Islamic and classical economic paradigms: worldview, conception of human nature, market mechanism, and social justice a comprehensive academic analysis

This article presents an expanded and multifaceted comparative analysis of the Islamic and Classical economic paradigms. It examines their philosophical and epistemological foundations, the ways in which human nature is conceptualized, the structure of markets and the role of state intervention, as well as the principles of distributive justice. The research draws upon the works of key Classical economists — Adam Smith (1776), Ricardo (1817), Mill (1848), and Robbins (1932) — as well as major Islamic scholars, including Ibn Khaldun (1377/1967), Al-Ghazali (1100/1997), Siddiqi (1981), Chapra (2000), and Kuran (2011). The article demonstrates that Islamic and Classical economics represent two distinct yet internally coherent worldviews, each shaped by different metaphysical, ethical, and sociological assumptions. While Classical economics is grounded in Enlightenment ideals of rationality and individualism, Islamic economics places spiritual accountability, moral responsibility, and social justice at the center of economic reasoning. It is argued that the differences between the two paradigms do not stem from technical disagreements but from fundamentally divergent conceptions of human purpose, social order, and economic justice.