ISLAMIC ECONOMICS a Sufi approach

Professor Robin Matthews

May 28th

Robindcmatthews.com

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Islamic economics

• Islamic economics does not separate spiritual an material concerns unlike current economics

• Interest (riba/usury); over emphasised in discussion of Islamic economics

• Concern of Islamic economics with welfare, reducing poverty and inequality, good governance and Zakat is under emphasised.

• Islam discourages extravigance and consumerism

• Similar concerns in conventional (liberal) economics .

• Risk sharing a principle of Islamic economics has important implications for avoidance of recurrent financial crises and systemic risk

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Contrast and resemblance: Islamic and conventional economics

• Both have a variety of concerns and definitions.

• Similar concerns with welfare, alleviation of poverty, inequality and good governance in business.

• Zakat (levied at 2.5% of wealth): obligatory care, compassion and empathy distinguishes Islamic economics.

• Dissatisfaction with both: Islam as the Other much conventional economics soul-less

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Zakat, a pillar of Islam: care compassion and empathy are obligatory. A distinct feature of Islamic economic systems.

5 Pillars of Islam

• 1. Shahadah: there is no God but God, and Muhammad is His Messenger

• 2. Salat: prayer five times a day

• 3. Zakat: 2.5% of wealth to the poor and needy

• 4. Sawm: fasting during the month of Ramadan

• 5. Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca at least once if he or she has sufficient resources to do so

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Contrast and resemblance illustrated

• No separation between the spiritual and the material

• Variety of concerns and definitions

• Fear of Islam

• Separation

• Various concerns and definitions

• Disatisfaction

Islamic Conventional

Concern with welfare poverty inequality governance 5/28/2014 5 robindcmatthews.com

Sufi economics

• Hypothesis of Sufism: Unity of Being: material and spiritual worlds/spheres are not separate.

• This hypothesis is the basis of Sufi economics

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The idea of Spheres of Being is not uncommon

• General illustrations of spheres of Being

– Probability theory – the Unconscious: Freud – Correspondences: Swedenbourg – Synchronicity: Jung

• Sufism: Ibn Arabi and contemporary sources • Statistical mechanics:

– Koch Tonini consciousness as integrated information, – relative entropy Kullback-Leiber divergence

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S

possibility

EVENTS IN SPACE TIME

potential

the source

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SPHERES OF BEING AND PROBABILITY

Every Sphere of Being has its own grammar(s)

Reality inter-mediated by grammar

Dreams within dreams

Tradition of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) “People are asleep: only when they die do they awake”

The tradition “ we receive the truth at the moment of death And think it false since it is expressed in a religion or belief/unbelief system that is different from our own”

The chikhai Bardo “At the moment of death The dead see reality Before succumbing to Karmic illusion”

Sufi injunction “die before you die

Sufi economics; Unity of Being

• Hypothesis: “Sufism (Islamic mysticism) predates and

transcends Islam.”

• Many (including some of my teachers) would disagree.

• Sufism is part of the Perennial Philosophy. “There are many (perhaps infinitely many) Spheres

of Being that are not separate:

Unity of Being”

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Interest (riba) free banking

• Riba as usury.

• Perhaps in early Islam zero real and money interest rates were optimal.

– Zero or near zero growth

– Mainly barter economies

– Zero inflation

• Zero interest rates and a fee to savers for deferring consumption/excess.

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Risk sharing in Islamic economics

• Risk sharing: the investor/financial institution – does not take all the risk of a project (this would

stifle investment)

– nor all the none of the risk (this is prohibited)

• Risk sharing may avoid both – recurrent financial crises in capitalism

– systemic risk

• The principle of risk sharing offers a simple approach to financial regulation

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Unity of Being: the real distinction between Islamic and Sufi economics

• In Islamic economics: the spiritual and material are not separated.

• Sufi economics; existence of many CONNECTED spheres of Being including the material sphere.

• Spheres of Being and distinct in having different grammars.

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Names Archetypes

S*

S

EVENTS IN

SPACE- TIME

SPHERES OF BEING (perhaps infinite)

SOURCE

DHAT

Ω MYSTERY

UNITY

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Spheres of Being and grammar

• There are many (perhaps infinitely many) spheres of Being each distinguished by distinct grammar(s).

• Spiritual texts (the Koran, Talmud, Bible) are often literally true but they move between grammars (and Spheres of Being)

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GRAMMAR IN THE MATERIAL SPHERES

• grammar • describes the rules that operate in

societies/organizations/institutions

• includes explicit, and implicit laws, regulations, traditions, cultures and mind sets external and internal to an organization.

• enables us to make sense of organizations

• introduces order (organization)

• is reflected in artefacts

Introduces structure/organization

Establish meaning/sense making

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The sphere of Essence (dhat); non manifestation

(al-ghayb al-mutaq); the Mystery of Mysteries

The sphere of Attributes and the Names; the

Presence of Divinity (ulihiyah)

The sphere of Actions; the Presence of Lordship

(rububiyah)

The sphere of Images (amthal) and Imagination

(khayal)

The sphere of the senses and experience

(mushahadah)

SPHERES of BEING: Ibn Arabi, the sufi

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EXPLANATION/MAKING SENSE

DECONSTRUCTION/TAJJALI

PURE DATA SPHERES OF BEING GRAMMAR

DHAT UNITY

Ω

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Some expressions

• Zikr/Dhikr Meditation silent or out-loud, alone or in groups: (mantric) repetitions of the Names of God

• Dhat/Zhat Absolute Unity of Being • Tariqa A chronological line of Sufi teachers • Jihad Largely the struggle with ones own ego, greed

and agression • Barakat Absolute peace and blessings • Sufi/Sufism Mystical Islam • Riba/Usury/Interest • Shahada ‘There is no God but God’