What does islam think about free trade and the global economy?
Trade & Commerce have always been encouraged in Islam; however, the concepts differ specially if a country like Saudi Arabia governs thru Islamic laws or Sharia thus making it a Islamic State.
Islam state subscribes to a 'interest free' commercial environment whereas the Capitalist system revolves around interest. To reconcile the two - global commerce & free trade are usually the responsibilities of special committees in a Islamic State and is usually handled via secular laws.
logical
So, your are saying that even a purely Islamic State would need secular laws to deal with the non-Islamic countries in aspects of trade & commerce.
LOL!
you want more info? read a book.
That's all I can suggest. A person who requires information of such magnitude and relevance shouldn't expect to find it in a discussion group. perhaps an Islamic bookstore would be a better place!
And about secular laws: Shari'ah is not bound by the limit of knowledge we can derive 'DIRECTLY' from the Qur'an and Sunnah, since there is no such limit. Any law derived from existing Shari'ah is also part of Shari'ah. Shari'ah is the sum total of laws governing life in an Islamic state.
All so-called 'secular' laws - whether they be on trade, traffic, or technology - can be derived from the same fundamentals that we derive all our others from. All new laws are decided upon by Consensus of Opinion (Ijma') by the knowledgables, known as "the democratic way" now!
Hence, any and all research required to reach this level of expertise where an informed decision can be made, is part of the process of law-making.
And off course, ultimately all decisions and laws must comply with the fundamentals laid forth in Islam. If they do, they automatically fall under the fold of Shari'ah! Any that go against them, can not possibly BE the best decision.
hope that helped insha-Allah.