domination, there ought to be more South-South cooperation. The recent Rio

summit, organized by the UN with a bold environmental agenda, saw the massive

participation of NGOs and Southern governments who together stood up to US foot-

dragging on the issue. In the end, the Kyoto Agreement was signed without the United

States. But second, perhaps the most effective cooperation is that between the progressive

NGOs in the North, and then between them and the growing number of NGOs in the

South. In the end, the most momentum for change will come from citizens groups on a

global scale, that will actively organize for protest and pressuring their governments for

fairer political and economic policies.37

This was, it seems to me, a prophetic statement,

considering that the events in Chiapas, just around the corner, were to usher in a global

movement of global protest that caught world attention, beginning in Seattle in 1999 at the

occasion of the World Trade Organization (heir of GATT).

The rest of this book, apart from one chapter on religion and human rights (to be

examined below), examines case studies of countries that are suffering from the negative

impact of the NWO: apartheid in South Africa, Zionisms racist edge with regard to

Palestinians, the subjugation of Iraq and Libya, the manipulation of the Kurds,38

the

tragedies of Algeria, Somalia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the implications of the US

Navys Seventh Fleet transfer of logistics operations from the Philippines to Singapore; andfinally, urgently needed UN reforms.

The next book in this vein (edited by Muzaffar) speaks volumes about his leadership reach

in anti-globalization networking. Through the NGO he presides, JUST, Muzaffar

convened an international conference in Kuala Lumpur in December 1994 on the theme

37. Muzaffar,Human Right and the NWO, pp. 28-31.

38. This nineteen-page chapter (77-96) represents the most detailed research in the whole bookhowever

without notes. But Muzaffars knowledge of many situations around the world and their historical

context is impressive.


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Rethinking Human Rights. Human rights activists and academics from sixty countries

participated in this conference and the papers were edited and brought together by

Muzaffar in Human Wrongs, published two years later.39 Malaysias then Prime Minister

Mahathir Mohamad gave the Keynote Address.40

In one sense, this book adds little to

the picture painted above of Muzaffars understanding of globalization. Though little new

light is shed on the phenomenon of growing Western domination over the worlds

economic, political and cultural assets, I would nevertheless single out two aspects of this

book that will help to bring out in the next section the evolution of Muzaffars thinking in

these areas.

The first striking feature of this collection of papers41

is that the tone seems more strident

than before. Quoting from Chandra Muzaffars Introductory Remarks,

It was Western dominance which, in its early centuries, committed the cruelest,

crudest genocide in historythe elimination of more than 90 million

indigenous peoples in Australasia and the Americas through the wrath of war

and the ravage of epidemics. It was Western dominance which, through the

brutal, barbaric slave trade robbed 25 million sons and daughters of Africa of

their freedom and dignity. And it was Western dominance expressing itself

through the ruthless, rapacious might of colonialism which stripped millions

and millions of men and women in Asia and Africa of every conceivable right

and liberty.42

To this must be added the books spotlight on white racism, particularly in Professor

David G. Du Boiss Racism in the West and its Impact on Human Rights,43 and veteran

African scholar Ali A. Mazruis Human Rights Between Rwanda and Repatriations:

Global Power and the Racial Experience, rightly drawing our attention to the fact that the

yawning chasm between haves and have-nots in the world is also between white-skinned

people and dark-skinned people44

39. Human Wrongs: Reflections on Western Global Dominance and its Impact Upon Human Rights

(Penang, Malaysia: Just World Trust, 1996).

Thus Muzaffars analysis of globalization covered the

40. This was due to the PMs outspoken denunciation of the blatant unjustices emerging from global

domination and control. At the same time, that decision irritated a number of attendees, who notedthe latters checkered record in muzzling his own political opponents. Muzaffar includes

correspondence on this very issue inRights, Religion and Reform: Enhancing Human Dignity through

Spiritual and Moral Transformation (London and New York: Routledge, 2002, pp. 59-99), under the

heading Rethinking Human Rights: A Philosophical Debate.

41. Muzaffar has been able to include twenty-six contributors in a book that is only 288 pages long

(including one Appendix) by keeping essays short.

42. Muzaffar,Human Wrongs, p. 1.

43. Ibid., pp. 181-87.

44. Ibid., pp. 188-211. This is in fact one of the longer essays. Note that Repatriations in the title is an

error, and that Reparations was the intended word.


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structural racism and its inequalities, whereas several essays point out the overt

attitudinal racism, which represents another impediment to the spreading of just solutions

in a divided world, including a post-Civil Rights American society.45 With regard to tone

and to Muzaffars personal influence as wellI signal the contributions of noted authors in

the West, including Jeremy Corbyn, Jeremy Seabrook, and Princeton scholar Richard

Falk.46

The second noteworthy aspect ofHuman Wrongs is Muzaffars growing interest in the

spiritual and moral dimension of a solution to the problems he has diagnosed. That, of

course, is the theme of the next section. Yet the foundation is laid in his own essay,

Toward Human Dignity.47 His discussion of the NWO (though no longer mentioned by

this label) turns more philosophical. Chandra Muzaffars seven points (mostly in the form

of questions) relative to human rights and Western hegemony are worth summarizing

here:48

1. Whereas early modernity brought to the fore a creative individuality, has this notnow degenerated into a vulgar individualism, which threatens the very fabric of

community?

2. Individual freedom has been hyped to such an extent that it has become the be-alland end-all of human existence. Yet should not freedom take a back seat to the

common good?

3. Freedom is invariably linked to rights in the West, and de-linked fromresponsibilities. Can rights be separated from responsibilities in real life?

4. The Western conception of human rights must be considered particularistic andsectional, since its emphasis on civil and political rights in effect downplays

economic, social and cultural rights.

45. Mazrui makes the interesting observation that the Marxist-Leninism of the Cold War era had the

advantage of being trans-racial, or universal in scope. With the demise of the USSR, Third World

countries, and people of color in particular, had lost a valuable ally and advocate (ibid., p. 196).

46. In order their essays are entitled: Corbyn, Political Dimensions of Northern Global Domination and

its Consequences for the Rights of Five-Sixths of Humanity; Seabrook, The Onslaught of the

Western Media on the First World and the Third World; Falk, Human Rights and the Dominance

Pattern in the West: Deforming Outlook, Deformed Practices. Richard Falk presents himself as

among those critical voices who are tolerated, but confined to the margins of political life [in theUS]. Yet despite his progressive activism, he admits that [I]t is difficult to become disengaged from

the distorting misconceptions that are part of the deep structures of this discourse [Western human

rights discourse linked to an unspoken assumption of global dominance] (ibid., p. 235). Even in

settings where critical appraisals of globalization are expected, he writes that there seems to be an

unwritten rule not to admit the role of global market forces as responsible for some of the worstpatterns of social abuse. And then this memorable sentence: As mentioned earlier, Western social

reality is alienated from its own criminal past to an alarming degree, and therefore encompassed by it

(ibid., p. 239).

47. Ibid., pp. 268-275.

48. I am shortening Muzaffars bulleted list on pp. 272-73.


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5. A human rights framework that confines itself to the nation-state overlooks the violations committed by global actors such as the IMF, the Security Council and

the WB.

6. Again, with respect to the divorce of rights from responsibilities: Without a largerspiritual and moral framework, which endows human endeavour with meaning and

purpose, with coherence and unity, wouldnt the emphasis on rightsper selead to

moral chaos and confusion?

7. Human rights, when divorced from questions about the nature of the humanperson, its dignity and purpose, run the risk of becoming an incoherent discourse.

I will come back to some of these points, but here I note simply that Muzaffars direction

of thought is becoming more philosophical, indeed theological.

One last comment on Muzaffars perspective on world systems relates to his more recent

writings. In his 2002 book,Rights, Religion and Reform (cf. note 37), the world

globalization appears for the first time.49 The theme comes up in Chapters 2, 3, 6, 12

and 14.50 While some of his figures are updated, however, little of substance has been

added to the picture of western global domination painted previously. Having said this,

and particularly in light of my survey of Arab Marxist critics of globalization, Muzaffar

does clarify to a greater extent where he stands ideologically in his critique of the status

quo. What came out here and there, mostly between the lines, but which now is stated

more succinctly and further developed is what some have called a grassrootspostmodernism with regard to his agenda of change in the global economic and political

sphere.51

Muzaffar is no Marxistthe inequalities and injustices of the world are not reduced to

purely material considerations (e.g., means of production) or social phenomena (e.g., class

struggles). Nor is liberal capitalism the main culprit. The longest chapter by far in Rights,

Religion and Reform is the above-mentioned one on the philosophical debate about human

rights. In it, Muzaffar spars with political scientist and social critic C. Douglas Lummis on

the relation between the Western Enlightenment and the notion of human rights.

52

49. In fact, this is the first book considered here with an index. Globalization is one of the entries, with

several sub-entries.

Both

50. In order these are: Development and Democracy in Asia (pp. 7-26); Judging Asia: Assessing

Human Rights Conditionality(pp. 39-50); Rethinking Human Rights: A Philosophical Debate (pp.

59-99); Islam: Justice and Politics (pp. 173-96); Islamic Movements and Social Change (pp. 203-

218).

51. See, among others, Gustavo Esteva and Madhu Suri Prakash, Grassroots Post-Modernism: Remaking

the Soil of Cultures (London and New York: Zed, 1998); Burbach, Roger. Globalization and

Postmodern Politics: From Zapatistas to High Tech Robber Barons (London and Sterling, VA: Pluto;

Kingston, Jamaica: Arawak, 2001).

52. See hisRadical Democracy (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996).


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agree on the vital connection between Thomas Hobbes white male as the bearer of rights

or John Lockes identification of property with labor and the rise of the liberal capitalist

ideology. Where we disagree, opines Muzaffar, going by our previous exchange, is in

our reading of what constitutes the primary influence upon the contemporary view of

human rights. For Douglas it is capitalism. For me it is the Enlightenment. Then he

adds, Capitalisms most negative (there were of course many positive influences too)

impact upon medieval Europe, it seems to me, was its destruction of the moral foundation

and framework of economic endeavour.53 Lummis is anxious about the term

development, at least in so far as it has actually been practiced. Might there be a form of

development, he asks, that can bring a people out of poverty without depending on the

greater poverty of otherswithout producing a servant class, a proletarian class, a guest

worker class, an urban homeless class, or a class of cheap labourers in some other

country?54

He is not sure that there is, at least without a radical questioning of the present

notion and practice of development and human rights.

For Muzaffar, a form of capitalism (as a market economy) has always existed in human

society, though it was both much more limited in scope and restricted by social norms of

morality. What is regrettable, he argues, is that the market ideology in Europe, from the

sixteenth century on, combined the impetus to maximize profits with the use of interest in

capital lending. The result was that [t]he market which in the past was a small, specific

sector within that larger spiritual-moral universe became an autonomous power unto

itself.55

But considering the scandalous gap between rich and poor countries today, it isnot difficult to understand the emphasis the South places on economic and social rights:

For them development means liberating the masses from the clutches of abject

poverty, raising the educational standards of the community, enhancing

generational mobility, reducing economic and social disparities and so on.

Many of these non-state actorsincluding human rights and development

NGOsnow realize that economic growth is a vital pre-condition for the

reduction of poverty and for the general improvement of the peoples

livelihood. Without impressive growth rates sustained over a long period oftime, accompanied by policies aimed at equitable distribution of wealth and

opportunities, countries like Malaysia and Singapore would not have succeeded

in protecting and enhancing the economic and social rights of such a

significant segment of society.56

53. Muzaffar,Rights, Religion and Reform, p. 97.

54. Ibid., p. 93.

55. Ibid., p. 95.

56. Ibid.


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Thus Muslim industrialists may handsomely contribute to his nations common good by

ensuring that his plant does not harm the environment; that his workers are paid just and

fair wages; that the education, health and other basic needs of his workers and families are

taken care of; that there are no unethical and unscrupulous practices in his enterprise; that

there is a harmonious, congenial atmosphere within his workplace; that the good(s)

produced by his industry are useful to society.57

Other conditions, adds Muzaffar, would

be products of good quality and reasonably priced, a philanthropic attitude and practice

within the wider society, and if he is a Muslim, he must pay the yearlyzakat, or tax on ones

assets. In other words, what has gone wrong in the current version of neoliberal capitalism

is the lack of ethical restraints that would prevent it from being a tool in the hands of a few

in order to subjugate the many. What is desperately needed, argues Muzaffar, is to

reestablish the spiritual-moral foundation and framework for not only economic activities

but for all human endeavoursthe subject of the next section.

An Is lamic Contr ibut ion to a Global Et h ic

This paper began with a reference to Zoroastrianism and its affirmation of the unity of

humankind. This was in fact Muzaffars opening comment in an essay (Globalization and

Religion) co-published byIslamonlineand The International Forum for Islamic Dialogue.58

Here Muzaffar demonstrates his current knowledge of globalization trends. For the first

time, for instance, he takes stock of the multidirectional character of the flow of capital,goods, services, labor and technological know-how. Japan and East Asia in general have

become a new and potentially powerful center for the ideology and practice of neoliberal

capitalism. Thus the drive to maximize business profitsthe foremost role of government

under this scheme is to provide a business-friendly legal framework and atmosphereis

not only enforced by the WTO but also by regional groupings such as the Asia Pacific

Economic Cooperation (APEC).59

What is perhaps most notable today, remarks Muzaffar,

is that the West itself is beginning to feel the pinch, particularly as white-collar jobs are

increasingly outsourced.

Also new in this essay is a listing of globalizations positive contributions: 1) through job

creation and rising incomes Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has enabled several countries

to shed extreme poverty (e.g., Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam); 2)

increased trade along with FDI has created a growing middle class in many countries; 3) the

explosion of new information and communication technologies have favored an

57. Ibid., p. 96.

58. It is dated March 26, 2002, nine pages in the format quoted from below; accessed in November 2005;

available at http://www.islamonline.net/english/views/2002/03/article16.shtml

59. Ibid., p. 1.


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unprecedented dissemination of knowledge, improving health care and education in most

countries; 4) communication and travel have become easier and much cheaper,

encouraging exchanges, greater understanding between groups and compassion when

disasters occur; 5) finally, [t]he globalization process has also brought to the fore issues

such as the rule of law, public accountability, human rights and the other canons of good

governance.60

In the face of it, however, its negative consequences are, at this point in time,

overwhelming: 1) environmental degradation; 2) growing economic disparities; 3)

unbearable pressure on states to by-pass their peoples basic needs in favor of austerity

measures; 4) selective foreign investment (targeting what proves most lucrative to

foreigners) often leads to the neglect of a viable local economy; 5) uncontrolled financial

speculation wreaks havoc with whole regions, as what happened in the East Asian crisis of

1997-1998. In that last case, not only were the economies of the area devastated, millions

of jobs lost and millions of others abandoned to their own survival efforts, but the tragic

consequences of capital volatility are a blight to human conscience and condemned by

religion. He explains: For most religions, the role of speculation, which in some respects

is a euphemism for gambling, would be a stark reminder of how unethical the global

economy has become. Worse, money, which for ages has been a medium of exchange, is

now a commodity of profit. It is a damning indictment of globalization itself.61

What is more, with the spread of a consumerist culture devoid of human values of sharingand compassion, symbolized most potently by the shopping mall, the human persons

worth is now rated according to the number of possession he or she has. Globalizations

impact, besides the steamrolling effect of American culture with its music and stars, is to

deaden the human spirit. Even the effect of the information technology, in the end, is to

flood peoples lives with often meaningless knowledge and even reduce the availability of

age-old wisdom.62 When all is said and done, globalization in its present form could well

be one of the most serious challenges ever to the integrity of human civilization.63

This is where Muzaffar inserts his plea for the corrective and redemptive role of religion.To start with, religion has no bone to pick with the market as such (both Protestantism and

Islam, he notes, have always seen it as a useful element of human society). A short-range

strategy would be for people of religion to assess buyer-seller-consumer relations and seek

to inject moral principles, which would provide safeguards and guaranties and ensure

60. Ibid., p. 3.

61. Ibid., p. 4.

62. Ibid., p. 6. Add to this list, says Muzaffar, reservoirs of moral filth on the Internet, the empowerment

of international crime networks, including drug trafficking and a new generation of white-collar

crimes.

63. Ibid.


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justice for producer, consumer and intermediary.64

In the long run, however, this is not

enough. The Internets temptations illustrate well the need for a spiritual-moral

atmosphere that pervades all of culture and human society worldwide. Only religion can

help instill a strong ethic of restraint in the face of consumerism and strengthen the

individuals moral compass when human values of faithfulness (especially to ones spouse

and family), compassion and honesty are under assault.

I present, then, Muzaffars specifically Islamic contribution to what he sees as the antidote

to the evils of globalization, the formation of God-conscious individuals and societies, and

hence, the infusion of a new global ethic. It is best understood, I argue here, in two parts: a

spiritual-moral vision of the universe and humankind as Gods trustees on earth.

A Spi r i tua l -Mora l Vis ion of t he Universe

As the reader has no doubt gathered in other parts of this essay, Chandra Muzaffar

borrows freely from various religions to forge an ethic of solidarity for our globalized

world. Ransacking various religious traditions, he looks for themes that provide spiritual

sustenance in order to face the challenges posed by the current version of globalization.65

Here are some samples of his presentation, as he considers five particular challenges:

The Poor and the Rich

Besides the various economic, political, technological and historical reasons given

above for this growing disparity in incomes, one must also admit that this present

civilization, more than any others before it, has elevated acquiring wealth as

humankinds most desirable objective. Worse, competitiveness and greed are seen as

useful engines for economic growth. This is a spiritually impoverished vision of human

life, both individually and socially. Here he quotes Mahatma Gandhi, There is enough

in this world for everyones needs but not for everyones greed. 66

64. Ibid., p. 7.

Then he quotes a

quranic passage about those who deny religion and in the same breath repel the

orphan and urge others not to feed the hungry (Q. 107:1-7). Finally, he quotes Marys

65. For instance, he writes, Almost all the religions found in East and Southeast Asiawhich

incidentally is one of the great confluences of the worlds living faithshave at some point or other,

spawned alternatives to not only capitalist democracy but also to the various forms of socialism

(Rights, Religion and Reform, p. 20).

66. Muzaffar is not sure where he read this, but similar sentiments are expressed in many of his writings

(ibid., p. 107).


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hymn, when she exclaims that God humbles arrogant rulers but lifts up the humble,

feeding the poor and sending the rich away empty-handed (Luke 1:52-53).67

Political Suppression

Again, among the many reasons for the flourishing of repressive regimes in Asia, Africa

and Latin America there are also spiritual ones. Many of these ruling elites seem to

have forgotten that in their own peoples traditions are teachings that elevate freedom

and the right to dissent in the cause of justice. Here he quotes from both the Quran

and the book of Job.68

Ethnic Conflict

The deplorable and tragic gap between religious ideals and practice may be seen aroundthe world: The communal carnage that ensues from an ethnic conflict whether in Sri

Lanka or India or Lebanon or France or Britain, is testimony to the venom that lurks in

the human heart and the bigotry that resides in the human mind.69 Certainly

economic disparities and political power imbalances can account for much of the fuel

that keeps these fires burning, but at the root we will always find selfish, sectarian

attitudes, which preclude the kind of mutual seeking of compromise that leads to

conflict resolution. We read in the Quran, O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for

justice, as witnesses to God, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, or

whether it be (against) rich or poor: for God can best protect both.70 This concept of

justice beyond sectarian boundaries is based in Islam upon the unity of the human

familyas it is in almost all the other traditions. Muzaffar then cites the Chinese

philosopher Mozi: The gentlemen of the world who desire to do righteousness have

no other recourse than to obey the will of Heaven. One who obeys the will of Heaven

will practise universal love; one who opposes the will of Heaven will practice partial

love.71

Environmental Degradation

Because we have caused colossal damage to our air and our atmosphere, our rivers

and our seas, our soil and our forests, our own survival as a species on this planet is

increasingly uncertain. Part of this is due to inappropriate technologies, the extravagant

67. Interestingly, he has not read it himself in the gospel, but is quoting from a book by respected British

evangelical theologian John Stott ( Issues Facing Christians Today, London: Marshalls, 1984). He

does not give the biblical reference.

68. Q. 3:104 and Job, quoting from Stotts book (ibid., p. 108).

69. Ibid., p. 109.

70. Q. 4:135 (Yusuf Ali); Muzaffar,Rights, Religion and Reform, p. 110.

71. Sources of Chinese Tradition, compiled by Wm. Theodore de Bary, Wingtsit Chan and Burton

Watson, vol. 1 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1960), p. 47; cited in Muzaffar, Rights,

Religion and Reform, p. 110.


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life-styles of the middle and upper classes leading to hyper-consumption and ever

greater burning of fossil fuels; but another part of this is due to a certain worldview

which regards nature as something to be conquered, to be subordinated to the might

and power of man.72 Perhaps the wisest elaboration of the idea of harmony between

humanity and their natural environment comes from the Native American tradition.

Here Muzaffar quotes at length the response of Indian Chief Seattle to the US

president in 1855, who was urging him to sell his land. How can we buy or sell the

sky or the warmth of the land? Such thoughts to us are inconceivable. We are not in

possession of the freshness of the air, or the water-bubbles. Every corner of this land

is holy to my people. Then this striking theological declaration: Our God is the same

God that you worship. His compassion extends equally to White Men and Indians.

This land is precious to Him and harming it, therefore, would be an insult to our

Creator.73

Drug Trade and Drug AbuseBeyond the political and economic roots of the illicit drug trade globally, are spiritual

causes having to do with a consumerist culture and a materialist outlook that seeks

instant gratification. Several religious traditions forbid alcohol and drugs (including

Sikhism) on the basis that each person is morally responsible for ones self as part of a

larger society. Also any activity that degrades and destroys human life is ethically

reprehensible.

Any effort to seriously take up these challenges will require faith in a transcendent power

and a parallel belief in absolute values. What is needed above all, asserts Muzaffar, is a

spiritual vision of the human being, who is responsible and accountable to God.

Unconditional loyalty to Godabove all other loyalties to family, clan and countryis the

essence of all religions. Translated into the everyday human life, this loyalty would

express itself in the steadfast adherence to universal spiritual values such as love,

compassion, justice, freedom, integrity, dignity and so on.74

72. Ibid., p. 111.

Thus when he turns to the

question as to how Malaysia and other Muslim countries from the South can reform their

political and economic policies, Muzaffar notes that the overwhelming majority of

73. Ibid., pp. 111-12. The next warning is prophetic: The White Man will be extinguished. If you

continue to pollute your sleeping place, some day you will find yourself suffocating amidst your

wastes. When the buffaloes are killed and the wild horses tamed, when the sanctified corners of the

forest are damaged by the stench of humans, that will be the end of life and the commencement of

death (Ven Bup Jung, Man and Nature,Aliran Monthly, vol. 9, no. 4, 1989, p. 25).

74. Muzaffar,Rights, Religion and Reform, p. 115. This was also well expressed in his essay (cf. above),

Toward Human Dignity: The great challenge before us is to develop this vision of human dignity

culled from our religious and spiritual philosophies into a comprehensive charter of values and

principles, responsibilities and rights, roles and relationships acceptable to human beings everywhere

(Muzaffar,Human Wrongs, p. 273).


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Malaysians and a huge number of Singaporeans still believe in the Divine (expressed in

whatever form) and continue to adhere to religious practices, a fact that makes

inculcating spiritual and moral values to the populace more feasible.75

Here as elsewhere

in his writings, Muzaffar is attempting to tap the spiritual resources of all peoples in order

to foster and more humane, caring and just international society. One of those resources is

the notion of humankind as empowered by God to rule on earth with mercy and justice.

Human Beings as Gods Trust ees on the Ear th

Already in a talk that was broadcast by radio in Australia in January 1992, Muzaffar

contended that any world order that perpetuated the dominance and control of an

oligarchy over the rest of humanity was unacceptable to people of faith. This is because

for them human beings submit only to God, while domination of one group over another

destroys the freedom of the soul and tramples on the dignity of the oppressed. Most of

all, he continues, domination dichotomizes and divides the human family. . . . Indeed, for

religion, it is the unity of humankind which should be the goal of any new world order. 76

The essence of Islam, for example, is the unity of God, which guarantees and sanctifies the

unity of humanity. While justice and equality should characterize the legal and practical

relations among various segments of the worlds peoples, they should also recognize that

they are accountable to God, whatever their gender, ethnicity, or social status, as His

vicegerentsa statement from the Quran (2:30) he never references:77

As the vicegerent of God, every human being seeks guidance from the same

eternal, universal moral and spiritual values. As bearers of Gods trust, human

beings exercise rights and shoulder responsibilities for the good of the whole

75. Muzaffar,Rights, Religion and Reform, p. 269. The last section of this book is devoted to this topic.

For instance, much attention is focused on his own country, Malaysia. In view of the recent escalation

of corruption on all levels of society (including drug abuse and gang violence), Muzaffar entitles one

of his essays, Establishing a fully Moral and Ethical Society (pp. 289-317). This was a phrase that

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad used as a slogan and an encapsulation of his vision for Malaysia

in 1991. That goal was to be accomplished in 2020. Muzaffar explores that goal as a theologian,

sociologist and political scientist.

76. Muzaffar,Human Rights and the New World Order, p. 42. This talk (expanded here) is entitled, TheNew World Order, Religion and Human Rigths (pp. 33-45), and was broadcast by the Australian

Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on January 15, 1992, the day of the expiration of the ultimatum

given to Saddam Hussein to leave Kuwait.

77. The verse reads, Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: I will create a vicegerent on earth. They said,

Wilt thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood? Whilst we do celebrateThy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)? He said: I know what ye know not. Viceregent here

translates the Arabic word khalfa, the same word used for the caliphs, or political successors of

Muhammad. For more details see David L. Johnston, The Human Khilfa: A Growing Overlap

between Islamists and Reformists on Human Rights Discourse? Islamochristiana 28 (2002): 35-53;

and Towards a Muslim-Christian Trustee-ship of Creation (London: Equinox, forthcoming).


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human race. Since every human being is Gods representative on earth, the

same principles and precepts of conduct and behaviour should apply to all

peoples and communities. In this way, through common values, through

universal rights and responsibilities, through shared principles and precepts, a

common bond of love and compassion will unite humankind.78

Here Muzaffar gives little information to his hearers about the exact origin of this concept

of human trusteeship, but he implies that it is common to all religions. On the unity of the

human race, for instance, he quotes from the Indian philosopher Rabindranath Tagore,

As the mission of the rose lies in the unfolding of the petals which implies distinctiveness,

so the rose of humanity is perfect only when the diverse races and nations have developed

their distinct characteristics to perfection yet remain attached to the stem of humanity by

the bond of brotherhood.79

Muzaffar sharpens his argument in his contribution to Human Wrongs: In Islam, Hinduism,

Sikhism, Taoism, Christianity, Judaism and even in the theistic strains within Confucianism

and Buddhism there are elements of such a vision of the human being, of human rights

and of human dignity. The idea that the human being is vicegerent or trustee of God

whose primary role is to fulfil Gods trust is lucidly articulated in various religions.

80

Yet

again, however, he makes no effort to trace its origin, whether in Islam or in any other

particular faith. It remains a vague common belief in a religious mandate to protect the

dignity of the human personan ethical precept with a religious underpinning, if you will,

that informs and sustains the mainly secular formulation of the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights (UDHR, 1948).

This quest continues, ever more focused, in Muzaffars Rights, Religion and Reform. The title

of this book also yields the key to its tripartite structure. The second part (with twelve

essays) is entitled, The Essence of Religion. While most of these essays deal directly with

Islam the first five discuss general religious principles. It is the first essay that is most

78. Muzaffar,Human Rights and the New World Order, p. 43.

79. Quoted in S. Radhakrishnan, Religion and Culture (Delhi: Hind Pocket Books, 1968), p. 175; here

quoted in Muzaffar, Human Rights and the New World Order, p. 43. Muzaffar uses this quote to

conclude his radio talk. It is precisely this bond of brotherhood that the NWO abhors, he claims: itwould be a threat to their power, privilege and prestige. There is in fact nothing new about this; it is

really the end of an old era. Now is a somber time and the forces of darkness fear the coming of the

dawn above all. But the dawn will come. The sun will shine again. And its light will illuminate the

life of each and every child of God. Note here Muzaffars creed of religious pluralism: salvation is

not found in any particular religion but in the values of love, compassion and brotherhood that helpbring about a more just and peaceful world.

80. Muzaffar, Human Wrongs, p. 273. In contemporary Islamic discourse the human caliphate is

almost always tied to the Trust verse: We did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth

and the Mountains: but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but man undertook ithe

was indeed unjust and foolish (Q. 33:72).


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relevant here: A Spiritual Vision of the Human Being.81

We have already seen the

challenges this spiritual vision now faces in our globalized world of the twenty-first century.

While not all religious communities will agree on every detail, people of faith everywhere

concur on the spiritual values that give human life in this world its true meaning. Muzaffar

believes they would answer these questions in similar ways:

Where do I come from? I am from God, a product of Gods eternal power of creation.

Who am I? I am Gods vicegerent, Gods steward, the bearer of Gods trust.82

Why am I here? I am here to fulfil Gods trust, to carry out Gods will.

How am I to fulfil Gods trust? By adhering to all the values and principles which God has

conveyed to the prophets and sages through time. These eternal, universal values and

principles constitute Gods guidance to humankind.

Where do I go from here? I return to God to be judged on the basis of my deeds in this

life.83

It must be emphasized here, Muzaffar is not just engaging in a multi-religious dialogue.

Rather, along with British philosopher of religion John Hick,84

Raymundo Panikkar, Indian

philosopher and poet Muhammad Iqbal, and many others, he is affirming a non-

conventional interpretation of religion, one that subsumes rites, rituals and articles of

beliefs in particular religions as of less value than the universal expressions of spirituality

common to all. This is how one must understand his spiritual vision of humanity:

When righteous conduct arising from faith in God becomes the essence of

spirituality, the meanings a person attaches to various dimensions of his or her

religion, will undergo a change. . . . Indeed followers of the different religions

will no longer regard God as their own private property. Neither God nor

truth nor grace will be seen as a monopoly of a particular religious community.

The sectarian God of sectarian religious philosophies will give way to a truly

universal God of a truly universal religious community. 85

Controversially, Muzaffar sees the Islamic notion of Gods unity (tawd) as also pointing inthis direction: It is Ultimate Reality which manifests itself in all things and of which all

things are parts. It is Brahman in Hinduism, Dharmakaya in Buddhism, Tao in Taoism.86

81. Muzaffar,Rights, Religion and Reform, pp. 103-130.

82. Though Muzaffar never mentions it, the idea of a trust offered by God to humanity is found in Q.

33:72.

83. Ibid., p. 115.

84. See Paul J. Griffiths, Problems of Religious Diversity (Malden, MA and Oxford: Blackwell, 2001),

especially pp. 40-4 on Hick and his Kantian approach to religious truth.

85. Ibid., p. 116.

86. Ibid.


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For Muzaffar, the belief in humanitys trusteeship before God is a cornerstone of this

universal religion he proffers: The concept of a universal God of the whole humanity, of

the human being as Gods steward, of universal spiritual values, would be integral to this

spiritual vision of unity. He goes on, making now the connection between this universal

faith and the sociopolitical agenda of his human rights activism: In addition, every human

being would possess rights and responsibilities, derived from universal values. These rights

and responsibilities would also serve to unite humankind.87 This spiritual vision, then,

serves as support and justification for a new global ethic, precisely because it includes

within its parameters the essence of all religious thought.88

Despite Muzaffars conviction that no particular religion holds a monopoly on truthor

on an exclusive path to eternal blisshe seems quite content with his Muslim heritage as

an ethnic Malay from Malaysia, and his message is partially crafted and directed (at least in

the last part ofRights, Religion and Reform ) to a Malaysian audience.89 Thus the last seven

essays of the second part of (The Essence of Religion) are devoted to Islam. Though I

have no space to analyze his theology in detail, it should be noted that he sides squarely

with the reformist tradition, best exemplified in his own words in the works of Shah

Walliyullah, Muhammad Iqbal, Kalam Azad, Ali Shariati, Ayatollah Taleghani, Baqer Sadr,

Fazlur Rahman and Muhammed Natsir amongst others.90 In a nutshell this means two

things: a) approaching the Quran as Gods eternal message which means being able to

distinguish what is fundamental in it from what is peripheral, what is universal from what is

contextual91

; b) foremost among those central values put forward by the Quran is justice.Gods revelation, then, serves to guide people in their task of spreading His justice on

earth. Put differently, Upholding justice is undoubtedly one the human beings primary

duties. It is a duty that he must perform as the bearer of Gods trust, as the vicegerent of

God, the Khalifah Allah.92

The idea of justice brings us full circle in this essay, because for Chandra Muzaffar injustice

sums up the greatest obstacle to the global communitys achieving peace and prosperity.

Prominent among the poor and oppressed left behind by a western-propelled economic

87. Ibid., p. 117.

88. This is why he sees this idea of the deputyship of humankind so important for people to grasp in amulti-ethnic society such as Malaysia: It is this human identity as the vicegerent of Godan identity

which transcends all other ethnic and religious identitieswhich should form the basis of unity and

harmony in multi-ethnic, multi-religious Malaysia (ibid., p. 335).

89. In support of his pluralistic vision, he quotes the illustrious mystic Jallaludin Rumi: The lovers of

God have no religion but God alone. Interestingly, this is not a direct quote from Rumi, but rather a

quote he finds in the Swedish United Nations statesman, Dag Hammarskjold (Markings, London:

Faber and Faber, 1964).

90. Muzaffar,Rights, Religion and Reform, p. 178.

91. Ibid., p. 177.

92. Ibid., p. 175.


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globalization, are the majority of Muslim nationsadmittedly in a state of disunity and

decadence93who, on top of a global system inherently inimical to their Islamic sense of

human dignity and a just social order, also come up against a fundamental prejudice against

Islam, deeply embedded in the Western psyche. Thus, while the western-dominated

media continue to decry Islamic fundamentalism and Islamic terrorism, few stop to

understand that the Muslim reaction [to Western domination and control] may in fact be

a cry for justice, a plea for a more equitable relationship with the West.94 At the same

time, Muslims need to demonstrate once again (the initial spread of the Islamic message

was partially due to its sense of social justice, he argues) in their own societies and as they

work with humanity at large for a better world that their faith supports and nourishes the

most lofty human values, shared by all the worlds religions.95

Herein lies Muzaffars

specifically Islamic contribution to an urgently needed global ethic today.

93. Ibid., p. 184.

94. Ibid., p. 185.

95. Ibid., pp. 190-91.

Muzzafer on Global is at Ion

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