The book Methodology of Economics, authored by Mohammad Javad Tavakkoli (faculty member at the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute), was published in June 2025 by the Research Institute of Hawzah and University. This 320‑page Persian work provides an analytical examination of methods of theory‑building in both conventional economics and Islamic economics.
The author analyzes philosophical and epistemological foundations, clarifying methodological differences between the two approaches. He addresses challenges such as generalization in induction, the testing of theories, and the incorporation of revelatory sources (waḥy) into economic theorizing. The book also discusses techniques such as the ceteris paribus assumption (“other things being equal”) and the role of the “mental laboratory” in economics.
The book is organized into ten chapters:
- Chapters I–VI: Foundations, the nature of theory, methods, and theory testing in conventional economics.
- Chapters VII–X: Foundations of Islamic economic methodology, methods of theory construction, techniques of theorizing, and approaches to theory testing in Islamic economics.
This work provides a comprehensive framework for comparing and analyzing the two systems of economic theory‑building.
