In its bid to provide a sound, healthy and balanced orientation to human life, Islam accords rightful importance to all aspects of human activity including the economic. Significantly enough, Islam exhibits no trace of that unwarranted spiritual exuberance that would prompt it to look upon wealth contemptuously as too profane to deserve its due attention. On the contrary, it declares that God has made wealth a support for men (Qur’an 4:5), which clearly reflects Islam’s recognition of the importance of economic resources for man’s well-being.

The present book is addressed to the needs of the economists who are interested in having access to the guidelines that the Qur’an can offer them in the field of their concerns. Since a majority of economists is not proficient in Arabic, it is hoped that the present work, being in English, will be of substantial help to them. While preparing this work the author has kept in view the major economic subjects and their sub-classifications. He also attempted to derive and identify not only the essential economic principles expounded in the Qur’an, but also the norms of economic behavior and the principles that could guide and regulate the functioning of economic institutions in an Islamic state.