Muhammad Ibrahim Barnawi
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Muhammad Ibrahim Barnawi is an Islamic scholar and educator based in Medina, known for his teaching at Dar al-Hadith al-Madaniyya and his treatise Khasa'is wa-Muqawwimat al-Iqtisad al-Islami ("Characteristics and Foundations of Islamic Economics").
Career and Economic Thought
Barnawi served as an instructor at Dar al-Hadith al-Madaniyya in Medina. In his treatise Khasa'is wa-Muqawwimat al-Iqtisad al-Islami, published in the journal of the Islamic University of Madinah, he articulated the theoretical foundations of Islamic economics in contrast to contemporary secular ideologies.
Barnawi defined economics fundamentally as moderation free from both excess and negligence across income, production, and expenditure, intended to sustain balanced economic life and avoid deterioration or recession. He critiqued secular economic doctrines founded upon materialist interpretations of history and class struggle, observing that socialist models negate individual identity and property rights in the name of an alleged equality, which ultimately concentrates absolute authority in the hands of the state.
According to Barnawi, Islamic economics balances individual and collective welfare through several core principles:
- The divine subjugation of the resources of the heavens and the earth for all humanity equally.
- The freedom of earning and material acquisition through lawful (shar'i) avenues.
- Safeguarding the rights and interests of the individual.
- Giving precedence to collective public interest over private interest within the bounds of justice, without compromising individual rights.
- Combating usury (riba) across all forms of lending and investment, alongside prohibiting unlawful practices such as monopoly, fraud, and misrepresentation.
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List of Works
Khasais wa Muqawwimat al-Iqtisad al-Islami (Characteristics and Foundations of Islamic Economics) is an economic treatise that outlines the principles, characteristics, and balanced framework of the Islamic economic system in contrast to secular economic models. It defines economics as moderation in income, production, and expenditure, presenting the Islamic model as an independent divine system that reconciles individual and collective interests, recognizes lawful individual acquisition, and protects society from exploitation, fraud, hoarding, and usury.