Distributional equity in Islam

This paper attempts to provide an overview of a vast and important debate from an Islamic angle. It presents the concept of distributional equity in a pure Islamic system. It is argued that this system would ensure distributional equity through reliance on two sets of controls. First is a set of ethical and regulatory measures which would prevent inequities from happening. Essentially these preventive measures are obligatory and voluntary expenditures from their income by the Muslims. Second is a set of corrective measures which would be activated by the Islamic state if inequities do in fact arise. These corrective measures are quite varied and include most of the familiar monetary, fiscal, legal, and administrative tools of modern economic policy subject to Islamic constraints. The foundation of the Islamic scheme is the all pervading concept of Amanah that seeks to convert the material ambitions of man into the means of attaining spiritual heights .In the light of the argument developed the paper presents a macroeconomic model for attaining equity in the functional distribution of income. In the concluding section the paper deals briefly with the trade off between various goals of economic policy