Modelling the economic growth of an Islamic economy

The author presents as a model for Islamic economies the city of Madinah--one in which there was much expansion both during and after the life of the Prophet. In an Islamic economy, growth is not the ultimate goal--rather it is the means by which a total improvement in the people's lives may be achieved. A central hypothesis behind the paper is that economic growth in an Islamic economy depends on both physical factors and spiritual factors. The moral factor the author concentrates on is the bounty of God (fadl Allah) and its influence on the society through institutions such as the mosque and the government. He also looks at this factor vis-a-vis the society's level of taqwa (God-consciousness). The analysis is based on theory, for statistics that might be used for comparison are not available. The author uses al-Qur'an and the sunna to support his logic. His investigation demonstrates that moral factors make a positive contribution to both income and output growth. The study