A Note on Islamic Economics

1. A Note on Islamic Economics There is also a reasonable basis for agreement that the sources for specification of the characteristics of the ‗Islamic paradigm’ are: the Qur´an, the Ahadeeth of the Messenger º≪°SH ¬DBGH ¬«≪Y ˆG ≈≪°U and fiqh. In developing this ‗paradigm‘, howe Dr. Siddiqi suggests that the most important source of ideas is the Qur´an , then the Ahadeeth of the Messenger º≪°SH ¬DBGH ¬«≪Y ˆG ≈≪°U and his behavior ―as a con as head of household, a producer of wealth through trade, as Head of State looking after the welfare of his people by guiding them in their economic activities, supervising and sometimes regulating their market, managing public property, etc... These Sunnah, are best understood as conduct and policy directed at realization of the objective and values in the Qur´an, ....‖ (page 6). It is in the use of fiqh that Dr. Siddiqi not only parts company with some other scholars‘ emphasis, but suggests that too strong a focus on fiqh has retarded the progress of Islamic economics. ―For many, if not most of the scholars, fiqh came first and the contemporary reality came next‖ (page 6). He recommends that after consideration of the Qur´an and the Sunnah, the ―next thing to focus on is the contemporary reality, the current environment.... How to realize the economic values and achieve the Islamic ends in economic life in our times? That is the question we have to answer. It is in answering this question that we consult fiqh. It is a great help, an indispensable source, but not the only one. When it comes to identifying the appropriate means for realization of a certain end, current state of human knowledge and technology may have things to offer no old treasure possibly could‖ (page 6). So the ‗state of human knowledge and technology‘ would seem to suggest the last source of ideas that can inform the process of formation of the ‗Islamic paradigm‘. 7. While there is basis for consensus on the objective of Islam for the economy, on the sources, and on the idea that Islamic economics is capable of providing a ‗paradigm‘ different from traditional economics, there is no general agreement how such a paradigm would emerge. As suggested by Dr. Siddiqi, it has been difficult for scholars to think themselves out of the twin boxes of fiqh and traditional economics, both of which have led to disagreement on a number of issues, including the name and the definition of Islamic economics. There are some who suggest that if Islamic economics is a science, it makes little sense to attach it to Islam; after all, this view suggests, there can be no Islamic physics or chemistry. This view considers science as value free, therefore, unattachable to a system of ethics, ideology, or religion, and has a narrow perspective even as applied to traditional economics as a science.13 There is a considerable body of work not only questioning this judgment, but going further to show that science, in general, and ‗economic science‘, in particular, cannot be norm- or value-free. The latter view suggests that economics, as a social science, deals with economic behavior that is embedded in the culture as the economy itself is embedded in the society, and culture is shaped by the beliefs, mores, and values of the people that form society. Therefore, economics is by necessity culture-bound, and while it is possible to develop a set of propositions tautologically derived from a priori 11