Economic Doctrines of Islam A Study in the Doctrines of Islam and Their Implications for Poverty, Employment, and Economic Growth By Irfan Ul Haq. Herndon, VA: IIIT, 1996. xiv + 293 pp.

Abstract

Dr. Haq’s book belongs to the same group of issue-oriented studies in Islamic
economics that Umar Chapra’s’ books do. However, unlike Chapra, who first
provides a critical evaluation of the failed modem economic systems and then
establishes the supremacy of Islam’s economic development strategy, Irfan
Ul Haq starts out with a comprehensive expository analysis of Islamic mnomic
doctrines. He then relies on extensive personal interpretation to derive and
then justify various policy prescriptions for the promotion of economic growth
in an Islamic economy.
The book contains four parts, which are divided into fourteen chapters. The
first five chapters in the first two parts discuss Islamic methodology and Islam’s
social and political order. The book‘s major theme is included in the third and
fourth parts where the author discusses most of the economic issues and policies.
Since the controversial policy-oriented economic subjects are covered in
these parts, I will concentrate on the evaluation of these major economic subjects.
These subjects include the proper role of the public sector, fard al-kifayah
and its implications, interest-free financing, land ownership and tenure, taxation,
poverty, employment, and the policies to provide economic essentials.
Fard al-Kifayah and Its Implications for Economic Policy
In discussing the principle of fard al-kifayah and the role of the Islamic state
in providing public goods, Dr. Haq advocates a policy of nationalization of
resources as an appropriate policy for an Islamic state to follow. The same policy
is extended elsewhere to include price fixing and direct control of the grain
trade, and by implication, of all other commercial activity. Rather than providing
a justification for such a policy on economic and Islamic grounds, he carries
out his entire discussion on the assumption that big government has the capacity
and the means to solve all economic problems. This thesis, in my view, contradicts
the basic economic philosophy of Islam, which incorporates private initiative
and free enterprise with a primary focus on the individual as a decision
maker and khurifah of God on earth. The author continues to overlook the fact
that equity and efficiency are not complementruy, but often competitive. An
over-emphasis on the distributional justice of Islam creates an erroneous impression
that in the Islamic worldview, economic growth and development are relegated
to a secondary role. This is not only incorrect, but it also contradicts the
very thesis of his book. Elsewhere I have elaborated on the Qur’anic view of
man and its implications for his economic role.
land Ownership and Tenure
In the beginning of chapter 10, the author correctly notes that Islam allows
land accumulation without any restrictions and recommends a balanced ...