Author: Christopher Houghton Budd
Pages: 20
Originally published 1986

Originally written in the 1980s, this paper compares Islamic economics with modern capitalism. It looks first at key aspects of Islamic economic life, passing from Koranic doctrines, through points of principle to technical arrangements. Particular attention is paid to riba or the avoidance of interest. It then considers in what way western capitalism differs or has equivalence. Attention is drawn to participatory banking and the social responsibility of the entrepreneur. The paper ends with two questions of an ethical nature – can Islamic economics be adopted by non-Moslems? And can capitalism learn lessons in morality from Koranic tenets?