An Auspicious Model of Consumption: A Mathematical Approach

The theories of consumers’ behavior indicate the human behavior as a creature having will and aim. These involve particular assumptions that very often are based on what should be done and what should not be done. In the modern economic theories, the analysis of the consumers behavior is based on this fact that a rational economic man only minds his own interests and profits and tries to maximize his utility from the goods and services. He ranks the various commodities according to the utility and degree of satisfaction, and then chooses the optimum way to have the highest satisfaction. While from the viewpoint of capitalism, these hypotheses may sound reasonable and acceptable, the Islamic thought and values lead to an alternative set of assumptions that all of these imply a different framework for the analysis of the typical Muslim consumption behavior. This article comprehensively surveys Islamic values and constraints on consumption behavior, and then constructs a mathematical model of optimization based on these assumptions.