324 Int. J. Pluralism and Economics Education, Vol. 6, No. 4, 2015 Copyright © 2015 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Foundational challenges in the construction of an Islamic economics discipline Hafas Furqani Department of Economics, Faculty of Islamic Economics and Business, Ar-Raniry State Islamic University, Jalan T. Nyak Arif, Kampus Darussalam, 23111, Banda Aceh, Indonesia Email: hafasf@gmail.com Abstract: Islamic economics is challenged in whether it can be called a discipline in the sense of having a clear subject-matter, methodology to appraise theories, a well-organised body of knowledge and systematic accumulation of knowledge. Islamic economics is still in the formative stage as a discipline, and many fundamental issues need to be addressed by the scientific community. This paper identifies several challenges to be answered by the Islamic economic scientific community in order to develop a discipline of Islamic economics. Embarking from the Islamic worldview that provides foundations in our understanding of economic phenomena, we must develop the conceptual foundations, conceptual scheme, key-terminologies, methodology to appraise and evaluate theory, and an Islamic ethics framework. The answer to those challenges will determine the scientific direction of Islamic economics, ensure a sustainable growth of knowledge and expedite the evolutional process of Islamic economics becoming a distinct discipline. Keywords: Islamic economics; Islamic worldview; foundations; discipline; knowledge accumulation. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Furqani, H. (2015) ‘Foundational challenges in the construction of an Islamic economics discipline’, Int. J. Pluralism and Economics Education, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp.324–339. Biographical notes: Hafas Furqani is a Lecturer at Department of Economics, Ar-Raniry State Islamic University Banda Aceh, Indonesia. His area of interest is philosophy of Islamic economics and finance, and has published in prestigious journals. His PhD thesis ‘The foundations of Islamic economics: a philosophical exploration of the discipline,’ was awarded a Gold Medal at the 2012 International Islamic University Malaysia Research, Invention and Innovation Exhibition (IRIIE 2012). This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled ‘Challenges in the construction of Islamic economics discipline’ which has been awarded 1st Prize at the KLIFF (Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum) Essay Competition, 4–5 October 2011.