The Role of Values and Ethics in the Islamic Economy, by Dr Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī, is the third book sponsored by Maybank Islamic Berhad with the intent of helping English-speaking Muslims and non-Muslims understand the Islamic view on issues related to economics. The Muslim world continues to grapple with the effects of five centuries of colonial incursions on its lands, a process that has thoroughly reshaped Muslim economies, Muslim minds and Muslim behaviour. In this book, Sheikh al-Qaraḍāwī provides a ‘map’ to help Muslims effectively cope with the situation in which they find themselves. He clarifies that Islam provides a middle path between ascetic denial of the world and the idea that ‘whoever dies with the most toys wins.’ This world is an arena prepared by God as a testing ground for an eternal afterlife. Allah placed all kinds of resources in it with the expectation that human beings will use them to develop this temporary abode. The issue is: by what means, and for what purpose? Sheikh al-Qaraḍāwī sets out to systematically answer these two questions by discussing what makes Islamic economics unique; the impact of values and ethics on production, consumption and distribution; and the role of the state in the Islamic economy.
