A critical examination of the concept of “human capital”: The perspective of Islamic economic jurisprudence

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The term “capital” had been existed long before capitalism, but it was exposed to a major transformation by the emergence of it because, as the engine of capitalism, industrialization changed the way that economists evaluated and defi ned economic development, as well as the concepts attached to it. In this way, the meaning of capital shifted from “monetary fi nance” to the “means of production.” In time, its meaning widened even further and started to include “anything which is helpful to produce economic value.” Today, the concept of capital also includes neo-capital concepts, such as human capital, which have been encountered more often since the 1960s. In general, what is meant by human capital is any attribute pertaining to human beings in producing economic value. Islam is a religion that provides a worldview that is compatible with the divine. Such a view includes, among other things, how to evaluate and conduct economic affairs, how to build economic relations, and so on. This was also the starting point of the twentieth-century discipline of Islamic economics. 29 Despite there still being no consensus regarding its defi nition, here we would like to share the following defi nition of Asad Zaman (2013): “Islamic economics is the effort/struggle 30 to implement the orders of Allah pertaining to economic affairs in our individual lives (micro), in our communities (meso), and at the level of Ummah (macro).” This defi nition underlines the importance of the three main levels at which Islamic economics can be applied. It can be added here that the cornerstones of Islamic economics are Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic ethics. By taking into account all of the above, the aim of this paper is to critically examine the concept of human capital. In this context, we utilize in particular the perspective of Islamic economic jurisprudence. With respect to the methodology of this study, we follow a critical approach against a common methodology followed in Islamic economics. Today, it is a common practice in studies related to Islamic economics to take the modern concept of mainstream economics without evaluating its peculiarities and considering whether it can fi t into the general framework of Islamic perspective, then attempting (even pushing) to fi nd a corresponding concept in Islamic literature. Details of our methodology in contrast to this will be explained below. The main importance of the subject comes from the fact that human capital is connected to some other concepts, such as the means of production. Thus, a better understanding of human capital can help us to understand the related concepts and relations built around these concepts. The structure of the paper is as follows. The next section will clarify the methodology of this work. The third section will give background information and set out a literature review. The fourth section will be an evaluation. The fi fth and last section will conclude the paper.