Chandra Mazaffar’s Islamic Critique

of Globalisation:
a malaysian contribution to a global ethic

David L. Johnson

La Trobe University Centre for Dialogue

Working Paper 2006/3
Chandra Mazaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation
a malaysian contribution to a global ethic

David L. Johnson

La Trobe University Centre for Dialogue

Working Paper 2006/3
 Profile

David L. Johnston lived for over fifteen years in Algeria, Egypt and the West Bank, where
he 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.

Abstract

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
Muzzaffar’s 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 of tawhid, the unity of God, is organically connected to the divine
mission entrusted to humankind (as God’s 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 Muzaffar’s 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.
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 2
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation:

A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic

David L. Johnson 1

Introduction

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 Muzaffar’s 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.

Muslim Writing on Globalisation

By way of providing some context to Chandra Muzaffar’s thoughts on globalization, I offer

here a window on other Muslim thinkers’ dealing with this topic. Hartford Seminary
scholar Ibrahim Abu-Rabiœ 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 Living in the west
“is in an ideal position to reflect from within, so to speak, on the nature of globalization

1. Author’s email: jodavid@sas.upenn.edu

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 Rabiœ, 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.
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 3
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

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- Rabiœ, “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-
Rabiœ’s 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 on
the following points:

• The fall of the Soviet Union has created a dangerous vacuum, which the United
States 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 by
strengthening authoritarian regimes like Egypt, which then do its bidding.
• The economic gap between the ruling elites, who submitted to western business
interests 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 Egypt’s socioeconomic formations. No longer confined to small pockets in big
urban centers, the lumpenproletariat now forms about one-third to one-fourth of Egypt’s total
population” (Egypt, Islam and Democracy: Twelve Critical Essays, Cairo: The American University
in Cairo Press, 1996, pp. 76-77).
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 4
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

• Islamism has been on the rise, mainly because the impoverished middle classes and
the 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-Rabiœ, 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-thaqäfï) 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-Nassir’s efforts to delink
Egypt’s 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 œawlama
(globalization) and ϊlamiyya (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-Rabiœ, 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 Amin’s analysis would mostly
be acceptable to Marxists and islamists as well, though he focuses much of his attention on
the state. 14 He observes that with the fall of the Iron Curtain the process of privatization

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

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-Muslimün wa-l-œawlama (“Muslims and Globalization,” Cairo: Dar al-Tawzi wa-al-
Nashr al-Islamiyya, 2000); Qutb, Al-Muslimün wa-l-œawlama (“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 Gulf’s petrodollars
reflect these rulers’ deep indebtedness to the geopolitical status quo. It may not be in Qaradawi’s
interest to critique these global structures in depth.
13. Abu-Rabiœ, Contemporary Arab Thought, p. 196.
14. Abu-Rabiœ also devotes much space to Syrian Marxist philosopher Sadiq Jalal al-œAzm who writes
that, in view of the post-Cold War status quo, Lenin’s maxim that “imperialism is the highest stage of
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 5
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

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
multinationals—like those dealing with oil—seem 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 Muzaffar’s
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-Rabiœ explains al-œAzm, 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 Friedman’s 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- Rabiœ: “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.
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 6
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

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 world’s
population, “they account for less than 5 percent of the world’s gross domestic product,
despite owning 54 percent of the world oil revenues. More than 600 million of the world’s
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 Globalisation

The wheelchair-bound Malaysian political scientist in his 1993 book, Human Rights and the
New World Order, deepened his longstanding advocacy for Third World empowerment and
intentionally borrowed from the Gulf War II 22 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 a
well-established truth: that for the United States and its allies, democracy and human rights were
secondary to oil, regional power structures, international leverage vis-à-vis Japan and Germany and
global domination and control. For these—and not freedom and democracy—were 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).
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 7
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

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 Muzaffar’s 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 Muzaffar’s 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). Muzaffar’s 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 six
areas:

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 With statistics at hand, Muzaffar shows how
from 1960 to 1989 the richest 20 percent of the world’s 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

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.
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.
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 8
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

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 world’s 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 Council’s 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 Few around the world missed

26. Muzaffar adds that this accelerating gap in wealth is dramatically illustrated by consumption patterns:
the North (about one quarter of the world’s population) “consumes 70% of the world’s energy, 75% of
its metals, 85% of its wood and 60% of its food” (ibid.).
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.
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 9
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

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 Clark’s 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 dissuaded—through media propaganda—from 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 Barber’s analysis of the west’s 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:
Terrorism’s Challenge to Democracy (New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, with a new introduction,
2001).
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 10
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

Communication and Humanity

On the one hand, the news media has brought the world’s suffering into everyone’s
home through television—a 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
West’s 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, Zionism’s 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
Navy’s Seventh Fleet transfer of logistics operations from the Philippines to Singapore; and
finally, 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 book—however
without notes. But Muzaffar’s knowledge of many situations around the world and their historical
context is impressive.
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 11
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

“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 Malaysia’s then Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad gave the “Keynote Address.” 40 In one sense, this book adds little to
the picture painted above of Muzaffar’s understanding of globalization. Though little new
light is shed on the phenomenon of growing Western domination over the world’s
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 Muzaffar’s thinking in
these areas.

The first striking feature of this collection of papers 41 is that the tone seems more strident
than before. Quoting from Chandra Muzaffar’s “Introductory Remarks,”

It was Western dominance which, in its early centuries, committed the cruelest,
crudest genocide in history—the 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 book’s spotlight on “white racism,” particularly in Professor
David G. Du Bois’s “Racism in the West and its Impact on Human Rights,” 43 and veteran
African scholar Ali A. Mazrui’s “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 people 44 Thus Muzaffar’s analysis of globalization covered the

39. Human Wrongs: Reflections on Western Global Dominance and its Impact Upon Human Rights
(Penang, Malaysia: Just World Trust, 1996).
40. This was due to the PM’s outspoken denunciation of the “blatant unjustices emerging from global
domination and control.” At the same time, that decision irritated a number of attendees, who noted
the latter’s checkered record in muzzling his own political opponents. Muzaffar includes
correspondence on this very issue in Rights, 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.
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 12
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

“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 Muzaffar’s personal influence as well—I signal the contributions of noted authors in
the West, including Jeremy Corbyn, Jeremy Seabrook, and Princeton scholar Richard
Falk. 46

The second noteworthy aspect of Human Wrongs is Muzaffar’s 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 Muzaffar’s 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 not
now 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-all
and 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 from
responsibilities. “Can rights be separated from responsibilities in real life?”
4. The Western conception of human rights must be considered “particularistic and
sectional,” 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 the
US].” 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 worst
patterns 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 Muzaffar’s bulleted list on pp. 272-73.
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 13
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

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 larger
spiritual and moral framework, which endows human endeavour with meaning and
purpose, with coherence and unity, wouldn’t the emphasis on rights per se lead to
moral chaos and confusion?”
7. “Human rights,” when divorced from questions about the nature of the human
person, 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 Muzaffar’s direction
of thought is becoming more philosophical, indeed theological.

One last comment on Muzaffar’s 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 “grassroots
postmodernism” with regard to his agenda of change in the global economic and political
sphere. 51

Muzaffar is no Marxist—the 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 Both

49. In fact, this is the first book considered here with an index. “Globalization” is one of the entries, with
several sub-entries.
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 his Radical Democracy (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996).
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 14
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agree on the vital connection between Thomas Hobbes’ white male as the bearer of rights
or John Locke’s 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, “Capitalism’s 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 others—without 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 is
not 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 actors—including human rights and development
NGOs—now realize that economic growth is a vital pre-condition for the
reduction of poverty and for the general improvement of the people’s
livelihood. Without impressive growth rates sustained over a long period of
time, 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.
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 15
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

Thus Muslim industrialists may handsomely contribute to his nation’s 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 yearly zakat, or tax on one’s
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 endeavours”—the subject of the next section.

An Islamic Contribution to a Global Ethic

This paper began with a reference to Zoroastrianism and its affirmation of the unity of
humankind. This was in fact Muzaffar’s opening comment in an essay (“Globalization and
Religion”) co-published by Islamonline and 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 profits—the foremost role of government
under this scheme is to provide a business-friendly legal framework and atmosphere—is
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 globalization’s 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.
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 16
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

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 people’s 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 sharing
and compassion, symbolized most potently by the shopping mall, the human person’s
worth is now rated according to the number of possession he or she has. Globalization’s
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 people’s 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.
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 17
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

“justice for producer, consumer and intermediary.” 64 In the long run, however, this is not
enough. The Internet’s 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
individual’s moral compass when human values of faithfulness (especially to one’s spouse
and family), compassion and honesty are under assault.

I present, then, Muzaffar’s 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 God’s trustees on earth.

A Spiritual-Moral Vision of the 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
humankind’s 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 everyone’s needs but not for everyone’s greed.” 66 Then he quotes a
qur’anic 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 Mary’s

64. Ibid., p. 7.
65. For instance, he writes, “Almost all the religions found in East and Southeast Asia—which
incidentally is one of the great confluences of the world’s living faiths—have 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).
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 18
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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 people’s traditions are teachings that elevate freedom
and the right to dissent in the cause of justice. Here he quotes from both the Qur’an
and the book of Job. 68

Ethnic Conflict
The deplorable and tragic gap between religious ideals and practice may be seen around
the 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 Qur’an, “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
family—as 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 Stott’s 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.
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 19
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

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 Abuse

Beyond 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 one’s 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 God—above all other loyalties to family, clan and country—is 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 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

72. Ibid., p. 111.

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).
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 20
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

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 God’s Trustees on the Earth

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 world’s peoples, they should also recognize that
they are accountable to God, whatever their gender, ethnicity, or social status, as His
“vicegerents”—a statement from the Qur’an (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 God’s 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, “The
New 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 celebrate
Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?’ He said: ‘I know what ye know not.’” “Viceregent” here
translates the Arabic word khalïfa, the same word used for the caliphs, or political successors of
Muhammad. For more details see David L. Johnston, “The Human Khiläfa: 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).
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 21
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

human race. Since every human being is God’s 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 God’s 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 person—an ethical precept with a religious underpinning, if you will,
that informs and sustains the mainly secular formulation of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UDHR, 1948).

This quest continues, ever more focused, in Muzaffar’s 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: “it
would 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 Muzaffar’s creed of religious pluralism: salvation is
not found in any particular religion but in the values of love, compassion and brotherhood that help
bring 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 it—he
was indeed unjust and foolish” (Q. 33:72).
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 22
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

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 God’s eternal power of creation.
Who am I? I am God’s vicegerent, God’s steward, the bearer of God’s trust. 82
Why am I here? I am here to fulfil God’s trust, to carry out God’s will.
How am I to fulfil God’s 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 God’s 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 God’s unity (tawùïd) as also pointing in
this 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.
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 23
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

For Muzaffar, the belief in humanity’s 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 God’s 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 Muzaffar’s conviction that no particular religion holds a monopoly on truth—or

on an exclusive path to eternal bliss—he 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 of Rights, 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 Qur’an “as God’s eternal message which means being able to
distinguish what is fundamental in it from what is peripheral, what is universal from what is
contextual” 91 ; b) foremost among those central values put forward by the Qur’an is justice.
God’s revelation, then, serves to guide people in their task of spreading His justice on
earth. Put differently, “Upholding justice is undoubtedly one the human being’s primary
duties. It is a duty that he must perform as the bearer of God’s 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 community’s 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 a
multi-ethnic society such as Malaysia: “It is this human identity as the vicegerent of God—an identity
which transcends all other ethnic and religious identities—which 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.
 David L. Johnston, ‘Chandra Muzaffar’s Islamic Critique of Globalisation: 24
A Malaysian Contribution to a Global Ethic’

globalization, are the majority of Muslim nations—admittedly in a state of “disunity and

decadence” 93—who, 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 world’s religions. 95 Herein lies Muzaffar’s
specifically Islamic contribution to an urgently needed global ethic today.

93. Ibid., p. 184.

94. Ibid., p. 185.
95. Ibid., pp. 190-91.