Abstract
According to Western views, wealth is unambiguously good, and so human welfare increases when wealth increases. Islam has a substantially more sophisticated view of the relation between wealth and welfare. Excess wealth is a trial, which can bring great rewards if utilized correctly, and also bring great harm if utilized incorrectly. Similarly, poverty is a trial which can bring great rewards if borne with patience and prayer, and also cause great harm if it leads to begging from others. Thus, there is no clear and simple relationship between wealth and welfare. This means that Islamic approaches to constructing an index for welfare must be substantially more complicated than those currently in use in the west. It is worth considering the reasons for undertaking the project of measurement and assessing what needs to be measured, and whether measurement itself is necessary, for achieving these goals?
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For a more complete discussion of the many dimensions of contrast and opposition between Islam and conventional economics, see Zaman (2015).
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Zaman, A., Naveed, A., ur Rehman, A. (2019). Wealth as an Indicator of Socio-Economic Welfare: Islamic Views. In: Ali, S. (eds) Towards a Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah Index of Socio-Economic Development. Palgrave Studies in Islamic Banking, Finance, and Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12793-0_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12793-0_6
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