Islamic economics: novel Perspectives

Abstract

and progression of history to the ruthless arbitration of present realities. The political manifestation of the trend towards 'Islamization' has created serious doubts concerning the validity of assumptions regarding the 'greater secularization of societies under change', 'privatization of faith in post-traditional settings', and the 'convergence of patterns of societal change in late-industrializing countries with one experienced by Europe since Renaissance'.2 The havoc which events such as the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79, the Islamization of Pakistan, the assassination of Egyptian President Sadat, or the ascendency of the Shi'is in Lebanon have wreaked in policy-making and academic circles clearly accentuates the doubts expressed above. The impact of Islamic revivalism on Muslim societies, and ultimately on Western social sciences is, however, not entirely political in nature. The less vociferous and yet equally important changes in Muslim attitudes towards the economic and social livelihood of man are likely to have lasting effects on Muslim societies, and pose serious challenge to Western notions of social organization and economic interactions. This essay is a critical survey of the fundamental premises of the corpus of ideas which are commonly and collectively referred to as 'Islamic economics'. The philosophical bases, intellectual foundations and doctrinal outlook of Islamic economics have been amply discussed, time and again, by exponents of Islamic economics,3 as well as by scholars and students of economic thought,4 Islamic studies or the Middle East.5 The objective here is not to reiterate or once again outline the doctrines of Islamic economics, but rather, to determine the promises and perils of the process through which Islamic economic thought has been cultivated at the intellectual level and subsequently implemented into active social institutions. Most expositions of Islamic economic begin with the elaboration and conglomorization of disparate Islamic teachings pertaining to economics, drawn from the injunctions of the Quran, hadith or shariah. These studies then compare and contrast this corpus of religious norms and economic