Reconstructing the Epistemological Foundations of Islamic Economic Law in the Context of Contemporary Economics

Abstract

The reconstruction of the epistemology of Islamic economic law is an effort to update the methods and paradigms of Islamic law to be more relevant to modern economic developments. Classical Islamic economic legal epistemology, which is based on the Qur'an, hadith, ijma', and qiyas, plays a crucial role in building the Islamic legal system. However, its development faces various problematic approaches, such as being too textual, the dominance of formal halal-haram (permissible) principles, a minimal empirical approach, and a lack of responsiveness to technological and digital economic developments. Therefore, epistemological reconstruction is needed through the integration of revelation and reason, a contextual approach, strengthening the maq??id shari'ah (objectives of Islamic law), a multidisciplinary approach, and the integration of the values of justice and welfare. This research uses a library research method (library study) with a descriptive-analytical approach through a review of books, journals, and Islamic economic legal literature. The results show that the reconstruction of Islamic economic legal epistemology can make Islamic law more adaptive to contemporary economic developments such as fintech, digital banking, cryptocurrency, and other digital transactions without abandoning the principles of Islamic sharia. Furthermore, this reconstruction also impacted the development of Islamic economic fatwas, the renewal of the legal istinbath method, the strengthening of Islamic economic regulations, and the development of more innovative and equitable Islamic financial institutions