The Criteria and Indicators of Human Development according to Islam

Human development" is the most modern and perhaps most acceptable approach in the field of development. It developed after the appearance of the negative effects of absolute economic development. There have been many research projects, reports, and conferences on this approach in the world. Since 1990, the United Nations has issued a series of annual reports on "human development in different countries in the world" in which the real conditions concerning different human questions are stated. Since the proposed criteria and indicators are based on secular and liberal anthropology and include only the material aspect which has to do with man's instinct, they cannot, in the view of Islam, be taken as a guideline to materialize an Islamic developed society. This paper elaborates on the question: what are the appropriate criteria and indicators of human development in Islam? In response to this question deep faith, piety, good deed, and means (i.e. the material ability for living) are proposed as realistic criteria and indicators of human development. To do so, the contents of transmitted and religious resources are analyzed and the foundations, principles and aims of development in Islam and the Islamic concept of human development are reviewed.