Does Secularism Drive Progress?

Does Secularism Drive Progress?

By: Samodra Wibawa, Fisipol UGM; Akademia Noto Negoro

Islam is backward because its followers have abandoned their religion, whereas the West is advanced because they have abandoned theirs. Muhammad Abduh (died 1905) once said: “I went to the West and saw Islam, but no Muslims; I came back to the East and saw Muslims, but not Islam.” This paradoxical statement deserves reconsideration when we observe the current map of global progress.

Many Muslim nations are rich in resources but still struggle with poverty, corruption, inequality, weak education, and poor governance. Conversely, many secular Western nations appear as centres of science, technology, economy, and innovation.

So, is religion an obstacle to progress? Or is there an error in how we understand religion?

This question is compelling if development is understood as more than just economic growth. Development is the process of creating a societal life that improves day by subsequently. But what is meant by “good”?

Economics answers this with income and productivity. Development science points to education, health, employment, security, and quality of life. However, religion poses a more fundamental question: for what purpose is all this progress?

Humans require worldly welfare, but they also need meaning, inner peace, morality, and salvation in the hereafter.

The Paradox of the West and the Islamic World

Max Weber once linked the Protestant ethic to the emergence of the modern capitalist spirit. However, the relationship between religion and economic progress is not as simple as the formula “a specific religion gives birth to capitalism.” Studies on Weber show a more complex relationship between religious beliefs, rationalisation, work ethic, social structures, and economic development (Turner, 2010; Vermeer, 2022).

Therefore, the phenomenon of the West advancing as it becomes more secular does not automatically prove that secularism causes progress.

It is possible that a paradox exists: the West has abandoned some religious practices and authority, but has maintained certain values that once grew within its religious traditions—such as discipline, hard work, responsibility, honesty, respect for knowledge, and an ethos of service.

Conversely, Muslims may maintain a strong religious identity but fail to translate Islamic values into institutions and social life.

This is where the thesis “Islam is backward because its followers have abandoned their religion, while the West is advanced because they have abandoned theirs” becomes interesting. Not as a proven scientific conclusion, but as a critical question: Are Muslims truly practicing Islam in social, economic, political, and institutional life?

When Islam Stops at Ritual

Islam certainly teaches prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and pilgrimage. But Islam does not stop there.

Islam also speaks of justice, trustworthiness, honest trade, the obligation to seek knowledge, the responsibility of leaders, the protection of the vulnerable, and the prohibition of unlawful acquisition of wealth.

If that is the case, why is religiosity sometimes easier to measure through symbols and rituals than through the quality of social life?

Shouldn’t a society that truly embodies trustworthiness hate corruption? A society that understands justice should demand impartial laws. A society that honours knowledge should build schools, universities, laboratories, and strong research traditions.

In other words, worship should have social consequences.

Prayer does not only shape a vertical relationship with God, but also produces humans capable of avoiding wrongdoing. Fasting is not merely abstaining from hunger and thirst, but training self-control. Zakat is not just a financial obligation, but an instrument of social solidarity.

If rituals flourish but corruption remains high, education lags, laws are for sale, and poverty persists across generations, the problem is not with Islam, but with the failure to translate Islamic values into behaviour and institutions.

Do Not Forget Colonialism

However, this issue cannot be separated from history.

Much of the Muslim world has experienced colonialism. Colonisation involved not only the seizure of territory and resources but also the shaping of legal systems, bureaucracies, education, economies, and the relationship between religion and the state.

Studies on India and Nigeria show how colonial governments helped restructure Islamic law and integrated it into colonial administrative frameworks (Stephens, 2018; Akande, 2020). The same applies to Indonesia. Therefore, it is reasonable to investigate whether the colonial experience contributed to the narrowing of religious space in socio-political life.

But history must be read carefully. It is inaccurate to attribute all the backwardness of the Muslim world solely to colonialism. Internal factors also play a role: quality of leadership, political conflict, education, economic structures, corruption, weak institutions, and post-independence government policies.

Thus, colonialism is part of the explanation, but not the entire explanation.

Progress for What Purpose?

There is a more fundamental issue: what does progress mean?

If a developed nation only means having skyscrapers, motorways, advanced technology, high income, and high consumption, that measure is incomplete.

Human development encompasses the expansion of human capabilities to live lives they value (UNDP, 2025). From an Islamic perspective, that measure is further expanded: welfare is not only worldly but also hereafter-oriented.

The Qur’an provides a compelling vision of an ideal land through the expression:

“Baldatun thayyibatun wa rabbun ghafūr” (A good land and a forgiving Lord) (QS. Saba’: 15).

The interesting part is the word baldah: a land/nation. This implies that Islam speaks not only of individual piety but also of the quality of a society.

A good land…