The Time Factor – Toshihiko Izutsu and Islamic Economic Tradition

Authors

  • Sami AL-DAGHISTANI Research Fellow at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo Research Scholar at the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life, Columbia University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2018.6.1.55-71

Keywords:

Toshihiko Izutsu, time, money, Islamic economic thought

Abstract

This paper interrogates the notions of time and money in Islamic (economic) tradition by applying Toshihiko Izutsu’s theory of the key terms of a worldview. A Japanese scholar of Islam, Toshihiko Izutsu (1914–1993), wrote extensively on Islamic studies, eastern mystical traditions, and Sufism. His theory of key ethical concepts in the Qur’an is a semantic analysis of an Islamic worldview, which can be applied also more specifically to economic thought in Islamic tradition. Applying Izutsu’s theory would shed light on the main ethico-economic concepts and postulates in Islamic intellectual history, such as the notions of time, money, and commodity purchases, as well as their relation to man as a time-contingent being. As well as the introduction and conclusion, this paper is divided into three main parts. In the first part, I introduce Izutsu’s life and his semantic theory. The second focuses on Islamic economics and its relation to Sharī‘a as a moral concept, whereas the third part inquires more specifically upon the notion of time and money in classical and contemporary Islamic economic thought.  

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Published

30.01.2018

How to Cite

AL-DAGHISTANI, S. (2018). The Time Factor – Toshihiko Izutsu and Islamic Economic Tradition. Asian Studies, 6(1), 55–71. https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2018.6.1.55-71

Issue

Section

Islamic Theory and Philosophy