Islamic Economic Reforms for Muslim States: Insights from the Prophetic Seerah and Sustainable Development Paradigms

Abstract

This article addresses the need for comprehensive Islamic economic reforms across Muslim-majority nations in the context of positioning contemporary challenges within the realm of the Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). It argues that economic justice advocated by the Prophet was not a standalone moral imperative but an intertwined framework that involved spirituality, ethics, and worldly prosperity. The paper begins by grounding Islamic economic philosophy in the intellectual and historical sources of Islam, ranging from Qur'anic imperatives and early Prophetic commandments to classical literature produced by scholars and thinkers such as Abū Yūsuf, al-Māwardī, Ibn Khaldūn, and Ibn Taymiyyah. It then goes on to discuss how the Seerah is a working model of redistribution, prohibition of exploitation, control of the marketplace, sanctity of work, and respect for the environment ideals that remain highly relevant in the twenty-first century. The article also depicts how the maqāṣid al-sharīʿah (higher purposes of Islamic law), i.e., the preservation of wealth (ḥifẓ al-māl), overlap with modern-day sustainability agendas to offer an ethical response to exploitative global economic networks. In light of traditional Islamic institutions such as zakāt and waqf, as well as newer structures such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the article refers to mechanisms through which Muslim nations can implement reforms based on their own intellectual and spiritual traditions. Last but not least, it asserts that substantive change will require more than mere partial adoption of Islamic finance to wholesale transformation that incorporates Prophetic ethics into public finance, market regulation, welfare, and environmental management. It would not only renew economic justice and equity but also make Muslim societies leaders in sustainable development for the modern era.