A system of community-based market oversight (hisbah) and ethical regulation to ensure justice, transparency, and fair trade.
In a sacred economics framework, markets are not left to the “invisible hand” of self-interest, nor are they controlled by distant, bureaucratic regulators. Instead, they are governed by community oversight (hisbah).
Key functions of the system:
- Fair Pricing: Preventing predatory pricing, hoarding, and monopolies that exploit the vulnerable.
- Honest Trade: Ensuring the accuracy of weights and measures and the transparency of product quality (no hidden defects).
- Ethical Audit: Enforcing the prohibition of harmful products and deceptive marketing practices.
- Conflict Resolution: Providing grassroots, restorative justice for market disputes.
Market oversight (hisbah) transforms the market from a site of extraction into a site of stewardship, where commerce serves the public interest (maslahah) and aligns with the divine order.