Islamic Economics Workshop IV
The Islamic Economy Workshop IV was jointly organized by İLKE Ilim Cultural Education Association (ILEM) and the Economic Enterprise and Business Ethics Association of Turkey (İGİAD) under the title "Social Justice from Islamic Economic Perspective" on April 2-3, 2016.The workshop which was hosted by the Istanbul University’s Islamic Economics and Finance Department primarily addressed the concept of social justice and related issues from the perspective of Islamic economics.
It is worth noting that while the income inequality is increasing day by day, poverty has become a worldwide problem and amidst inhuman labor conditions, inadequate salaries, social insecurity and the existence of a disadvantaged labor market many governments have failed in producing efficient policy measures to counter these issues.
The features of capitalist politics that distance it from the social justice and its characteristics of the inequality that deepen every decade and prevent economic and social prosperity from reaching wide masses have been criticized for years by many Muslim scholars. These criticisms follow the claims that only an alternative theoretical and practical economic order mapped in the Islamic principles can provide social justice. The introductory work in Islamic Economics in 1960s was featured by great focus on the issue of social justice which unfortunately deviated towards an over financialization of the Islamic Economics discipline in the later years hence a need for its re-formation exists.
In this context, Islamic Economics Workshop IV aimed to carry out discussions dealing with the issues surrounding the title of social justice from the Islamic economics perspective. Thus, a collective study of how to bring together the academicians who work on all sides of the world to examine the causes of the current social and economic injustices in a realistic and profound way and how to construct the theoretical ground of Islamic principles based on principles and which alternative mechanisms to take was the main motivation behind this activity. In this framework, brief summaries focused on the following questions:
- The main causes and consequences of social injustice in today’s world
- Measures taken to ensure social justice at the global and local scale and their impact / success rate
- Social justice debates and prominent topics
- Contribution to Islamic economic perspectives on social justice debates
- How is social justice understood and practiced today in Muslim societies?
- The effects and results of economic policies applied in Muslim societies in terms of social justice
- How can social justice be addressed today with an Islamic perspective?
- Principles and mechanisms to provide social justice in the framework of Islamic economics
- Measures to remove class differences and income injustice by an economic system based on Islamic principles
- What kind of social justice can be established by the Zakat Institution, Interest’s prohibition, charity and its promotion, the prohibition of luxury and waste etc.?
- How can the principles and institutional qualities of Islamic economics exist in today's economic system?
- How should the dynamics of distribution and redistribution be structured for a fair economic life?
- What are the sources, causes and consequences of poverty that exist in Muslim geographies?
- How can struggle against poverty be handled from an Islamic perspective?
- What should be the parameters that determine taxation, social security and minimum wage policies in the context of Islamic economics?
- How are the reflections of development-based economic policies applied in Muslim societies in terms of social justice?
- As a social policy element, how should the labor market's regulations be realized?
- What kinds of solutions can be brought from the Islamic economic perspective to the debt crises that states nowadays are experiencing?