The Islamic alternative

The Islamic economic system is an alternative to the conventional banking system that was brought by Westerners to the Muslim world. The Muslim Ummah was powerful for numerous centuries, but it became infested with maladies and it is now in a weakened state. The author's presentation primarily deals with three topics: 1. What circumstances led to the thought to set up an Islamic banking alternative to the anti-shari`a conventional one; 2. The tenets and ideas of Islam that serve as the basis of its economic system; and 3. The means through which the ideology of Islamic economic behavior were transferred into action and practices. Discussion of the first topic contrasts the total freedom of man in conventional economics with the moral system of commitment to God. The second topic touches on God's ownership of all and humanity's role as God's viceregent. A discussion of the idea of wealth is also present. The system of inheritance and Islamic avoidance of damaging others are two i