Neither is religious faith an alternative to scientific knowledge, nor is scientific knowledge an alternative to religious faith. H. Gürak Introduction The main purpose of the three monotheistic religions based upon their ethical teachings is to provide guidelines for the individual and the community to keep them from committing sins and to regulate their behavior in accordance with their holy values in such a way that they will eventually achieve a better life in the hereafter. Islam, too, demands that its believers have faith in only one God (Allah) and live according to the tenets of Islam. In an Islamic society, it is ethics that dominates and determines all its behavior, including its economic behavior. Every individual has certain rights as well as duties to fulfill as ordained by Islamic tenets. These individual rights and duties ought not to be neglected under any circumstances. For example, how an individual is expected to behave in his daily life, or what conditions have to be taken into consideration in trading activities, or which items are Halal, (permissible), or Haram, (prohibited), amongst other things, are in many cases predetermined and described in detail in Islam s holy book, The Koran. If the Koran does not express any instructions with regard to any societal event, then reference is made to a secondary source; the Sunnah, which is a compilation of the sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad. If it is the case that no ruling or explanation can be found in the Koran or in the Sunnah, a third source is invoked. These are the rulings, judgments or explanations of the Ulama. This is a body of religious judges who are experts on the Islamic body of law, the Sharia. The conclusions arrived at in this way are referred to as Ijtihad, which are new Islamic man-made rulings or explanations based on the consensus of opinion amongst these Islamic judges. It is no surprise that such man-made laws could display a wide range of opinions based on the specific sectarian beliefs of the judges. 13
Another type of man-made law is called Ijma which implies the consensus of all Islamic judges on the rightness of a belief or practice, as distinct from the Ijtihad which obviously displays a sectarian bias. According to a 15th century Turkish (Ottoman) religious leader Molla Hüsrev: The condition of ijma is that the mujtahideen living in the same century must unanimously agree An ijma bearing the necessary condition implies knowledge (science) and those who reject it shall be accused of blasphemy. (Koca; 2008; 150). After the period of the four Caliphs (Abu-Bakr, Omar, Usman and Ali), the Islamic scholars, or to be more specific, the Islamic judges have had a highly influential and authoritarian role in the lives of Muslims. For centuries they determined, to significant extent, the daily practices as well as any potential future developments. One of the main reasons for this was the need to expound the verses in Koran and the Sunnahs of the Prophet to people who were largely uneducated. Another reason was the need to guide the people in accordance with Islamic principles when there was no reference to a specific case in the Koran or the Sunnah. The latter reason is of significant importance because as mankind climbs the developmental ladder exposure to an ever increasing pool of global knowledge, many previously unknown problems arose which needed to be resolved in line with Islamic principles. Under such circumstances, the faithful Muslim s primarily source of consultation has been the Islamic judges. It would be unrealistic to assume that all the opinions, interpretations or rulings of the Islamic judges have been perfect, especially on economic matters. That is simply because; they frequently did not possess the required qualifications on these matters. In fact, even if they had the required qualifications, their interpretations, comments, and opinions would in all likelihood have been essentially different due to their subjective perception of matters not directly referred to in the Koran or Sunnahs. On the State of Knowledge Unfortunately the average level of qualifications of the labor force and the global competitive level of enterprises in the Islamic countries lags far behind contemporary standards in terms of their knowledge of the patenting of new ideas in the areas of technology and science. In the last four centuries, most of the scientific and technological advances have taken place in non-islamic countries. It does not appear that this trend is likely to change in the near future. But once upon a time, the Islamic countries and their scholars were superior to their Western 14
counterparts in science and technology. The Western Christian countries successfully transferred massive scientific and technological knowledge from Islamic countries and then developed this knowledge further. Thus, the scientific and technological development of the Western countries owes a significant debt to the scholars of Islam. So, what prevented the Islamic countries and their scholars from further advancing the science and technology they possessed? Did they lose their mental skills and talents? Of course they didn t! The Islamic countries and their scholars did not lose their mental skills or talents. But they did not do, or could not do, what was necessary in order to further develop this knowledge due to the circumstances at the time. Or, at least, they weren t as successful as the Western world in their efforts to further develop the existing science and technology. The most significant and influential factor in this lack of development was the structure of the education system in Islamic countries. If they could have provided a successful educational system encouraging development in the positive sciences and technology, the process of development and the present situation of Islamic countries would have been a lot different from what it is today 1. Islamic scholars, the labor force and the ordinary people would be better endowed with the proper knowledge to follow the most recent scientific and technological developments, which in turn would lead to the creation of new technologies or the discovery of new facts in the positive sciences. At least, the development gap between the Western Christian countries and the Islamic countries would be narrower that it is today. Until recently, the educational system in the Medrese (the Islamic school) was based predominantly on the teaching of the tenets of Islam. Non-religious education was ignored. Being a good Muslim was the primary if not, the only, goal of the Islamic education system for centuries. Some weak attempts to challenge this approach were not successful. Ihsanoglu states with regard to the scientific and technological development during the 600 years of the Turkish Ottoman Empire; the Western idea of controlling nature through science and technology was unknown for the Ottoman scholars because of their convictions based on Islam. (Ihsanoğlu; 1996; 28). Word was that; new inventions were prohibited 2. 1 For a detailed analysis of the role of knowledge in development see H.Gürak, 2012, Economics. 2 Original version in Turkish: Nev icat haramdır. 15
In the past, Islamic scholars once had a multi-dimensional education system and the natural sciences such as physics and astronomy were considered as a part of the Philosophical thinking and teaching curriculum in the Medrese. But, due to religious ideological differences among Islamic scholars, a strong opposition emerged against the philosophical subjects. As time passed, these opponents gained ground and eventually the study of philosophy became an undesired subject in the Medrese education system. For example, about 1,000 years ago, the positive science subjects such as physics, chemistry and astronomy were the favored subjects in the philosophical thinking curriculum. Islamic philosophers of the time had a great interest in these subjects and developed many original ideas which made a serious contribution to the further development of science. But, as time passed the attitude towards philosophy and the philosophers changed and some Islamic scholars began to criticize these philosophers relentlessly. This negative attitude grew rapidly gaining support from rulers who preferred to have loyal and totally obedient subjects. After all, the ruler was considered as a person chosen by Allah and Allah must be obeyed totally! So must his regents on earth! The thoughts of the well-known Turkish philosopher İbn Sina (known as Avicenna in the West) were denounced as an enemy of Islam and he himself was named an infidel by these opponents of philosophy who harshly criticized and unfairly judged him (Boer; 1960; 111-112). According to one opponent s remarks: It is useful that a man works on Fiqh the Islamic law which is his nurture. But, philosophy could be a fatal poison; because the man would be open to doubt and might easily lose faith. (Boer; 1960; 111-112). It is said that: (What) Sharia stands for is prerogative, while philosophy which opposes it, stands for superstition (Bolay; 1993; 24). These anti-philosophy centered Islamic scholars actually prevented the development of; philosophical and speculative thought under the guidance of (a) free and liberal intellect (Sayar; 2009; 69). As a consequence, the opportunity of catching up with the contemporary developments in secular scientific areas was hindered. 16
On the Creative Mental Skills of Man All the arguments, definitions, comments and criticism in this book are the subjective views of the author. They are definitely not divine revelations or perfect views; therefore they are bound to be imperfect and contain some shortcomings. Thus they are open to all kinds of criticism. As a matter of fact, everybody searching for alternative approaches to conventional issues and who aims to contribute to the emergence of a new paradigm is liable to criticism, some of which is expected to be relentless and some constructive. This is an inevitable outcome of daring to buck the system. Therefore, it is imperative that the reader keep an open-mind and a tolerant viewpoint in order for him or her to make a fair and unbiased judgment on the unconventional views presented. After all, the author is using the mental abilities granted by the Creator, these are human qualities which by their very nature cannot be perfect. My sole purpose in this book is an attempt to look into the issues but not to denigrate the sources from which they came. Let s analyze the concept of an Allah given mental ability. It is widely acknowledged that the only way human beings can to develop new ideas is making use of their mental abilities. For the faithful, these mental abilities are granted by the Creator and their quality and extent varies from individual to individual. During the historical process, mankind has developed countless new ideas by utilizing this mental ability. The degree of utilization is reflected in the development level of societies. Some countries are intellectually poorer, and some richer. Many new ideas are opposed by the status quo; sometimes indulgently, sometimes relentlessly, as in the case of Galileo. But the opposition can change over time. In fact, it frequently does and even takes on a complimentary form. Being open-minded and tolerant to new ideas is not only ethical but, is in fact, a human virtue. New ideas may not always produce desirable results or they may be incorrect or inadequate. No matter how it originates, a new idea makes some impact on society and paves the way for further development or lead to other new ideas. For example, if there was no contribution from the relatively less knowledgeable astronomers in the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries, Galileo or Newton would not have had a pool of knowledge to draw on and build their more sophisticated theories. If there was no relatively less developed contributions by Newton, then there would not be the more sophisticated ideas of Einstein. A similar logic is applicable to all disciplines. For example, if there was no contributions by the relatively less knowledgeable economists like Ibn Haldun and others, A. Smith and D. Ricardo would not have been able to further develop their ideas on economics. 17
On the New Knowledge on Economics Creating new ideas is an ability not granted to any other creature but man. Since man is created by Allah as his vicegerent on earth superior to all other creatures due to his distinctive mental abilities, there should be no problem with using these Allah-given abilities. In fact, we can take a step further and suggest that man has to use his distinctive Allah-given mental abilities, as the vicegerent of Allah. From this perspective, having a say on worldly matters is not the privilege of one individual or a group of individuals, whether it be on scientific or metaphysical matters. It is the privilege of all men; having new ideas about Islamic economics is no exception. So, any man endowed with the mental ability and appropriate background may develop new and/or alternative ideas in the field of Islamic economics on matters not clearly specified in the Koran or in Hadith. Since the knowledge developed by man is not the absolute truth, all kinds of conventional ideas, including those on Islamic economics, should be open to criticism and revaluation. After all, we know that the more we learn about the things around us, the more we realize how little we really know! The Prophet is once reported to have said; one should not hesitate even going to China to learn new knowledge. Taking into account the transportation facilities of that time and the distances involved, the importance of learning could not have been put more clearly. Therefore, Muslims have to be open- minded and encourage the development of new ideas in any scientific field. The Content and the Method It is important for the non-muslim world to understand Islamic economics for many reasons. For example, Islamic economists claim that Islamic economic system differs essentially and radically from any other system; it is neither capitalistic as practiced in the Western countries nor is it socialistic. The Suras of the Holy Koran emerges as the principle source of all economic behavior and practices which are subject to the commands of Allah as they are stated in Koran. A faithful Muslim has no choice but to live according to Koran s principles. The purpose of the book is to discuss the main concepts and theoretical foundations of the so called Islamic economics. The study will attempt to outline the major features of Islamic economics which are claimed to be different from the so called Western economics. Since Islam is a universal religion, I had expected to find universal Islamic scientific economic theories which would apply universally. However, to my 18
surprise, there were no such economic theories. In fact, there was not even a theory about interest, the most frequently cited subject in the Islamic economic system. This seemed to be a serious omission. In the absence of Islamic scientific economic theories developed by the Islamic economists, there was no choice but to change the purpose and the method of study. The new purpose is to evaluate the present condition of Islamic economics in terms of existing scientific economic theories and to present some un-traditional analyses and new approaches. To serve this purpose, the first three chapters are designed to evaluate and discuss the present scientific state of Islamic economics and make, now and then, some references or comparisons to Western economic theories. In other words, the first three chapters are concerned with the scientific economic theories, analysis and comments. In the fourth section, an alternative value-price theory is introduced which is different from the mainstream blackboard doctrines but in compliance with Islamic values and principles. Its content was published before in a slightly different form without making any reference to Islamic values or principles. In this section, there are somewhat minor differences but essentially the analysis is the same. The purpose is to contribute to the development of an Islamic value-price theory which is the basis of all economic theories. The fifth section concerns trade activities (domestic and global). It we know the Prophet had made his living by trade before the time of his Divine Revelation by the Angel Gabriel. But surprisingly, there has not been any scientific trade theory developed by Islamic economists displaying the pros and cons of trade for Muslims or non-muslims. Maybe some economists take this omission into consideration and start building alternative and globally valid Islamic trade theories. The sixth section discusses the most frequently cited subject in Islamic economics; the interest. In this section interest (or surplus or additional payment ) is evaluated from the perspective of earned income in conjunction with the labor effort and risk assumed in the supply of goods or services. The principle sources of reference for this study, as in all Islamic economic studies, are firstly, the Holy Book, the Koran and secondly, the Sunnah (the sayings and practices of the Prophet). However, since our subject matter is scientific economics and neither Koran nor the Sunnah are scientific economic textbooks, we made an effort to present some different arguments by using Allah s gift to mankind; our mental abilities. Our purpose is to make a humble contribution to the further development of Islamic scientific economics. 19