Beyond Economic Growth: Rethinking Religion as an Ethical Resource for Inclusive and Sustainable Development

Modern economic development has expanded productive capacity and material prosperity, yet persistent inequality, social exclusion, and ecological degradation raise fundamental questions about the ethical purposes of economic progress. This article reexamines religion as a potential ethical resource for inclusive and sustainable development, with particular attention to contributions from Islamic economic thought. Employing a critical integrative literature review, it brings religious ethics into dialogue with institutional economics, the capability approach, and contemporary theories of distributive justice. The analysis focuses on how religious values may inform economic behavior, institutional accountability, social redistribution, and environmental responsibility. Islamic concepts such as ‘adl (justice), maṣlaḥah (public welfare), falāḥ (human flourishing), and amānah (responsibility) provide a complementary perspective for reconsidering development beyond economic growth. The article argues that the developmental relevance of religious ethics cannot be assumed from normative teachings alone but depends on their institutional interpretation, practical implementation, and compatibility with pluralistic public values. It proposes an integrative conceptual framework connecting ethical commitments, economic institutions, distributive justice, and ecological sustainability. This perspective contributes to ongoing debates on the moral dimensions of economic development without reducing economic analysis to religious prescriptions.