The contemporary understanding of economic resources has almost entirely to do with those elements that are capable of meeting, either directly or indirectly, the needs of mankind. These elements, or resources, both human and natural, are the things that every state attempts, as a fundamental principle of progress and prosperity, to preserve, mobilize, and invest. In the Islamic world, in particular, this is an issue that occupies a very basic position in all development strategy and planning; particularly as, in most cases, the Islamic world continues to suffer from backwardness, and from the adverse effects of the colonialization that was itself one of the major reasons for underdevelopment in the spheres of politics, economics, and culture.

The first book presents the papers and proceedings of the International Seminar on "Islamic Thought: Current Issues and Challenges", held at the International Islamic University, Malaysia during July 1987. The papers presented covered the following areas: Historical and Ideological Basis of Islamic Economics, Development in Islam, Financing Development in Islam, Some Special Aspects in Economics and Business and Case Studies.The second book contains a series of papers which narrowly focuses on financing economic development in Islam and contrasts the same with the mainstream approach.It presents papers primarily in the areas of consumer behavior, savings and investment behavior, sources of financing development and resource mobilization from a development perspective. The remaining papers on public finance and financial systems study financing the economic development.

This book aims to explore and analyse Islamic Moral Economy (IME) as an alternative economic and social system to capitalism and socialism. It proposes a new model of Islamic development, integrating global development within an Islamic framework of spiritual development. It is argued that the failure of Muslim countries to provide basic necessities and an environment free of oppression and injustice can be overcome with this authentic Islamic development framework. In addition, this book can be an important study to identify the theological, political, social and economic boundaries for changing the society to produce IME oriented developmentalism.

Islamic finance has started to grow in international finance across the globe, with some concentration in few countries. Nearly 20 percent annual growth of Islamic finance in recent years seems to point to its resilience and broad appeal, partly owing to principles that govern Islamic financial activities, including equity, participation, and ownership. In theory, Islamic finance is resilient to shocks because of its emphasis on risk sharing, limits on excessive risk taking, and strong link to real activities. Empirical evidence on the stability of Islamic banks, however, is so far mixed. While these banks face similar risks as conventional banks do, they are also exposed to idiosyncratic risks, necessitating a tailoring of current risk management practices. The macroeconomic policy implications of the rapid expansion of Islamic finance are far reaching and need careful considerations.