Market Ethics in Light of Islamic Sharia

Abstract

God Almighty has permitted buying and selling for mankind as a lawful means of fulfilling their needs and life’s requirements. From this need, markets naturally arose as a practical way to organize such transactions, eventually becoming an integral part of societal life.

Given that the marketplace is often an environment of distraction and preoccupation—and one in which deviant practices such as fraud, deception, false oaths, invalid contracts, price manipulation, shortchanging in weights and measures, and interference in others’ transactions are common—Islam has established regulations and etiquettes to preserve the market’s integrity and protect it from moral decay.

Since many people are unaware of these Islamic guidelines and principles, this research seeks to clarify and explain them through two main sections:

Section One: Definition of key terms, and the status of the market in Islam. 

Section Two: Etiquettes of market conduct as prescribed by Islam.