Legal Pluralism, Property Rights and the Paradigm of Islamic Economics

Abstract

This article discusses Islamic economics by applying a legal plural approach to property rights: more precisely, it argues that Islamic economics embodies a property theory that is alternative to the conventional one and that this property theory gives rise to a paradigm of economic justice that is unique to Islam. The reasoning proceeds as follows. (§ 1) After introducing its subject-matter, (§ 2) the article reviews the moral approach to Islamic economics, and (§ 3) challenges through legal pluralism the neutrality and universality of conventional property rights, as commonly assumed by law and economics literature. (§ 4) Subsequently, it identifies the uniqueness of Islamic property rights in the light of the distinctive conceptualization of legal, commutative and distributive justice that belongs to Islam. (§ 5) To conclude, the study highlights how the unique paradigm of Islamic economics can contribute to the promotion of a “plural market” in the global economy.