The twentieth century has witnessed the emergence of an economic doctrine that calls itself “Islamic economics.” Of all economists of the Muslim faith, only a small minority, known as “Islamic economists,” identify with some variant of this new doctrine. Yet the doctrine is socially significant, if only because it advances the sprawling and headline-grabbing movement known as “political Islam,” “Islamic fundamentalism,” or simply “Islamism.” The declared purpose of Islamic economics is to identify and establish an economic order that conforms to Islamic scripture and traditions. 1 Its core positions took shape in the 1940s, and three decades later efforts to implement them were under way in dozens of countries.
