IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/29414.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Scarcity, self-interest and maximization from Islamic angle

Author

Listed:
  • Hasan, Zubair

Abstract

This paper clarifies some misinterpretations of three foundational concepts in mainstream economics from Islamic viewpoint. These are scarcity of resources, pursuit of self-interest and maximizing behavior of economic agents. It argues that stocks of resources that God has provided are inexhaustible. But important is the availability of resources out of stocks to mankind. Availability is a function of human effort and the state of knowledge about resources over time and space. In that sense resources are scarce in relation to multiplicity of human wants for Islamic economics as well. Self-interest must be distinguished from selfishness. The motive operates on both ends of human existence: mundane and spiritual. Its pursuit does not preclude altruism from human life. Counter interests keep balance in society and promote civility. Islam recognizes the motive as valid. Maximization relates to quantifiable ex ante variables. Uncertainty of future outcomes of actions makes maximization a heuristic but useful analytical tool. The concept is value neutral. What is maximized, how and to what end alone give rise to moral issues. Modified in the light of Shari’ah requirements the three concepts can provide a firmer definition for Islamic economics centered on the notion of falah.

Suggested Citation

  • Hasan, Zubair, 2011. "Scarcity, self-interest and maximization from Islamic angle," MPRA Paper 29414, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:29414
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/29414/1/MPRA_paper_29414.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ronald H. Coase, 2022. "Adam Smith's View of Man," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 19(2), pages 329–348-3, September.
    2. Addas, Waleed A.J., 2008. "Methodology of Economics: Secular Versus Islamic," MPRA Paper 8264, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zubair HASAN, 2016. "Nature and Significance of Islamic Economics," Journal of Economic and Social Thought, KSP Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 400-416, September.
    2. Hasan, Zubair, 2016. "Evolution of Islamic Economics:Definition, nature, methodology, problems and challenges," MPRA Paper 71858, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Aydin, Necati, 2013. "Redefining Islamic Economics as a New Economic Paradigm," Islamic Economic Studies, The Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), vol. 21, pages 1-34.
    4. Ahmed Mohammed, Abdullahi, 2023. "Essay on the Philosophy of Islamic Economics," MPRA Paper 119630, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 20 Dec 2023.
    5. Tarik AKIN & Abbas MIRAKHOR, 2016. "Efficiency with Rule-Compliance: A Contribution to the Theory of the Firm in Islamic Economics," Journal of Economics and Political Economy, KSP Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 560-574, September.
    6. Murat Çokgezen, 2016. "Islamic economics in real life: Do Muslims give more than the others?," Working Papers hal-01349872, HAL.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hirshleifer,Jack, 2001. "The Dark Side of the Force," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521009171.
    2. Hasan, Zubair, 2016. "Evolution of Islamic Economics:Definition, nature, methodology, problems and challenges," MPRA Paper 71858, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Mueller, Paul D., 2021. "Adam Smith on moral judgment: Why people tend to make better judgments within liberal institutions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 813-825.
    4. van Damme, Eric & Binmore, Kenneth G. & Roth, Alvin E. & Samuelson, Larry & Winter, Eyal & Bolton, Gary E. & Ockenfels, Axel & Dufwenberg, Martin & Kirchsteiger, Georg & Gneezy, Uri & Kocher, Martin G, 2014. "How Werner Güth's ultimatum game shaped our understanding of social behavior," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 292-318.
    5. Valentiny, Pál, 2018. "Coase-kép másképp: középpontban a közszolgáltatások [Coase otherwise: Public utilities]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(4), pages 346-381.
    6. Alvey, James E., 2004. "Context And Its Relevance For Adam Smith'S Theological And Teleological Views, The Foundation Of His System Of Thought," Discussion Papers 23715, Massey University, Department of Applied and International Economics.
    7. Alberto Mingardi, 2018. "Adam Smith and the Vocabulary of Liberty: Two Views," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 447-455, October.
    8. Kurz, Heinz D., 2008. "Innovations and profits: Schumpeter and the classical heritage," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 263-278, July.
    9. Jack Hirshleifer, 1978. "Natural Economy Versus Political Economy," UCLA Economics Working Papers 129, UCLA Department of Economics.
    10. Jack Vromen, 2007. "Neuroeconomics as a Natural Extension of Bioeconomics: The Shifting Scope of Standard Economic Theory," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 145-167, August.
    11. Petkantchin Valentin, 1996. "Adam Smith Et La Theorie Evolutionniste De L’Emergence Des Institutions," Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, De Gruyter, vol. 7(1), pages 1-30, March.
    12. Alvey, James E., 2004. "The Theological Foundation Of Adam Smith'S Work," Discussion Papers 23713, Massey University, Department of Applied and International Economics.
    13. Jack Hirshleifer, 1979. "Privacy: Its Origin, Funstion, and Future," UCLA Economics Working Papers 166, UCLA Department of Economics.
    14. Zubair HASAN, 2016. "Nature and Significance of Islamic Economics," Journal of Economic and Social Thought, KSP Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 400-416, September.
    15. Kevin L. Brown, 1991. "Comments on Long's “Taking Interests Seriouslyâ€," Rationality and Society, , vol. 3(4), pages 496-500, October.
    16. Anthony Brewer, 2009. "On the Other (Invisible) Hand..," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 41(3), pages 519-543, Fall.
    17. Jorge M. Streb & Gustavo Torrens, 2011. "Meaningful talk," CEMA Working Papers: Serie Documentos de Trabajo. 443, Universidad del CEMA, revised May 2017.
    18. Razeen Sally, 1997. "The Political Economy of Frank Knight: Classical Liberalism from Chicago," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 123-138, June.
    19. Rosemary Ann Frey & Lawrence Alfred Powell, 2009. "Protestant Work Ethic Endorsement and Social Justice Values in Developing and Developed Societies," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 21(1), pages 51-77, January.
    20. Jack Hirshleifer, 1984. "On the Emotions as Guarantors of Threats and Promises," UCLA Economics Working Papers 337, UCLA Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Scarcity; self-interest; maximization; Islamic Economics; israf; Shri'ah; heuristics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B10 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - General
    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate
    • B21 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Microeconomics
    • B13 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Neoclassical through 1925 (Austrian, Marshallian, Walrasian, Wicksellian)

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:29414. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.