The Islamicity Foundation’s[1] 2018 Annual Report
Islamicity Indices for Building Effective Institutions for Political, Economic and Social Reform and Progress
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Executive Summary
The 2018 Islamicity indices, published on May 15, show New Zealand to be the country that best reflects Islamic values and institutions in the world. Followed by Sweden and the Netherlands, these countries more closely follow the precepts of Islam as compared to Muslim-majority countries that profess Islam as their guiding principle of governance. As was the case in 2017, Muslim-majority countries performed sub-par – their practices and values did not reflect the Islamic teachings of the Qur’an and hadiths.
In 2018, the world improved its performance along all five indices. The countries of western Europe, North America, and developed Asian countries continued to perform well in the indices. The list of top ten performers has changed little relative to last year. The results again demonstrate that developed countries with effective institutions, governance that is answerable to the people, strong economies, and respect for human rights and the rule of law do well on the indices and follow the precepts of Islam more closely than the Muslim-majority countries.
The Muslim-majority countries, on the other hand, improved their performance across three of the five indices, lagging behind in Economic and International Relations Islamicity. The African, south and central Asian, and some Middle Eastern countries that constitute the greater number of developing and conflict-affected countries fared worse, while more developed European, Asian-Pacific, and rich Middle Eastern countries performed better.
To build strong institutions necessary for socio-economic progress, Muslim countries should more closely follow the precepts of Islam and teachings of Qur’an and hadiths in building effective institutions and improving their governance practices. Only when these countries adopt effective institutions that embody freedom and are fair, just, economically progressive, respective of human and political rights and in harmony with the international community, will they truly internalize and execute Islamic standards of governance.
Looking across the board, freedom and equitable opportunity for self-development, the rule of law and justice are at the foundation of successful societies. The Islamicity Indices provide the moral instrument for achieving such successful societies. They provide a measurable instrument for assessing success and shortcoming and the areas requiring the most urgent attention. Governments and the people can peacefully agree to adopt such indices and set a timetable to achieve an agreed upon improvement in their institutional structure. In this way, they can achieve peaceful and measurable reform.
- Islamicity Indices
To build the conditions for the society’s prosperity and growth requires the development of strong and robust institutions. Douglas North emphasized the importance of institutions while Adam Smith stressed freedom and the sociocultural values of justice, liberty, security and equality that all together are responsible for the socio-economic progress of the west. The structural and moral scaffolding offered by institutions and justice are found to be instrumental to society’s growth and progress. However, it takes much time to establish robust institutions, as evident in the case of Muslim-majority countries that for centuries have suffered from missed opportunities to adopt effective policies and change and transform their weak institutions into strong ones
How can this turn-around in Muslim countries be initiated, developed and sustained? The Islamicity Indices premise that peaceful and positive change in Muslim countries will have to come about in the context of Islam. For this turnaround, Muslims would have to better understand Qur’anic teachings and strive to establish effective institutions based on the Qur’an and the hadiths to replace their weak institutions and retrograde economies.
The Islamicity Indices provide the compass and the basis for establishing effective institutions, restoring hope, achieving sustainable development and for strengthening global order. The indices do not assess personal requirements of a Muslim, such as belief commitment, daily prayers, fasting and pilgrimage. The indices are instead premised on Qur’anic goals and the extent of a society’s adherence to its institutional recommendations of good governance. To include the more mechanical demand of Islam would not enable valid and unbiased comparison of Muslim and non-Muslim countries. In a rule-abiding Muslim community there must be political and individual freedom, equal opportunities for self-development, economic prosperity, accountability of rulers and governments, and socio-economic justice. These indices serve as an indication of the degree of compliance with Islamic teachings as reflected in the Islamic landscape of a community. They offer a quantifiable measure of progress that cannot be easily dismissed by those in power. They are also a measure to bring Muslim countries together to share the lessons of their successes and shortcomings.
The Indices provide a tool for the people and their supportive rulers to ensure their government’s policies adhere to the teachings of the holy book and prescriptions of the prophet surrounding economic opportunities, legal and governance affairs, human and political rights, and international relations. Those four indices are, in turn, aggregated under an overall index. By adopting these indices, the population of a country are internalizing the teachings of the Qur’an and supporting peaceful reforms and effective institutions.
There are only seven declared Islamic countries (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, Mauritania, Oman, Pakistan, Yemen) and only twelve countries that have declared Islam as the state religion (Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Qatar, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates). In developing the Islamicity Index we have chosen an all-encompassing approach which is to include all countries whose governments profess Islamic teaching as the guiding, or one of the primary, principle for governance. To this end, we decided that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) provides a good representation of countries that profess Islam at the national level. While the OIC has 57 members, 56 states and Palestine, we have the needed data for 40-member countries that have either:
- governments that has adopted Islam as the official state religion, or
- Islam as their primary religion, or
- a significant Muslim population, or
- simply declared themselves as an Islamic republic.[2]
How Islamic are Islamic countries or what is their degree of ‘Islamicity’? To answer that, we attempt to discern if Islamic principles are conducive to (a) free markets and strong economic performance, (b) good government governance and rule of law, (c) societies with well-formed human and civil rights and equality, and (d) cordial relations and meaningful contributions to the global community, or are they, in fact, a deterrent. In the Islamicity Index we look at 153 countries that include a subset of the OIC countries for comparison. We attempt to measure the economic, social, legal, and political development of OIC countries, not only by Western standards, which is well documented in various well-known index rankings,[3] but by what we believe to be Islamic standards.
- Broad Developments During the Year
The Index scores and ranks 153 countries by their Economic, Legal and Governance, Human and Political Rights, International Relations, as well as their Overall Islamicity, uses a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is highly un-Islamic and 10 is highly Islamic. This year’s Indices highlight that the majority of countries made some progress on improving on their Islamicity scores.[4]
- Overall Islamicity Index country scores
Globally, Overall Islamicity (OI) saw improvements in 2018, reversing the 2017 trendline. The global median OI score improved by 1.60 percentage points and rankings improved half a point (due to the addition of another country, Fiji, in the indices). The positive trend was mirrored in the scores of other indices – Economic (EI), Legal & Governance (LGI), Human and Political Rights (HPRI), and International Relations (IRI). Median rankings across the board improved compared to previous year due to the addition of a country. Previous year evaluated the indices for 152 countries, while this year, we evaluated them for 153 years.
The median OI scores and rankings for OIC countries also reversed last year’s trendline, akin to the global median. They made an improvement in their overall scores- the median OI score grew by 4.79%. Across the other indices, Muslim countries fared with mixed results. The LGI score again rose, this time by 1.89%. The HPRI score reversed last year’s negative trend and made an impressive improvement of nearly 12%. The EI and IRI scores again contracted, surpassing last year’s decline. Median EI slid by over 9% while IRI by approximately 8%. By comparison, last year, EI score fell by over 8%, while IR by nearly 6%.
Like their scores, the rankings for OIC countries moved along the same trendline. Median OI ranking improved by 2.5, LGI by 2.5, and HPRI by 6 spots, while EI fell by 6 and IRI by 3 spots.
Table 1: Median Islamicity Scores in 2018
| Description | Overall | Economy | Legal and Governance | Human and Political Rights | International Relations |
| All Countries | 4.70 | 4.80 | 4.82 | 4.81 | 5.03 |
| OIC Countries | 3.28 | 3.45 | 2.84 | 3.47 | 3.37 |
| Non-OIC Countries | 6.01 | 7.14 | 6.98 | 4.63 | 3.82 |
| Percentage Change Relative to 2017 for all Countries | 1.60 | 1.54 | 2.47 | 0.40 | 1.66 |
| Percentage Change Relative to 2017 for Muslim Countries | 4.79 | -9.08 | 1.89 | 11.70 | -7.81 |
As evident from the table above and figure below, the Muslim countries performed worse than the world median across all indices. This index found that out of 40 self-proclaimed Islamic countries, 32 had a score of less than 5 in Overall Islamicity. The results demonstrate that the majority of Muslim countries fell in the lower half of the indices. A quarter of them had a score in the lowest quartile. When separating out all the non-Muslim countries, we see that they fared the same in 2018 as the previous year. Their OI score intact with a median overall score of approximately 6. The results show that Muslim countries accounted for lowering the world median.
Figure 1: Median Islamicity Scores in 2018
- Countries with significant improvement and decline in Overall Index score and ranks (with underlying reasons mentioned)
The top ten countries with the largest changes in their OI scores and rank relative to prior year are depicted below together with the percentage and rank changes.
Table 2: Significant Improvements and Declines in Overall Index Scores
| Top 10 Declines in Scores | Top 10 Declines in Rank Spots | |||||||
| Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | |
| Libya | 1.93 | 2.57 | -24.8% | El Salvador | 87 | 69 | -18 | |
| Sudan | 1.24 | 1.51 | -17.6% | Bolivia | 111 | 95 | -16 | |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 1.82 | 2.18 | -16.4% | Turkey | 95 | 81 | -14 | |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | 2.41 | 2.85 | -15.2% | Mexico | 75 | 61 | -14 | |
| Venezuela, RB | 2.04 | 2.41 | -15.2% | Niger | 128 | 116 | -12 | |
| Ethiopia | 2.25 | 2.59 | -12.9% | Philippines | 76 | 64 | -12 | |
| Mozambique | 2.57 | 2.92 | -11.9% | Brazil | 88 | 76 | -12 | |
| Yemen, Rep. | 0.97 | 1.10 | -11.6% | Libya | 147 | 136 | -11 | |
| Bolivia | 3.62 | 4.08 | -11.2% | Tunisia | 86 | 75 | -11 | |
| El Salvador | 4.39 | 4.91 | -10.4% | India | 100 | 90 | -10 | |
| Top 10 Improvements in Scores | Top 10 Improvements in Rank Spots | |||||||
| Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | |
| Angola | 2.00 | 1.56 | 28.4% | Kazakhstan | 65 | 79 | 14 | |
| Afghanistan | 1.93 | 1.58 | 23.0% | Madagascar | 121 | 133 | 12 | |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | 3.12 | 2.65 | 17.8% | Papua New Guinea | 91 | 103 | 12 | |
| Zimbabwe | 2.35 | 2.03 | 15.9% | Iceland | 4 | 15 | 11 | |
| Madagascar | 3.26 | 2.82 | 15.9% | Argentina | 59 | 70 | 11 | |
| Turkmenistan | 3.22 | 2.82 | 14.3% | Indonesia | 64 | 74 | 10 | |
| Uzbekistan | 3.27 | 2.90 | 13.0% | Iran, Islamic Rep. | 125 | 134 | 9 | |
| Liberia | 3.53 | 3.14 | 12.5% | Turkmenistan | 123 | 132 | 9 | |
| Russian Federation | 3.85 | 3.48 | 10.8% | Uzbekistan | 119 | 128 | 9 | |
| Guinea | 2.71 | 2.45 | 10.8% | Russian Federation | 104 | 113 | 9 | |
The Muslim countries of Libya, Sudan, Syria and Egypt lead the list of countries with the most significant declines in the OI scores, ranging from 24.8% to 15.2%. Yemen completes the list of declining Muslim country scores.
Muslim and non-Muslim countries have equal numbers of countries with declining scores in 2018. The same is true for the ten countries with improving scores. While Angola, a non-Muslim country, leads the list with an improvement of 28.4 percentage in its score; Afghanistan and Iran, both Muslim countries, saw increases in their scores by 23 and 17.8 percent, respectively. Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Guinea trail not far behind.
The list of top ten declines and improvements in rankings are led by non-Muslim countries. The major declines in ranks for Muslim countries are Turkey (⬇14), Niger (⬇12), Libya (⬇11) and Tunisia (⬇11). And the major improvements are seen by Indonesia (⬆10), Iran (⬆9), Turkmenistan (⬆9), and Uzbekistan (⬆9).
- Summary of Major Changes in the Five Indices
3.3.1 Economic Islamicity – top ten best and worst changes
How Islamic are Muslim countries or what is their degree of economic ‘Islamicity’? The goals for a prosperous economic system are (i) achievement of economic justice and achievement of sustained economic growth, (ii) broad-based prosperity and job creation, and (iii) adoption of sound and consistent economic and financial practices. Towards these ends, the EI Index is based on eight areas of fundamental Islamic economic principles that are represented by 19 economic and social variables or proxies. The eight principal areas are: economic opportunity and economic freedom; job creation and equal access to employment; property rights and sanctity of contracts; provisions to eradicate poverty, provision of aid and welfare; supportive financial system; adherence to Islamic finance; economic prosperity; and economic justice.
Based on the above criteria, we find that the economic performance improved for all countries. The median EI score rose to 4.8. That is a slight increase relative to 2017 by 1.54%. The Muslim countries saw a decline relative to last year. Their median score fell by 9% to 3.45.
The top ten score changes in EI are shown in the table below. Leading the list of score declines is Mozambique with a decrease of nearly 40%. Sierra Leone, a Muslim-majority country, trails not too far behind with a decrease of 32%. Overall, Muslim countries constitute six of the top 10 in declines – Sudan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Syria and Egypt, in addition to Sierra Leone. By contrast, the only Muslim country that saw an improvement in its score was Afghanistan. Its score increased by 26.3%. The remainder of the impressive list of improvements is made up of non-Muslim countries led by Russia, Argentina, and Republic of Congo.
Similar composition is evident in the top ten rank changes. Half of the declining scores belonged to Muslim countries. Lebanon led the list with a rank dip of 22 spots. Joining it were Sierra Leone (¯18), Syria (¯18), Pakistan (¯17), and Egypt (¯17). Lao PDR also performed poorly with a dip of 22 spots. Only Turkmenistan saw its rank improve and by 18 spots. Russia again led the list with rank improvement of 41 spots, followed by Papua New Guinea and Paraguay.
Table 3: Economic Islamicity – Major Score Changes
| Top 10 Declines in Scores | Top 10 Declines in Rank Spots | |||||||
| Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | |
| Mozambique | 1.52 | 2.48 | -38.4% | Lebanon | 120 | 98 | -22 | |
| Sierra Leone | 1.95 | 2.87 | -32.0% | Lao PDR | 113 | 91 | -22 | |
| Burundi | 1.98 | 2.72 | -26.9% | Sierra Leone | 149 | 131 | -18 | |
| Sudan | 1.38 | 1.85 | -25.4% | Syrian Arab Republic | 135 | 117 | -18 | |
| Ethiopia | 2.08 | 2.67 | -22.0% | Cote d’Ivoire | 97 | 79 | -18 | |
| Lebanon | 3.29 | 4.06 | -18.9% | Pakistan | 124 | 107 | -17 | |
| Pakistan | 3.09 | 3.80 | -18.5% | Egypt, Arab Rep. | 139 | 122 | -17 | |
| Lao PDR | 3.42 | 4.19 | -18.3% | El Salvador | 82 | 65 | -17 | |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 2.66 | 3.26 | -18.2% | Benin | 101 | 85 | -16 | |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | 2.52 | 3.08 | -18.2% | Cambodia | 89 | 73 | -16 | |
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| Top 10 Improvements in Scores | Top 10 Improvements in Rank Spots | |||||||
| Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | |
| Russian Federation | 5.29 | 3.82 | 38.7% | Russian Federation | 65 | 106 | 41 | |
| Argentina | 3.34 | 2.62 | 27.4% | Papua New Guinea | 86 | 112 | 26 | |
| Congo, Rep. | 2.42 | 1.91 | 27.1% | Paraguay | 79 | 104 | 25 | |
| Afghanistan | 2.62 | 2.08 | 26.3% | Argentina | 118 | 136 | 18 | |
| Papua New Guinea | 4.48 | 3.57 | 25.4% | Guatemala | 76 | 94 | 18 | |
| Madagascar | 2.95 | 2.37 | 25.1% | Turkmenistan | 90 | 108 | 18 | |
| Paraguay | 4.74 | 3.87 | 22.8% | Ukraine | 111 | 128 | 17 | |
| Angola | 2.07 | 1.71 | 21.4% | Madagascar | 127 | 143 | 16 | |
| Ukraine | 3.53 | 3.00 | 17.8% | Ecuador | 109 | 125 | 16 | |
| Congo, Dem. Rep. | 2.74 | 2.33 | 17.7% | Hong Kong | 1 | 17 | 16 | |
3.3.2 Legal and Governance Islamicity – top ten best and worst changes
The LGI Index is based on five fundamental areas of legal and governance principles and 12 variables or proxies. The five principal areas are: legal integrity; prevention of corruption; safety and security index; management index; and governance and government effectiveness. Here, the aim is to measure prevalence of corruption, the security of property rights, voice and accountability, rule of law and the effectiveness of governance structures.
Based on the above criteria, all countries did better in the LGI compared to last year. The median LGI score improved to 4.82. Again, it is a slight increase relative to 2017 by 2.47%. The Muslim countries also saw a slight improvement – the median score increased by 1.89% to 2.84.
The top ten score changes in LGI are shown below. The list of major score declines include four Muslim and six non-Muslim countries. Leading the list of score decline are Syria, Sudan, and Iraq with decreases of 31.5%, 26.4%, and 24.5%, respectively. The list of major score improvements include six Muslim and four non-Muslim countries. Following Ukraine that saw the greatest improvement, are the Muslim countries of Mauritania, Pakistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Nigeria, and Egypt. Their scores improved by 10.2%, 9.6%, 9.5%, 8.8% and 8.0%, respectively.
Major rank declines include eight non-Muslim and two Muslim countries. While the list is led by Togo (¯12) and Gabon (¯11), Bahrain (¯9) trails right after. Together with Syria (¯7), they are the only two to see their ranks dip. On the other hand, four Muslim countries saw their rank improve – Kyrgyz Republic (8), Egypt (8), Iran (6), and Afghanistan (5). Ukraine (12) saw the greatest rank improvement.
Table 4: Legal and Governance Islamicity – Major Score Changes
| Top 10 Declines in Scores | Top 10 Declines in Rank Spots | |||||||
| Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 1.02 | 1.50 | -31.5% | Togo | 126 | 114 | -12 | |
| Sudan | 0.63 | 0.87 | -26.4% | Gabon | 123 | 112 | -11 | |
| Iraq | 0.93 | 1.23 | -24.5% | Bahrain | 77 | 68 | -9 | |
| Venezuela, RB | 0.98 | 1.30 | -24.1% | El Salvador | 99 | 90 | -9 | |
| Yemen, Rep. | 0.65 | 0.83 | -21.0% | Honduras | 118 | 110 | -8 | |
| Togo | 2.46 | 2.89 | -14.8% | Bolivia | 109 | 102 | -7 | |
| Congo, Rep. | 1.22 | 1.39 | -11.6% | Madagascar | 135 | 128 | -7 | |
| Burundi | 0.77 | 0.88 | -11.2% | Peru | 74 | 67 | -7 | |
| Gabon | 2.62 | 2.93 | -10.5% | Syrian Arab Republic | 145 | 138 | -7 | |
| Bolivia | 3.06 | 3.40 | -9.9% | Brazil | 79 | 73 | -6 | |
| Top 10 Improvements in Scores | Top 10 Improvements in Rank Spots | |||||||
| Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | |
| Ukraine | 3.16 | 2.76 | 14.8% | Ukraine | 108 | 120 | 12 | |
| Mauritania | 2.21 | 2.01 | 10.2% | Kyrgyz Republic | 110 | 118 | 8 | |
| Pakistan | 1.92 | 1.76 | 9.6% | Egypt, Arab Rep. | 112 | 120 | 8 | |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 3.05 | 2.79 | 9.5% | Suriname | 65 | 72 | 7 | |
| Nigeria | 1.75 | 1.62 | 8.8% | Moldova | 93 | 99 | 6 | |
| Angola | 1.30 | 1.20 | 8.4% | Iran, Islamic Rep. | 119 | 125 | 6 | |
| Belarus | 4.55 | 4.21 | 8.3% | Angola | 139 | 145 | 6 | |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | 2.97 | 2.76 | 8.0% | Belarus | 82 | 87 | 5 | |
| Suriname | 5.31 | 4.92 | 8.0% | Australia | 11 | 16 | 5 | |
| Nepal | 2.60 | 2.43 | 7.2% | Afghanistan | 141 | 146 | 5 | |
3.3.3 Human and Political Rights Islamicity – top ten best and worst changes
The HPRI Index measures human development, civil and political rights and social wellbeing. Aggregated along eight fundamental areas of human development; social capital; personal freedom; civil and political rights; women’s rights; access to education; access to healthcare; and level of democracy. These are represented by 15 proxies or variables.
The HPRI score also improved for all countries with a median of 4.81. Again, it is a very slight increase relative to 2017 by 0.4%. The Muslim countries saw greater improvement – the median score increased by 11.7% to 3.47.
The top ten score changes in HPRI are shown below. The list of major score declines include three Muslim and seven non-Muslim countries. Followed by Ethiopia and Lao PDR are the Muslim countries of Mauritania, Egypt and Sudan with decreases of 23.0%, 21.9%, and 21.1%, respectively. Conversely, the list of major score improvements include seven Muslim and three non-Muslim countries. Iran, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Chad and Turkmenistan all saw their scores increase significantly. Their scores ranged from an improvement of 17.5% to 43.7%.
Major rank declines include three non-Muslim and seven Muslim countries. Haiti leads the list with a decline of 25 spots. Turkey (¯21), Senegal (¯18), and Tunisia (¯16) saw their ranks dip. Four Muslim countries saw their rank improve – Iran (37), Azerbaijan (25), Lebanon (23) and Bahrain (16).
Table 5: Human and Political Rights Islamicity – Major Score Changes
| Top 10 Declines in Scores | Top 10 Declines in Rank Spots | |||||||
| Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | |
| Ethiopia | 1.42 | 1.91 | -25.7% | Haiti | 107 | 82 | -25 | |
| Lao PDR | 1.90 | 2.52 | -24.4% | Turkey | 100 | 79 | -21 | |
| Mauritania | 1.45 | 1.89 | -23.0% | Congo, Rep. | 136 | 116 | -20 | |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | 2.06 | 2.65 | -21.9% | Mozambique | 131 | 112 | -19 | |
| Sudan | 1.39 | 1.76 | -21.1% | Zambia | 121 | 102 | -19 | |
| Congo, Rep. | 2.52 | 3.12 | -19.1% | Bolivia | 75 | 57 | -18 | |
| Swaziland | 2.54 | 3.09 | -17.7% | Senegal | 96 | 78 | -18 | |
| Haiti | 3.63 | 4.39 | -17.3% | Tunisia | 87 | 71 | -16 | |
| Mozambique | 2.68 | 3.20 | -16.1% | Swaziland | 135 | 120 | -15 | |
| Zambia | 3.14 | 3.75 | -16.0% | Gabon | 128 | 114 | -14 | |
| Top 10 Improvements in Scores | Top 10 Improvements in Rank Spots | |||||||
| Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | 3.89 | 2.71 | 43.7% | Iran, Islamic Rep. | 95 | 132 | 37 | |
| Yemen, Rep. | 1.04 | 0.78 | 32.7% | Liberia | 99 | 124 | 25 | |
| Liberia | 3.84 | 2.96 | 30.2% | Azerbaijan | 98 | 123 | 25 | |
| Azerbaijan | 3.88 | 2.99 | 29.7% | Lebanon | 80 | 103 | 23 | |
| Zimbabwe | 3.08 | 2.42 | 27.0% | Armenia | 68 | 89 | 21 | |
| Afghanistan | 1.71 | 1.36 | 26.0% | Macedonia | 54 | 73 | 19 | |
| Lebanon | 4.64 | 3.70 | 25.5% | Zimbabwe | 122 | 138 | 16 | |
| Armenia | 5.02 | 4.18 | 20.4% | Bahrain | 85 | 101 | 16 | |
| Chad | 1.27 | 1.06 | 20.3% | Russian Federation | 93 | 106 | 13 | |
| Turkmenistan | 3.26 | 2.78 | 17.5% | Georgia | 57 | 70 | 13 | |
3.3.4 International Relations Islamicity – top ten best and worst changes
Last but not least, the IRI Index measures two core areas of globalization and militarization.
The IRI score also improved for all countries with a median of 5.03%. Again, it is a slight increase relative to 2017 by 1.66%. The Muslim countries, however, saw a decrease– the median score fell by 7.81% to 3.37.
The top ten score changes in IRI are shown below. The list of major score declines include five Muslim countries – Libya, Turkey, Lebanon, Bahrain and Yemen. Their scores decreased drastically from a low of 55.4% to a high of 81.1%. However, Russia, Israel, and Ukraine had the greatest declines. There were only two Muslim countries in the list of major score improvements – Chad (62.4) and Sierra Leone (57.5%), while leading the list were the non-Muslim Angola, Lao PDR and Botswana who saw their performances improve.
Similarly, only two countries saw their rank improve and decline. Libya’s rank dipped severely by 105 spots. Turkey saw its rank drop by 52 spots. Mexico, U.S., and South Africa also saw major declines in their international relations ranking.
On the other hand, both Sierra Leone and Guinea had their rank improve by 54 spots, while the list was led by Tanzania, Lao PDR and Haiti.
Table 6: International Relations Islamicity – Major Score Changes
| Top 10 Declines in Scores | Top 10 Declines in Rank Spots | |||||||
| Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | |
| Russian Federation | 0.35 | 3.26 | -89.0% | Libya | 145 | 40 | -105 | |
| Israel | 0.42 | 3.78 | -88.8% | Mexico | 92 | 15 | -77 | |
| Ukraine | 0.65 | 3.85 | -83.0% | United States | 133 | 68 | -65 | |
| Libya | 1.17 | 6.22 | -81.1% | South Africa | 84 | 23 | -61 | |
| Turkey | 1.01 | 4.31 | -76.5% | Philippines | 98 | 44 | -54 | |
| Lebanon | 1.17 | 3.42 | -65.6% | Turkey | 148 | 96 | -52 | |
| Armenia | 1.24 | 2.96 | -58.1% | France | 76 | 25 | -51 | |
| Bahrain | 1.37 | 3.22 | -57.4% | Georgia | 117 | 66 | -51 | |
| United States | 2.28 | 5.23 | -56.3% | El Salvador | 111 | 62 | -49 | |
| Yemen, Rep. | 0.71 | 1.61 | -55.4% | Guatemala | 82 | 36 | -46 | |
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| Top 10 Improvements in Scores | Top 10 Improvements in Rank Spots | |||||||
| Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | Country | 2018 | 2017 | Change | |
| Angola | 4.08 | 1.58 | 158.7% | Tanzania | 29 | 105 | 76 | |
| Lao PDR | 5.94 | 3.13 | 90.3% | Lao PDR | 54 | 127 | 73 | |
| Botswana | 5.52 | 3.06 | 80.5% | Haiti | 25 | 97 | 72 | |
| Iceland | 9.93 | 5.63 | 76.6% | Swaziland | 41 | 112 | 71 | |
| Tanzania | 6.96 | 4.05 | 72.0% | Botswana | 63 | 128 | 65 | |
| Haiti | 7.09 | 4.28 | 65.8% | Madagascar | 8 | 64 | 56 | |
| Swaziland | 6.37 | 3.85 | 65.6% | Sierra Leone | 5 | 59 | 54 | |
| Chad | 3.36 | 2.07 | 62.4% | Guinea | 57 | 111 | 54 | |
| Sierra Leone | 8.49 | 5.39 | 57.5% | Iceland | 1 | 53 | 52 | |
| Madagascar | 8.36 | 5.33 | 57.0% | Nepal | 66 | 117 | 51 | |
- Focus on Muslim Countries
In 2018, recall that there were 40 Muslim-classified countries for which we had adequate data. In the Islamicity Indices, we investigated 153 countries that are further broken into various sub-categories of countries for a more nuanced comparison: high, upper-middle, lower-middle, and low-income countries, OECD countries, non-OECD countries, OIC countries, and non-OECD non-OIC countries. Here, we compare the results of those countries and evaluate their performance along all five Islamicity Indices, starting with the overall scores.
- Overall Islamicity
Starting with an assessment of the countries’ overall performance in 2018, we look at the sub-categories of the countries and their median rankings. It is no surprise that the OECD and high-income countries performed best with a median OI ranking of 19 and 24.5, respectively. They were followed by the upper middle income, non-OECD and non-OIC, non-OECD, and lower middle income.
Table 7: Median Islamicity Rankings for Categories of Countries
| Median Rankings | OI | EI | LGI | HPRI | IRI |
| All Countries (153) | 76.0 | 77.0 | 77.0 | 77.0 | 77.0 |
| OECD | 19.0 | 19.5 | 18.5 | 18.5 | 42.0 |
| High Income | 24.5 | 24.5 | 24.5 | 24.5 | 45.5 |
| Upper Middle Income | 73.5 | 71.5 | 80.5 | 69.5 | 92.0 |
| Non-OECD Non-OIC | 88.0 | 91.0 | 88.0 | 78.0 | 79.0 |
| Non-OECD | 95.0 | 95.0 | 94.0 | 95.0 | 89.0 |
| Lower Middle Income | 106.5 | 101.5 | 107.0 | 104.5 | 100.5 |
| OIC | 118.5 | 113.0 | 115.5 | 112.0 | 119.0 |
| Low Income | 128.0 | 132.0 | 127.0 | 126.0 | 67.0 |
The median OIC countries rank was 118.5, which falls in the third quartile, having only done better than low-income countries. It is no surprise that OIC countries are at the bottom of the list between lower-middle- and low-income countries. 22 of the 40 OIC countries are either lower-middle- or low-income country (equally divided between the two categories). Of the 22 countries, 13 were African, 6 were Asian, and 2 Middle Eastern.
None of the OIC countries occupy any rank in the upper quartile. Nine countries are in the second quartile – they are the high income and upper-middle income countries of UAE, Albania, Malaysia, Qatar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain. Only one lower-middle income country joins them in this quartile – Indonesia. The third quartile is a mix bag of upper- middle and lower-middle income countries with the exception of high-income Saudi Arabia and low-income Burkina Faso. The last quartile are predominantly OIC countries that are lower-middle and low-income countries. The resource rich upper-middle income countries of Lebanon, Turkmenistan, Iran, Algeria, Iraq, and Libya are also in the list.
In all, income levels are a good predictor of the country’s performance in the Islamicity Indices. The higher their income levels, the greater the chance of them doing well to promote economic opportunities for their citizens, safeguard their human and political rights, uphold good governance and strong legal systems and have cordial relations with neighboring countries.
As is evident from the table below, 31 out of the 40 OIC countries rank in the bottom half of the OI, while 32 countries have a score lower than 5. While the OI median score and rank for OIC countries improved compared to last year, there were some noteworthy improvements and declines.
Iran and Turkmenistan saw both of their scores and ranks improve. Iran’s score increased by 18% and it jumped 9 spots to 125th rank. Turkmenistan improved its score by 14% and also jumped 9 spots to 123rd rank. In contrast, Libya saw the largest decline – its score dipped by 25% and rank by 11 spots to finish near bottom at 147th spot.
Table 8: Overall Islamicity Index for Muslim Countries
| Country | Score | Rank |
| United Arab Emirates | 6.184 | 45 |
| Albania | 6.039 | 46 |
| Malaysia | 6.019 | 47 |
| Qatar | 6.008 | 48 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 5.152 | 60 |
| Oman | 5.137 | 61 |
| Indonesia | 5.051 | 64 |
| Kuwait | 5.034 | 66 |
| Bahrain | 4.900 | 70 |
| Jordan | 4.490 | 80 |
| Senegal | 4.472 | 83 |
| Saudi Arabia | 4.419 | 85 |
| Tunisia | 4.400 | 86 |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 4.188 | 93 |
| Morocco | 4.062 | 94 |
| Turkey | 4.061 | 95 |
| Azerbaijan | 4.015 | 99 |
| Burkina Faso | 3.840 | 105 |
| Tajikistan | 3.295 | 117 |
| Lebanon | 3.287 | 118 |
| Uzbekistan | 3.277 | 119 |
| Sierra Leone | 3.247 | 122 |
| Turkmenistan | 3.224 | 123 |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | 3.127 | 125 |
| Niger | 3.022 | 128 |
| Algeria | 3.018 | 129 |
| Bangladesh | 2.991 | 131 |
| Mali | 2.974 | 132 |
| Nigeria | 2.793 | 133 |
| Guinea | 2.718 | 134 |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | 2.416 | 137 |
| Iraq | 2.364 | 138 |
| Pakistan | 2.295 | 140 |
| Mauritania | 2.193 | 142 |
| Afghanistan | 1.939 | 146 |
| Libya | 1.935 | 147 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 1.823 | 149 |
| Chad | 1.687 | 151 |
| Sudan | 1.248 | 152 |
| Yemen, Rep. | 0.973 | 153 |
- Economic Islamicity Index
The results of the Economic Islamicity Index are shown in table below. Median EI scores and ranking for OIC countries declined considerably compared to 2017. However, there were still some noteworthy improvements this year.
Leading the list of major declines were Sierra Leonne, Lebanon, Pakistan, Egypt and Syria. Sierra Leone’s EI score decreased by 32%, while its rank fell by 18 spots. Lebanon’s score fell by 19%, while its rank fell by 22 spots. Similarly, Pakistan’s score declined by 19% and its rank by 17 spots. And both Egypt and Syria’s scores fell by 18%, and ranks by 17 and 18 spots, respectively.
The most improvement was seen by Afghanistan with an increase in score of 26% and rank of 9 spots.
Table 8: Economic Islamicity Index for Muslim Countries
| Country | Score | Rank |
| United Arab Emirates | 7.574 | 22 |
| Qatar | 7.139 | 27 |
| Malaysia | 6.990 | 31 |
| Bahrain | 6.678 | 38 |
| Oman | 6.097 | 49 |
| Kuwait | 6.078 | 50 |
| Saudi Arabia | 5.599 | 55 |
| Indonesia | 5.566 | 57 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 5.428 | 61 |
| Azerbaijan | 5.341 | 63 |
| Albania | 5.312 | 64 |
| Turkey | 5.065 | 70 |
| Jordan | 4.956 | 73 |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 4.873 | 75 |
| Morocco | 4.528 | 85 |
| Turkmenistan | 4.245 | 90 |
| Iraq | 4.187 | 92 |
| Uzbekistan | 4.096 | 93 |
| Burkina Faso | 3.856 | 102 |
| Senegal | 3.511 | 112 |
| Tunisia | 3.391 | 114 |
| Niger | 3.373 | 115 |
| Nigeria | 3.366 | 116 |
| Mali | 3.351 | 117 |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | 3.297 | 119 |
| Lebanon | 3.293 | 120 |
| Tajikistan | 3.282 | 121 |
| Pakistan | 3.094 | 124 |
| Bangladesh | 3.083 | 125 |
| Guinea | 2.901 | 130 |
| Algeria | 2.836 | 131 |
| Mauritania | 2.781 | 133 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 2.669 | 135 |
| Afghanistan | 2.629 | 137 |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | 2.520 | 139 |
| Chad | 2.411 | 142 |
| Libya | 2.139 | 145 |
| Sierra Leone | 1.954 | 149 |
| Sudan | 1.380 | 151 |
| Yemen, Rep. | 1.307 | 153 |
- Legal and Governance Islamicity Index
The OIC counties continued the previous year’s positive trendline, albeit the improvement was not as great. The slight improvement was 1.89%.
A quarter of the countries have a score higher than five, while 30% have a rank in the upper half. Major score improvements and reductions were made by Muslim countries. Similarly, major rank improvements also included Muslim countries.
Overall, Syria had the largest decline in score and rank. Its score sank by 31% and its rank by 7. Kyrgyz Republic’s score and rank improved the most – its score increased by 9% and its rank by 8 spots. And while Sudan, Iraq, and Yemen’s scores fell by 20-30%, their ranks saw only modest decreases.
Table 9: Legal and Governance Islamicity Index for Muslim Countries
| Country | Score | Rank |
| United Arab Emirates | 7.217 | 40 |
| Qatar | 6.983 | 42 |
| Malaysia | 6.394 | 49 |
| Oman | 6.013 | 52 |
| Albania | 5.784 | 55 |
| Jordan | 5.485 | 60 |
| Senegal | 5.163 | 67 |
| Tunisia | 5.147 | 68 |
| Morocco | 5.142 | 69 |
| Kuwait | 5.093 | 70 |
| Indonesia | 4.995 | 71 |
| Saudi Arabia | 4.956 | 72 |
| Bahrain | 4.820 | 77 |
| Turkey | 4.314 | 85 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3.894 | 92 |
| Burkina Faso | 3.824 | 96 |
| Azerbaijan | 3.780 | 98 |
| Algeria | 3.186 | 107 |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 3.050 | 110 |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | 2.979 | 112 |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | 2.696 | 119 |
| Niger | 2.647 | 120 |
| Sierra Leone | 2.642 | 121 |
| Lebanon | 2.631 | 122 |
| Mali | 2.456 | 127 |
| Tajikistan | 2.326 | 128 |
| Turkmenistan | 2.309 | 129 |
| Guinea | 2.228 | 130 |
| Mauritania | 2.211 | 131 |
| Uzbekistan | 2.151 | 134 |
| Bangladesh | 2.048 | 136 |
| Pakistan | 1.928 | 137 |
| Nigeria | 1.759 | 138 |
| Afghanistan | 1.247 | 141 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 1.029 | 145 |
| Iraq | 0.931 | 147 |
| Chad | 0.817 | 148 |
| Yemen, Rep. | 0.654 | 150 |
| Sudan | 0.637 | 151 |
| Libya | 0.605 | 152 |
- Human and Political Rights Islamicity Index
In the HPRI index, the OIC counties had the largest improvement relative to the previous year. This improvement reversed the previous year’s negative change of 2.3% to positive change of 11.7%.
Only two countries had a score higher than 5, while only three countries ranked in the upper half of the list. While there were some noteworthy declines this year, such as Tunisia, Senegal and Turkey whose scores fell by 13 to 16% and ranking by 16,18 and 21 spots, respectively; there were relatively more and significantly better improvements. Bahrain improved its score by 16% and rank by 16. Lebanon increased its score by 25% and score by 23. Azerbaijan improved its score by 30% and score by 25. Last but not least, Iran improved its score by 44% and rank by 37.
In all, 22 countries improved their scores, two remained unchanged and 16 fell.
Table 10: Human and Political Rights Islamicity Index for Muslim Countries
| Country | Score | Rank |
| Albania | 6.366 | 43 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 6.000 | 50 |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 4.828 | 76 |
| Malaysia | 4.662 | 79 |
| Lebanon | 4.641 | 80 |
| Qatar | 4.632 | 81 |
| Bahrain | 4.379 | 85 |
| United Arab Emirates | 4.340 | 86 |
| Tunisia | 4.331 | 87 |
| Kuwait | 4.292 | 89 |
| Indonesia | 4.131 | 92 |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | 3.895 | 95 |
| Oman | 3.891 | 96 |
| Senegal | 3.891 | 96 |
| Azerbaijan | 3.882 | 98 |
| Turkey | 3.821 | 100 |
| Jordan | 3.817 | 102 |
| Saudi Arabia | 3.630 | 108 |
| Uzbekistan | 3.599 | 109 |
| Tajikistan | 3.556 | 110 |
| Algeria | 3.394 | 114 |
| Sierra Leone | 3.394 | 115 |
| Libya | 3.316 | 118 |
| Turkmenistan | 3.268 | 119 |
| Burkina Faso | 2.854 | 126 |
| Bangladesh | 2.780 | 129 |
| Morocco | 2.684 | 132 |
| Mali | 2.571 | 133 |
| Nigeria | 2.562 | 134 |
| Niger | 2.301 | 137 |
| Iraq | 2.283 | 138 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 2.170 | 139 |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | 2.065 | 140 |
| Guinea | 2.004 | 141 |
| Pakistan | 1.878 | 146 |
| Afghanistan | 1.717 | 148 |
| Mauritania | 1.455 | 149 |
| Sudan | 1.390 | 151 |
| Chad | 1.272 | 152 |
| Yemen, Rep. | 1.041 | 153 |
- International Relations Islamicity Index
The OIC countries performed their worst in the IRI index. Median score followed last year’s trendline, decreasing by over 7.81%, worse than last year’s median change of -5.7%.
Muslim countries’ IRI performance was also the most volatile. Scores and ranks changed by huge margins. For instance, Bahrain’s score decreased by 57% and rank by 19; Jordan’s score fell by 44% and score by 22; Lebanon’s score fell by 66% and rank by 25; Nigeria’s score fell by 22% and rank by 42, Turkey’s score decreased by 76% and score by 52. Worst of all was Libya’s performance – its score fell by 81% and rank by 105.
By contrast, there were some significant score improvements too. Turkmenistan’s score increased by 41% and rank by 18 spots; Uzbekistan by 47% and 19 spots; Indonesia by 20% and 23 spots; Senegal by 22% and 24 spots; Chad by 63% and 24 spots; Bangladesh by 33% and 42 spots; and Guinea by 48% and 54 spots. However, the greatest increase was made by Sierra Leone. Its score increased by 58% and rank by a remarkable 54 spots to ranking 5th in the world.
In all, 12 countries had a score above 5 and ranked in the upper half.
Table 11: International Relations Islamicity Index for Muslim Countries
| Country | Score | Rank |
| Sierra Leone | 8.497 | 5 |
| Albania | 8.007 | 14 |
| Senegal | 7.026 | 27 |
| Burkina Faso | 6.797 | 32 |
| Indonesia | 6.438 | 39 |
| Bangladesh | 6.176 | 46 |
| Malaysia | 6.046 | 51 |
| Guinea | 5.784 | 57 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 5.556 | 61 |
| Tajikistan | 5.458 | 67 |
| Tunisia | 5.392 | 68 |
| Niger | 5.261 | 71 |
| Nigeria | 4.869 | 82 |
| Mali | 4.608 | 89 |
| United Arab Emirates | 4.444 | 96 |
| Kuwait | 3.954 | 108 |
| Qatar | 3.824 | 110 |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 3.627 | 113 |
| Morocco | 3.562 | 114 |
| Oman | 3.366 | 119 |
| Chad | 3.366 | 119 |
| Uzbekistan | 3.235 | 121 |
| Turkmenistan | 2.778 | 126 |
| Afghanistan | 2.614 | 129 |
| Mauritania | 2.582 | 130 |
| Pakistan | 2.255 | 134 |
| Sudan | 2.255 | 135 |
| Jordan | 2.124 | 136 |
| Algeria | 1.928 | 138 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1.634 | 139 |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | 1.601 | 140 |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | 1.471 | 141 |
| Iraq | 1.438 | 142 |
| Bahrain | 1.373 | 143 |
| Lebanon | 1.176 | 145 |
| Libya | 1.176 | 145 |
| Azerbaijan | 1.144 | 147 |
| Turkey | 1.013 | 148 |
| Yemen, Rep. | 0.719 | 149 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 0.621 | 151 |
- Focus on Muslim Countries by Region
- Africa (North, Western, and Central African countries)
In 2018, the African Muslim countries had a median OI rank of 132, far lower than last year’s median of 101. On the EI, their median rank was 130, on LGI – 121, on HPRI – 133, and on IRI – 89. They performed best in their IRI index and worst in HPRI. The median rankings in all indices were similar to that of low-income countries.
Table 12: Muslim African Countries Islamicity Indices
| Country | OI Rank | EI Rank | LGI Rank | HRI Rank | IRI Rank |
| Senegal | 83 | 112 | 67 | 96 | 27 |
| Tunisia | 86 | 114 | 68 | 87 | 68 |
| Morocco | 94 | 85 | 69 | 132 | 114 |
| Burkina Faso | 105 | 102 | 96 | 126 | 32 |
| Sierra Leone | 122 | 149 | 121 | 115 | 5 |
| Niger | 128 | 115 | 120 | 137 | 71 |
| Algeria | 129 | 131 | 107 | 114 | 138 |
| Mali | 132 | 117 | 127 | 133 | 89 |
| Nigeria | 133 | 116 | 138 | 134 | 82 |
| Guinea | 134 | 130 | 130 | 141 | 57 |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | 137 | 139 | 112 | 140 | 141 |
| Mauritania | 142 | 133 | 131 | 149 | 130 |
| Libya | 147 | 145 | 152 | 118 | 145 |
| Chad | 151 | 142 | 148 | 152 | 119 |
| Sudan | 152 | 151 | 151 | 151 | 135 |
| MEDIAN | 132 | 130 | 121 | 133 | 89 |
- Asia (Asia-Pacific, South Asia, and Central Asia):
The Asian Muslim countries did not fare much better than their African counterparts. Their median OI rank was 118, worse than the previous year’s 100 rank. In 2017, the Asia-Pacific countries ranked best, while the South and Central Asian countries lagged far behind. The countries performed their best in EI and worst in LGI. Across all indices, the Asian countries performed similar to lower-middle countries.
Table 13: Muslim Asian Countries Islamicity Indices
| Country | OI Rank | EI Rank | LGI Rank | HRI Rank | IRI Rank |
| Malaysia | 47 | 31 | 49 | 79 | 51 |
| Indonesia | 64 | 57 | 71 | 92 | 39 |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 93 | 75 | 110 | 76 | 113 |
| Azerbaijan | 99 | 63 | 98 | 98 | 147 |
| Tajikistan | 117 | 121 | 128 | 110 | 67 |
| Uzbekistan | 119 | 93 | 134 | 109 | 121 |
| Turkmenistan | 123 | 90 | 129 | 119 | 126 |
| Bangladesh | 131 | 125 | 136 | 129 | 46 |
| Pakistan | 140 | 124 | 137 | 146 | 134 |
| Afghanistan | 146 | 137 | 141 | 148 | 129 |
| MEDIAN | 118 | 92 | 129 | 110 | 117 |
- Middle East
The Middle Eastern countries fared better than their African and the rest of Asia counterparts. Their median OI rank was 83. Performing best in the EI index, they did worst in IRI. Their rank reflected their classifications as low, lower-middle, and upper-income countries.
Table 14: Muslim Middle Eastern Countries Islamicity Indices
| Country | OI Rank | EI Rank | LGI Rank | HRI Rank | IRI Rank |
| United Arab Emirates | 45 | 22 | 40 | 86 | 96 |
| Qatar | 48 | 27 | 42 | 81 | 110 |
| Oman | 61 | 49 | 52 | 96 | 119 |
| Kuwait | 66 | 50 | 70 | 89 | 108 |
| Bahrain | 70 | 38 | 77 | 85 | 143 |
| Jordan | 80 | 73 | 60 | 102 | 136 |
| Saudi Arabia | 85 | 55 | 72 | 108 | 139 |
| Lebanon | 118 | 120 | 122 | 80 | 145 |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | 125 | 119 | 119 | 95 | 140 |
| Iraq | 138 | 92 | 147 | 138 | 142 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 149 | 135 | 145 | 139 | 151 |
| Yemen, Rep. | 153 | 153 | 150 | 153 | 149 |
| MEDIAN | 83 | 64 | 75 | 96 | 140 |
- Europe
Europe had the best performance among the four groups. It had a median OI rank of 60 rank. It did its best in HPRI and worst in LGI. Turkey’s performance declined in the past year that impacted their overall ranks and scores. Europe’s median ranks were the best among OIC countries.
Table 15: Muslim European Countries Islamicity Indices
| Country | OI Rank | EI Rank | LGI Rank | HRI Rank | IRI Rank |
| Albania | 46 | 64 | 55 | 43 | 14 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 60 | 61 | 92 | 50 | 61 |
| Turkey | 95 | 70 | 85 | 100 | 148 |
| MEDIAN | 60 | 64 | 85 | 50 | 61 |
- Summary
Using 48 proxies to represent principal Islamic teachings in the four major dimensions of economic, legal and governance, human and political rights and international relations for 153 countries, we again find on average non-Muslim majority countries performing the best and a majority of Muslim-majority countries occupying the bottom part of the list. In 2018, New Zealand came in first in OI, followed by Sweden and Netherlands. The highest-ranking Muslim-majority country in the list is United Arab Emirates, occupying 45th rank, followed by Albania, Malaysia, and Qatar. And the last spots on the list are again occupied by Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen, all countries with ongoing internal conflicts.
Our results demonstrate the ineffective institutions and the lack of reform across Muslim countries. Traditional shortcomings such as a weak rule of law, pervasive culture of corruption, inconsistent and shortsighted economic policies, limited and inequitable opportunities for individual development and growth, injustice, absence of freedom, human and political rights violations, strife, and armed conflicts are responsible for the lack of a country’s development, which are path-dependent and reflect weak institutions.
Muslim countries improved their overall performance this year – their improvement was higher than the global median. While they did well in LGI and HPRI, they struggled with their performance in EI and IRI, which is in part due to internal conflict. And the results showed that geographic clusters of countries in Africa, southern and central Asia, and parts of Middle East tended to perform similarly and poorly.
Broadly speaking, Muslim countries who profess Islam and the teachings of Qur’an are not as Islamic in their practices as many non-Muslim countries. To make sure their practices follow Islamic principles and standards, the OIC countries should encourage fundamental reforms to build effective institutions. Looking across the board, freedom and equitable opportunity to pursue individual dreams, the rule of law, legitimate governance answerable to the people and justice are at the foundation of successful societies. The Islamicity Indices provide the moral instrument and the compass for achieving such successful societies. They provide a measurable instrument for assessing success and shortcomings and the areas requiring the most urgent attention. Governments and the people can peacefully agree to adopt such indices and set a timetable, e.g. 20-30 years, to achieve an agreed upon improvement in their institutional structure. In this way, they can achieve urgently needed peaceful and measurable reform.
[1] The Islamicity Foundation is incorporated as a tax-exempt organization in the U.S. state of Maryland. Although the Islamicity Foundation has been organized as a stand-alone entity, in time and, if appropriate, it could partner with a world-class university. This would afford the Foundation and its mission more visibility; it would facilitate fundraising activities; and most important, by teaching seminars on Islam and development and on Islamicity Indices, the Foundation could develop a cadre of young collaborators to better accomplish its mission around the world.
[2] There is no distinction made between Sunni and Shia Muslim countries. Approximately 12-15% of the world’s Muslims are Shia with the largest representation in Iran and Iraq.
[3] For example, United Nations Human Development Index (UNHDI), Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EUI) Democracy Index, Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom, Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom Index (Economic Freedom of the World Index), Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index and Freedom House’s Freedom in the World Index, etc.
[4] The results do not reflect most recent developments in countries because the information (especially available indices) are largely based on 2017 data. This time lag in available indices, in turn, results in a lag in the incorporation of most recent developments in the Islamicity Indices.