Modern Economics offers us “homo economicus” as a perfect model of rational behavior, even though he is cold, calculating, callous, and cruel. Trained to think of this as rationality, it is little wonder that economists promote policies which are destroying the planet. In our New Approach to Islamic Economics, we offer a radically different set of ideals, based on Islamic principles. The first lecture, outlined in detail below, was about the normative ideals of gratitude, contentment, and trust – these are far better for our psychological welfare than pursuing the rationality of the psychopathic homo economicus, recommended by economists. A brief video provides an overview of the lecture, which is followed by a detailed outline.
The original ZOOM lecture 1 can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/YTnaie1 This lecture has been broken down into shorter pieces, with writeups for each segment, which are listed below:
A: Gratitude: Being grateful to God for all the blessings we have been given is the key to enjoyment of life, and also of getting more from Allah.
B: Contentment: Utility, Pleasure, or Satisfaction does not come from pursuing our idle desires (as economists teach us to do). Rather, it comes from cultivating the feeling of contentment and satisfaction over what we already have.
C: Trust: Life faces us with many trials and challenges. Trust in God creates the serenity that allows us to face these difficulties with equanimity.
D: Methodology: (This is not part of the original ZOOM lecture; but was added in later). The idea that science is the only valid source of knowledge was responsible for the creation of the modern social sciences in the early 20th Century. As the word “science” indicates, social science was to apply the scientific method to the study of human societies. This is actually a hopeless project, doomed to failure from the outset, because human societies and human being are not subject to the mathematical laws of planetary motion. This post discusses some of the central myths regarding science and scientific methodology which led to the creation of Western social science.
E: Economics: Modern Economics makes the claim to be positive, and also that economic theory should be studied in a “positive” fashion. Both of these claims are false. Modern Economics is normative, merely substituting norms of rationality for norms of Christian morality. It fails to be descriptive. Indeed, to describe human behavior, we must take norms into account because human beings are driven by normative ideals. So the idea that we can take a “positive” approach to the study of economics is fundamentally wrong.
F: Why Do Economists Persist in Using False Theories? If economic theories are false, and this is easily demonstrable, why do economists keep on using these theories, despite accumulating empirical evidence against them? This segment of the lecture explains how economic theories support the powerful and the wealthy by concealed moral arguments which justify their power and wealth.
G: Uloom-ul-Umran: The final segment of the lecture proposes an alternative methodology for the study of Islamic Economics, based on the approach of Ibn Khaldun. Ibn Khaldun studies the process of social change, as driven by collective goals of different social groups within society. This requires looking at the goals (normative ideals), the ground realities (descriptive or positive part), and strategies required for achieving our goals (transformative). This three part methodology is essential to the study of human societies, and differs radically from any methodology for the study of inanimate objects as in physical science.
LINKS TO RELATED MATERIALS:
For the free, ongoing, online course on A New Approach to Islamic Economics, tegister on the Al-Nafi Platform: http://bit.ly/IEalnafi For weekly mailing list about Islamic Economics: http://bit.ly/AZIEML For more details about course: http://bit.ly/na2ie The course consists of live Lectures on every first Sunday of the month, but additional materials and supplements are available on the Al-Nafi Platform. Videos of the first two live lectures are linked below:
1st Lecture: Gratitude, Contentment and Trust – Complete, unedited video of live ZOOM lecture: http://YTnaie1
2nd Lecture: How Capitalism Shapes Our Minds & Hearts – Complete, unedited video of live ZOOM lecture : http://bit.ly/YTnaie2
3rd Lecture: Drivers of Social Change: Sunday, 2 Apr 2023, 2:00pm PKT, For ZOOM links, see A New Approach to Islamic Economics