An Agenda for Islamic Economic Reform (May 1989)

The . Islamic world, including Pakistan, is passing through the pangs of a rebirth. Not a pursuit of something new, the Islamic resurgence is the process of rediscovering the truth of the Islamic Message in the modern world, which is by no means very receptive to this historic ‘event’. It is not only an opportunity to ‘realign’ ourselves – both as individuals and as nation – with the reality of Islam. This is also a challenge to the ingenuity of the Muslim philosophers and social scientists: for while the truth of the Divine Message is immaculate and immutable, ways and means must be found to ‘accommodate’ it within the straitjacket of pre-existing institutions. True, the institutions will also change under the impact of Islamic Reform, but that takes time. A beginning has to be made and at this stage the institutional constraints are binding. The ‘point of contact’ of the Islamization process will be the present socio-economic set-up, which, being a hard ‘reality’, cannot be ignored.