First Principles of Islamic Economics

Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi

• Publisher: The Islamic Foundation
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780860374923
• eBook ISBN: 9780860375319
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Economic Theory
• Index: Economics

Abul A'la Mawdudi laid down the foundations of modern Islamic economics. Drawing upon Islamic sources, Mawdudi spelled out a new paradigm for economic analysis and policy, wherein economic pursuits take place in the context of moral values and are directed towards the achievement of personal and social objectives. Integral to this approach is the concept of an interest-free economy that attempts to make efficiency and equity inseparable and interdependent. The creation and distribution of wealth thus become instrumental in promoting individual and social wellbeing, opening up pathways to development, social justice, and human welfare. This comprehensive anthology collects all of his major writings and provides a historic as well as an essential introduction to Islamic economics.

Abul A'la Mawdudi (1903-1979) was a leading Muslim intellectual and a chief architect of the Islamic revival in the twentieth century. In 1941 he founded Jama'at-i-Islami, a political party in Pakistan, which he led until 1972. He authored more than a hundred works on Islam, both popular and scholarly, and his writings have been translated into some forty languages.

PART ONE

THE ISLAMIC CONCEPT OF ECONOMIC WELL-BEING

1 Mankind’s Economic Problems and their Islamic Solutions^*

The importance that is now being given so pronouncedly to the economic problems of nations and states around the world is greater than ever before. I have used the phrase ‘so pronouncedly’ because the economic aspect of life has always been of great importance to mankind, and as such has always attracted the attention of individuals, groups, communities and countries across the globe. However, what has focussed this attention today is the arrival of specialized institutions and more and more books with high-sounding jargon and terms dedicated to Economics as a discipline, accompanied by a growing complexity in the processes of production and supply, as well as access to the basic amenities of life. Because of this, so much debate, dialogue and scholarly research is being carried out today on economic issues that every other issue of human life has now been relegated to the background. Strangely enough, however, the phenomenon that has become the focus of attention all over the world is becoming more and more complicated and enigmatic, rather than getting resolved or better understood. The common man has become so overawed by the high-sounding jargon and terminologies of this social science and the scholarly hair-splitting by economic wizards that he seems to lose all hope of any prospect of improving his lot, in the same way that a patient thinks his condition is hopeless on hearing some quaint Latin synonym for his disease from the physician’s mouth. Nevertheless, when viewed in a more simple and natural way, shorn of its technical trappings and academic bombasts, the economic issue becomes easier to understand and, without much difficulty, we can discover the merits and demerits of various measures that have been taken by the world to resolve it. There then remains no difficulty in finding out the correct and more natural approach to the solution of this issue.

1.1. The problem of a partial approach

In addition to the confusion caused by the bamboozling terminologies and jargon, the economic issue of mankind has become more complicated because it has been removed from the main body of the greater issue¹ facing them as humans and moral beings, and attempts have been made to handle it in isolation as an independent question. This approach has gradually led to the economic question being viewed as the main issue in the whole of life. This is a mistake even greater than ignoring other issues of human life, as a result of which the confusion has become even worse. The paradox can be better understood if we take as an example the case of a specialist physician trying to treat his patient’s infected liver by focusing his entire attention on the diseased organ without caring to check at the same time its role, functions and impact on other parts of the anatomy. Similarly, one can easily understand the effectiveness, or otherwise, of attempting to solve all the problems of human health by treating just one infected limb. The economic problem is just one of a host of complex issues facing human beings, and any attempt to resolve it independent of the multifarious other issues of human life, in the narrow context of economics alone, is bound to result in nothing but chaos, confusion and desperation.

Specialization may be a blessing in certain cases, but it has generally led today to an unfortunate tendency to compartmentalize life and an inability to take a holistic approach towards the issues facing mankind. It has actually added to the complexity of these issues. The human being today has been reduced to a plaything in the hands of the one-eyed experts of different sciences, arts and crafts. For a leading physicist, the mysteries of the universe can be resolved only through physics; while one who specializes in psychology seeks to formulate his entire philosophy of life on the strength of his perceptions and experiments in his own field. To somebody who is focused exclusively on the gender dimension, human life would appear to revolve entirely around the issue of sex. In the same way, those devoted to economics would like to assure humanity that its sole problem is how to earn a living, and everything else is only a peripheral matter. The fact remains, however, that all of these are some of the various facets of human life. Each one has its own place and role and is part of the same single whole. The corporeal frame of man is governed by the laws of nature, and as such he is the subject of physics. And yet he consists not just of his body, which could be handled entirely under the laws of physics in order to resolve his problems. He is also a living being on whom the biological laws apply and is therefore part of the subject matter of biology. But he is not simply a biological substance, governed entirely under the terms of biology or zoology, as he needs food, clothing and shelter to survive. Hence, economics covers an important part of his social existence; but he is not merely a social animal whose life can be confined to the domain of his basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. Mankind is compelled to rely on procreation for continuing the species, and for this there is an instinctive attraction towards sex. As a result, sexology and genealogy assume a significance for life, but he is not simply a breeder intended exclusively to propagate his progeny. He is endowed with a psyche as well, and is thus gifted with powers of perception, discernment, feelings, emotions and ambitions. Viewed from this backdrop, psychology would appear to encompass a major part of life. But the psyche is just a little part of the whole self and, therefore, the entire scheme of life cannot be laid out on the basis of psychology alone. Man is also a social being with a civilizational legacy that impels him to live with his fellow humans, and as such many aspects of life are governed by the rules of sociology. But even this is just one aspect of a human’s multifaceted life, making it impossible for sociologists to work out a comprehensive plan for life. A human being is also a rational being, and has an urge for logic and reasoning beyond the realms of feelings and emotions. From this perspective, logic occupies an important place in life. However, a man is not reason reincarnate, able to lead his entire life on the basis of logic and reasoning alone. He is also a moral and spiritual being who has within himself the instinctive capability to distinguish between good and bad, and an unending urge to peer into realities beyond the realm of the known and visible facts. Morality and spirituality are thus two other vital facets of a human being’s personality; but no one is simply a personification of these two segments, so that they could base the entire scheme of their life on the twin foundations of morality and spirituality.

In fact, a human being is a happy blend of all of these and much more at the same time. In addition to the various facets of personality mentioned above, there is yet another equally important aspect: a human is also part of the cosmic order’s grand scheme of things. A code of conduct for life must also, therefore, be necessary in order to determine mankind’s position in that order and how one must discharge his responsibilities as a component. Man must also identify his goal in life and reflect on how to achieve that goal. These are in fact the two fundamental issues facing a human being, and a philosophy of life emerges from these, which then leads all the sciences concerning mankind and the universe to offer the relevant data that eventually help to develop a plan of action in the grand scheme of things.

Evidently, a per...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Dedication
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Transliteration Table
• Foreword
• Translator’s Note
• Author’s Preface
• Introduction
• Part One: The Islamic Concept Of Economic Well-Being
• Part Two: The Economic System Of Islam: Some Basic Features
• Glossary
• Short Biographies
• Index