11: Islamic Economics A Survey of the Literature Part I

Abstract

A central thesis of this paper is that social science is the study of human experience, and

hence is strongly conditioned by history. Modern Western political, economic and

social structures have emerged as a consequence of the repudiation of religion

associated with the Enlightenment and are based on secular principles. Many of these

are discordant with Islamic principles and cannot be adapted to an Islamic society.

Around the middle of the twentieth century Muslim societies successively

achieved freedom from colonial rule where-after they sought to construct their

collective institutions in conformity with the teachings of Islam. The development of

Islamic economics is part of this process of gaining freedom from the stranglehold of

Western colonial institutions.

This paper is a survey of the literature on Islamic economics which focuses on the

contrasts between Western economic theories and Islamic approaches to the

organization of economic affairs.

1.1 Self-Knowledge and Knowledge of Other

And whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted wealth abundant

(Qur’┐n 2: 269).

The treasure of knowledge gathered by our ancestors, which is the collective

heritage of mankind, is vast. It represents the cumulative effort of generations

over centuries.