Islamic Economics: Theoretical Wisdom or Practical Wisdom?

The separation of conventional economics from practical wisdom and focus on theoretical wisdom has led to the breakdown of ethics from rationality and the domination of instrumental rationality in economic theories. Decision on the Islamic economic's affiliation with theoretical or practical wisdom can have significant results in explaining the relationship between morality and rationality in the ideas of Islamic economics and also the definition of the concept of economic rationality. Using an analytical method, this paper examines the Islamic economics’ affiliation with theoretical or practical wisdom, its results in the field of economic rationality and its relationship with ethics. According to research findings, the domination of Descartes and Hume's subjectivism in the field of epistemology and modern ethics led to the abandonment of an Aristotelian attitude towards science and practice. Change in the analysis of the relationship between science and practice led to a change in the definition of economics and the development of a rationalist approach in neoclassical economics. According to the hypothesis of the paper, considering the background of the concept of wisdom and reason in the tradition of Islamic philosophy, Islamic economics, based on its moral nature, should base the concept of rationality (practical intellect) on Aristotle's practical wisdom. In this type of practical reason, rationality is not reduced to the pursuit of personal utility or profit, but to the realization of virtues in the direction of human happiness. This perception of rationality requires attention to ethical values ​​and is not reduced to instrumental wisdom.