Since the spirit of Islam is in stark and violent conflict with the spirit of Capitalism, the form taken by institutions designed to express this spirit must also be different. Capitalist financial institutions are designed to support the process of accumulation of wealth, which is at the heart...

An earlier & longer version of a draft of this paper, with title “Islamic Approaches to Fundamental Economic Problems,” is available from http://ssrn.com/abstract=2231398 Because Islam focuses on success in the hereafter, while economics focuses on maximizing pleasures of this world, the two...

The idea that development is mainly about the accumulation of wealth commands widespread support. Dissenters have introduced other dimensions of development, but nonetheless agree on the centrality and importance of wealth. However, Islam is primarily concerned with spiritual and moral...

According to the standard narrative, economics is an objective and scientific study of universal laws applicable to economic affairs of modern societies. After a brief introduction, the second section of the paper presents a counter-narrative which disputes this claim, and provides an...

According to the standard narrative, economics is an objective and scientific study of universal laws applicable to economic affairs of modern societies. After a brief introduction, the second section of the paper presents a counter-narrative which disputes this claim, and provides an...

According to western views, wealth is unambiguously good, and so human welfare is positive when wealth is in excess of needs, and negative if it is less. Islam has a substantially more sophisticated view of the relation between wealth and welfare. Excess wealth is a trial, which can bring great...