Role of the State in the Economy (An Islamic Perspective)

Set against a background of collapsing state-managed economies, Muhammad Nejatullah Siddiqi argues against an exclusive reliance on the market and for Islam's moderate alternative. Islam orients economic agents toward ethical conduct and socially responsible behavior. Within a framework of essential freedoms, the potential of state intervention to ameliorate moral and market failure is explored. The internalization of moral values and social concern, however, minimizes the need for state intervention, which retains a place within the Islamic system.

Table of Contents:
Foreword
Preface
Chapter One: Guarantee of a Minimum Level of Living in an Islamic State
Chapter Two: Public Expenditure in an Islamic State
Chapter Three: Public Borrowing in Early Islamic History
Chapter Four: The International Economic Relations in Islam
Chapter Five: Role of the Voluntary Sector in Islam. A Conceptual Framework

Muhammad Nejatullah Siddiqi was a professor of Islamic Economics at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, and was winner of the King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies in 1982.