The Islamic Economic Index

In a recent study conducted by Scheherazade S. Rehman and Hossein Askari, two professors at George Washington University, an estimation of the degree of Islamicity of the economies of 208 countries worldwide has been made, and its thought-provoking results are quite noteworthy. Using a specific methodology that categorizes the economic activities of different countries and extracts economic teachings from religious sources, the two have created an index called the Economic Islamicity Index, and based on this index, they have evaluated the ranking of the countries under study in terms of their proximity to Islamic economic indicators.

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How Muslim Are Islamic Countries?

To understand this issue, the two researchers have summarized the economic principles in Islam based on the text of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). According to their research, Islam, unlike other religions, has provided even the details for creating a complete and coherent economic system within its foundations and principles. The main goal of Islam in economics, from their perspective and based on the documentation, is to create prosperity for other human beings, especially Muslims, and also to establish economic and social justice in all its dimensions.

To arrive at a precise index, these researchers have extracted three general principles of Islamic economics using the aforementioned sources, which are:

1 — Achieving economic justice and steady economic growth 2 — Widespread economic prosperity and job creation 3 — Conformity between financial activities and Islamic economic principles

Based on these three general goals, twelve sub-principles of Islamic economics have been extracted, which are:

1 — Equality in freedom and access to economic opportunities 2 — Establishing justice in all economic dimensions and economic management 3 — Optimal treatment of workers, creating jobs for them, and providing equal employment opportunities for them 4 — High-level education and a high budget for education relative to GDP 5 — Eradicating poverty and providing minimum welfare for individuals 6 — Equal distribution of wealth and income in society 7 — Providing welfare and social services and their related infrastructure 8 — High rates of savings and investment, as well as improved use of national resources 9 — A high degree of ethical standards, honesty, and trust in the market and other economic areas 10 — Conformity of financial activities with Islamic principles, for example, eradicating brokerage and speculation 11 — Better trade and high levels of humanitarian foreign aid 12 — Conformity of financial activities with Islamic principles, especially in the area of interest

‼️The preliminary results of this research show that countries bearing the name and title of Islamic have not been able to follow Islamic principles, and the average rank of the 56 Islamic countries among the countries studied is 133. Among all Islamic countries, Malaysia has the best rank, which is 33rd among 208 countries.

‼️Iran's rank among the 208 countries studied is 139.

‼️The top six countries, in order, are: Ireland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

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Download and read the full text of the article (in English) (PDF)

Download and read the summary of the article (in Persian) (PDF)

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«The Economic Islamicity Index»

Authors: • Scheherazade S. Rehman • Hossein Askari

«Bank and Economy» Magazine, Esfand 1391, No. 122

“An Economic IslamicityIndex (EI2)”

• Scheherazade S. Rehman • Hossein Askari

“Global Economy Journal”. Volume 10, Issue 3

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