Islam is characterized and distinguished form the other great religions of the world in that it is not merely a religious system but a practical and effective system of life as well, complete in every detail, with the political, social and economic aspects, all provided for. However I will confine my discussion to the system of economy given by Islam.
Economics is universally regarded as a science and has been progressively built up by various nations during the past centuries Aryans, Jews, Greeks and Romans have also contributed to the world history with their economic expressions. If economics is also to remain in the sphere of religion, it is because the intention thereby is to build the economy of a country and regulate its economics affairs on an ethical basis, which would prevent the occurrence of injustice and perpetuate a state of affairs where there will be equal opportunities and rewards for all, workers as well as employers. Economic historians covered only the history of Christian Europe, but not of the contemporary Muslim world.
The Muslim economic ideas aretraced out from three main sources:.
1. Quran.
2. The post Quranic, early religious Muslim literature .
3. Books treating economics a separate discipline.
The Quran pays serious attention to economic aspect of life. It emphasizes on economic prosperity and social integrity. The Quran orders for the exploitation of all natural resources for the benefit of man, the provision of essential requirements to every living soul, the efforts for improving living standard of masses, the undertaking of public welfare works and the distribution of purchasing power among the needy. .
The sane and far sighted of the Muslim scholars fully realize that Islam offers a solution to all economic problems; but unfortunately the vested interest among the Muslims themselves do not allow a true application of the Islamic economic principles. The problems of the Capitalist economic systems of the West flow mainly from the absence of the ethical element in economic dealings.