Abstract. This paper presents a review of related works that have been written over the years on the objective of the firm from the Islamic perspective. For the purpose of analysis, a general framework on proper economic conduct and objective of economic order as discussed by al-Ghazali and Maududi, respectively is provided. Several studies that provide mathematical models to explain the producer behavior are further examined in a separate section. Our analysis finds that, in general, the arguments provided in justifying the objective of the firm as found in the various studies have the Islamic framework in mind. The theoretical models that have been developed can be used as a basis to formulate a more comprehensive model on Islamic producer behavior that provides more rigor and robustness to the analysis.

This study investigates the effect of religiosity on economic development or achievement of individuals in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. This province is of interest as its people are viewed as highly religious but lagging in economic development. The study attempts to address the measurement issues found in earlier studies at the micro level of analysis by constructing a multi-dimensional measure of religiosity. This study considers five dimensions of religion, namely: ritualistic, experiential, ideological, consequential and intellectual. Apart from the construction of a multi-dimensional measure of religiosity, an indicator of economic wellbeing is formulated other than income. The results show that Muslims in South Kalimantan have a high level of religiosity and that those with higher level of religiosity are economically better-off. Education was also found to be a significant determinant of individual economic achievement. Hence, religion and education must be emphasized for economic progress especially for South Kalimantan which has a low level of education.

IntroductionIn the 1980s, the understanding and practice of Islam in Malaysiaentered a new phase. The global Islamic resurgence coupled with localMalaysian factors saw numerous important events talcing place. First, in1981 Dr. Mahathir Mohamed became Malaysia's fourth prime minister.Second, in 1982 the opposition Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) wastaken over by new leadership that claimed total commitment to settingup an Islamic state and rejecting nationalism and ethnic politics. Also, inthe same year, Anwar Ibrahim, then the president of the MalaysianIslamic Youth Movement (ABIM), joined Dr. Mohamed's government,winning the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) youthmovement's presidency and joining the UMNO-led cabinet as a juniorminister.The Mohamed administration, unlike its predecessors, openly supportedIslamic reform at all levels of society. Islam's role became more thanceremonial; it became a source of values for development, facilitatedthrough the Inculcation of Islamic Values Policy (in 1981) and the estab­lishment of numerous Islamic institutions such as the Islamic Bank ofMalaysia and the International Islamic University, Malaysia (IIUM) in1983. Although many see these developments as being merely politicallymotivated to counter the influence of PAS, it is without doubt that Dr.Mohamed was quite consistent with his earlier Views which he expressedin The Malay Dilemma. In his book he described Islam as the “greatestsingle influence on Malay value concepts and ethical codes,” thus beinga positive factor to develop the Malays ...