Islam and Economic Growth

Abstract

Nowadays, Muslim countries remain among the least developed countries on all levels, although they are rich in natural resources. Islam, as the common religion of these countries, can be the cause of their underdevelopment? In this context, our paper aims to investigate the impact of Islam, as a proportion of the Muslim population, on economic growth on the one hand, and to seek the factors that may influence this relationship on the other hand. Our empirical study using panel data on a sample of twenty Muslim countries over the period (1990-2014), show that Islam does not promote economic growth. Its effect is lower and negative in the way that Muslim countries have high rates of illiteracy and unemployment.