Abstract

As monotheism has broken with the idea of an eternal, unchanging world outside of history, the historicization of religious faith also implies an ethics of acting in the world, and, in particular, an ethics of economic and commercial activity. The three monotheistic world religions have accordingly developed their own economic practices. In Islam, the prophet was himself a merchant and keenly aware of various economic and commercial pursuits. Later, the thinker Ibn Khaldoun became interested in regulating these practices. This article will deal with the question what Islam can teach us today in the contemporary globalized market economy.