Book: Ideal Islamic Economy: An Introduction

This book provides an introduction to the vision of an economic system based completely on the Holy Qur’an—a system defined as a collection of institutions, representing rules of behavior, prescribed by Allah for humans, and the traditions of the Messenger.

The authors argue that the main reason for the economic under performance of Muslim countries and their economies has been non-compliance with the prescribed rules of behavior. Rule non-compliance has been chiefly due to the failure of Muslims to comprehend the Metaframework of the Qur’an and the Archetype Model of the Prophet Mohammad and interpret them in ways compatible with their own generation and time. Askari and Mirakhor believe these rules (institutions), properly adapted to prevailing conditions present what they consider as an ideal economic system.

About the Author

Abbas Mirakhor is former Executive Director and Dean of the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund. Previously, he taught at universities in Iran and in the US and was the First Holder of the INCEIF Chair in Islamic Finance at INCEIF in Malaysia.

Hossein Askari is former Assistant Professor at Tufts University, Professor of Business and Middle East Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, and was the Iran Professor of Business and International Affairs at The George Washington University, becoming Emeritus in 2019.

Our intention in this book is to provide an introduction to the vision of an economic system based completely on the Holy Kuran—a system defined as a collection of institutions, representing rules of behavior, prescribed by Allah (swt) for humans, and the traditions of the Messenger (sawa). We firmly believe in the divine source of the Kur’an, its validity and applicability temporally and spatially. The system thus derived from the Kur’an constitutes a Metaframework for an economy envisioned in Islam. Moreover, we also believe the Prophet Mohammad (sawa), the Messenger, operationalized this framework in Medina.’ The Messenger’s implementation of the Kur’anic vision for the economy constitutes an Archetypal Model—how an Islamic economic system is designed and is to be operationalized in any age, appropriately adapted to the prevailing conditions. We also believe that the main reason for the economic underperformance of Muslims countries and their economies over the last centuries has been non-compliance with the prescribed rules of behavior. Rule non-compliance has been chiefly due to the failure of Muslims to comprehend the Metaframework and the Archetype Model, and interpret and operationalize their institutional scaffolding in ways compatible with their own generation and time. History is clear on how rule violation became the norm as the Messenger lay on his deathbed and how path dependency progressed and Muslims moved away from both the Metaframework and the Archetype Model, which then generated a truly “Long Divergence.”…..

Table of Contents

Introduction

Capitalism and the Islamic Economic System

Overview of an Ideal Islamic System

Institutional Structure of a Sound Economy

The Rules Governing an Islamic Economy

The Operational Features of an Islamic Economy

Contemporary Muslim Economies and Rule Compliance

Towards Achieving the Ideal Islamic Economy

Conclusion

Bibliographic Information

Title: Ideal Islamic Economy: An Introduction

Author(s): Hossein Askari and Abbas Mirakhor

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

 Language: English

Length: 276 pages

ISBN: 978-1-137-54035-5

Pub. Date: August 12, 2017

Ideal Islamic Economy An Introduction