islamic economic renaissance 373book is instructive and educational to those wanting to learn about
the subject in a comprehensive and integrated manner. Mannan
helped the reader to avoid distraction in having to consult fragmented
topics in different sources, and, instead, provided him/her with a
comprehensive book of learning. Written in the form of a textbook,
Mannan’s Islamic Economics, which is a valuable early addition to
the literature, covers almost all aspects of the economics of Islam
including some comparison with capitalist economics (Khan, 1983).
Turning our attention to the ethical values in Islamic economics,
we find that Islamic economists stress that in contrast to other eco-
nomic systems, ethical values are embedded in Islamic economics.
These values are rooted in Islamic philosophy on which Islamic eco-
nomics is based, in such a way that makes it impossible to build an
Islamic economic model, or to envisage Islamic economics, on a
value-neutral premise. Islamic economists and Sharì"ah scholars agree
on this with no exception.
Naqvi is among those Islamic economists who took the point fur-
ther with a focused deliberation. In his “Ethics and Economics: an
Islamic Synthesis”, having stated that the key to a thorough under-
standing of the originality of Islamic economics lies in its ethical value
system, he elaborates on the issue by reiterating that Islamic ethical
philosophy is based on four main axioms: Unity, Equilibrium, Free
Will and Responsibility (Naqvi, 1981). Unity, which in an absolute
concept refers to the unity of God, reflects that man’s life on earth
is, or is perceived to be, well integrated in its entirety in a complete
coordination between the universe, life on earth and man as being
amalgamated in one unit. Equilibrium, which is inferred as justice
or al"Adl, requires that within its homogenous whole which life is in
an Islamic perspective, its various elements must be equilibrated to
produce the best social order. But the Islamic equilibrium, or social
harmony, is not so much a static property in the sense of a plea for
the status quo, as a dynamic quality releasing powerful forces against
evil (ibid.). Also, equilibrium, we are told to note, carries with it
definite normative underpinnings since on the plane of social exis-
tence, it denotes a binding moral commitment of the individuals in
any society to uphold a delicate balance in all aspects of their lives.
Furthermore, Islam not only emphasises the fact of equilibrium, but
also insists on the quality of equilibrium that “represents a first-best
conglomeration of natural and social forces to reproduce in human
life that harmony which already exists in nature” (ibid.).