Economic Welfare from Islamic Perspective

Abstract:     
As suggested by its title, this paper looks at the subject of economic welfare from the perspectives of Islam. It starts with the definition of economic welfare, and clarifies how this subject is different from “welfare economics.” It further explains that economic welfare means how well people are doing in the economy. And, the Islamic vision is to have a just socio-economic order for society. Using the Quran and Hadith as its main references, three aspects of economic welfare, namely, Eradication of poverty, Equitable distribution of wealth and Environment, are put forward. On the mainstream positions of economic welfare, the paper deduce that the proportion of a nation’s wealth that goes to labour should be the basis of economic welfare, but, the over emphasis on GDP by mainstream economists is not justified. In conclusion, the paper stressed that it is NOT about how-to-achieve the vision but an elaboration of the Islamic positions regarding the well-being of society.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 22

Keywords: Economic welfare, Islamic economics, Poverty eradication, Distributive justice, Sustainable development

JEL Classification: D60, D31, I30, P40

working papers series