First Principles of Islamic Economics

Abul A'la Mawdudi (1903 - 1979), one of the leading Muslim intellectuals of the twentieth century, laid down the foundations of modern Islamic economics. Drawing upon Islamic sources, Mawdudi spelled out major elements of a new paradigm for economic analysis and policy, wherein economic pursuits take place in the context of moral values and directed towards achievement of personal and social objectives. Integral to this approach is the concept of non-usury which attempts to make efficiency and equity inseparable and interdependent. In an Islamic framework creation and distribution of wealth become instrumental in promoting individual and social well-being, opening up pathways to development, social justice and human welfare. This comprehensive anthology is an essential introduction to Islamic Economics.

Khurshid Ahmad, who edited the Urdu original, Ma'ashiyat-i-Islam, has contributed a substantial new Foreword to this authoritative English Translation by Shafaq Hashemi.

'Islamic economics in a modern setting has developed reapidly over recent decades. At the very foundation of this is the work of Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi which is gathered together in this book. It establishes the major tenets of the economics of Islam from its original historical and religious sources. This is an important text for all serious scholars of the subject." - John Presley, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Loughborough University, recipient of the Islamic Development Bank Prize in Islamic Finance (2002).


About Sayyid Abul A'la Al-Mawdudui (1903-1979)

Sayyid Abul A'la Al-Mawdudui, one of the chief architects of contemporary Islamic resurgence, was the an outstanding Islamic thinker and writer of his time. He devoted his life to expound the meaning and message of Islam and to organise a collective movement to establish the Islamic Order. In this struggle, he had to pass through all kinds of sufferings.

Between 1948-67, he spent a total of five years in different prisons of Pakistan. In 1953, he was also sentenced to death by a Martial Law court for writing a 'seditious' pamphlet, this sentence being later commuted to life imprisonment. In 1941, he founded Jama'at-I Islami, of which he remained Amir, until 1972 and which is one of the most prominent Islamic movements of our day. He authored more than one hundred works on Islam, both scholarly and popular, and his writings have been translated into forty languages.