Mawlana Mawdudi and the genesis of Islamic economics

Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Mawdudi (1903 - 1979) is credited with being the founder of Islamic Economics, and having developed the idea of an Islamic Economic System. This paper investigates and finds little support for this claim. Moreover, it suggests that these claims not only strain the evidence available, but they also distort Mawlana Mawdudi’s thoughts, and add little either to his formidable stature as one of the most influential Muslim leaders of the twentieth century, or to the dignity of Islam.