Faith in International Development - an Islamic Perspective

This essay will attempt to analyze the role of one of the most complex phenomena - faith - in the field of international development. The emphasis will be put on Islamic perspective, using one of the world’s biggest groups of development agencies, the non-denominational Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) as a case study. The paper will address the Islamic inspiration behind the AKDN vision of assisting the world’s underprivileged, while assessing the Network’s development approach through the lens of Critical Modernism. By doing so, the analysis will touch upon the fundamentals of the topic, such as: Islam, development and Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs). The term FBOs, however, within the context of the essay will be employed beyond the conventional American concept of exclusively Christian FBOs, extending it to other major world religions such as Islam, Judaism, Hinduism etc. FBOs here are generally understood as organizations that carry faith or religious factor/s of any world religion while operating in the field of international development.