Islamic Economics: Public Finance in Early Islamic Thought

History of Islamic Economics begins with the advent of Islam. This study aims to explore and present the state of early Islamic scholarship regarding economic issues and examines the economic insights shown by it in solving the fiscal problems. It also highlights the distinctive value-based orientation of mobilization of the sources of revenue and their disbursement in accordance with the objective of Islamic shari’ah. Based on classical Arabic sources the study is an effort to trace the history of evolution of the theory of public finance, a subject which received prime significance in the early Islamic writings. Throughout the fourteen centuries of Islamic history we find a continuity of work in which economic issues were discussed in the light of Islamic shari’ah. The early Islamic thinkers have explored the different aspects relevant to public finance such as the economic responsibilities of the ruler, mechanism of revenue collection, its disbursement, equity and justice in its administration, public expenditure, its role in economic development, work of public utilities, utilization of idle resources for the development of the economy and so on.