VISION:
Discovering a distinct
scientific discipline of Economics, to be referred
to as Islamic Economics that underlies the economic institutions of Islam that
have been and are in actual practice during the last more than1400 years history
of Islam. Discovering this discipline may have useful lessons not only for the
existing Muslim societies but also for the world at large.
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MISSION:
To understand Institutional Economics of Islam by promoting
research on the institutions ___ laws, rules, beliefs, rights, individual and
social responsibilities, norms, ethics, customs ____ as well as institutional
infrastructure that actually existed or are still existing in the Muslim
societies in the more than 1400 years of history of Islam
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FUNCTIONS:
1. Promotion research on Institutions of Islam in
influencing the actual economic behaviour of human beings and shaping the
economics in Muslim societies through out the history as well as in contemporary
Muslim world
2. Evaluating the contemporary faith based infrastructural
institutions, operating on Islamic principles, in relation to their impact on
economic behaviour of Muslims as well as on the existing economic systems in the
countries where these institutions are in practice
3. Establishing an academy to promote teaching and research
on Institutional Economics in general and Institutional Economics of Islam in
Particular, not precluding the research and teaching of Institutional economics
implied in other major faiths of the world.
4. Coordinating and collaborating, in areas of mutual
interest, with other societies and institutes working in the area of
Institutional economics in different parts of the world
5. Organizing seminars, workshops and annual conferences in
different parts of the world on the topics of Institutional economics of Islam
(without precluding Institutional Economics in general)
6. Sponsor/support research projects, Ph.D thesis on the
Institutional Economics of Islam.
7. Promote teaching of Institutional economics at
university level with special reference to Institutional Economics of Islam
8. Issue a refereed journal of Islamic society for
Institutional Economics (JOISIE) to be issued to become within a period of three
years a quarterly journal
REASON D’ETRE
FOR THE SOCIETY
Despite last more than 30 years’ rigorous efforts by Muslim
economists to discover a scientific discipline to be called Islamic Economics
led to nowhere. The starting point picked up for this purpose was what is
referred to as the conventional economics/main stream economics/ new classical
economics. It is now being realized that
1. If we are not there, we started from the wrong point
and took the wrong path.
2. What ever has been achieved in the name of Islamic
economics, so far as is as abstract as conventional economics, neither relating
to the reality nor reflecting it.
The recent developments in the name of Institutional
Economics or more specifically, New Institutional Economics, an alternate
approach to Economics – more realistic and more rational - is expected to
provide a better starting point for understanding the economics in Islam. This
is because the Islamic system of life, the economic system of which was only an
integral subset, started with developing institutions. These institutions
changed the human behaviour relating to economic matters and determined the
dimensions and boundaries for the economic system which were not previously
known.
The contemporary Muslim societies are looking forward to a
new path to reach the destination that could be called Islamic Economics because
of its distinct roots in the institutional framework that they have as a part of
their conviction and beliefs.
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