Towards A Unified Zakat System

(which, under Islam, are all guided by religion) such asGod's unity, obedience to the ruler, consultation, andsocialjustice.Zakat plays a major part in Islamic economic life andshould not be studied in isolation from the body ofreligious belief and economic theory that comprises Islamiceconomics. This chapter can be seen as an introduction,which contributes to a better understanding of Zakat.The chapter introduces the main features of the Islamiceconomic system. Islamic teachings cover spiritual, social,economic and political aspects of society. Inevitably,Islamic economics is based on a value system established bythe primary sources of jurisprudence in Islam. These arediscussed in section 3.1. Section 3.2 reviews somedefinitions of the Islamic economic system. This sectionprovides a brief description of the main sources ofeconomic thought in Islam. These are similar to the sourceof jurisprudence since they are both parts of theobjectives of Shariah. The principles of unity andbrotherhood are briefly outlined in Section 3.3. The maingoals of Islamic economics are discussed in section 3.4.These include some of the main foundations of Islamiceconomics, including wellbeing, social and economic justice53