Morality and Justice in Islamic Economics and Finance (Studies in Islamic Finance, Accounting and Governance series)

Umer Chapra (born 1933) formerly of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency and presently of the Islamic Development Bank, is both a Pakistani and Saudi citizen. Being a graduate from Minnesota University (Minneapolis) he is well known among Muslims worldwide for his precious literary output, including Towards a Just Monetary System (1985), Islam and the Economic Challenge (1992), The Future of Economics: An Islamic Perspective (2000), and Muslim Civilization: The Causes of Decline and the Need for Reform (2008). All these titles are enormously important contributions to the image of Islam, refuting the widespread popular assumption that Islam is hopelessly behind in most aspects of modern civilization. The book under review virtually launches Islamic economics as a science at par with Western efforts in this field. What distinguishes it from capitalist and socialist contributions is its commitment to ethics and also its readiness to question Muslim claims of economic/financial competence and progress. Central to the author is the realization that the promotion of justice must carry significant weight in the utilization of a bank’s resources since, otherwise, it may not be possible to make a mean-influx contribution towards the goal of removing hunger, poverty, unemployment, and disease. (p. vii) However, Chapra is not optimistic. He clearly sees the damage done by gambling, speculation, and the production of weapons of mass destruction, luxury goods and status symbols. In other words, the author knows his people and their moral decline over the centuries, due to the lack of proper education, political illegitimacy, and misuse of resources, foreign occupation, and the pursuit of inappropriate policies. In fact, he deplores the Muslims’ failure to become a blessing for mankind, or at least for themselves. (p. 2)