Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2007
Integrating the Islamic Worldview into
the Planning of Neighbourhoods
Spahic Omer
Abstract:
This paper aims to highlight the importance of integrating the Is
lamic worldview into the aspects of planning, in general, and
into the planning of
neighbourhoods, in particular. In this paper I shall examine, firs
tly, the pertinence of the Islamic worldview to the notion of
planning neighbourhoods. There we
will see that such an enterprise was an integral part of Islami
c urbanism from the era of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) till the
waning of Islamic civilization. As
such, no successful establishment of contemporary Islamic urban
ism without integrating the same with the Islamic worldview can
ever be possible. Next, the
following principles will be discussed: (i) the Islamic idea of
the settlement, (ii) Islam on creating buildings, (iii) peacefu
l co-existence with the environment, and
(iv) Islam on human dignity and fraternity among its members. Disc
ussion on each of the mentioned principles will be followed b
y briefly analyzing their
implications for the planning of neighbourh
oods. Some suggestions as to how to make the notion of integrating the Islamic world
view into the idea of
planning appear relevant and appealing to the Muslims of today will also be presented. While writing the paper, I have tried as much as possible to draw on
the most relevant sources that deal with the theme at hand, the
most important of which, certainly, are the Holy Qur'an and the
authentic compilations of
the Prophet Muhammad's words and actions.
Keywords
: Islam, Muslims, The Islamic worldview, Planning, Neighbourhood
INTRODUCTION
This paper discusses the notion of integrating the Islamic
worldview into the planning of
neighbourhoods. The nature
of the paper is a conceptual and philosophical rather than
an empirical one. Hence, some of the paper's conclusions
Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design, International Islamic
University Malaysia, P.O. Box 10, 50738 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
Corresponding author:
آدرس ایمیل جهت جلوگیری از رباتهای هرزنامه محافظت شده اند، جهت مشاهده آنها شما نیاز به فعال ساختن جاوا اسكریپت دارید
and suggestions appear to be
prescriptive and with no
clear focus. The paper does not intend to produce a
concrete formula for the integration of Islamic worldview
into the planning of neighbourhoods. Nor does it aim to
present the solutions for the existing problems of the
Muslims with regard to resi
dential planning. Rather, the
paper aims to increase awareness, both of the
professionals and gene
ral public, as to the significance of
the subject in question. Thus, the most vital aspects of the
theme were dwelled on and from an ideological point of
P
E
N
E
RB
IT
U
N
IV
ERS
I
T
I
S
A
I
N
S
M
A
L
A
Y
S
IA/
63
Spahic Omer
view. The paper neither overlooked nor downgraded the
importance of such pressing issues as the definition and
chief characteristics of neighbourhoods in history and at
present, socio-cultural and economic influences on the
development of Islamic neighb
ourhoods, and the role of
the professionals and other relevant parties in the housing
industry within the current context. These and similar issues
were simply out of focus in the paper.
There is virtually no study conducted on the subject
of integrating the Islamic worldview into the planning of
neighbourhoods. Thus, the objective of this paper is to
partly fill up a significant academic gap and to spur the
interest of both the professionals and Muslim scholars on
such an important subject matter. There are certainly
studies that treat the subject of Muslim neighbourhoods but
only from certain limited cultural, social or built
environment perspectives. It is
almost impossible to find a
study that treats the matter from a broader spiritual
perspective, integrating the same with and thus adding a
new dimension to the rest of social, cultural and built
environment perspectives. This research is an attempt
towards exactly that direction.
THE PERTINENCE OF THE WORLDVIEW TO PLANNING AND
URBANIZATION
People are both the creators and demolishers of every
civilizational accomplishment. They too are the only
beneficiaries of civilizational valuable upshots. Similarly,
people are the creators and inhabitants of cities. If a city is
well-ordered, clean, efficient, corruption-free, balanced,
safe, free from stress and nuisan
ce, it is all due to the right
conduct, attitudes and mindset
of its inhabitants. The same
is also reflected when a city's amenities are adequate and
accessible, when its environment is conducive towards
social interaction and coherence, when it conserves
material and energy resource
s, and when it prevents
ecological disruption. The good virtues of a city's
inhabitants must have been modelled in accordance with
a sound worldview that regulates their relationship with
fellow community members, nature (space) and God. All
the policies and schemes originated and implemented in
this kind of city are merely an expression of the city's
upbeat total atmosphere that has been avidly generated
and then made pervasive over every department of living.
64
/
PEN
E
RBI
T
UN
I
V
ERSI
TI
SAIN
S M
A
LAY
S
I
A
Integrating the Islamic Worldview
However, if the opposite is the case, that is to say, if
the conditions in a city are awful and detrimental to living,
who is to be blamed? The demeanor, attitudes and
mindset of the city dwellers – everyone in the socio-political
hierarchy – as well as ce
rtain policies and their
enforcement, are as a rule pointed at as the causes of the
trouble. This may be partly true and acceptable, yet a
majority of the root causes
would definitely be related to
the snags in the people's
commitment to an adopted
worldview (philosophy and vi
sion of life and truth),
provided the worldview itself is free of them and other
imperfections.
Deviating from an established worldview, or
abandoning it completely, has always produced a chain
reaction in everything that people do. It follows that all the
phenomena witnessed in a community and its urban and
rural settlements, irrespective
of whether they are good or
bad, are reflective of the nature and strength of people's
association with a vision and philosophy of life and truth
(worldview) on whose principles the community had been
established and had been surviving for years. The stronger
and healthier the relationship between people and the
philosophy of their community
(their settlements) the more
is it likely that they (their community) will keep moving
ahead longer, and vice versa. Therefore, understanding
fully all the aspects of the problems that beset a city,
linking the symptoms with
their root causes, before
embarking on a healing process, shall always be vital.
As far as Islam is concerned, neighbourhoods serve
as the incubators of constructive ideas and schemes that
are epitomized in the characters and conducts of the
people. Hence, both the Holy Qur'an and the Prophet's
Sunnah
paid so much attention to the notion of neighbours
– their rights and resp
onsibilities, as well
as to the roles and
significance of housing, mosques, roads and public spaces
which make up neighbourhoods (Hakim, 1988). Of these,
the house institution, together with the mosque, occupies
the most important position. Central to the quintessence of
all the components of a neighbourhood is certainly the
comprehensive and enduring worldview of Islam.
While developing the city-state of Madinah, the
Prophet (pbuh) and the first generation of Muslims
demonstrated in a powerful and practical fashion the
Islamic view of the subjec
t at hand (Spahic, 2004).
Neighbourhoods, it could be
deduced, account for a
microcosm of Islamic culture and civilization in that
individuals and families bred and nurtured therein
constitute the fundamental units of the Islamic community
(
ummah
). Neighbourhoods have a potential to take up the
role of an educational and training centre able to
produce, in concert with other societal establishments with
the house institution in the forefront, individuals capable of
P
E
N
E
RB
IT
U
N
IV
ERS
I
T
I
S
A
I
N
S
M
A
L
A
Y
S
IA
/
65
Spahic Omer
transforming the whole communities they belong to. From
their houses and neighbourhoods, while interacting with
the outside world at different levels and in different
capacities, the same persons would contribute, somehow
or other, their decent share to making this earth a better
place for living. By the same token, if misconstrued and
their role perverted, neighbourhoods have a potential to
become a breeding ground for virtually every social
disease, which if left unchecked could one day paralyze
entire communities and drug them to the bottommost.
THE ISLAMIC IDEA OF THE SETTLEMENT
When the name Madinah (the City) was given to the
Yathrib area following the Hijr
ah, such was not done at the
dictates of chance. It was a deliberate move reflective of
the developments within the young Islamic community
headed by the Prophet (pbuh). Indeed, the advent of the
new Islamic worldview and those who had already
exemplified it in their thoughts, words and deeds to the
Yathrib area implied the adve
nt of a whole bunch of new
concepts and philosophies. Of them was the idea of the
settlement.
In addition to being relatively that which the
settlements is and would always be thought of, the
settlement in Islam, more importantly, stands for the ground
for the people's interaction with Allah the Creator and
Lord, space, the environment and, of course, with
themselves at various levels, given that the settlement is a
scene where they live, work, play, learn, worship, rise and
fall. The outcome of these and other activities which the
people engage themselves in
settlements, especially
urban ones, is what we call cultures and civilizations but
which vary by reason of the principles and values on which
they rest, as well as by reason of the objectives intended to
be thereby achieved. Hence, it was very much suitable for
the name of the prototype Islamic city, i.e. Madinah, to be
derived from the word
tamaddun,
which denotes
civilization.
One of the derivations of the word Madinah (the
City) is the Arabic verb
dana
('Abd al-'Aziz, 1992) as well,
which means to obey, to submit (to), to owe allegiance
(to). From there is the word
din
which means religion, faith.
Thus, the city in Islam is dubbed Madinah so as to signify
the Islamic pivotal precept that man is a vicegerent on
earth and has not been created except to abide by and
absolutely submit to the will of the Lord of the universe.
It follows that every Islamic city and, indeed, any
form of the Islamic settlement is a hub of worship (serving).
Worship ('
ibadah
) in Islam is a wide concept encompassing
each and every action of man, irrespective of its nature
and the level where it might be undertaken, on sole
66
/
PEN
E
RBI
T
UN
I
V
ERSI
TI
SAIN
S M
A
LAY
S
I
A
Integrating the Islamic Worldview
condition that God is intended to be pleased thereby and
the divine norms pertinently conformed to. In such cities,
Allah – be He exalted – is the only absolute authority and
His words of guidance remain a source from which virtually
everything as to managing this terrestrial life originates.
Accordingly, the job of th
ose who are entrusted to
administer such cities and settlements and rule over their
populace would not exceed the
perimeter of what is right
and the most efficient implementation of what has been
already prescribed, in order to preserve the religion, self,
psychological and intellectual strength, progeny and
wealth of their subjects. In ot
her words, their task would be
but ensuring the masses their general wellbeing by finding
a feasible and effective
modus operandi
of putting into
operation the set of infinite standards and values
(Ibn Taymiyah, 1992).
Moreover, neighbourhoods wi
th all their facilities
assist people in discharging the diverse worship activities of
theirs. In Islam, the notion of worship is a universal one
encompassing every action of men (Qur'an, 51:56). Having
said this, the process of creating excellent neighbourhoods
can be transformed into an act of worship as well.
The Implications of the Islamic Idea of the Settlement for
Planning Neighbourhoods
The implications of the Islamic idea of the settlement for
planning neighbourhoods are rather ideological. Of them is
that the planners and user
s of Islamic neighbourhoods
perceive the latter as both the fields and means for the
implementation of Allah's
commands. Creating decent
houses and neighbourhoods thus stands for a societal duty
the neglecting of which, partly or totally, accounts for a
wrongdoing. This is so because possessing a decent house
which will be surrounded by a decent neighbourhood
could be seen as falling within the necessary minimum the
lack of which may cause one not to be able to rise to the
requirements of the vicegerency task for which people
have been created. When we say this we have in mind an
Islamic dictum according to which if an obligation (
wajib
)
cannot be performed without something, the latter then
becomes an obligation (
wajib
) itself.
Thus, planning and creating neighbourhoods is a
very serious task. It is about
giving people some of their
fundamental rights, executing
a religious obligation, and
contributing to an appropriate, or otherwise,
implementation of the message
of Islam. The corollary of
all this is that the Muslim
planners, and all the other
professionals in the field of built environment at large, must
enhance considerably their knowledge of Islam – its
Shari'ah
and worldview. This may appear as a daunting
task to many, however, needless to say that it is incumbent
upon every Muslim – male and female – to know the rulings
P
E
N
E
RB
IT
U
N
IV
ERS
I
T
I
S
A
I
N
S
M
A
L
A
Y
S
IA
/
67
