Islamization of Economics? An Impossibility Theorem

Abstract

The foundational pillars of Iqtiṣād, Al-Qur’ān's vision of how individuals and collectivities must manage the resources gifted to them by their Creator, are shown to be so radically different from the foundational structure of Economics as to render each alien to the other. In its fundamental nature, Iqtiṣād constitutes a polar case to Economics as it derives its ontology directly from Al-Qur’ān. It comes into existence when members of society decide to manage the resources Allah has placed at their disposal according to the rules He has prescribed. Once Iqtiṣād comes into being, it has a sacred, not profane, presence. A synthesis of “Islamic Economics” from fundamentally irreconcilable visions is a logical impossibility. Not only the intellectual history of Economics but its philosophy contradicts Islam’s major tenets from metaphysics through teleology to the point that renders grafting the two polar cases one onto another impossible. Iqtiṣād presents an authentic Islamic paradigm for resource management to eradicate poverty, correct economic inequalities, and eliminate the economic injustice gripping human societies.