Articles on Islamic Economics
The paper contrasts this self-centred economic model with moral philosophy. Egalitarian ethical theories which include Utilitarianism, Rawls’s theory of justice, Situation Ethics (Joseph Fletcher), and Kantian ethics (Categorical Imperative), all require that, as a necessary condition for morality, one must treat the welfare of others the same as or equally to one’s own welfare.
Capitalism is defined by the Cambridge dictionary as, ‘An economic and political system in which property, business, and industry are controlled by private owners rather than by the state, with the purpose of making a profit.’ Following this definition, not every country can be considered ‘capitalist’.
The rate of return for most non-agricultural activities will fall to naught, while the rate of return for farming will soar high. The organized sector, assisted by interest-driven financing, keeps prices of its products and services high by controlling production and employment. Due to the confusion created by the illusion of consistently rising prices, commoners fail to respond effectively.
Islamic economics is fundamentally a normative field, dedicated to the in-depth study of the normative principles outlined in the Qur’an and the Sunna (religious economics). In its empirical research, it probes into the economic behaviours and values of Muslims. As a result, it extensively utilizes economic tools to comprehend Muslim behaviour, integrating the economics of religion as one method of exploration. In reconciling normative (what should be) and positive (what is) economics, the discipline also emphasizes facilitating the transition from the current state to an ideal one, aiming to transform ‘what is’ into ‘what should be’. This agenda is central to Islamic economics, as it is to religious economics.
The authors note that the instability leading to crisis is assumed away by the models which assume inherent stability. Economists are confined to models of stable states that are perturbed by limited external shocks. Economists failed to incorporate the intrinsic recurrent boom-and-bust dynamics characteristic of a complex economic system. Consequently, ‘systemic crisis’ is treated as an ‘otherworldly event’ absent from theoretical frameworks.
The author asserts that Islamic economics is currently the result of applying Islamic rules and injunctions (Fiqh) to the secular economic framework, and is not yet a separate discipline that fully replaces secular economics. The author notes that methodology is a messy and confusing area in both fields. He highlights that in Islamic economics, it is often wrongly treated as a research design or work plan. The author explains that economics is usually called ‘science’ and is seen to be built for achieving its objectives on some perception of rationality. Methodology is the ‘theory of theories’; in the field of economics it refers to the “process economists use to authenticate the knowledge about economic phenomena”.
The report calls for a new policy consensus based on equity, economic security for all, and solidarity. It emphasizes the need for structural transformations in policy, institutions, norms, and mind-sets, and a fundamental reorientation of policymaking through a social lens. A new consensus must prioritize strong social policies, investments in public institutions, and a people-centred approach to development, moving beyond the current over-reliance on markets.
Complexity economics taught us that the world is an ever-changing system with no simple answers. The Dynamic Prescriptive Economics framework takes this knowledge and turns it into a governing principle: Adaptive Governance.
It provides a robust, measurable methodology to:
Quantify the cost of trade-offs using NBCs.
Design a path to synergy using STOs.
Integrate long-term wisdom using AER.
Entrepreneurs may have less or more capital than they plan to invest. Owners of surplus capital may withhold it or may make it available to investors. This may be based on profit sharing ratio or interest. In the Islamic system, charge of Zakah assisted by expected share in profit motivates the owners of capital to get it invested while in a capitalist system, interest motivates the capitalist creditors to lend capital for earning interest.
Halal ESG shaped by Tawhidic epistemology is not merely an alternative model; it is a civilizational intervention—calling for harmony between the sacred and the temporal, between environmental responsibility and metaphysical awareness, between economic development and divine accountability. It is this synthesis—rooted in Tawhid, driven by Ummatic consciousness, and aspiring toward Ummatic excellence—that will enable halal industries to become ethical vanguards in a fractured world.
Islamic Economics Project 