Definition of methodology according to:
Blaug (1993) defines the methodology of economics as the branch of economics where we study how economists justify their theories, and the reasons they offer for preferring one theory over another.
Safi (1996) - is the field of scientific inquiry into the justification, description, and explanation of the rules and procedures which constitutes scientific methods.
Fox (1997) - sees methodology as dealing with theory appraisal.
Haneef (2005) - views methodology of economics as including discussions and analyses of the process of building models, developing theories, testing hypotheses (where necessary), as well as establishing and using criteria to evaluate the process.
Reasons why methodological knowledge of Islamic economics is important
a) Without a proper methodology of Islamic economics task could not be done properly.
b) Distinguish between what is false and true in appraising
and evaluating Islamic economic theories.
c) Concerned about
formulation of theories that are workable and can be applied in real life.
d) Important to link the
ontological aspects of Islamic economics, which constitute the ideals and
principles of Islamic economics, to the axiological aspect (ethics) that
is a practical application of Islamic economics.
e) Aims to lay down the scientific
operational process of Islamic economics as a discipline so that the
‘gaps’ in Islamic economic studies — as termed by Siddiqi (1982), Khan
(1989) and Zarqa (2003) — between those who are well-versed in Islamic legacy but lack modern economics on the one hand, and those who have
understanding of modern economics but are lacking in Islamic legacy,
could be eliminated.
References : methodology of Islamic economics :Overview of present state and future direction. International Journal of Economics, Management & Accounting 19, no. 1 (2011): 1-26
