Bangor Business School Working Paper 24) BBSWP/12/011 The Political Economy and the Perennial Underdevelopment of the Muslim World ( M. Shahid Ebrahim Bangor University Seema Makhdoomi Bangor University Mustapha Sheikh Leeds University October 2012 Acknowledgments: This paper is dedicated to the reformers of the Muslim world. It was presented at the JEBO-Aston Islamic Finance conference in Birmingham, UK. We appreciate the critical comments of Mabid Al-Jarhi and a number of participants. We are also grateful to Habib Ahmed, Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Timur Kuran, Sitara Akram, Murizah O. Salleh, Mohammad Nejatullah Siddiqi and Arshad Zaman for their helpful suggestions. Correspondence Address: Professor M. Shahid Ebrahim Bangor Business School Bangor University Bangor LL57 2DG United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 1248 38 8181 Fax: +44 (0) 1248 38 3228 E-Mail: m.s.ebrahim@bangor.ac.uk