Methodology of Economics: Secular vs Islamic

Methodologyof Economics: Secular vs Islamic

Author: Waleed A.J. Addas

Publisher: IIUMPress

ISBN: 978-983-3855-28-5

Year: 2010

Weight: 0.150kg

Pages: 137pp

Price: RM45

Much confusion and controversy in the methodology ofeconomics are essentially centered on the criteria, rules, and procedures to beobserved for evaluating economic performance, secular or Islamic. In fact,until today there has been neither a common view nor a clear understandingamong Islamic scholars as to whether Islamic economics exists independently ofits mainstream counterpart, let alone whether it has a methodology to assessand oversee it. The position taken in this book is that Islamic economics isboth epistemologically linked to and independent of secular economics. What arethe methodological affinities or divergences, if any, that exist between them?Also the study attempts to see whether prediction, a fundamental component ofeconomics, can be accepted as a maxim of social science. The issues discussedhere are parts of an integrated whole. This holistic mosaic is arbitrarilydivided into thematic chapters for. convenience of discussion and to facilitatethe comparative task of the work. Islamic economics is and would broadly be theapplication of the Shari'ah norms to mainstream dispensation with a view toassessing their compatibility with the Islamic faith and the position of theShari'ah on the many and divergent micro and macro economic issues. The mainissue relevant to our discussion in this exploration was whether realityadjusts to doctrine or that doctrine conforms to the reality or one finds amutual interaction between the two in the field of economics. Whatmethodological affinities or divergences, if any, are between them? Also, weattempted to see whether prediction could or should be the hallmark of a theoryin social sciences as is currently believed in economics at least, or thetractability of events, their analysis, and human prescription were of greaterimportance. It will be satisfying if the readers could find this small worklight bearing on these