By (Sayed Mohamad Baqir al-Sadr)
Right from the prophet‟s period, economic issues have been addressed from different perspectives by various authors, in the context of different disciplines and in response to the need of respective times in the Islamic history. In the early Islamic economics five different dimensions of analysis are broadly identified. First, economic issues have been discussed by Mufassirin in the light of the holy Quran, For instance, discussions on the prohibition of usury and the encouragement of economic activities for human welfare. Second; economic issues have been discussed in the light of Fiqh. For example the legal aspects of Mudharibah and Musharikah have been dealt within this discipline in some great detail. Third; economic matters have been discussed by Muslims in the light of ethical system of Islam for moral development. The works of „Ulama, Sufis, Muslim philosophers and reformers come under this category. Fourthly, some good pieces of works, related to economics have been written by some great scholars of Islam in response to the needs of their times while holding important government offices. The works related to public finance, public revenues, land tax, public expenditure fall under this category. The book Kitab al Kharaj by Imam Abu Yusuf is one such example. Finally some Islamic Scholars and philosophers have provided objective analysis in the field of economics. 

The economic activities practiced in the early Islamic period had a clear basis in the overall ethical and social philosophy of Islam. It was based on the guidance of Islamic Shariah with the aim of promoting public interests. The general principles were derived from the verses of the holy Quran and the necessary details and guiding principles were provided by the holy prophet. The economic system at the times of the prophet was not very complex. The prophet lived in a tiny state of Madinah and his economic policies were simple. After his demise (d.632 C.E.) the Islamic state crossed the boundaries of Arabian Peninsula, especially during the reign of caliph „Umar (d. 644 C.E.), this made imperative the need for an organized system which could effectively tackle the new economic challenges. Thus, in the light of the verses of the holy Quran and Sunnah of the prophet, various rules were adopted after mutual consultation (Shura) and consensus (Ijma) of the companions of the prophet. The main thrust of the consensus was that policies adopted must be based on the basic principles of Shariah and guided for the public interest.
Thus two more sources on Islamic economics got developed besides the holy Quran and the Sunnah of the prophet. These were consensus of the opinion and analogical reasoning of experts of Islamic law for the public interest. Afterwards, society expanded and gradually became more complex, newer and newer problems of personal, social, political economic and international nature raised their heads. The need then arose to carry an earnest research to find out the solutions of these problems in the light of the Quran and the Hadith and so was evolved al-Fiqh. The Fiqh did not remain confined to ablution, fasting, Hajj and Zakat but also encompassed other aspects of society including economics. This state of affairs continued during the period of Khulfai-Rashdin and Umayyads till the advent of Abbasids, when economic matters were given due importance and were attended with great care. It was in this period that many books on economic matters particularly on financial policy of Islam were written.