The term 'development' i.e. economic development  is the fundamental basis of all the major discussions nowadays. Indeed the voices at the two ends of the Maldivian political spectrum use development as a basis to score political points over their rivals. The 'pro' camp accuses the 'anti' camp of thwarting development of our country by attempting to create instability. The 'anti' gang cite inadequate development (absence of free health care...etc) as a measure to prove the failure of the 'pro' camp. As for the masses, they are  extremely concerned about the 'development' which the elected MPs promised them during the campaign. 

The issue needs to be looked at from a wide angle if we are to understand the underlying impetus of material development in any community. Development could be classified as 1) Development from within 2) Externally enforced development.

1) Development from within

Development from within is the correct measure of economic development of any community. This kind of development is driven by an internal momentum within people who share a common outlook, culture and life ambition. What is unique about internal development is that inventions and research resulting from an internal momentum actually accentuate peoples' confidence in their ideology.

As an example, the advancements of Muslims  in the field of astronomy is attributed to their unwavering obedience to Allah (swt)' s commandment to find the direction of the Qibla because it is a mandatory requisite for the prayer to be valid. This determination to find the direction of the Qibla using the stars led to massive progress in the fields of mathematics, physics and navigation. It is abundantly clear that the Muslims would not have made this discovery had it not been for their ultimate objective of earning Allah's pleasure. What added motivation to their zeal was the confidence in the Islamic Aqeedah. Muslims also realized that determining the Qibla is achievable because it is an order from the Creator and the Creator would not command to carry out impossible missions.     

Similarly the progress in healthcare  was driven by an internal momentum and internal challenge. When the Islamic state expanded the Muslims faced injuries and casualties which needed treatments. Also, they had to confront new diseases amongst the people in the newly found territories. When the Muslims had the correct Islamic mindset they referred to the Islamic texts for every issue they faced. So, the Muslims advanced in medicine because they responded to the hadith of the Muhammad (sallalahu alaihi wassalam) :

''Allah has created the illness and the cure, so seek the cure''. 

This motivation led to great breakthroughs in medicine, surgery and diagnostics.

The Case of Maldives

Even in the Maldives, real creative development occurred when people were driven by an internal momentum. The construction of traditional fishing vessels is an example. Maldivians realised the importance of the sea as the primary source of their livelihood. This created a strong impetus for the construction of fishing vessels to guarantee their main source of livelihood and for transportation. Consequently they learnt the skills of navigation, fishing techniques, boat construction...etc .Out of all these inventions, the fishing boat stands out as exceptional because these  immaculate boats were constructed without referring to expert drawings and without the knowledge of naval architecture - a science that is required for ship construction in modern times.

Although the creativity of the Maldivian were driven by mere survival instinct (i.e. the fear of livelihood) ,the driving force of the Muslims advancements were not simply related to mere human survival, but a more ulterior objective to worship the Creator and carry the Islamic message to whole of mankind. Nevertheless whatever inventions Maldivians created were natural responses to the genuine needs of the community. They did not create mindless and unnecessary  inventions and then create the ''need'' for them through deceptive marketing - the hallmark of externally enforced development. 

2) Externally Enforced Development

Today whatever is being bragged in the name of  'development' is not the design of our own thinking. In other words, the current spree of development is not driven by our internal momentum or shaped by our thoughts. But they are accidental occurrences externally enforced by the systematic processes of globalisation, privatisation, foreign investments of the capitalist imperialists.  Few ''crumbs'' accidentally fell on us in the form of ''prosperity'' which trickled down to the fortunate minority wealthy (by chance) and deliberately created misery for the majority. 

Since these ''developments'' did not spring from our outlook or way of thinking, our role in this externally enforced development is that of, passive and robotic imitators who swallow whatever being thrown at us in the form  of concepts ( e.g. 'reform') and technical gadgetry. In fact, drug addiction , addiction to shopping, and excessive travelling are the manifestations of such slavery. The massive influx of expatriate labour is necessitated by the two dual forces of excessive buying and excessive selling. The never ending spiral of sporadic construction in Male' is another manifestation of this mindless and erratic development.

Conclusion

The recently elected MPs and their acrobatic manoeuvres will have little impact on the development of the country, largely driven by external forces such as UNDP  - NGO nexus. It seems that we cant initiate even the simplest of projects without the advice of the 'white man'. The current quagmire in the Majlis is indicative of the fact that whatever development that we have witnessed so far were not driven by an internal momentum because such momentum requires an unified outlook and thinking based on a common framework which is lacking amongst the masses and politicians. The MPs are yet to start their business and their minds are still muddled over minor issues. And most of them are now suffering from ''foot in mouth disease''. The masses who exhausted their energy to elect their favourite MP should take heed of this reality and ask themselves: Is it not time to abandon the Western style Machiavellian politics and start reviving the community based on Islamic thoughts ?

Pat - 2 will elaborate more on the impact of externally enforced development (or destruction) and the cultural challenges it pose. 

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