Tag: IslamicEconomicThought

The Dual Structure of Islamic Economics: Economics of Religion and Religious Economics

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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.

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Beyond Integrative Approaches: Methodological Tensions in Islamic Economics

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Islamic Economics stands at a crossroads. To analyse what is, it must pragmatically adapt mainstream tools—provided they are stripped of reductionist assumptions. To articulate what ought to be, however, it must dare to innovate: developing tawhid-centric models that reflect humanity’s role as Allah’s stewards (khalifah). This dual approach rejects both uncritical integration and isolationist purism. As Dr. Shaikh advocates, pluralistic methodology allows IE to engage the mainstream while retaining its soul. The goal is not to mimic physics-envying economics, but to redefine economics itself—as a science of human flourishing, anchored in divine guidance. In the words of the Quran, “Do they not contemplate the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth?” (7:185). Islamic Economics, at its best, is this contemplation enacted—a discipline where tools serve truth, not the other way around.

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Methodology of Islamic Economics

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The book explains that the objective of religious life should be to change this world, including the personality of the individual himself and extending to the whole of human society, so as to reconstruct it in accordance with the will of Allah as revealed in the Qur’an. The religion should be understood directly from the Qur’an aided by the Sunnah, and all human interpretations should be treated as secondary, tentative and, in principle, liable to error and open to correction.

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