Reconstruction of Economics Based on the Paradigm of Tawhid: Present Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

Islamic economics has made a respectable progress during the last four decades. A brief assessment of the existing literature on Islamic economics leads to identification of gaps. The most glaring deficiency in the existing literature is that it restates Islamic economic teachings but does not move any far toward transforming this knowledge into a social science that would allow verification or falsification of its postulates. Besides, there are several problems with the framework of Islamic economics. The paper proposes a methodology for transforming Islamic economic teachings into Islamic economics as a social science. The paper also presents a definition of Islamic economics that aims to overcome the deficiencies of the definitions presented so far. It makes some suggestions for refining the framework of Islamic economics. In the end, the paper suggests some significant areas for future research.