The principles of Islamic political economy : a methodological enquiry /

Despite the centuries of struggle for separation of mosque and state in Islamic countries, Choudhury and Malik present an axiomatic approach to Islamic economics that weaves the mosque and the state together in an organic whole. The Islamic political economy, so defined, is rested upon the primacy of towhid, i.e., believing in God, the creator, the sustainer, and the recreator of universe. Subsumed under this is the state of taqwa, which defines the relationships of individual and society in terms of God-consciousness, characterized by appropriate distributive equity and productive work, and the relationship manifested through the interaction of Islamic polity (shura) and the market system. The Islamic household, which does not seek riba, invests in mudarabah by receiving property entitlement from the state. Zakat, a wealth tax, is the main source of both capital formation and distributive equity. An excellent book on axiomatics, which is not a validation of scientificity, and which is reintroducing centuries of controversy over the method in Islam. Advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty. C. Bina; Harvard University