Islamic Ethics and Business in the Postcolonial World

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter focuses on the interplay of Islamic ethics and business in a world dominated by secular, liberal, and neoliberal worldviews. Using as background the rupture brought about by modernity and accentuated by the colonial experience, in the traditional world that was largely entrenched in a religious cosmology, I underscore the foundational assumptions and ideals of the Islamic worldview in contrast to those of secularism, liberalism, and neoliberalism, and the ethical principles and ethos that emanate from this worldview. The consequences of the secular, liberal, and neoliberal frames for knowledge production and the religious self are highlighted and the primary issues that the dominance of these frames has created in the modern world are also discussed. As an alternative stream of knowledge whose contemporary expressions remain largely entangled in the experiences of post-coloniality, the Islamic Weltanschauung, when understood in its own right, has a distinct position on ethics and how they relate to business. In the context of application, I argue that Islamic banking, which as a theoretically distinct alternative to conventional banking is anchored in Islamic ethics, and wherein the original intent was to bring about social justice and redistribution, became subservient to the imperatives of neoliberalism, which rendered the Islamic ethical ideals largely ineffectual. Finally, through a brief analysis of the application of some principles of Islamic ethics in two Pakistani organisations, I set out how these are manifested in the contemporary world of business.KeywordsIslamic ethicsBusinessPostcolonialIslamic bankingNeoliberalism