The Effect of Scarcity Thinking on Human Wants Among Muslims: The Case of Malaysia

Mainstream economics postulates the concept of scarcity as the defining concept in economics while heterodox economics denies the proposition of scarcity. In contrast, there is no clear stand among Islamic economists towards the concept of scarcity. This paper explores concept of scarcity ideologically and examines empirically the effect of scarcity thinking on human wants. The concept of scarcity is one of the unresolved issues in Islamic economics. Conceptually, this paper aims to explore and uncover the ideological basis of the concept of scarcity in the writings of Malthus and Robbins with reference to the Islamic perspective. In so doing, analysis of texts was performed. In contrast to positivism that relies on sensible observation, this paper attempts to analyze the concept of scarcity and abundance from the perspectives of critical realism.