Two Muslim countries facing existential threats have done very well in the new Islamic Well-Being rankings for Muslim countries (IWI 3.0_2022; see Table 1). As the Maldives is the 2022 leader in Islamic Well-Being, one may expect it to be a virtual paradise on Earth. However, the sea that provides its allure, also causes great unease as sustained sea-level rise from global warming threatens to overwhelm the island nation within 60 years. The faith of Maldives’ Muslims however, is high, may He protect their future. Maldives was newly included, together with Libya, among 33 Muslim majority counties for which data on religiosity (Deen) is available from World Values Surveys to allow the full Index to be calculated.
Former leaders, Indonesia and Malaysia, share second place this year, although the difference from Maldives’ score is hardly statistically significant. That this group of three demonstrate exemplary well-being reflects Islamic resilience of their populations in the face of the pandemic’s travails over the past three years. They are also societies where women play large roles contributing to societal well-being.
Sadly, two leading Muslim countries, Turkey (-15) and Pakistan (-10), displayed the greatest fall of rankings since 2021, due to gathering economic and political problems they both face, acerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Tunisia dropped from second place last year, coinciding with the appearance of authoritarian rule in the country as the President suspended parliament and began ruling by decree on 25 July 2021.
A stellar performance for Islamic well-being is the European country of Kosovo, newly independent in 2008, although officially recognised by just half of UN member states. It shows the sharpest rise in well-being having moved up 18 places in a year. Its citizens are seemingly displaying gratitude to the Almighty for their independence. This rise is all the more significant since Kosovans are ethnically Albanians, while Albania itself stands last in IWI 3.0 rankings with the lowest deen value for any Muslim country. Kosovo itself had placed last in the first Islamic Well-Being Index 1.0-2013.
The Index follows the approach detailed in this author’s 2021 article “An Enhanced Islamic Well-Being Index (IWI 2.0-2021) for Muslim Countries,” based on the Higher objectives of Islamic Law (Maqasid al-Shari‘ah) published in Volume 12(2) of Islam and Civilisational Renewal, the flagship journal of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia. This is a much-enhanced version of “A New Islamic Rating Index of Well-Being for Muslim Countries,” published in 2013.
Benefits of the IWI are that it offers a scorecard that highlights leader and laggard countries and provides practical insights for countries that aspire to move to a higher state. The IWI indicators provide a way to spot problems, set targets, track trends, understand outcomes, and identify best policy practices, especially for government officials to facilitate communications with key stakeholders.
Fifty majority Muslim countries could be assessed for the four Maqasid fields of Life, Intellect, Family and Wealth. Based on the composite average value for these Non-Deen Maqasid (Table 2), mainly former communist countries did best with the following rankings: Kazakhstan (1), Tunisia (2), Kosovo (3), Kyrgyzstan (4) and Albania (5). Main improvements were shown by Kosovo (+27) and Maldives (+11). Morocco (-16), Oman and Saudi Arabia (both -7) declined the most.
Leaders in the Protection of Life Objective are UAE (1), Albania (2) and Jordan (3). Those that improved most were Kosovo (+13), Maldives (+12), Kazakhstan (+110) and Afghanistan (+9), while Morocco, Algeria, Pakistan, Oman and Indonesia showed the greatest decline.
Leaders in the Protection of the Intellect Objective are Kyrgyzstan (1), Albania (2), and Bosnia and Herzegovina (3). Those that improved most were Kazakhstan and Djibouti (both +9) while Palestine (-15), Turkmenistan (-14) and Kuwait (-12) declined the most.
Leaders in the Protection of the Family Objective are Tunisia (1), Iran (2), Kazakhstan and Syria (both 3), while Morocco (-19), Jordan (-15) and Turkmenistan (-13) fell dramatically. Divorce rates increased worldwide, but especially in Morocco and Oman (doubled) in 2019-2020, greatly exacerbated by strained relations from lockdown restrictions during the pandemic, but especially in Morocco following the 2004 revision of the Moudawana family code, which allowed both men and women to request a marriage dissolution. Between 2019 and 2020, the number of marriages in Morocco dropped 30%.
Leaders in the Protection of Wealth Objective are Palestine (1), Burkina Faso (2), Malaysia and UAE (both 3). Palestine’s position may not be significant since it reflects more a paucity of data. If unemployment data was available for Palestine, its position would most likely fall. Those that improved most are Kosovo (+39) and Syria (+19), while Saudi Arabia (-22), Bangladesh (-19) and Kyrgyzstan (-13) declined significantly.
Comparing country average values for the chosen IWI indicators with World average values (Table 3), shows unfortunately, that Muslim countries often fare worse than the World averages, except in the following fields where they perform better: Religiosity (Attend place of worship weekly; Pray daily; Consider religion is ‘Very important’), national homicide rates, Gini coefficient, ecological footprint, and infant mortality rates.
This year’s Index has identified countries that have showed resilience in the face of the pandemic but also those that have been impacted the most, as clearly displayed for the Family Objective results.
Table 1. Overall Country rankings for Islamic Well-Being Index 3.0
Note: Significant change in a country ranking indicated in bold. N/A = Newly appearing country.
*Daud Abdul-Fattah Batchelor is an Adjunct Fellow at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia.