Social Advance of Rural People and The Role of Islamic Economy
M. Elfan Kaukab (a)*, Nurul Mubin (b), Imam Ariono (c)
(a) Faculty of Economics
Universitas Sains Al-Quran Jawa Tengah
Wonosobo, Indonesia
*elfan[at]unsiq.ac.id
(b) Faculty of Education and Teaching
Universitas Sains Al-Quran Jawa Tengah
Wonosobo, Indonesia
(c) Faculty of Sharia and Law
Universitas Sains Al-Quran Jawa Tengah
Wonosobo, Indonesia
Abstract
The current economic system is counterproductive for human development because it encourages the lower-class society to be consumptive by buying more than what they can afford. This impacts on the long-term social-economic problems, especially for people in the rural areas that have been contaminated to urban life. This article highlights the role of the Islamic economy in the social advance of rural people from contemporary social theories perspectives, especially the theory of societal human capabilities. To achieve the goal, the researchers conducted literary and conceptual studies to relate the Islamic economic elements with the elements of the societal human capabilities theory. This results in the formulization of a rural-society developmental framework that is based on three Islamic economy elements namely entrepreneurship, no-usury fund management, and wealth redistribution. The framework reiterates the importance ofthe government to encourage entrepreneurship, sharia finance, and wealth redistribution in rural society to make them better personally and structurally based on the Islamic economy.
Keywords: Islamic economy, social advance, rural people, societal human capabilities
Topic: Economics