1986/05/01 by Timur Kuran · 3 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #Islamic Finance and Banking Studies #Islamic Studies and History #Education and Islamic Studies #Islam #Islamic economics #Interpretation (philosophy) #Blueprint #Usury #Fiscal policy #Political science #Positive economics #Economics #History #Sociology #Law and economics #Philosophy #Macroeconomics #Linguistics #Art
paper · doi:10.1017/s0020743800029767
openalex publication_date 1986/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Since the late 1940s, and especially since the mid-1960s, a wealth of pamphlets, articles, and books have appeared that constitute the corpus of what is now known as “Islamic economics.” This literature, whose exponents call themselves “Islamic economists,” purports to provide the blueprint of an economic system consonant with the original sources of Islam. The central feature of the proposed system is that individuals are guided in their economic decisions by a set of behavior norms, ostensibly derived from the Qur'an and the Sunna. Two other features stand out: zakāt , a tax considered the basis of Islamic fiscal policy, and the prohibition of interest, viewed as the centerpiece of Islamic monetary policy. Virtually all Islamic economists consider this trio—the norms, zakāt, and zero interest—the pillars of the Islamic system.’