Abstract
he author‟s main purpose is to compile a bibliography of Islamic Economics
literature, both books and articles, published up to 1975 in three languages:
English, Arabic and Urdu. The book contains references to 700 works of over 400
authors on the subject. It is a prudent resource book for Islamic and Economics scholars
and students who are engaged in active research in the field. The author has
accomplished this enormous task because his own work experience of being a Professor
of Islamic Studies and Reader in Economics at Aligarh Muslim University, India makes a
perfect fit between the subject and his area of expertise.
The bibliography covers five main areas of Islamic Economics literature. The
first chapter provides references on the philosophy of Islamic Economics. The section on
Economic System of Islam provides literature references on the foundational principles
of Islamic Economics whereas the third section covers critique on the contemporary
economic theories of capitalism and Marxian-based Socialism. The main works on the
instruments of Islamic economics and history of economic thought development are
compiled in the next two chapters.
This work has five outstanding features. First of all it is one of a kind. Its
enormity and importance increases manifolds when the context in which it was compiled
is considered. One can well imagine how precious, useful and handy the collection would
have been for researchers in those times without computer search engines and e-libraries.
Secondly, the referencing scheme of the author is amazingly consistent and accurate. All
entries are arranged alphabetically according to authors‟ surname. All book references
mention the total number of pages and give an instant idea to the reader about how
voluminous the work is. Thirdly, the bibliographic entries cover English (37%), Arabic
(41%) and Urdu (22%) works. The tri-lingual resources of the book on this specific
subject enhance its effectiveness for the range of scholars using it. Fourthly, the book is
high on clarity and user-friendliness not only because of the consistency of referencing
methodology but also because of the Transliteration Scheme which greatly facilitates the
recognition of English, Arabic and Urdu alphabets. Last but not the least, both topics and
authors are easily locatable because the book presents them separately in the opening list
of contents and the closing index, respectively. The system of interlocking the page
numbers with entry numbers increases the ease with which topics and authors can be
tracked and accessed.
Muhammad Nejatullah Siddiqi. (2014) Contemporary Literature on Islamic Economics: A Select Classified Bibliography of Works in English, Arabic and Urdu up to 1975, Islamic Banking and Finance Review, Volume 1, Issue 1.
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