The Islamic Origins of the Common Law - John A. Makdisi

M. Shahid Alam

M. Shahid Alam is a Bangladesh-born Pakistani economist, academic, and noted a social scientist. He is professor of economics at Northeastern University, Boston.

His academic writings focus, among other things, on the economic effects of Western foreign and economic policies on formerly colonized states. He is one of the few economists today writing critically about the present-day global wealth disparities produced by Western policies. He draws attention to the pro-capitalist ideological intent and Eurocentric biases of mainstream economics.

In December 2005,The Northeastern University School of Law Chapter of The National Lawyers Guild presented its first Annual Free Speech Award to M. Shahid Alam in "honor of Dr. Alam's commitment to and defense of free speech as well as Dr. Alam's refusal to be silenced and intimidated by those who would do harm to the First Amendment."

He has published many books, including Poverty from the Wealth of Nations (Macmillan, 2000), Governments and Markets in Economic Development Strategies (Praeger: 1989), Is There An Islamic Problem (Kuala Lumpur: The Other Press, 2004), republished in 2007 as Challenging the New Orientalism (IPI: 2007), and most recently, Israeli Exceptionalism: The Destabilizing Logic of Zionism (Palgrave Macmillan: 2009). He is also a regular contributor to Counterpunch magazine.

An outspoken opponent of U.S. policies in the Middle East and the Global South, Professor Alam has been the target of conservative commentators for his critical stance against U.S foreign policy.
Professor Alam was born in Bangladesh. He holds a BA from the University of Dhaka, MA from the University of Karachi, and Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario.

http://aslama.org