Work ethics from an Islamic Perspective

Abstract

From the beginning of Islam, the question of one’s private or public behavior has been closely related to one’s faith or spiritual state. Based on certain Qur’anic references to human responsibility such as divine vicegerency on earth and the Prophetic noble example of human excellence Muslim scholars have developed a special domain of study devoted to what is known as mu’amalat or transactions. The notion of work ethics within this field of study occupies one of the major themes as it is well illustrated in the present article by (Prof.) Khalfaoui. The author has presented an Islamic perspective on business and its development within Islamic culture from the early period of Islam to later times. The first part of the article deals with the Qur’anic and Sunnatic conceptions of business and its institution within an Islamic context. The second part delves further into legal treatment of work developed by Muslim Jurists and other scholars. Finally in a brief conclusion of the study the author fairly related the religious implication of work ethics to the subject of business within the traditional Islamic perspective.