Doctrines of Islam, an ethical economy

Journal title QUADERNI DI ECONOMIA DEL LAVORO
Author/s Renata Livraghi
Publishing Year 2020 Issue 2019/110 Language Italian
Pages 23 P. 159-181 File size 283 KB
DOI 10.3280/QUA2019-110008
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The aim of this essay is to analyze the economic basics of the Islamic society, which is founded on fundamental and immutable religious principles imposed by God (Allah) and contained in the Koran. These principles are followed by faithful men with different approach to the law Shariah, conceived as the main way to reach salvation. The Ummah (community) is the foundation of Islamic life. Allah designed a community and supports that the realization of each person takes place in the dynamics of the community. In the economic theory of Islam there is therefore no problem of choice; there is only a problem of will, conceived as the individual capacity to respect the teachings of Allah and belonging to the um-mah. According to the Koran, both men and women can own property and equal conditions of access to education and social benefits must be granted. However, both men and women must commit themselves in order to expand their intellectual capacity, preserve their health and contribute to the economic and social devel-opment of the state. Prophet Muhammad considered "commitment after knowledge" as "a religious precept for all Muslims". According to the Koran, people are expected to give Zakat to the community, in the form of "tithe", to eliminate poverty and to discourage the accumulation of wealth, not destined for production. Shariah law also provides for economic policy interventions, in order to correct the imbalances caused by competitive markets. They are called Waqf and represent the destination of a part of the individual wealth, for the creation of particular welfare state systems and the Riba which ban usury, discouraging interest income. In addition to this, there are two other practices that are forbid-den: the interdiction of uncertainty or excessive risk (gharar) and the interdiction of speculation (maysir, literally means gambling). The theoretical model of the Islamic economy is regulatory while encouraging the action of competitive mar-kets. Individuals belong to a community whose job it is to contain income ine-qualities and work for the growth of human development.

Keywords: Doctrines, Islam, collective choice, social welfare, ethical economy, community

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Renata Livraghi, Etica ed economia: i fondamenti della teoria economica islamica in "QUADERNI DI ECONOMIA DEL LAVORO" 110/2019, pp 159-181, DOI: 10.3280/QUA2019-110008