Islamic Economics Principles And Analysis

With the impressive emergence of Islamic finance as a branch of Islamic economics, the need for a solid knowledge base that encompasses theories, thoughts and applications related to the subject increased in importance. However, writing about Islamic economics is a great challenge due to the differences in opinion on many of its issues. This includes methodologies for determining the Islamic perspective on economic concepts and issues as well as applicable solutions for today’s economic and social problems. It is further argued that Islamic economics topics are not as clear as those in conventional economics as they have their own religious, spiritual and social dimensions. The points of controversy have generated lengthy discussions. Moreover, Islamic economics encompasses a vast array of topics and approaches, from the purely theoretical, which may include philosophy or religious ideas, to mathematical and quantitative analyses. We tried our best throughout this textbook to simplify, clarify and summarise these concepts to make them accessible to all readers including students, practitioners, academics and even interested non-specialists. This textbook presents, discusses and analyses various topics and issues related to Islamic economics ranging from philosophical, epistemological and methodological to microeconomic and macroeconomic perspectives. In this endeavour, the social aspect of Islamic economics—an essential part of the discipline—is not neglected. The textbook compares Islamic ideas and concepts related to economics with those in conventional economics to highlight Islamic economics as a distinct field of knowledge with an emphasis on the ethical and social aspects. The authors have tried their level best to explain the theoretical concepts as simply as possible without ignoring today’s realities and without compromising Sharīʿah principles and objectives. One of the main objectives of the book is to provide the reader with Islamic economic ideas and solutions that are realistic and applicable within the current highly globalised economic and business environment, which is largely dominated by conventional interest-based systems and institutions. Despite being written for an elementary-level audience, this textbook can also be beneficial to a wide range of specialist and non-specialist readers and seekers of knowledge. For those specialising in Islamic economics, it is an appropriate source of reference to gain an overview on different topics relating to the foundations of Islamic economics. At this point, however, it must be mentioned that each topic deliberated upon, by its nature, would require a book on its own to cover all its aspects. Therefore, further exploration is required for Islamic economics specialists. A list of references and recommended readings is provided for that purpose at the end of each chapter. On the other hand, students of mainstream economics, finance and other academic majors will find this textbook an excellent resource for comprehensive knowledge of Islamic economics and its related issues. Universities may benefit from the different topics presented in this textbook in designing or preparing their economics courses at different levels based on their own curriculums and classes. This textbook could be used at the undergraduate level or even for a master’s level economics or Islamic economics course, especially in an Islamic banking and finance programme or for an MBA having a specialisation in Islamic banking and finance where an economics or Islamic economics course is offered. Furthermore, practitioners and interested readers who are seeking essential and simple knowledge about Islamic economics will also find this textbook to be a helpful guide. It is important to mention here that Islamic economics literature shows wide differences among the scholars in almost every subtopic. Presenting all opinions within a limited number of pages is almost impossible. However, with the great contribution of more than 60 scholars from a wide span of countries and from various economic schools, this book represents an important attempt to present the topics and issues from various perspectives with the maximum objectivity possible. Through comprehensive content editing, the editors have striven to improve the flow of arguments, remove inconsistencies and put the ideas together in as coherent a manner as possible. However, the editors acknowledge that some biases and overlaps may still persist.

Gain deeper insight into the principles and theory of Islamic economics Introduction to Islamic Economics: Theory and Application provides an overview of the organizing principles and fundamentals of an Islamic economy. With deep discussion of the characteristics, rationale, key institutions, objectives, and instruments at work, the book addresses the core economic principles underlying a system based on the foundational teachings of Islam, and examines the implications for economic policies. Social welfare, economic justice, market functionality, efficiency, and equity are explored from an Islamic perspective, and the role and instruments of fiscal and monetary policy in Islamic systems are used to illustrate contemporary applications. Universities around the globe are offering courses on Islamic economics and finance, but despite the industry's rapid growth, most research has been focused on the financial principles rather than underlying economic principles. The first book of its kind, Introduction to Islamic Economics brings all the key concepts together into one reference volume. By outlining the ways in which Islamic finance and Islamic economics interrelate, this book can help readers to: Develop an understanding of the Islamic economic system and its institutional scaffolding Differentiate between the major characteristics of the dominant conventional economy and one based on the fundamental sources of Islam Understand the conditions that must be met for a just, well-balanced, stable, and growing economy Clarify the role of State, public policy, and risk-sharing in the Islamic financial system The Islamic financial system is expanding quickly, and those looking to increase their relevance in a changing economic landscape must get up to speed. Introduction to Islamic Economics provides a comprehensive overview of underlying economic system offering a deeper understanding of the feature of the system. This book is an excellent complement to Introduction to Islamic Finance, 2E by Iqbal and Mirakhor.

This book, Introduction to Islamic Banking and Finance: An Economic Analysis, covers the basic principles of Islamic economics and finance. It discusses both the theory of Islamic economics and finance as well as the applications in the design of instruments of finance as well as Islamic financial institutions. The book enables its readers to gain an understanding of the structures and operations of Islamic banking, Islamic capital market investments, risk management, and taxation for Islamic banking contracts.The book sets forth the following objectives:

This handbook offers a unique and original collection of analytical studies in Islamic economics and finance, and constitutes a humble addition to the literature on new economic thinking and global finance. The growing risks stemming from higher debt, slower growth, and limited room for policy maneuver raise concerns about the ability and propensity of modern economies to find effective solutions to chronic problems. It is important to understand the structural roots of inherent imbalance, persistence-in-error patterns, policy and governance failures, as well as moral and ethical failures. Admittedly, finance and economics have their own failures, with abstract theory bearing little relation with the real economy, uncertainties and vicissitudes of economic life. Economic research has certainly become more empirical despite, or perhaps because of, the lack of guidance from theory. The analytics of Islamic economics and finance may not differ from standard frameworks, methods, and techniques used in conventional economics, but may offer new perspectives on the making of financial crises, nature of credit cycles, roots of financial system instability, and determinants of income disparities. The focus is placed on the logical coherence of Islamic economics and finance, properties of Islamic capital markets, workings of Islamic banking, pricing of Islamic financial instruments, and limits of debt financing, fiscal stimulus and conventional monetary policies, inter alia. Readers with investment, regulatory, and academic interests will find the body of analytical evidence to span many areas of economic inquiry, refuting thereby the false argument that given its religious tenets, Islamic economics is intrinsically narrative, descriptive and not amenable to testable implications. Thus, the handbook may contribute toward a redefinition of a dismal science in search for an elusive balance between rationality, ethics and morality, and toward a remodeling of economies based on risk sharing and prosperity for all humanity

This book discusses the need for a paradigm shift from Islamic economics universe of discourse to Iqtisād, a socio-economic system that is entirely independent from other economic doctrines and systems of thought. It provides an overview of critiques of the science and dogma of mainstream, orthodox, neoclassical, or simply Economics, with its axioms of rationality, scarcity, and unlimited wants. There is also a critical analysis of Islamic economics, and its failures to set its own policy agenda and development objectives. Our contention in this book is that Iqtisād--the Qur’an’s vision of how the economy is to be arranged—provides such a paradigm with a radically different philosophical foundation from that of Economics to the point that makes grafting one onto the other Impossible. Iqtisād offers a genuine and authentic Islamic paradigm with unique etymological and philosophical foundations. It is a unique system that derives its organizing principles from the principal source of the Quran, rather than Economics. The logical coherence of its immutable system of rules compliance, institutional structures, and risk-sharing relations provides the foundations for economic dynamism, financial stability, and shared prosperity. It ensures that resources are efficiently managed, poverty is eradicated, income and wealth mal-distributions are corrected, and the internal sources of economic injustices gripping human societies are eliminated. The Impossibility Theorem proposed in this book implies that, metaphysically, ontologically, epistemologically, axiologically, and teleologically, the two polar cases of Iqtisād and Economics are so radically different to rule out any grafting of one onto the other in order to present an intermediate paradigm with a synthetic discipline called Islamic economics. Given its multidisciplinary contents, this book will be of interest to a wide audience, including economists, policymakers, philosophers, theologians, and jurists, and can guide also free-thinking readers to a clarity of understanding about the conditions of humanity and the imperative of change with a sincerity of purpose and coherence in knowledge.

Abul A'la Mawdudi laid down the foundations of modern Islamic economics. Drawing upon Islamic sources, Mawdudi spelled out a new paradigm for economic analysis and policy, wherein economic pursuits take place in the context of moral values and are directed towards the achievement of personal and social objectives. Integral to this approach is the concept of an interest-free economy that attempts to make efficiency and equity inseparable and interdependent. The creation and distribution of wealth thus become instrumental in promoting individual and social wellbeing, opening up pathways to development, social justice, and human welfare. This comprehensive anthology collects all of his major writings and provides a historic as well as an essential introduction to Islamic economics. Abul A'la Mawdudi (1903-1979) was a leading Muslim intellectual and a chief architect of the Islamic revival in the twentieth century. In 1941 he founded Jama'at-i-Islami, a political party in Pakistan, which he led until 1972. He authored more than a hundred works on Islam, both popular and scholarly, and his writings have been translated into some forty languages.