Islamic Civilization had existed since the 7th century BC when
Muhammad proclaimed Islam.
Islam and Islamic Community (the Ummah) are the unifying factors. We also observe the trends towards economic integration
of their economies, such as the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as the growth
of Islamic economy and Finance.
This central position with these religions generates strong political tensions, but it is also an opportunity for Islamic Civilization and the rest of the World. No other civilization shares more borders with other religions, which may allow that Islamic Civilization can play a unique role in inter-Religious relations.
Important note: Sub-Saharan Africa countries with Muslim majorities (with their agreements, institutions, Businesspeople) are analyzed in the module “African Civilization” because of its growing economic integration with the rest of African economies.
The Subject “Islamic Economic Area” is included within the curriculum of the following academic programs at EENI Global Business School:
Subject Credits “Economic Area of Islamic Civilization”: 4 ECTS
Duration: four weeks
The purposes of the subject “Islamic Economic Area” are the following:
To define the characteristics of the Economic Area of Islamic Civilization
To understand the influence of Islam on the Islamic Economic Area
To learn about economic profile of Muslim Countries
To understand the economic integration process of Islamic Civilization
To analyze the main Muslim Businesspeople
To explore the economic relationships of Islamic Civilization with other civilizations (Western, Sinic, Buddhist, Hindu, Orthodox, African)
To analyze the main Economic Organizations 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.
Islam as the unifying factor of Islamic Civilization.
Because of its economic integration with these countries, its included Bangladesh and the Maldives
It is not clear which country is the Central State; Turkey, Iran or Pakistan could be
NOTE: 170 million of the Indians are Muslims; Islam is the second religion in Bharat (India). However, from this analysis, India belongs logically to Hindu Civilization
Malay Economic Area.
The Malay Economic Area consists of the three ASEAN Muslim Countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei)
Maghrebian Economic Area
The Maghrebian Economic Area consists of the five countries of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU): Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya; and Western Sahara
Culturally we could consider to North Africa as a part of Islamic Civilization (Sunnite), but from the economic integration also
to African Civilization
Arabic and French are the main languages in the Maghreb
Islam is the second religion in the World by the number of followers:
1.57 billion people are Muslim
23% of the World's population practices Islam
Only 15% of Muslims are Arabs
20% lives in MENA region (Middle East and North Africa)
62% of the World's Muslim population lives in Asia
Furthermore, 300 million Muslims live in countries where Islam is not the majority religion: China, India, and Russia
From a socio-cultural and historical view; we should consider two
distinct spaces.
Sunni area. With Saudi Arabia as the central state. From the economic integration within Sunnite Area we can identify four sub-areas:
Arab area, covering the Middle East countries
Malay area (Southeast Asia), formed by three countries:
Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei, all ASEAN members
Turkic area (Turkey), formed by the countries of influence of Turkic culture (Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan)
Maghrebian area: Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya
African area
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%)
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%)