DIALOGUE
in
ISLAMIC ECONOMICS
Dr. Muhammad Nejatullah Siddiqi
0382 A
DOL
Institute of Policy Studies The Islamic Foundation
C 2002 All Rights Reserved
Institute of Policy Studies, & The Islamic Foundation
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.
Title:
Dialogue in Islamic Economics Dr.
Author:
ISBN:
Publishers:
Muhammad Nejatullah Siddiqi
969-448-074-4
Institute of Policy Studies
Block 19, Markaz F-7, Islamabad,
Ph: 2650971-3, Fax: 051-2650704 Website: www.ips.org.pk
The Islamic Foundation
Ratby Lane, Markfield,
Leicester LE67 9SY,
United Kingdom
Website: www.islamic-foundation.org.uk
Printers:
The Message, Lahore.
Price: Rs 350
Preface
Islamic Economics is a nascent yet developing discipline. My dear brother and colleague Dr. Muhammad Nejatullah Siddiqi is one of the pioneers and key architects of this important and global intellectual movement. Sayyed Abul A’ala Mawdudi and Sayyed Baqar Sadre can be described as the founding fathers of this new discipline, who initiated the process of developing, refining and more importantly consolidating the thoughts and contributions of a distinguished legion of Ulema, scholars and fuqaha, into a body of systemized knowledge, representing a transition from what can be called ‘collection of the economic teachings of Islam’ towards what can rightly be described as a new social discipline: the Islamic Economics.
But the formal development of this new discipline and its present status owe much to the work of professional economists like Dr Anwar Iqbal Qureshi, Dr Mahmud Abu Saud, Dr Abdul Hamid Abu Sulaiyman, Dr Ahmad al-Naggar, Dr Nejatullah Siddiqi, Dr Mohammed Umer Chapra, Dr Ziauddin Ahmad, Sheikh Mahmud Ahmad, Dr Muhammad Umar Zubair, Dr Monzar Kahaf, Dr Anas Zarqa, Dr Abdul Hameed Brahimi, Dr Munawar Iqbal, Dr Fahim Khan, to name a few prominent ones. They have played an important role in developing this discipline, so much so that now it is making its imprint on all the major fields of teaching, research, and application in economy and finance.
Literature on Islamic economics is now a constant flow – what however was lacking was a peep behind the scene: some glimpses of what has been going on behind the facade of writings and conferences. This unceasing stream of discussions, reflections and controversies,
which never appear in print, goes to make up the substrata of thought from which formal presentations emerge.
Letters are one such source, which encapsule some of this rich realm. Dr Nejatullah Siddiqi has been perceptive enough to preserve at least some of that wealth. A volume of such material has appeared in Urdu: Islam, Ma ‘ashyat aur Adah* (Islam, Economics and Literature). Now we have the pleasure of offering a collection of letters to him and by him dealing with aspects of Islam and economics. It is a valuable resource, unique because of its openness, frank exchanges, arguments and counter-arguments, sober agreements and somber disagreements. We have called it “Dialogues in Islamic Economics”. I, only hope many more of such dialogues could see the light of the day.
I am sure these intellectual encounters will be read with pleasure and insight.
Islamabad
Prof. Khurshid Ahmad
November 22, 2002
* Printed by Educational Book House, Muslim University Market, Aligarh, UP. India, August 2000
