Assignments
A list of assignments is given below. For grades on these assignments, see GRADES
MIDTERM is scheduled on 2nd December, see below for details. SEE Midterm Solutions for GRADES listed in rank order.
FINAL EXAM: see near MIDTERM below for details of coverage:
Assignment Labelled OWSS -- only collected on Mens side?
16 September 2011: In Class Quiz: Summarize the lecture on Origins of Western Social Science
Many questions are answered by religion. If we reject religion, then we need to find NEW answers to these questions. Western Social tries to find new answers to the following five questions, after rejecting the answer provided by religion.
FIVE QUESTIONS ARE: How was the Universe Created? [Religon: By God, WSS: By accident]
How did man come into being? [Religion: As the best of creation, WSS: by evolution]
What should we behave? What is moral behavior? [ As defined by God, whatever makes people happy]
How should we organize society? [According to laws of religion, However it is convenient for all - rule of law, social convention]
What is Knowledge? [ Revealed Knowledge, Only that which we can see and hear]
Assignment Labelled IslEdu
23 September 2011: Group Discussion and Writeup of Answers to the following questions:
What are the main points of contrast between Western education and Islamic Education?
Islamic Education is learning about Allah and His creation, and the laws by which Allah T'aala governs the Universe. It is a form of worship.
Western Education is about getting job skills to earn money.
What shape/form would Islamic Education take?
We need to pattern education on the model provided by Prophet Mohammad S.A.W. This means teaching Eeman, Character, rules of behavior and conduct, as well as the struggle to establish the good and remove injustice.
What can we do to bring this about?
Clearly Islamic education is not in existence. What can we do to change thing?
Work on educating ourselves in our Deen.
Encourage others to work on this, and form groups to learn about our deen.
Remove inferiority complex about our heritage and background, and create a demand for Islamic teachings
Create supply by working on our own character and eeman.
Assignment Labelled 3Q
30 September 2011: In Class Short Quiz
1. Someone argues that Western education is superior to Islamic Education. It gets us jobs, it teaches us valuable skills, it is the source of the progress of the West. Islamic education belongs to fourteen centuries ago, it is old obsolete and of no use to us in the modern world. It is in fact what keeps us backwards.
HOW WOULD YOU ARGUE AGAINST THIS POINT OF VIEW?
2. Western Social Science makes the claim that it is factual and objective, just like Physical Science. In fact, Social Science arose to answer questions that were previously answered by Christianity. My paper "Origins of Western Social Science" identifies FIVE questions that religion answers, which need to have new answers if we reject religion. Western Social Science provides answers to these questions. Choose ONE of these questions, and contrast the answer provided by Western Social Science and that given by Religion.
3. Scarcity is at the heart of Economics, but Islam denies this idea. Explain why
Assignment labelled TAB
7 October 2011: No class due to strike--
Assignment given on 30th September was due, but not collected:
Talk to and Convince People about some of the ideas in this course which are contrary to what is widely believed.
Here are some of the ideas that could be discussed:
A: Today Western education is necessary for progress of Muslims?
NEGATION: No, today the same education that the Prophet S.A.W. gave to the Companions would be enough to change the condition of the Ummah.
B: Poverty is due to scarcity. There are not enough resources and too many people.
NEGATION: There are enough resources, but the rich do not recognize the right of the poor. Selfishness and luxurious consumption is encouraged.
Solution to problem is NOT increasing production, but to work on the hearts of the people and make them feel compassion for the poor.
C: West has made a lot of progress, and Muslims need to catch up by imitating their ways.
NEGATION: Actually West has been decling morally, and the more we imitate, the more we will also decline. So Muslims need to re-learn the character and spiritual development that the Prophet S.A.W. created in his society, and create a model for the whole world to follow.
14 October 2011
Your assignment is to develop an article to publish in some local newpaper or magazine, whether in Urdu or English.
Nearly everything you read or hear in this course is "NEWS" in the sense that it goes against what is widely believed by everybody, and hence would come as a new and surprising idea to most. This news value is what makes it publishable. However, it also means that you have to present good arguments because you are going to face a strong opposition.
For examples of how to write news articles see my newspaper articles at [link]
Here is a sketch of what you must do.
First chose an IDEA. Just one idea. For example,
Breakup of Family in West and Consequences.
Effects of Colonization of India by British.
Causes of Famines According to Amartya Sen.
Scarcity as propaganda.
There is a huge list of ideas, especially based on my newspaper articles plus some other ideas presented on that website. A slightly more detailed discussion of the last point (scarcity as propaganda is given below).
Second
Do readings. To write something, you must first read and have some ideas which you want to convey. If you are yourself blank, then you cannot write anything. EACH member of the group should do separate readings on the topic of interest. Do research on the internet to find articles relevant to your topic. Try to understand what the author is saying.
Third
Outline the points that you want to make in your article. You are not required to do original thinking. Think of your job to be taking ideas which are not generally familar to public and to present them. You are a MESSENGER -- taking unorthodox opinions written down by other authors, and conveying them to the public in language that they can understand.
Fourth
Writeup First Draft. Hopefully ideas from reading done by all three students will be present in this draft, and some elaboration of these ideas should also be there. The article should hang together, be coherent, focussed on proving one idea, and convincing the audience. It takes a while to learn how to write, but the main thing is learning by doing. So once you develop a draft then the next step can be taken.
21 October 2011: Draft of group work on articles is due. GRADES listed in column Draft
Assignment for 87th October:
1. Each member should do some readings related to topic chosen by group. List these readings and summarize the main ideas of the reading. Have a group meeting, present readings to each other, and make a selection of the points which should be covered in the article. Do a second draft of the article which should be close to final form and hand it in on Friday
READING SUMMARY ASSIGNMENT WAS DEFERRED FOR ONE WEEK AT CLASS REQUEST; Assignment labelled SUM (Article Summary)
ASSIGNMENT PRA3: Questions 2,3A,4 were assigned. Grades are listed in column marked PRA3
PRACTICAL Assignments: Islamic Economics is about DOING things, not about intellectual activity. Learning OCCURS when you do things for Allah.
2. Each person should find one poor person and take interview about his/her life. You can do this in teams, but every one must turn in a separate paper. Focus should be on assessing needs and saying how help could be provided. But at this time, we are just gathering data. See "Voices of the Poor" World Bank Report, to get an idea of what you need to do.
3A. MAKE one person happy. There is a lot of stress in Islam on making others happy. To smile at a fellow Muslim is a Sadaqa. We are encouraged to greet others, take the lead and be first in doing this. To show warmth and affection to children, to respect elders. To give gifts in order to increase love between Muslims. Consider the following Hadeeth;
The generosity of our Prophet Mohammad S.A.W., who is the perfect role model for us, is well known. He never turned away anyone who sought his help. After observing how much he gave out of the wealth that accrued to the Muslims after the conquest of Mecca, Safvan bin Umayyah remarked that “(the prophet) was as generous as the rain.” This is in sharp contrast with western economic methodology which attempts to explain all economic behavior as a consequence of selfishness and greed. Many papers have been written attempting to explain charity and generosity as being a manifestation of long-run selfishness. However, the Islamic act of charity is motivated by the love of God alone, and also Muslims expect compensation from Him alone:
[Q76:8,9] and who give food - however great be their own want of it - unto the needy, and the orphan, and the captive,[saying, in their hearts,] "We feed you for the sake of God alone: we desire no recompense from you, nor thanks”.
3B: Work on Ikhlas -- SINCERETY -- this is very difficult. When you make someone happy, you must do it SOLELY for the sake of ALLAH. Do not think that in future this person might be of use to me. Do not EXPECT that other person to be grateful or to thank you. Whenever this thought comes to your heart (AND IT WILL COME TO YOUR HEART) reject and say "O Allah, I want the reward for this action ONLY FROM YOU".
4: Look at the people around you and find one with one character trait that is very good and that you would like to acquire.
25th November: Lecture as usual. Assignment will be given in class -- I was planning to go to Raiwind on Thursday, but trip was postponed, so now MIDTERM will either be next week or be given as take home assignment.
25th Nov New Assignment: Due on Friday 2 December: OIC: Overcoming Inferiority Complex:
Some material relevant to this assignment is available at the following link [Building Self-Confidence]
The goal of this assignment is to try to overcome our inferiority complex vis-a-vis the West. For this purpose, I would like you to develop an argument and try to convince some other students/friends outside this class using this argument. Then writeup the argument and submit it to me. The question we want to look at is the following one:
Everybody says (and also we teach in Economics) that the West is developed and we are less developed, or underdeveloped. Development Economics is the subject devoted to teaching us how we can grow up and become like the west. Is this really true?
The primary goal is to convince your own self that this is not an objective truth. For this purpose, we will construct an argument in several stages.
Question 1: Is it true that wealth is the only measure of progress? Consider this question on an individual level, and also on a national level. Is it true that people who are richer have better character, better lives, more happiness, more honor more knowledge? Cite some Ahadeeth which show that wealth is not a desirable thing to have, and that people cannot be comp[ared by wealth. Then consider the same question on the national level. Is it true that if a nation is more powerful and more able to conquer and kill than it is better than the other nation which has less power. Is USA better than Iraq and the USA people better than the Iraqis because they could kill two million of them and destroy the lives of the entire nation?
First page of your essay should argue that wealth is not the only measure of progress, either for individuals or for nations.
Question 2: Name three criteria on which the RICH Western Countries are ahead of POORER Islamic countries. == I will use the word RICH for developed and POOR for underdeveloped.
Question 3: Name three criteria on which Islamic countries are ahead of Western countries.
In both question 2,3 try to be objective and use statistics and data to document and prove your claims, to the extent possible.
Question 4: Who is the one who can decide whether progress/development should be measured by the criteria you listed in answer to question 2 or whether it should be measured by the criteria you listed in question 3? What happens if we decided that the really important criteria are the ones listed in answer to question 3? Then would our people travel to the West to give them lectures on how to develop and become like us in the East?
Question 5: Now talk to a friend to try to convince him/her that it is the criteria of question 3 which are the important measures of progress, and therefore we in the East are more developed. WRITEUP the conversation. ALSO write up YOUR OWN DOUBTS about why this is not correct, and WHY it is really objectively true that the West IS developed and we are underdeveloped == it is almost sure that you will have doubts about this because this is what you have been told from childhood by everybody and everything, and so it is not easy to get it out of your own heads.
Grades for Boys Posted. Some wrote essays on Inferiority Complex, without answering questions 1-5 above. They have been marked "ess"
MIDTERM will be given on 2nd December from 8:30AM to 10:00AM. This will be based ENTIRELY on the following FIVE articles:
Note that the first article is not the main reading, but the supplementary reading for Lecture 1 -- I would like all students to read it and prepare for questions on it. I have taken off the first reading to compensate somewhat.
“An Islamic Worldview: An Essential Component of an Islamic Education,” Lahore Journal of Policy Studies Vol. 1 No. 1, p95-106, June 2007.
“Origins of Western Social Science” Journal of Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance, vol 5, number 2, May-August 2009, p. 9-22
“Scarcity: East and West,” Journal of Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance, Vol. 6, No. 1, January - March 2010.
The Rise and Fall of the Market Economy,” Review of Islamic Economics, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2010, pp. 123–155
Rebuilding Islamic Societies.
FINAL EXAM: This will cover the following SIX articles, and will be on pattern of MIDTERM
Islamic Economics: A Survey of the Literature: Sections 1,2 ONLY -- IELS1_IS483.pdf downloadable from: [link]
Crisis In Islamic Economics: Diagnosis & Prescriptions. see [link]
Capitalism in Crisis: Causes and Consequences -- see Jakarta slides
European History: Lessons for Muslims. see [link]
Power/Knowledge and Economic Theories. see [link]
Interest and the Modern Economy: see [link]
2nd December: Collected Assignment on: Conference Report - [CRep] Every student was supposed to writeup a report on his/her attendance at the conference; what was said and what they learned from it.
ASSIGNMENT -- Convince someone of your friends that the definition of Developed Countries and Under-developed countries is wrong and insulting. There is a division between rich countries and poor countries, but it is not necessarily true that rich people are better than the poor, and the poor should try to make progress and become like the rich.
9th December: Assignment Due 16th December: Swimming Against the Tide [SAT]. Take one idea which is widely believed, and write some arguments against it. More precisely. do the following steps:
Start by saying that It is widely believed that " .... "
DOCUMENT that this idea is widely believed by citing one or more sources which have said something like that.
Then say that even though it is widely believed, it is not true, and then present THREE arguments AGAINST the widely believed idea. TRY to find some documentation to support your counterarguments.
MANY of my articles have examples of this process, where I have shown something that is widely believed is false. I normally give three or more arguments. You can follow the pattern of my newspaper articles OR my other articles also, all of which do something like this. HOWEVER, if you copy all my arguments, you will get a C. I will look for originality. In my articles, when I give one argument, I leave out FOUR because there is not enough space to make all of the arguments. So if you get a counterargument which is original different and cite a source for the argument which is not one that I have used, then you will get more credit. and more points.
16th December: Baghdadi Munazara will take place in class. A report for the Munazara will be written IN CLASS and submitted to the TA's Kamila and Arif.
SEPARATELY: ASSIGNMENT for 25th December. Take one of my talks or articles and MAKE AN OUTLINE for it. The OUTLINE should be a POWERPOINT PRESENTATION, or in the style of a POWERPOINT PRESENTATION. As an example of a presentation see the outline for my talk in Indonsia, for which a separate webpage has been created on this website. (Assignment PPT)
23 December: Lecture on Evils of Interest + How to Make Powerpoint Slides.
Assignment for 30th December: Write ONE or TWO pages (Word Document, not handwritten) of explanation for one of the SLIDES in my JAKARTA Presentation. Details about what to write for each slide are given on the page for Jakarta Slides
25th Nov. ASSIGNMENT: Postponed. WCT -- Writing on Controversial Topics
1: List the Readings that you did in preparation for Writing your essay. Also provide a one paragraph summary of EACH reading.
2: Write one to two pages with 1000 to 2000 words. Those who know how to SHOULD use word processor. Others should learn HOW TO use word processor. Masters Student Should have enough computer skills to be able to type their essays in a Word document. This also allows for spell and grammar checking, as well as word counting and easy editing. -- Everyone has individual assignments. See TOPICS
SOME DETAILS OF SCARCITY AS PROPAGANDA
Dear Dr. Asad
Thank you very much for your valuable comments. The issues of concentration of wealth (it leads to monopolisation of resources and political power in the hands of the rich) and judicious distribution of incomes and resources are at the core of all ills we see in almost all societies of the world--both present and past.
In Kitab Allah (Al- Quran) the issue is comprehensively and conclusively concluded. In Al-Baqarah, in the very beginning, it is made clear that this guidance is for Muttaqeen, who are defined as those who establish the system of Sal'at (where laws of Allah prevail) and spend on the needy from what Allah has bestowed upon on them. The term Sal'at has immediately been followed by the words "mimmaa razaqnaahum yunfiquun" . The natural query from the Muttaqeen would have been "how much". In 2-19, the question is reproduced: " they also inquire how much they should spend in the name of Allah". The answer is short but all-encompassing Qulil 'afw' ("what is beyond your needs"). The term 'afw' can be elaborated to mean "everything after retaining what is necessary for your legitimate needs". This kind of persuasion to human beings, ordained by Allah, is possible only once Quranic order is established in its totality. Such an order alone can ensure providing means of substance to all members of society with no concentration of wealth.
Regards,
DR. IKRAMUL HAQ
Advocate Supreme Court
International Tax Counsel
I have often written that "scarcity" -- supposedly the fundamental principle of economics -- is a hoax. It is designed to focus attention away from the central problem of economics which is re-distribution. Focus on scarcity means we try to produce more so that the poverty can be removed. this is wrong for two reasons:
1. There is already enough goods to remove poverty, problem is that the goods are in hands of the rich.
2. The added production will not reach the poor (via the trickle down).
At a somewhat deeper level, what Islam works on is to try to develop compassion for the poor. This is what is needed for the required transfers to take place. The alternative is to do it forcibly, but this rarely works because the rich have more power and more access to force and violence.