Al-Daghistani Ethical Teachings of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali

Economics of Happiness
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-1-78527-532-6
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 176 Seiten, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 454 g

Reihe: Anthem Religion and Society Series

Al-Ghazali made seminal contributions to the field of ethical economic thought. Though he dedicated many chapters in his encyclopaedic Ihya’ Ulum al-Din (The Revival of Religious Sciences) to what he considered just and Shari‘a-based economic conduct in (Muslim) society, this specific aspect of his corpus has been largely overlooked in Western scholarship. This book aims to analyse and revive al-Ghazali’s little studied economic teachings by emphasizing his economic philosophy and its correlation between Shari‘a’s moral law and the tradition of tasawwuf, situating his thought within the context of modern economic theories. The scholarly ignorance of his economic contributions goes hand in hand with a claim made by several Western scholars (e.g., J. Schumpeter) that classical Islamic scholarship did not offer any significant development in the domain of economic thought in what was known in Europe as the Middle Ages—a claim that scholars like Ghazanfar and Islahi, attempted to refute. This book delves into an analysis of al-Ghazali’s theoretical accounts and his economic philosophy as part of his overall ethics of happiness, looking closely at select passages from his work in order to position them at the intersection of two domains within the framework of classical Islamic economic thought, namely tasawwuf or Sufi-mystical thought and Shari‘a law. This work does not assume that al-Ghazali anticipated modern trends of Western economics; however, by merging the necessity of kasb (acquisitions of wealth) and the importance of zuhd (renunciation of the worldly endeavours) as equal components in the context of the science of the hereafer (‘ilm tariq al-akhira), he presented the culmination of ethical economic thought in classical Islamic tradition, influencing later Muslim scholars. Hence, in this rather specific reading of al-Ghazali’s economic philosophy, he conceived of an economic analysis that was founded upon ethical teachings, an endeavor that should be ultimately regarded as a technology of self-examination.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Al-Daghistani, Sami

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Geschichte des Islam
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Finanzsektor & Finanzdienstleistungen Finanzsektor & Finanzdienstleistungen: Allgemeines
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam & Islamische Studien

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction; 1. Abu Hamid al-Ghazali – between Politics, Philosophy, and Sufism; 2. History of Islamic Economic Thought; 3. Al-Ghazali’s Economic Teachings and the Science of the Hereafter ('ilm al-akhira); 4. Classical Economics and its Worldviews; 5. Contemporary Debates – al-Ghazali and Modern Economics; Conclusion: Conundrum of Ethics in Economics – a Feasible Possibility or Vain Attempt?; Appendix 1: Historical Development of Some of the Most Prominent Classical Islamic Scholars on Economic Thought; Appendix 2: Selected quotations of al-Ghazali’s Economic Teachings in the English Language; Bibliography; Index.

Über Autor(innen)

Sami Al-Daghistani is a postdoctoral fellow at the Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society in Oslo and an associate faculty member at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research in New York. He is also a research scholar in the Middle East Institute at Columbia University.