Do you want that no one dies here in this world because of starvation? Do you want to eradicate all the social class differences and make the entire humanity equally privileged? Do you want an end to clash of interests, which is the sole cause of conflicts between nations in today's world?
If your answer is YES then Quran has the solution.
Quran has related the subject of economy at length and seriousness it deserves. But before presenting that economical system which Quran has presented, I would like to give brief introductions of two dominant and rival economic systems which operate in the world today.
Capitalism: This is the most dominant economical system in today's world. The fundamental principle of this system is the sanctity of private ownership which means that one is the sole owner of whatever he/she earns by the way of money or property. The owners have the legal right to dispose of their earnings, in the way they see fit. They may spend all they have earned or can save some of it. The surplus that can be saved, can also be invested which is then called CAPITAL and the money it generates is called INTERESTS.
This economic system is bound to prohibit the equal distribution of wealth in the society and the wealth only circulates among a bunch of affluent individuals. Which creates social class differences, more poverty and more financial crunch as it goes on.
Socialism: This is in complete contrast to capitalism; it strictly prohibits private ownership. No one can own anything. Everything is owned collectively by the society under state's control. This system is based on the Marxist principle of " From everyone according to capacity to everyone according to need"
The economic system presented by Quran is called the Quranic social order, for the better understanding of this social order I would like to elaborate two important points, which the reader must bear in mind while reading the Quranic social order latter in this discussion.
One: The Concept of life: Why we are here? Where are we going? These questions can be answered in a materialistic way as follow:
Man is a highly developed(social) animal, comprised of certain chemical which are arranged in a certain proportion, these chemicals disintegrate when the body reaches to the end of its natural cycle (Death) (Dust is return unto dust in the biblical expression).
But Quran presents two sides of an individual; one the outer physical material side and the other is the inner spiritualistic side. The physical side is actually the human body while the spiritual side is the inner self which can be termed as Self, ego, soul or in plain words characters and personality( Rooh, Nafs etc). Quran believes that life is passing through evolutionary stages and has to undergo further evolution. " Ye shall surely travel from stage to stage" (Alinshiqaq 84:19).
At the time of birth both of our components ( Body+soul) are at zero points mean that they both are weak and without any maturity but as we start to live in this world they both start development and evolutions, but their ways of development and evolution are totally different from each others. Our external self (body) is directly link to the external material world, it gets stronger and stronger depends on how much we are TAKING. For example if someone eats well, drinks well and lives healthy his body will get stronger and developed. On contrary our inner self get stronger by GIVING here the word giving is of great importance for the Quranic social order. By Giving means to help the humanity and to do the welfare of others according to the laws of God (Allah). Death is a point at which the development of our external physical self stops but our inner self enters into a world of high values and high evolutionary planes, Thus death is not the end of life, life never stops and goes on even after death." Again on the day of judgment will ye be raised up" (Almomenoon 23:16).
Thus the main purpose of our creation is that we fully develop our inner self before entering into the world hereafter and the basic nutrient for the development of our inner self is to GIVE, to do the welfare of humanity.( It is also the basic foundation of Quranic social order)
Second point: God laws enforced by man: It should be understand that in the common physical world( Both living and non living) the laws of God (Allah) take effects automatically ( According to the natural programming of God) But in the man's social world God implements his laws by the agency of man. Man has to introduce, implement and establish the laws of God that's why Allah has sent prophets to us.
Bearing these two basic points in mind now I would like to elaborate the economic system of Quran ( The quranic social order).
The Quranic social order is comprised of the following basic principles:
(1) When the Quranic social order is establish in a society one of the basic responsibilities of the authorities is to provide sustenance (Rizq)
" We provide sustenance for you and for them ( your children)" Beni israel 17:31
" There is no moving creature on earth but its sustenance depends on Allah". Allah has truly and surely taken the responsibility of providing the sustenance but remember that Allah always implement his laws by the agency of man, so he will discharge this responsibility by the agency of man.
For example thousands of people are dying because of starvation around the globe. Does this indicate non-fulfillment of the responsibility assumed by Allah (God)? NO that's unthinkable, remember Allah doesn't feed the hungry by his own hands but does so by the agency of man. Let me shed more light on this fact by giving the example of Omr ibn al- hathab, the second successor of Mohammd (PBUH), he is reported to have said: If a dog dies of starvation on the banks of Furaat ( A place rich with foods) Omer will have to be answerable for it on the day of judgment.
(2) No private ownership: The Quranic state has to keep all the sources and means of production. Land is the ultimate source of production so no one can keep land as property and all the land would be the property of the quranic state. Just think about this principle, it will prevent the land to go into few hands, it will make the land open to everyone because it will be in the hands of State and will be used for the welfare of every citizen.
(3) Wages of labour: In Quranic state there is no place for idles, everyone has to work and one is only entitled to money earned through work." That man can have nothing but what he strives for" Anajm 53:39
(4) Interests (USURY): To do investment and make money as an absent partner is called Usury( Intrests) which is strictly prohibited in Islam.
(6) Surplus wealth: Every body will be provided with money which he/she needs to meet the basic needs, all the welfare will be taken by the state. Everybody is required to surrender all his/her wealth to the state except that which is required to meet thier basic needs. There is no hoarding in a Quranic state and it will make the circulation of wealth in the society, smooth and uniform like the blood which circulates smoothly from head to toe.
(7) Banks: If there is no hoarding and surplus wealth then there is no concept of institutions like banks in a Quranic state.
(8) Easy wealth: As Evryone has to work so easy wealth has no place in a quranic state like Gambling, lottery etc are prohibited.
Before concluding this discussion couple of questions that generally arise in this connection deserve to be answered.
(1) If the Quranic social order is as depicted then why does the Quran also talks of charities (Sadaqaat) and inheritance (Warasat)?
The Quran envisages the establishment of this order not overnight but by stages. The provisions like charities etc relate to the transitory period in which the order has not yet fully developed and is in the course of evolution but once it is fully developed then there is no need of inheritance and sadaqaat (charities) because state will be doing the welfare of everyone.
(2) If the Quranic social order is as stated, then what is the difference between communism and Islam?
Communism gives an economic system based on a particular philosophy of life. In the same way Islam is not only a Social Order but a Code of Life which deals with man as a whole and covers all aspects of human life. Communistic philosophy sees Man just as a physical being -- nothing more * nothing less--which comes to a final end with death, and provides an economic system which can cater only for his physical welfare. Islam, on the other hand, views life as an uninterrupted and ascending stream and Man as possessing, besides his physical being, a Self or Personality capable of development and of living efficiently further and on higher evolutionary planes of Life. The law governing development of human Self, as enunciated by the Quran, has for its basis the permanent value that by helping others a Self helps to develop itself; although this is in contradiction to the fact that the development of man’s physical being is possible only by helping itself.
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