Contemporary Economic Crime, Its Forms and Islamic Legal Punishments

Abstract

This study addresses the topic of contemporary economic crime from a jurisprudential perspective, considering it one of the most serious challenges affecting the stability of societies and their financial and social systems. The research is based on the jurisprudential, evidential, and analytical methodology, relying on the texts of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, the opinions of the four major Islamic schools of law, and relevant legal-theoretical and maqāṣid (objectives of Sharia) principles related to the protection of wealth. The study provides a precise Islamic legal definition of economic crime, uncovers its jurisprudential roots and historical development, and examines its most prominent contemporary manifestations such as electronic theft, financial fraud, money laundering, and digital crimes. It also explains the system of Islamic legal punishments, both Hadd punishments (fixed) and Taʿzīr punishments (discretionary), emphasizing that one of the most distinctive features of Islamic law is its combination of deterrence, justice, and consideration of higher objectives. Finally, the study outlines the preventive and corrective measures of Islamic legislation in addressing economic crime, which are based on religious conscience, economic justice, Sharia oversight, and moral education—making the Islamic system uniquely capable of confronting economic crimes with flexibility, comprehensiveness, and effectiveness