Examining Islamic Economic Thought in the Context of Comparative Historical Economic Sociology

This paper discusses Islamic economic thought in the context of economic sociology. To do so, it utilizes the comparative historical method, which holds central importance for theorists of economic sociology. The comparative historical research design, one of the most frequently used qualitative research methods, also helped to test the conceptual framework adopted in the paper. The literature on sociology of institutions and its discussions on economic behavior in social contexts play a central importance in the conceptual framework used in the article. Emphasizing the effects of religious thought on the economic structure, this article examines in which periods Islamic economic thought was compatible with the concepts schematized as secularization and stagnation of this school. In this direction, it uses a categorical-systematic content analysis. The analyzed data were obtained from primary and secondary sources accessed through document analysis. Stagnation and secularization periods in Islamic economic thought are classified. Also, the concepts of secularization and stagnation were examined in relational dimension. Consequently, a positive relationship has been determined between the periods of stagnation and secularization in Islamic economic thought and the level of domination of the state power in the economy.