A Neglected Notion: Iqtiṣād in Pre-modern and Early Modern Islamic Thought

What is it about?

The concept of “moderation” (iqtiṣād) has been central to the tradition of classical and early modern Islamic virtue ethics. Yet, it has witnessed relative neglect in modern debates concerning environmental sustainability, eco-mindedness and environmentally responsible economics. Instead, discourses of “Green Islam” have focused on other aspects of the Islamic tradition, such as the divine miracle of God’s creation, man’s vice-regency on earth, including the privilege and unique responsibility that comes with human trusteeship over it, the idea of the earth as having been created as a “mosque” and “means of purification,” etc. The classical concept of iqtiṣād seems to have been divorced from these discourses and relegated to a different realm. This article examines the trajectory of the idea of “moderation” in pre-modern and early modern Islamic virtue ethics, with particular attention to its relation to the vice of wastefulness. Furthermore, the article attempts to show the relevance of the classical notion of iqtiṣād to modern and contemporary concerns, especially in light of the profound semantic transformation that has characterized the development of the concept in the modern period, when it shifted away from denoting a moral virtue, i.e. a way of doing things, and came to signify a new and powerful discursive object, namely that of “the economy.”

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