Theoretical Basis of Assessing Economic Justice in Islam Seyyed Mohammad

Economists have proposed numerous methods and criteria to quantify poverty and inequality, but none of them can be described as consistent with the Islamic notion of justice. Based on an acceptable standards and criteria for evaluating the economic justice, we will be able to attain a more realistic picture of where we stand in relation to the just situation. This would help us to have a correct judgment about the effect of the policies on the social justice.There are two prerequisites to attain such a reasonable criterion; first would be a theoretical foundation which provides us with a clear and thorough definition on the concept of economic justice, the second would be a direct and simple methodology to quantify the concept.The current paper strived to build a theoretical foundation for the quantification of justice. Having in mind various definitions proposed by researchers about justice, the most comprehensive definition consistent with the Islamic teachings was selected for the paper. The innovative approach used by the author was to analyze the concept under four subdivisions to attain a thorough picture of the Islamic methodology in quantification of justice. These include transaction laws, redistribution laws, production laws and laws on consumption. Ample evidences from the Holy Quran are further provided in the paper in order to verify the adequacy of the proposed divisions to meet the objectives of the study.