Islamic Economic Area

The purposes of the subject “Islamic Economic Area” are the following:

1. To define the characteristics of the Economic Area of the Islamic Civilisation
2. To understand the influence of Islam on the Islamic Economic Area
3. To know the economic profile of the Muslim Countries
4. To understand the economic integration process of the Islamic Civilisation
5. To analyse the main Muslim Businesspeople
6. To explore the economic relationships of the Islamic Civilisation with the other civilisations (Western, Sinic, Buddhist, Hindu, Orthodox, African)
7. To analyse the main economic organisations related to the Islamic Economic Area

Observation

This module presents a summary on Islam, Muslim Businesspeople, regional agreements and institutions related to the Islamic Economic Area. The detailed analysis of each of them is carried out in its corresponding subject.

Related Subjects to the “Islamic Economic Area”

Islam as the unifying factor of the Islamic Civilisation.

1. Introduction to Islam
2. Sunnis and Shies
3. The Five pillars of Islam
4. Human Rights in Islam
5. Sharia
6. Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh)
7. Principles of Islamic Economics
8. Islamic Banking
9. Muslim Countries
10. Islamic Community in the World (Ummah): Africa, Asia, India, ASEAN
11. Muslim Personalities: Tawakkol Karman (Nobel Peace Prize), Haifa Al-Mansour, Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Reem Ebrahim Al-Hashimi, Hayat Sindi, Hanan Al Kuwari, Hichem Djaït, and Muhammad Yunus

Major Economic Institutions of the Islamic Civilisation.

1. Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) (Formed by fifty-seven Muslim Countries around the world)
   1. Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation
   2. Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT)
   3. Islamic Chamber of Commerce
   4. Economic and Social Research and Training Centre
2. Islamic Development Bank (OIC member countries)
3. Arab League (formed by twenty countries in the Middle East and North Africa)

Islamic Economic Area. Economic profile of the countries of the Islamic Civilisation

From the economic integration of the Islamic Civilisation; we can identify the following economic areas grouping thirty-two Muslim Countries:

Arab Economic Area.

1. The Arab Economic Area consists of twelve countries:
   1. The Gulf Cooperation Council member countries (United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait)
   2. Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and Yemen
2. The Central State is Saudi Arabia
3. Arabic is the common language

Central Eurasian Economic Area.

1. The Economic Area of Central Eurasia consists of twelve countries: Azerbaijan, Albania, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan
2. Because of its economic integration with these countries, its included Bangladesh and the Maldives
3. It is not clear which country is the Central State; Turkey, Iran or Pakistan could be
4. NOTE: 170 million of the Indians are Muslims; Islam is the second religion in India. However, from this analysis, India belongs logically to the Hindu Civilisation

Malay Economic Area.

1. The Malay Economic Area consists of the three ASEAN Muslim Countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei)

Maghrebian Economic Area

1. The Maghrebian Economic Area consists of the five countries of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU): Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya; and Western Sahara
2. Culturally we could consider to North Africa as a part of the Islamic Civilisation (Sunnite), but from the economic integration also to the African Civilisation
3. Arabic and French are the main languages in the Maghreb.

African Economic Area.

1. The African Economic Area consists of the Muslim-majority African Countries: Somalia, Djibouti, Niger, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, the Gambia, Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Eritrea, and Guinea-Bissau
2. These countries are framed within the African Civilisation due to its full integration with the rest of the African Countries

Businesspeople in the Islamic Economic Area.

Arab Businesspeople.

1. HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal
2. Sulaiman Al-Rajhi
3. Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-Amoudi
4. Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo
5. Nasser Al Kharafi
6. Mohammed Al-Barwani
7. Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber
8. Abdul Aziz Ghurair
9. Majid Al Futtaim
10. Jawad Ahmed Bukhamseen

EENI delivers to HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal a Master Honoris Causa.

Arab Businesswomen.

1. Lubna Olayan
2. Shaikha Al Bahar
3. Haifa Al-Mansour
4. Amina Al Rustamani
5. Shaikha Al Maskari
6. Randa Ayoubi
7. Maha Al-Ghunaim
8. Ayah Bdeir

Asian Muslim Businesspeople

1. Mian Muhammad Mansha
2. Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno
3. Dewan Yousuf Farooqui
4. Muhammad Abdul Mannan
5. Tan Sri Mokhtar
6. Salman F Rahman
7. Islamic Revolutionary Guard and the Bonyads in Iran

Maghrebians Muslim Businesspeople.

1. Othman Benjelloun
2. Aziz Akhannouch
3. Ali Haddad
4. Mohamed Hassan Bensalah
5. Miloud Chaabi
6. Mohamed Ali Harrath
7. Anas Sefrioui

Description - Islamic Economic Area.

The Islamic Civilisation had existed since the 7th century BC when Muhammad proclaimed Islam.

Islam and the Islamic Community (the Ummah) are the unifying factors. We also observe the trends towards the economic integration of their economies, such as the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as the growth of the Islamic Economy and Finance .

Islam is the second religion in the World by the number of followers:

1. 1.57 billion people are Muslim
2. 23% of the World's population practices Islam
3. Only 15% of Muslims are Arabs
4. 20% lives in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa)
5. 62% of the World's Muslim population lives in Asia
6. Furthermore, 300 million Muslims live in countries where Islam is not the majority religion: China, India, and Russia

Islam, on the other hand, shares borders with all World's faiths:

1. With Christianity in the east and south of Europe and the entire strip of Southern African Sahel
2. With Hinduism in India itself, along with Zoroastrianism, Jainism, and Sikhism
3. With Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism in eastern and northern China and much of Southeast Asia
4. With Jews in Palestine

This central position with these religions generates strong political tensions, but it is also an opportunity for the Islamic Civilisation and the rest of the World. No other civilisation shares more borders with other religions, which may allow that the Islamic Civilisation can play a unique role in the inter-religious relations.

From a socio-cultural and historical view; we should consider two distinct spaces.

1. Sunni area. With Saudi Arabia as the central state. From the economic integration within Sunnite Area we can identify four sub-areas:
   1. Arab area, covering the Middle East countries
   2. Malay area (Southeast Asia), formed by three countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam, all ASEAN members
   3. Turkic area (Turkey), formed by the countries of influence of Turkic culture (Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan)
   4. Maghrebian area: Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya
   5. African area
2. Shiite area (Iran). Iran is the Central State of the Shiite space. The following countries have Shiite majorities: Iran (90% of the population), Iraq (65%), Azerbaijan (70%), and Bahrain (70%)
3. Other countries with significant Shiite communities are the Lebanon (30% of the population), Yemen (40%), Kuwait (30%), India, Turkey (20%), Pakistan (20%), Afghanistan (15%), and Saudi Arabia (15%)

Location of the Islamic Civilisation.