Methodology of Economics: Secular vs Islamic

Author: Waleed A.J. Addas

Publisher: IIUM Press

ISBN: 978-983-3855-28-5

Year: 2010

Weight: 0.150kg

Pages: 137 pp

Price: RM45

Much confusion and controversy in the methodology of economics are essentially centered on the criteria, rules, and procedures to be observed for evaluating economic performance, secular or Islamic. In fact, until today there has been neither a common view nor a clear understanding among Islamic scholars as to whether Islamic economics exists independently of its mainstream counterpart, let alone whether it has a methodology to assess and oversee it. The position taken in this book is that Islamic economics is both epistemologically linked to and independent of secular economics. What are the methodological affinities or divergences, if any, that exist between them? Also the study attempts to see whether prediction, a fundamental component of economics, can be accepted as a maxim of social science. The issues discussed here are parts of an integrated whole. This holistic mosaic is arbitrarily divided into thematic chapters for. convenience of discussion and to facilitate the comparative task of the work. Islamic economics is and would broadly be the application of the Shari'ah norms to mainstream dispensation with a view to assessing their compatibility with the Islamic faith and the position of the Shari'ah on the many and divergent micro and macro economic issues. The main issue relevant to our discussion in this exploration was whether reality adjusts to doctrine or that doctrine conforms to the reality or one finds a mutual interaction between the two in the field of economics. What methodological affinities or divergences, if any, are between them? Also, we attempted to see whether prediction could or should be the hallmark of a theory in social sciences as is currently believed in economics at least, or the tractability of events, their analysis, and human prescription were of greater importance. It will be satisfying if the readers could find this small work light bearing on these