Islam and Economic Development: A Strategy for Development with Justice and Stability All Muslim countries, like most other developing countries, are struggling to accelerate the development of their economies. What makes the task difficult is that these countries are also suffering from flagrant inequities, which have engulfed them in socio-political turmoil. They are also encountering serious macro-economic imbalances, which have led to high rates of unemployment and inflation, excessive balance of payments deficits, continued exchange rates depreciation, and heavy debt burden. What is needed, therefore, is a strategy that would not only accelerate development but also help minimise the inequities and the imbalances. The nature and constituents of such a strategy are the main themes of this book. It first discusses why it may not be possible to formulate such a strategy within the framework of the secularist world-view of capitalism, socialism and the welfare state. It also discusses why the vacillating strategies advocated by development economics over the last four decades have led to serious inconsistencies and an accentuation of the inequities and imbalances in most developing countries. It then elaborates an Islamic strategy of economic development and shows why it has the potential for success in promoting development with justice and stability. Muhammad Umer Chapra is Research Advisor at the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Jeddah. Prior to this position, he worked at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), Riyadh, for nearly 35 years, retiring as Senior Economic Advisor. He has also taught as Assistant and Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin (Platteville) and the University of Kentucky, Lexington; as Senior Economist and Associate Editor of the Pakistan Development Review at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics; and as Reader (Associate Professor) at the Central I…