تقويم الدعوة إلى القطيعة بين الاقتصادَين الإسلامي و الوضعي

Abstract EN

After a brief comment on the lead paper by Dr.

Belabes, the First part of this paper puts the discussion in a broad framework, and calls attention to some values and positive statements that Islamic economics (IE) shares with conventional economics (CE), by which I refer to economics as generally taught at Western universities, especially the neoclassical school.

The Second part discusses a common argument advanced by callers for a total break, namely that the basic assumptions about human behavior, and the worldviews are very different between IE and CE.

I find that common argument inconsistent with Islam’s actual approach to culture and institutions in pre-Islamic Arabia.

The Islamic approach shuns blanket acceptance or rejection of any institution or piece of human knowledge, and calls for detailed case by case assessment, then adoption, rejection, or acceptance after modification.

The Islamic approach also enjoins severability wherever possible, to salvage good parts from a bad whole.

I support my understanding by quoting some prominent Sharīʿah scholars.

The Third part of this paper addresses another argument for total break from conventional economics, namely, its assumption of selfishness of economic agents.

I argue that simplifying assumptions such as this one are unavoidable in social sciences.

Furthermore, the selfishness assumption has been accepted by Islamic Sharīʿah in the sphere of pecuniary exchanges, and Muslim jurists derived nuanced rules about when acting selfishly is permitted or prohibited.