Research Methodology in the Human Sciences

Individualism or atomism is one of the fundamental assumptions that affects conventional economic theories in the form of ontological, value-based, and epistemological individualism. In this article, we will examine the approach of Islamic economics to individualism and collectivism using an analytical method. Based on the research findings, the individualism approach has elements such as reductionism, psychologism, rational foundations, political individualism, and humanism and neglect of collective existences, which are not acceptable from the perspective of Islamic economics. Based on the principles of Islamic economics, the extreme approach of holism is also rejected due to the lack of sufficient attention to the individual; because what has objective existence is the individual, and the existence of the individual and his rights should not be ignored under the pretext of society. The approach of Islamic economics to individualism and holism can be considered a type of individual holism in which the original existence of the individual and the collective and the opposite relationship between the two are accepted. Accordingly, just as the individual affects the collective, collective identities also affect individuals. This requires that the unit of analysis is not limited to the individual. Simultaneous attention to the interests of the individual and the group is also one of the value-cognitive requirements of this approach. Of course, in the Islamic approach, the priority of social interests over individual interests in the event of conflict can be accepted.