economic philosophy of islam

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Thoughts on Economics

Vol. 18, No. 02

Economic Philosophy of Islam:

A Comparative Conceptual Study

Sarwar Md. Saifullah Khaled

Abstract: The Article discusses Philosophers views on religion and theconceptual issues of Land, Labour, Capital and their remunerations in the

traditional materialistic methods pursued in the West. Here an attempt is made

to discover the unjust and exploitative nature of Rent, Wage and Profit,concealed in the very mechanism of Capitalism and Socialism. This is done in

the light of Al Quran and Sunna with an objective to show that Islam provides

a better and humanitarian method of remunerations distribution among theparticipants of production on the basis of brotherly relations between the

employers and the employees.

Y Sn. By the wise Quran, Verily! thou art of those sent on a straight path,a revelation of the Mighty, the Merciful, that thou mayst warn a folk whose

fathers were not warned, so they are heedless36/1-6.

IntroductionHe it is who showeth you His portents1, and sendeth down for your provision

from the sky. None payeth heed save him who turneth (unto Him) repentant.

. He casteth the spirit of His command upon whom He will of His slaves that

He may warn of the Day of Meeting.40/13,14. Here provision means rain, becauseall kinds of provisions that are given to mankind in earth depend upon rain.

From among His numerous examples, by citing this single example, Allah says

the people: by meditating deeply upon this single arrangement you will realizethat whatever impression has been presented before you in the holy Quran

about the universe is the final universal philosophy.2

The author is a former Staff Economist, (1968-1970), Pakistan Institute of Development

Economics, Karachi, Pakistan. Former Professor of Economics and Vice-Principal, Comilla

Womens College, Comilla, Bangladesh.


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52 Economic Philosophy of Islam: A Comparative.......................

The title of the Article warrants a wide range of discussion on the subject, butthe author his analysis to the most relevant aspects of the topic without goinginto their details. Section I of the paper presents the Philosophers views on

Religion together with some verses from Al Quran and quotations fromHadiths. Section II gives an idea about the concepts of Land, Labor andCapital. In section III is given an idea about Rent, Wage, Profit with a cursory

glance at some Quranic verses on Interest (i.e., Usury) which Islam

disapproves. Some concluding observations are made in section IV.

Section I

Philosophers on Religions

Philosophers differ in their opinion on religions: some on their interpretations

and others on their legitimacy; even the Muslim philosophers differ on the

interpretations of their own religion Islam.

01. Karl Marx: An extreme view is the denial of the legitimacy of any

Religion whatsoever, put forth by Karl Marx, among others. He said that, Thestruggle against religion is . the fight against the other world of which

religion is the spiritual aroma.

Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the

protestagainst real distress.

Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world,just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people.3

Such an idea about religion emanates from the view that matter is the ultimatetruth, and matter is uncreated. From this point of view it is logical to come to

the idea that the final sequel of life is death, there is no creator of life or any

such matter to think of, and there is no life on the next world or there is noHereafter to talk about. God, Hereafter, Soul etcetera are the addiction to

opium as powerful instruments of capitalistic exploitation. According to this

philosophy human being is like an animal; so Human Values are non-existent.As an explanation to the logical and operational significance of this angle of

vision, in personal and social life of human being, Lenin clearly asserted that:

For the Communists there is no Objective Morality to talk about; any sort of

program is logical in the way of overthrowing all sorts of established ruling


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Thoughts on Economics 53

powers by force and attack. The duty of the communists is to go forth with aceaseless struggle against God the Arch Enemy of mankind.4 Allahs simplereply is: O mankind! Verily the promise of Allah is true. So let not the life of

the world beguile you, and let not the (avowed) beguiler beguile you with

regard to Allah.35/5 Allah goes farther: O mankind! Ye are the poor in yourrelation to Allah. And Allah! He is the Absolute, the Owner of Praise. If He

will, He can be rid of you and bring (instead of you) some new creation. That

is not a hard thing for Allah.35/15-17 They measure not Allah His rightfulmeasure. Verily Allah is Strong, Almighty.22/74

02. Bertrand Russell says: Our use of the term the Dark Age to cover the

period from 600 to 1000 marks our undue concentration on Western Europe. InChina, this period includes the time of Tang dynasty, the greatest age of

Chinese poetry and in many other ways a most remarkable epoch. From India

to Spain, the brilliant civilization of Islam flourished.5

The tale of Chinese excellence of that period was probably not unknown toHazrat Mohammad (s) who advised Muslims to go to far distant China insearch of knowledge. Such an advice concurs with the message of Allah:

Have they not traveled in the land, and have they hearts wherewith to feel and

ears wherewith to hear? For indeed it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it isthe hearts, which are within the bosoms, that grow blind.22/46 Hazrat

Mohammad (s)s advice: Search for knowledge even if you are to go toremote China confirms the view that If we make an in-depth search, it is in

Al Quran itself where we would find the confirmation of free will ofmankind.6

Bertrand Russell says: Ueberweg, rather amusingly, undertakes to defendAverroes (Ibn Rushd) (1126-98) against the charge of unorthodoxy a matter,

one would say, for the Muslims to decide. Ueberweg points out that, according

to the mystics every text of the Koran had 7 or 70 or 700 layers ofinterpretations, the literal meaning being only for the ignorant vulgar. It would

seem to follow that a philosophers teaching could not possibly conflict with

the Koran; for among 700 interpretations there would surely be at least one thatwould fit what the philosopher had to say. The view of the mystics that the

populace should take the Koran literally but wise people need not do so, was

hardly likely to win popular acceptance.7


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Al Quran reveals that: [Moses] said, Allah forbideth that I should be amongthe ignorant.2/67 but only men of understanding really learn.3/7 As for thesesimilitudes, I coin them for mankind, but none will grasp their meaning save

the wise.29/43 and say, O my Benefactor! Increase me in knowledge.20/114

Verily in the creation of the heavens and earth, and the difference of night andday, and the ships which run upon the sea with that which is of use to men, and

water which Allah sendeth down from the sky, thereby reviving the earth after

death, and dispersing all kinds of beasts therein, and (in) the ordinance of thewinds, and the clouds obedient between heaven and earth: are signs for people

who have wisdom.2/164

03. Al Ghazzali says: You may say What then, is the meaning of faith(yaqin), its strength, and its weakness, since it should first be understood

before it can be sought and studied? Then you should know that the word

(yaqin) is a homonymous term which two different groups of people apply totwo distinct meanings. To the philosophers (nuzzar) and scholastic theologians

(mutakallimun) the termyaqin signifies lack of doubt [i.e., certainty]. In one of

his sermons Ali said, my conscience is pledge to God although I am a leader.He would go after quantity not knowing that little knowing of the right kind is

better than a great deal of it which diverts man [from God]. He is rooted in

ignorance and is the victim of diabolic madness. Through this ignorance bloodis shed, and through his juridical opinions unlawful adultery is rendered lawful.

He is not capable of dispensing with the problems which have been submittedto him and is not equal to the task which has been delegated to his care. Ali

also said: Hold fast to knowledge when you hear it, and mix it not with jestinglest it be rejected8HazratMohammad (s) says: I have been directed to fulfill

the founding of best customs and practices.9

04. Remarks

(i) Islamic Scholar and Philosopher of Bangladesh Abul Hashim says: Today,

even the communists who have rejected the conceptions relating to Allah as anaddiction or mania, have succeeded in projecting rockets to the moon. But how

could they do it? It is by acquiring accurate knowledge about some laws of

nature. They could not succeed by revolting against all discovered laws ofnature; rather they succeeded by unconditional surrender to them. The laws of

nature are the expressed will of Allah working in nature. Therefore, the

significance to confess the laws of nature is to surrender to the will of Allah.

Some may formally agree with this view or consciously be unable to


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understand the significance of this, but as a result of giving acceptance to thelaws of nature or in other words giving consent to the will of Allah, itsretribution will be just. But this alone may not be the appropriate cause of its

success, whatever huge and astonishing that success may be.

Todays world is seated at a very high position of material progress but the

question as to how its acquired wealth may be put in to maximum use is still

unresolved. The fact is that the greatness of mankind lies on establishingsovereignty in the earth on the one hand, and confessing unconditionally the

slavery of the creator on the other from such realization we can achieve a

direction to an appropriate answer to that question.10

(ii) In Al Quran the digit 7 is homonymous. The literal meaning of the digit is

confined to seven only. When Allah says: Say (O Muhammad): Who is the

Benefactor of the seven heavens, and Benefactor of the TremendousThrone?23/86 Here Seven Heavens does not mean seven Heavens alone; rather

it means numerous Heavens.11 Allah farther says: Light upon light, Allah

guideth unto His light whom He will. And Allah speaketh to mankind inallegories, for Allah is Knower of all things.24/35

Such sayings of Allah, no doubt, led different scholars to give similar but a bitdifferent interpretation of Quranic verses which have never led them to

distract from the faith that: Allah is Knower of all things.24/35 Perhaps basinghis belief on this, Ueberweg made the comment mentioned above it is

difficult to accept that he made the comment amusingly. Allah farther says:And hath made of service unto you whatsoever is in the heavens and

whatsoever is in the earth; it is all from Him. Lo! Herein verily are portents for

people who reflect.45/13 Al Quran is not a book of amusement rather a book toreflect. Al Quran reveals: And He it is Who hath set for you the stars that

ye may guide your course by them amid the darkness of the land and the sea. I

have detailed My revelations for a people who have knowledge.6/97 Hazrat Alisaid that: Knowledge is of two kinds: native and acquired,/But no acquired

knowledge is of any use/If there is no native knowledge,/Just as the light of the

sun is useless/When the light of the eyes is shut off. 12 If any one tries to meanthe word darkness used here as the darkness of the age and the stars as

Quranic verses to a people who have knowledge, perhaps it will not be too

much13 despite the accuracy of their literal meanings. After frustrating the

Thamds plot to kill their believing brother Slih by a counter plot by Allah:


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See, yonder are their dwellings empty and ruins because they did wrong.Verily! herein is indeed a portent for a people who have knowledge. 27/52 Asfor these similitudes, I coin them for mankind, but none will grasp their

meaning save the wise.29/43 How many a portent is there in the heavens and

the earth which they pass by with face averted! 12/105 We must reflect andunderstand. Verily! Religion with Allah is Al Islam. Those who (formerly)

received the Scripture differed only after knowledge came unto them, through

transgression among themselves.3/19 Hazrat Mohammad (s) says: I amleaving behind two things for you, if you follow them you will never be at a

loss these are: the Scripture of Allah and His messengers Sunnah. [Hadith:

Meshkat]

Section II

Concept of Land, Labour and Capital

01. The Concept of Land

The soil (and this, economically speaking, includes water) in the virgin state

in which it supply man with necessaries or the means of subsistence ready tohand, exists independently of him, and is the universal subject of human labor.

All those things which labor merely separate from immediate connection with

their environment, subjects of labor spontaneously provided by Nature. Suchare fish which we catch and take from their element, water, timber which we

fell in the virgin forest and ores which we extract from their veins.13 In short,land is by which are to be understood, economically, all conditions of labor

furnished by Nature independently of man.14 Who the creator of land is, asdefined such, who is the owner of land and for whom has it been created? Al

Quran gives the answer: Allah is who created the heavens and the earth, and

that is between them.32/4 Unto Him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavensand whatsoever is in the earth, whatsoever is between them and whatsoever

beneath the sod.20/6 And hath made of service unto you whatsoever is in the

heavens and whatsoever is in the earth; it is all from Him. 45/13 Allah also says:And thou (Mohammad) seest the earth barren, but when I send down water

thereon, it doth thrill and swell and put forth every lovely kind (of growth). 22/5

(i) Land under Feudalism/Capitalism

Landlords right has its origin in robbery15. The landlords like all other men,

love to reap where they never sowed, and demand a rent even for the natural

produce of the earth. In general the relationship of large and small landed


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property is like that of big and small capital. But in addition, there are specialcircumstances which lead inevitably to the accumulation of large landedproperty and to the absorption of small property by it. The final consequence is

thus the abolition of the distinction between capitalist and landowner, so that

there remain altogether only two classes of the population the working classand the class of capitalists. This huckstering with landed property, the

transformation of landed property into commodity, constitutes the final

overthrow of the old and the final consummation of the money aristocracy. 16

Allah warns: Deemed ye then that I had created you for naught, and that ye

would not be returned unto Me? Now Allah be exalted, the True Owner! 23/115-

116 Allah, the True Owner, advices mankind: He it is Who hath made the earth

easy of access unto you, so wander in the boundless region thereof and eat ofHis providence.67/15 This indicates that every Human being has right on land.

(ii) Land under Socialism

Under socialism the workers of industry, agriculture, transport and other

sectors of the economy themselves become the joint owners of the means and

results of production.17 Therefore unlike feudalism/capitalism, all means ofagricultural production i.e., livestock, farms and all sorts of farming

instruments, including land, like other means of production are socialized.

Allah says: Whoso desireth the life of the world and its pomp, I shall repaytheir deeds herein, and therein they will not be wronged. . (All) that they

contrive here is in vain and (all) that they are wont to do is fruitless.11/15-16 Thefall of the materialistic and atheist socialist world bears its testimony.

(iii) Land under Islam

Land in Islam may be categorized as 1) land without owner and 2) land owned

by someone.The first category of land cannot be used under the private ownership; private

ownership of such land is illegal even for the Muslim ruler. Such land will stay

like Wakf property for common welfare. Likewise mines which are linkedwith everyday life of common people, whether these are near or far from

human habitation, cannot be the property of any individual orZaminder. These

landed properties will lie under the management of the state for the welfare ofthe common people. Land which is fallow and barren, according to Sharia,

may become the private property of those who with their own effort, either

Muslim or non-Muslim, make such land cultivable with the permission of the

state. Hazrat Mohammad (s) says: A person, who will make the land


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cultivable which was lying fallow and uncultivable, will be the owner of thatpiece of land. The un-owned land which is cultivable but not of any use tourban or rural people will be the property ofBaitulmal. Donation of land to

people on behalf of the state is connected with it.

For the second category of land, which is owned by the Muslims and of those

who have come into terms with the Muslim ruler but have not been converted

into Islam, they will retain their ownership of land under the condition thatthey will pay land revenue to the state; in this case the Muslim ruler will have

no right to interfere in the ownership of such land. Another alternative is that

the Muslim ruler will confiscate the entire land and distribute it among the

previous owners or others on the basis of lease or tenure; in this case Baitulmalwill be the owner of the land rather than any private individual. 18

02 The Concept of Labor

In a Capitalistic or in a Socialistic economy the term used as Labour is a

misnomer. In both the systems labour means the work of a human animal hired

for performing some sort of physical or mental work in exchange of labour-

price. Allah says: He it is Who hath made you regents in the earth; so he

who disbelieveth, his disbelief be on his own head.35/39. Allah honours

mankind as His regents.

(i) Labor/Worker under CapitalismIn a capitalistic economy only for the workers is the separation of capital,

landed property and labor an inevitable, essential and detrimental separation.The separation of capital, ground-rent and labor is thus fatal for the worker.

The demand for men necessarily governs the production of men, as of every

other commodity. Should supply greatly exceed demand, a section of theworkers sinks into beggary or starvation. The workers existence is thus

brought under the same condition as the existence of every other commodity.

The worker need not necessarily gain when the capitalist does, but henecessarily loses when the latter loses. In general it has to be observed that in

those cases where worker and capitalist equally suffer, the worker suffers in his

very existence, the capitalist in the profit on his dead mammon. Labor is thusalienated from both capital and land.

Combination among the capitalists is customary and effective; workers

combination is prohibited and painful in its consequence for them. The worker


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has to struggle not only for his physical means of subsistence: he has tostruggle to get work, i.e. the possibility, the means, to perform his activity. Butpolitical economy knows the worker only as a working-animal as a beast

reduced to the strictest bodily needs, unorganized and alienated individuals. 19

All these consequences are contained in the definition that the worker is

related to theproduct of his laboras to an alien object. The worker puts his life

into the object; but now his life no longer belongs to him but to the object.Hence, greater [his] activity, the greater is the workers lack of objects. It

means that the life which he has conferred on the object confronts him as

something hostile and alien. It is true that labor produces for the rich wonderful

things but for the worker it produces privation. It produces palaces but forthe worker, hovels. It produces beauty but for the worker, deformity. It

replaces labor by machines but some of the workers it throws back to a

barbarous type of labor, and the other workers it turns into machines. Itproduces intelligence but for the worker idiocy, cretinism. In his work,

therefore, he does not affirm himself but denies himself, dose not feel content

but unhappy, does not develop freely his physical and mental energy butmortifies his body and ruins his mind. The worker therefore only feels himself

outside his work, and in his work feels outside himself. He is at home when he

is not working, and when he is working he is not at home. His labor istherefore not voluntary, but coerced; it is forced labor. [The worker thus

becomes estranged]. In estranging from man (1) nature, and (2) himself, hisown active functions, his life-activity, estranged labor estranges the species

from man. It turns for him the life of the species into a means of individual life.First it estranges the life of the species and individual life, and secondly it

makes individual life in its abstract form the purpose of the life of the species,

likewise in its abstract and estranged form.20 Feuerbach in his interpretationof the human essence proceeded from the notion of isolated individual and

believed that the individuals who constitute society are connected with one

another only by natural bonds. Feuerbach failed to see that the abstractindividual whom he analyses belongs in reality to a particular form of

society.21

Realizing that such foolishness will befall humankind Allah says: And hold

fast, all of you together, to the cable [i.e. Al Quran and Islam] of Allah, and do

not separate. And remember Allahs favor unto you: how ye were enemies and

He made friendship between your hearts so that ye become as brothers by His


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grace; and (how) ye were upon the brink of fire, and He did save you from it.Thus Allah maketh clear His revelations unto you, that ye may be guided, andthere may spring from you a nation who invite to goodness, and enjoin right

conduct and forbid indecency. Such are they who are successful.3/103-104 This is

how alienation of a man from society be eradicated in his work.

(ii) Labor/Worker under Socialism

Labor is an eternal natural condition of human life. Labor power is thepersonal factor of production and the means of production the material

factor. Under socialism the category of labor undergoes a radical change. The

antagonistic breach between workers and the means of production is

eliminated; on the basis of socialist property the capacity for labor and thematerial factors of production become in their unity the property of the

producers of material wealth themselves. Labor power ceases to be a

commodity and the system of wage labor and exploitation of man by man isabolished. The form of employment of factory and office workers preserved

in socialist society means planned involvement of workers in social production

and has nothing in common with the purchase and sale of labor power. As jointowners of the means of production the workers cannot sell their labor power to

themselves. The employment of factory and office workers expresses the

relations of workers freed from exploitation with society as a whole asrepresented by an enterprise or an association or combine of enterprises.

Socialist ownership and an equal relation to the means of production create aneed for the involvement of all able bodied members of society in social labor.

Labor in socialist society has a universal character, which is expressed in theprinciple He who does not work, neither shall he eat.22

The Russian economy was a peasant economy at the time of the BolshevikRevolution in 1917. About 80% of the population was peasant. The following

two passages give an idea about the implicitness of the Bolshevik ethics:

Peasant life is to eat in order to work, to work in order to eat, and, besidesthat, to be born, to bear and to die. Our Revolution is a rebellion in the name of

conscious, purposeful principle of life against the elemental, senseless,

biological automatism of life that is against the peasant roots of our OldRussian history, against its aimlessness, its non-teleological character, against

the philosophy of Tolstoys Karataev.23


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Stalin in 1946 even presented socialism as a means for the maximization ofproduction. In capitalist countries industrialization usually begins with lightindustry. The Communist Party of our country began the work of

industrializing the country by developing heavy industry. A valuable aid in this

work was the nationalization of industry and banking, which made possible therapid accumulation and transfer of funds to heavy industry. There can be no

doubt that without this it would have been impossible to secure our countrys

transformation into an industrial country in such a short time. (Speech tovoters, February 9, 1946).24

The peasantry itself has many fine features and these inevitably blend with

the best features of other working class.25 In Communist China Although thecultural revolution had been designated as proletarian and is allegedly

being pursued in the interest of the proletariat, the Chinese workers have in

fact been prevented from it. What is more, at one stage of the culturalrevolution, the edge of the struggle was turned directly against the workers,

namely, the campaign against counter-revolutionary economism. The

workers legitimate demands for better living conditions were declared to be anexpression of egoism, economism, bourgeois ideology, revisionism,

etc.26

Some of the aspects of the operational doctrine of socialists and communistswhich have just been discussed not only raise doubts as to its contemporary

relevance, but also make analysis cumbersome. Soviet Union does no longerexist and has given way to Capitalism with all of its maladies and Communist

China is also on the road to Capitalism though the Communist Party still holdsthe monopoly of power.

(iii) Labor/Worker under Islam

The very essence of socio-economic relationship between mankind is based on

the Quranic verse that: The believers are not else than brothers.49/10Hazrat

Mohammad (s) also said that: Every Muslim is a brother to each other; youhelp your believing brother, whether he is an oppressor or an oppressed. When

asked about the significance of helping an oppressor he replied, helping an

oppressor is to prevent him to oppress.27

The purpose of creating mankind and sending them in earth as viceroy of

Allah is totally different than that the materialists think of. The purpose of

creating humankind has been expressed in Al Quran I created the jinn and


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humankind only that they might worship Me. I seek no livelihood from them,nor do I ask that they should feed Me.51/56-57 Allah also says: And the earthhave I spread out, and placed therein firm hills, and caused each seemly thing

to grow therein. And I have given unto you livelihoods therein, and unto those

for whom ye provide not. And there is not a thing but with Me are the storesthereof. And I send it not down save in appointed measure.15/19-21 Allah has

arranged everything to satisfy human needs so that they can worship Allah

even when they are engaged in searching their livelihoods. Allah says: Eat ofthat which Allah hath bestowed on you as food lawful and good, and keep your

duty to Allah in Whom ye are believers.5/88 Though Allah says: I have

apportioned among them their livelihood in the life of the world, and raised

some of them above others in rank that some of them may take labor fromothers.43/32 Allah also asserts that: Allah your Benefactor and the Benefactor

of your forefathers.37/126 Human being is not a factor of production but

Verily! he is one of My believing slaves,37/132 and about whom Allah says:And hath made of service unto you whatsoever is in the heavens and

whatsoever is in the earth;45/1328 A Muslim is answerable to Allah for all his

deeds and an Allah fearing Muslim never betrays his employer he does rightand eats good things (Halal).

Islam does not support a person who is reluctant to work but beg. Hazrat

Mohammad (s) says: When the day of resurrection will arrive, there will

remain no flesh in the face of (beggers).[Hadit: Bokhari-Muslim]. It is theresponsibility of the state to create appropriate job opportunity for each and

every able-bodied eligible citizen of the country.

03. The concept of Capital

Capital is the governing power over labor and its products. The capitalistpossesses this power, not on account of his personal or human qualities, but in

as much as he is an owner of capital. His power is the purchasing power of

capital, which nothing can withstand.

What is capital?

A certain quantity of labor stocked and stored up to be employed. Capital isstored-up labor. Fonds, or stock, are any accumulation of products of the soil

or of manufacture. Stock is called capital only when it yields to its owner

revenue or profit.29


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However, John Maynard Keynes categorizes capital as instrumental capital(e.g. a machine) and consumption capital (e.g., a house), which is in use. 30

Instrumental capitals are usually termed as realcapital whose components are:

Fixed Capital, Floating or Circulating Capital, Specific Capital, and non-

Specific Capital.

Allah says: Man tireth not of praying for wealth, and if all toucheth him, then

he is disheartened, desperate. And verily, if I cause him to test mercy aftersome hurt that hath touched him, he will say: This is my own.41/49-50

(i) Capital under Capitalism

Under capitalism, the capitalist has his own views of the ultima Thule, thenecessary limit of the working-day. As capitalist, he is only capital personified.

His soul is the soul of capital. But capital has one single life impulse, the

tendency to create value and surplus-value31, to make its constant factor, themeans of production, absorb the greatest possible amount of surplus-labor32.

Capital is dead labor, that, vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labor, and

lives the more, the more labor it sucks. The time during which the laborerworks, is the time during which the capitalist consume the labor-power he has

purchased of him. If the laborer consumes his disposable time for himself, he

robs the capitalist. The capitalist then takes his stand on the law of theexchange of commodities. He, like all other buyers, seeks to get the greatest

possible benefit out of the use-value of his commodity; suddenly the voice ofthe laborer, which had been stifled in the storm and stress of the process of

production, rises.

Capital cares nothing for the length of life of labor-power. All that concerns it

is simply and solely the maximum of labor-power that can be rendered fluentin a working-day. It attains this end by shortening the extent of the laborers

life, as a greedy farmer snatches increased produce from the soil by robbing it

of its fertility. The capitalist mode of production (essentially the production ofsurplus-value, the absorption of surplus-labor), produces thus, with extension

of the working-day, not only the deterioration of human labor-power by

robbing it of its normal, moral and physical, conditions of development andfunction. It produces also the premature exhaustion and death of this labor-

power itself. It extends the laborers time of production during a given period

by shortening his actual life-time. Capital that has such good reasons for

denying the sufferings of the legions of workers that surround it, is in practice


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moved as much and as little by the sight of coming degradation and finaldepopulation of the human race, as by the probable fall of the earth into thesun.

Capital further developed into a coercive relation, which compels the

working-class to do more the work than the narrow round of its own life-wantsprescribes. As a producer of activity of others, as pumper-out of surplus-labor

and exploiter of labor-power, it surpasses in energy, disregard of bounds,

recklessness and efficiency, all earlier systems of production based on directlycompulsory labor. But the value of the labor-power includes the value of the

commodities necessary for the reproduction of the worker, or for the keeping

up of the working-class. It would seem therefore that the interest of capital

itself points in direction of a normal working-day.33

Under capitalism, the social character of the production process is in

antagonistic contradiction with the private ownership of the means ofproduction. The direct producers of material values are dispossessed of the

instruments and objects of labor, which is the economic basis for the

appropriation without compensation of their surplus-labor by the owners of themeans of production, i.e. for their exploitation.34 Allah says: Woe unto the

defrauders: Those who when they take the measure from mankind demand it

full, but if they measure unto them or weigh for them, they cause themloss.83/1-3 In such circumstance Allah warns of stern reprisal so that it become

not a commodity between the rich among you.59/7

(ii) Capital under Socialism

The building of socialism means establishing the undivided predominance of

social ownership of the means of production in all sectors of the economy.

Social ownership of the means of production is their social, joint ownership bythe working people themselves. The members of socialist society, jointly

owning the instruments and objects of labor, use them in their own interests.

Socialist ownership is called into being by the vast scale of growth of societysproductive forces. Modern large-scale machine industry with its ramified

system of social division of labor unites the operation of many enterprises in a

single production process, requiring the planned joint work of millions andmillions of people and social management of the process. The socialist social

system reunites labor power and the means of production. The exploitation of

man by man is thereby abolished and a community of the working peoples

fundamental interest in developing social production is engendered.


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Socialism presupposes the undivided predominance of a single, socialisteconomic sector based on social ownership of the means of production.

Socialism rejects in principle all the forms and varieties of private property

without destruction of which it is impossible to abolish exploitation of man byman and its causes.35 Allah says: Man prayeth for evil as he prayeth for

welfare; for man was very hasty.17/11

(iii) Capital under Islam

Islam permits private property, but under certain terms and conditions. Islam

gives due importance to industry, mechanical skill and trade-commerce in its

economic system. Allah gives good news to the devoted businessmen of thegladness of Allah and heaven. He shows them the way of their happiness,

prosperity and welfare. Moreover, by telling them the events of the profession

and earnings of livelihood of the Prophets and Messengers He encouragesthem towards industry, mechanical skill and handicrafts since by such means

and activities unemployment is eradicated and the way of happiness and

prosperity is opened up in the public life.

Similarly Islamic economic system is not incapable of formulating laws and

regulations concerning modern innovations of mills and factories with a viewto collective welfare of the people. Because of this reason the directives of

Islam is that in its system, if the state uses mills and factories in the interest ofthe people, only then the proper utilization of these will be possible. The

wealthy people should not be given the opportunity to the extent such that they

can reduce the poor people to the tools of gaining their own interest. If it is notdone widespread hunger and poverty will exist on the one side and on the

other wealth will be centralized in the hands of and grabbed by a particular

class of people. Of course, the wealthy among the people may apply to the

state for the establishment of mills and factories for the augmentation of the

wealth of the country and making their legal affluence for their own welfare.Under such circumstances the duty of the state should be to give permission

under the conditions mentioned above and within the prescribed limit. Even if

the mills and factories are established by private initiative under thoseconditions, balance will exist in the economy; capital investors will not be able

to reach the loathsome capitalistic system. The workers will not have to leadthe life of beasts and slaves; they will be able to nicely earn their livelihood


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through mutual cooperation. If this is done, all possibilities of friction betweenthe workers and capitalists will disappear.36

Section III

Concept of Rent, Wage and Profit

01. The of Concept Rent

The rent of land, it may be thought, is frequently no more than a reasonable

profit or interest for the stock laid out by the landlord upon its improvement.

This, no doubt, may be partly the case upon some occasions. The landlord

demands 1) a rent even for unimproved land, and the supposed interest orprofit upon the expense of improvement is generally an addition to this original

rent. 2) Those improvements, besides, are not always made by the stock of the

landlord, but sometimes by that of the tenant. When the lease comes to berenewed, however, the landlord commonly demands the same augmentation of

rent as if they had been all made by his own. He sometimes demands rent for

what is altogether incapable of human improvement.

This rent may be considered as produce of those powers of nature, the use of

which the landlord lends to the farmer. It is greater or smaller according to thesupposed extent of those powers, or in other words, according to the supposed

natural or improved fertility of the land. It is the work of nature which remainsafter deducting or compensating everything which can be regarded as the work

of man. The rent of land, therefore, considered as the price paid for the use ofthe land, is naturally a monopoly price. It is not at all proportioned to what the

landlord may have laid out upon the improvement of the land, or to what he

can afford to take; but to what the farmer can afford to give. Of the threeoriginal classes [i.e. Landlords, Capitalists and Labor], that of the landlords is

the one whose revenue costs them neither labor nor care, but comes to them, as

it were, of its own accord, and independently of any plan or project of theirown. It is evident that the size of rent is a function of the degree of fertility of

the land. Another factor that determines rent is situation. The rent of land not

only varies with its fertility, whatever be its produce, but with its situation,whatever be its fertility.

The produce of land, mines and fisheries, when their natural fertility is equal,

is in proportion to the extent and proper application of the capitals employed


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about them. When the capitals are equal and equally well applied, it is inproportion to their natural fertility.37

Islam does not permit the landlord system. HazratMohammad (s) opined that:

it is not permissible to lease out or entangle in share cropping if any of us possess land. He said if any of you possess land, cultivate it yourself or

gracefully hand it over to a Muslim brother free of cost. If he is not ready to do

either of the two then his land will lie fallow. Accepting the private ownershipof land, Hazrat Mohammad (s) enjoined the owner of the land to cultivate

himself; though there are some otherHadith, which are equally important,

where there is evidence that the system of leasing out land and share cropping

are permissible. Under these circumstances, the unanimous decision of theIslamic scholars is that, it is permissible on the part of a land owner to lease out

land or entangle in share cropping to this extent feudalism is permitted in

Islam. Islam does never permit the loathsome Feudal-Capitalistic system that isprevalent in the present time.38

(i) Rent under Feudalism /Capitalism

The rent of land considered as the price paid by the tenant for the use of land,

is naturally the highest that the tenant can afford to pay in the actual

circumstances of the land.39 The rent of land in real life is established as aresult of the struggle between the tenant and landlord. We find that the hostile

antagonism of interests, the struggle, and the war is throughout politicaleconomy as the basis of social antagonism. 40 In this struggle struck between

landlord and tenant is always advantageous to the former in the greatestpossible degree.

In adjusting the terms of the lease, the landlord endeavors to leave him nogreater share of the produce than what is sufficient to keep up the stock from

which he furnishes the seed, pays the labor and purchases and maintains the

cattle and other instruments of husbandry, together with the ordinary profits offarming stock in the neighborhood. This is evidently the smallest share with

which the tenant can content himself without being a loser, and the landlord

seldom means to leave him any more. Whatever part of the produce or, what isthe same thing, whatever part of its price is over and above this share, he

naturally endeavors to reserve himself as the rent of his land, which is

evidently the highest the tenant can afford to pay in the actual circumstances of

the land. This portion, however, may still be considered as the natural rent of


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land, or the rent for which it is naturally meant that land should for the mostpart be let.

Rent it is to be observed, therefore, enters into composition of price of

commodities in a different way from wages and profit. High or low wages andprofit are causes of high or low prices; high or low rent is the effect of it.

Human food seems to be the only produce of land which always andnecessarily affords some rent to the landlord. Countries are populous not in

proportion to the number of people whom their produce can cloth and lodge,

but in proportion to that of those whom it can feed. After food, clothing and

lodging are the two great wants of mankind; they usually yield a rent, but notinevitably.41

Now an attempt may be made to show how the landlords exploit everythingfrom which the society benefits.42

1). The net rent of land increases with population.

2). According to Say the rent of land increases with railways, etc., with

the improvement, safety, and multiplication of the means ofcommunication.

3). Every improvement in the circumstances of the society tends either

directly or indirectly to raise the real rent of land, to increase the real

wealth of the landlord, his power of purchasing the labor, or produceof the labor of other people.

4). All those improvements in the productive powers of labor, which tend

directly to reduce the real price of manufactures, tend indirectly to

raise the real rent of land.

Allah says: Verily! Man was created anxious, fretful when evil befalleth him

and, when good befalleth him, grudging; save worshipers who are constant at

their worship and in whose wealth there is a right acknowledged for the beggar

and destitude.70/19-25

Islam has its own method of calculating rent on land.

(ii) Rent under Socialism

Under socialism the relevance of rent is absent since land is owned by the

state. Agricultural-Artel is the only agricultural and livestock breeding


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collective-farm organization in a socialist country. The main source of incomeof the members of the collective farms is their work in the socialized farms.The price of labor is determined by the quality and quantity of their work done.

There are some small pieces of private land which the members of the

collective farms possess adjacent to their homesteads; their size is determinedby the rules of the collective farms. The offspring such as livestock, poultry in

addition to cow-shed and personal small instruments are permitted in the

private farms.43 One cannot lease his land or entangle into share croppingunder this system. Allah says: If they strive to make thee join with Me that of

which thou hast no knowledge, then obey them not.29/8

(iii) Rent under IslamIn the terminology of Islam rent takes a different meaning. It is a kind ofZakat

(a compulsory payment) imposed on land, termed as OshorandKhirazpayable

toBaitulmal(State fund). Oshoris payable by the Muslims on their land whileKhiraz is payable by the non-Muslims on their land. The term Oshor means

one tenth; but Hazrat Mohammad (s) divided the land on which Oshor is

payable into two: (i) on one kind of land one-tenth of the produce which isthe result of rain water, while (ii) on the other, one-twentieth of the produce

which is the result of irrigated water, is to be paid as Oshor; though both kinds

ofZakat on land are termed as Oshor. As regards the basis of Oshor thefollowing two verses from Al Quran are mentionable Allah says: Eat ye of

the fruit thereof when it fruiteth, and pay the due thereof upon the harvest day,and be not prodigal.6/141 Allah also says: O ye who believe! Spend of the

good things which ye have earned, and of that which we bring forth from theearth for you.2/267 The difference between Oshorand Khirazlie on the fact thatOshoris not only a kind of tax on land, with it is mixed an element of worship

while Khiraz is but merely a tax on land; because of this Oshor is imposedupon the land of the Muslims alone.

Since Oshoris a fixed portion of the produce of land, it is not payable if thereis no production on the land whatever the reason may be. On the other hand

Khiraz is imposed on the cultivable land; if the owners of the land do not

cultivate the land, whatever the reason may be, since the land is cultivable, theowners will have to payKhirazbecause it is a cash payment independent of the

produce of land. But ifKhiraz on land is imposed on the basis of share-

cropping, and productions fail, in that case it is pardonable. Khirazwill not be

imposed upon barren land which is uncultivable or where rain is scanty and


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water is far away from the land so that land cannot be watered and cultivatedthereby.44

02. The Concept of Wage

A worker aspires his labour-price i.e., wage, because he needs food, clothing, aplace to live, the objects of everyday life, means of lighting, transport, etc. like

an employer needs. It is logical to bring about a harmony in the needs of

everyday life of both the worker and the employer to establish justice in asociety.

(i) Wage under Capitalism

The wage of a worker like the prices of all other factors of production and theprices of all other goods and services depend upon supply and demand, as

labour is also considered as a factor of production in a capitalistic system. The

demand comes from the entrepreneur on the basis of the marginal productivityof labour and the supply from the available labour force of the population.

Employment of workers halt in a perfectly competitive economy at a point

where, marginal revenue productivity of labour equals both marginal wage andaverage wage; this maximizes entrepreneurial profit from the workers

employment. The marginal labour enjoys the marginal wage, i.e., the lowest

labour productivity, the rest before him also enjoy the marginal wage; workerswho produce more than their wage employed before the marginal labour, that

is the surplus which is grubbed by the entrepreneur as his profit. There is scopefor collective bargaining which will affect wages and employment in various

possible situations.45

At the beginning of the [past] century, M.I.Tugan-Baranovsky produced a

social theory of wages. The wage level, according to him, was determined bytwo factors (a) by the productivity of social labor creating the total product,

and (b) by the social strength of the working class, on which the share of the

social product at the disposal of the workers depended. Supporters of the socialtheory claim that the raising of wages depends on growth of labor productivity.

In actual fact, under capitalism, a rise in the productivity of labor leads to a fall

in the value of labor power and, correspondingly, to an increase in surplusvalue. Numerous facts confirm that wage level falls a long way behind the rate

of increase of productivity. The economic struggle of the working class (its

social strength) can at best bring wages somewhat closer to the value of

labor power. The value of labor power is the upper limit of wages.


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Another widely held version of bourgeois wage theory is the theory of

regulated wages. Its most eminent representative was J. M. Keynes.

According to his theory, the state and the trade unions play the decisive role in

the regulation of wages. The state by its labor legislation, and the trade unionsthrough collective bargaining with employers, are able to determine and

establish the level of wages.46 Whatever the case may be, in a capitalistic

society, the ultimate gainer is the employer in the bargain of wages as theinflationary spiral of wages and prices are connected not with wage increases,

but with the raising of prices by monopolies and the policy of inflation pursued

by bourgeois states in the interest of the exploiting classes47 Allah says: And

that man hath only that, for which he maketh effort, and that his effort will beseen, and afterward he will be repaid for it with fullest payment. 53/39-41 Such a

saying of Allah negates the capitalistic theory of wage determination. Islam

has its own humanitarian method of determining wages and ameliorations ofthe workers and employees.

(ii) Wage under Socialism

Distribution according to work is an economic law of socialism. [The]

payment for work under socialism is part of the national income jointly

produced and owned by the whole of society (or of the gross revenue of a co-operative) distributed according to plan between workers for their personal

consumption in accordance with the quantity and quality of their labor inputsin common production.48

Many [of the needs of worker] are connected with his existence as a

biological organism. But they have a social rather than a biological nature

inasmuch as they arise and develop only in a social environment. Societycreates both the needs and the means of their satisfaction. But the social

coloring of mans needs is expressed in more ways than this. The structure of

society quite often creates wide gapes between the needs of people belongingto its various classes.

It is impossible, of course, to draw an exact line defining needs for all time.

Production is developing and the making of new consumer goods creates newdemands. The slogan of communism is: From each according to his abilities,

and to each according to his needs.49


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The slogan of communism just mentioned above may lead one to conceive theidea that since all of my personal efforts and needs rest with the connectionand responsibility of the state then why should I exert my mental, physical and

active working effort to the full, and entangle myself to the competition and

bitter life-struggle to earn more. I will get whatever I need whether I work ornot, I will not be deprived of it, so where is the need for working more.50 From

this point of view the slogan is impracticable since the slogan and the theory

are based on atheism where individuals are not accountable to Allah for theirdeeds. Allah says: By the declining day, Verily! man is in a state of loss, save

those who believe and do good works, and exhort one another to truth and

exhort one another to endurance.103/1-3 Such a belief ensures mutual

accountability between the employers and employees and to Allah to ensurefruitful deeds.

(iii) Wage under Islam

In mundane economic dealings Hazrat Mohammad (s) advises that: It is

neither proper to be a loser (yourself) nor it is proper to cause loss to (other).51

Allah says: Allah hath favored some of you above others in provision; nowthose who are more favored will by no means hand over their provision to

those (slaves) whom their right hands possess, so that they may be equal with

them in respect thereof. Is it then the grace of Allah that they deny? 16/71 O yewho believe! Squander not your wealth among yourselves in vanity, except it

be a trade by mutual consent, and kill not one another.4/29

As regards the dealings of the employer with his subordinates and workersHazrat Mohammad (s) says: they are your brothers. Allah has made them

your subordinates. As a result to which Allah has made his brothers

subordinates, he should give them the foods he himself eats; give the clothinghe himself wear. And give him not the burden of work which is beyond his

capacity to bear; if you ever throw over extra burden upon him then help him

to perform that work.

From the Hadiths and the Quranic verses mentioned above, it is clear that a

worker has not a separate entity of his own and the wage of a worker is notdetermined on the basis of the interaction of traditional market forces of

capitalism, such as demand and supply of labor; rather by the mutual brotherly

understanding between the employer and the employee; since the employees


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are partners and brothers of the society to which the employers belong, so theyshould be treated as equal to the employers themselves.As regards the dealings of a Muslim employer with the non-believers Hazrat

Mohammad (s) says: Bear it in mind that a person who will oppress a Muahid

(a non-Muslim appropriated to the contract) citizen, give him trouble, insultshim or snatches his wealth by force then in the day of resurrection I will take

side against him.

Hazrat Mohammad (s) forbade engaging a worker before his wage is settled

down. He advised to pay the workers wage before sweat of the worker is dried

after work. It is an act of oppression to muddle with the payment of wages and

debt to the workers on the part of rich men. It is desirable on the part of boththe employer and the worker to come to an agreement on wage before the work

is done and abide thereby. Allah says: keep the covenant, verily of the

covenant it will be asked.17/34

03 The Concept of Profit

The profit or gain of capital is altogether different from the wages of labor.This difference is manifested in two ways: in the first place, the profits of

capital are regulated altogether by the value of the capital employed, although

the labor of inspection and direction associated with different capitals may bethe same. Moreover in large works the whole of this labor is committed to

some principal clerk, whose salary bears no regular proportion to the capital ofwhich he oversees the management. And although the labor of the proprietor is

here reduced almost to nothing, he still demands profits in proportion to hiscapital.52

As an answer to the question: why does the capitalist demand this proportionbetween profit and capital, it may simply be said that a capitalist would have

no interest in employing the workers, unless he expected from the sale of their

work something more than is necessary to replace the stock advanced by himas wages; and he would have no interest in employing a great stock rather than

a small one unless his profit were to bear some proportion to the extent of the

stock employed.53 Allah says: O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful andwholesome in the earth, and follow not the footsteps of the devil. Verily! he is

an open enemy for you.2/168

(i) Profit under Capitalism


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The rate of surplus-value measured against the variable capital is called rateof surplus-value. The rate of surplus-value measured against the total capital iscalled rate of profit. These are two different measurements of the same entity,

and owing to the difference of the two standards of measurement they express

different proportions or relations of this entity. The transformation of surplus-value into profit must be deduced from the transformation of the rate of

surplus-value into the rate of profit, not vice versa.

The relationships of capital are obscured by the fact that all parts of capital

appear equally as the source of excess value (profit).

If the rate of surplus-value is known and its magnitude given, the rate of profitexpresses nothing but what it actually is, namely a different way of measuring

surplus-value, its measurement according to the value of the total capital

instead of the value of the proportion of capital from which surplus-valuedirectly originates by way of its exchange for labor. But in reality (i.e., in the

world of phenomena) the matter is reversed. Surplus-value is given, but given

as an excess of the selling price of the commodity over its cot-price; and itremains a mystery where this originated from the exploitation of labor in the

process of production, or from outwitting the purchaser in the process of

circulation, or from both. What is also given is the proportion of this surplus tothe value of the total capital, or the rate of profit.

Although the rate of profit thus differs numerically from the rate of surplus-

value, while surplus-value and profit are actually the same thing andnumerically equal, profit is nevertheless a converted form of surplus-value, a

form in which its origin and the secret of its existence are obscure and

extinguished.54

The direct aim of capitalist production is not the production of goods, but the

production of surplus- value, or of profits in its developed form; not theproduct, but the surplus product. From this standpoint, labor is productive only

in so far as it creates profit or surplus product for capital. In so far as the

worker dose not creates it, his labor is unproductive. Consequently, the sum-total of applied productive labor is of interest to capital only to the extent that

through it or in relation to it the sum-total of surplus labor increases. Only

to the extent it is what is called necessary labor time necessary is. To the extent

that it does not produce this result, it is superfluous and has to be discontinued.


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It is the constant aim of capitalist production to produce the maximum surplusvalue or surplus product with the minimum of capital advanced; in so far asthis result is not attained by overworking the laborer, it is a tendency of capital

to seek to produce a given product with the least expenditure economizing

labor power and cost. The laborers themselves figure in this conception aswhat they actually are in capitalist production only means of production; not

an aim in them and not the aim of production,55 This is totally a materialistic

method of consideration and calculation of what is called profit in the West byconverting mankind into human animal to serve the purpose of the

profiteering capitalists seekers of the worldly gain forgetting the Hereafter.

Allah says: But of mankind is he who saith: Our Benefactor! Give unto us inthe world, and he hath no portion in the Hereafter. And of them (also) is he

who saith: Our Benefactor! Give unto us in the world that which is good and

in the Hereafter that which is good, and guard us from the doom of Fire. Forthem there is in store a goodly portion out of that which they have earned.

Allah is swift at reconing.2/200-202 As a result Islam has its own view on the

question of profit.

(ii) Profit under Socialism

The aim of socialist production is not profit, but man and his needs, that is,the satisfaction of his material and cultural requirements. As it is stated in

Stalins Remarks, the aim of socialist production is the securing of themaximum satisfaction of the constantly rising material and cultural

requirements of the whole of society. Yaroshenko thinks that what he isconfronted with here is the primacy of consumption over production. That, of

course, is a misapprehension. Actually what, we have here is not the primacy

of consumption, but the subordination of socialist production to its principalaim of securing the maximum satisfaction of the constantly rising material and

cultural requirements of the whole of society.

Consequently, maximum satisfaction of the constantly rising material and

cultural requirements of the whole of society is the aim of socialist production;

continuous expansion and perfection of socialist production on the basis ofhigher techniques is the means for the achievement of the aim56 not

maximizing profit as is done in a capitalistic economy.


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Under socialism the social nature of commodity production and exchange isdifferent because here the profit obtained is social property and production andexchange are regulated by the state in the interest of the whole of society.57

Allah says: O mankind! Remember Allahs grace toward you! Is there any

creator other than Allah who provideth for you from the sky and the earth?There is no God save Him. Whither then are ye turned?35/3 A reminder of

Allah to the disbelievers.

(iii) Profit under Islam

Islam encourages trade, commerce and industry but discourages undue profit

and coercion of labourer. That is why the Islamic scholars emphasize on

business as the greatest means of livelihood among all economic activities inthis world, and the best and holy factor in the advancement of civilization and

culture. To encourage business Allah reveals: And when the prayer is ended,

then disperse in the land and seek of Allahs bounty, and remember Allahmuch, that ye may be successful.62/10 Allah assures: And announce unto the

believers the good tidings that they will have great bounty from Allah33/47

HazratMohammad (s) says: Honest and responsible businessmen will be thecompanions of the Prophets, Truthful and Martyrs in the day of resurrection.

Since the legitimacy of business is based on mutual consent, care should haveto be taken so that, in the case of profit, one does not gain much profit and

another will lose much. About cooperation in honest activities Allah says:.help ye one another unto righteousness and pious duty. Help not one

another unto sin and transgression, but keep your duty to Allah. 5/2 It is notpermissible in Islam to exert force on gaining consent and taking away others

property; Allah says, as has been mentioned previously: O ye who believe!

Squander not your wealth among yourselves in vanity, except it is a trade bymutual consent, and kill not one another.4/29 Trade, commerce and industry

should stabilize peace in the society but not cause trouble, struggle and

bloodshed on the question of the share of profit and wealth between theemployer and the employee. HazratMohammad (s) says: Best of earnings is

selling and buying on the basis of welfare and best of earning is of ones own

hand. Best of selling and buying is, also, in which there is no deceit, grabbingand according to the ordinance of Allah. Hazrat Mohammad (s) also

emphasizes that: It is not proper to neither be a loser yourself nor cause loss to

others.


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Those transactions, in which ones increase in wealth and profit causesinevitable loss to others, and also such transactions which have not beenspontaneously agreed upon, i.e., usury and paying the worker below the rate of

his work he deserves and discriminating between the buyers or sellers for

profiteering, are not permissible in Islam.

04. On Interest (i.e., Usury)58

The question of interest (i.e. usury) is not necessary to be touched upon here in

this Article as Islam abhors and abates it altogether. Allah says: Those whoswallow usury cannot rise up save as he ariseth whom the devil hath prostrated

by (his) touch. That is because they say: Trade is just like usury; whereas Allah

permitteth trading and forbideth usury. He unto whom an admonition from his

Benefactor cometh, and (he) refraineth (in obedience thereto), he shall keep(the profits of) that which is past, and his affair (henceforth) is with Allah. As

for him who returneth (to usury) such are rightful owners of the Fire. They

will abide therein. Allah has blighted usury and made alms giving fruitful.Allah loveth not the impious and guilty. Verily! those who believe and do good

works and establish worship and pay the poor-due [Zakat], their reward is with

their Benefactor and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall theygrieve. O ye who believe! Observe your duty to Allah, and give up what

remaineth (due to you) from usury, if ye are (in truth) believers.2/275-278 The

element of interest (i.e. usury) which is (open under capitalism and) concealedunder both capitalism and socialism has been briefly touched upon in the

relevant sections (no. 31 and 46) without going into the details of itsdetermination and discussions in accordance with the western economists.

Section IV

Concluding Observations

In the light of the discussions made above and in the light of the saying of

Allah that: He it is who created for you all that is in the earth, 2/29 it is

necessary to establish welfare oriented economic system on earth so thathumankind may benefit from the livelihoods that Allah has given to live here;

it is a natural instinct on the part of every man. But when there arises a conflict

on the basis of personal instinct and feeling with the life and livelihood, thenthe natural law which surrounds the entire world on behalf of Allah compels

every human being to lead an associated social life. In the absence of mutual

cooperation and sympathy among human being on the basis of justice and

equality such a system of associated social life is unimaginable. Justice and


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equality in the system of human life, indeed, is the key to such a system. If thefollowing rules are followed in the life system of human race, only then mutualcooperation may be established in the society.59

(i). The economic system will have to be responsible for the livelihood of

each and every person concerned. It must be ensured that none is

deprived of his livelihood in the field of work.

(ii). Those factors that create an opportunity of economic supremacy open

up the way of exploitation and coercion in the society, and become

the cause of ruin of the economic system, will have to be uprooted.

(iii). Wealth and factors of wealth will have to be kept free from beinggrabbed by a particular person or class; and a person or a class of

persons will have to be prevented from extending supremacy over the

economic system. If this can be done, the economic system will not

become an instrument of fulfilling the aim of that particular classinstead of fulfilling the welfare of the entire human race.

(iv). A proper balance will have to be established between labour and

capital; and one will have to be prevented from illegally encroaching

on the rights of others.

Human being of skin-flesh-blood-bone-brain is made viceroy35/39 of Allah to

spend time in this earth while Al Quran and the Sunnah are the basis ofspending this temporary life-time successfully in this temporary earth. Allah

says: Everything will perish save His countenance. His is the command, and

unto Him ye will be brought back.28/88 Allah declares: Nor is this [i.e., AlQuran] the utterance of a Satan worthy to be stoned. . This [i.e., Al Quran]

is naught else than a reminder unto creation.81/25, 27.

Allah also says: And those who disbelieve say of those who believe: If it hadbeen (any) good, they would not have been before us in attaining it. And since

they will not be guided by it they say: This is an ancient lie. 46/11 Al Ghazzali

notes that, what is acceptable among the wise is to assume that you are alone

with God in this universe while before you lie death, resurrection, judgment,paradise and hell. Consider then what concerns you of all these and ignore the

rest.60


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[So], Many are the roads, but truth is a single path,/And those who tread thisway are few;/They pass unrecognized, their goal unknown,/While slowly andsteadily they press along./Men do not know for what they were created, /And

most of them fail to see the path of truth.61

Allah says: He it is Who hath sent His messenger with the guidance and thereligion of truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion.48/28 As an

echo to this message of Allah, George Bernard Shaw says: In the prospective

future all religions and faiths will lose their effectiveness but mankind willattain their path of salvation in the faith preached by Mohammad.62 About

Hazrat Mohammad (s) Allah says: And verily! thou art of astounding

nature.68/4 and also I sent thee not save as a mercy for the universe.21/107Verily in the messenger of Allah ye have a good example for him who

looketh unto Allah and the Last Day, and remembereth Allah much.33/21

HazratMohammad (s) says: Your blood, your wealth and your honor are as

sacred as this day ofHaj, this month and this city.[Hadith: Meskat]

Allah says: Say, (O Mohammad, to mankind): If ye love Allah, follow me;Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. Allah is Forgiving,

Mercyful.3/31 Say: He is only one God.6/19

Praise be to Allah, Benefactor of the Worlds, the Beneficent the Merciful.

Owner of the Day of Judgment, Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we askfor help. Show us the straight path, the path of those whom Thou hast favored;not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.1/1-7

NOTES AND REFERENCES

[Translated Quranic verses are from The Meaning of the Glorious Koran by

Mohammad Marmaduke Pickthal, Published by the New American Library,

New York and Toronto, modified by the Author of this Article, wherever

necessary, following Al Quranul Karim, the Bengali version of Al Quran, bythe Islamic Foundation Bangladesh, Dhaka 1999. The Quranic verse numbers

are those of the original text. Other translations, wherever made from Bengali,and the words or the fragments of sentences put in square brackets withinquotations are the act of the Author of this Article.]


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1. Portent means all those instances which irrevocably prove that there issome Creator, Legislator, Conductor of this universe and He is nonebut Allah alone. Vide Maududi, Syyid Abul Ala, Tafhimul Quran,

Translated into Bengali by Maulana Muhammad Abdur Rahim,

Published by Khairun Prokashani, Dhaka 1999. Vol.13. P. 163.

2. Maududi, Syyid Abul Ala. Tafhimul Quran, Translated into Bengali by Maulana Muhammad Abdur Rahim, Published by Khairun

Prokashani, Dhaka 1999. Vol. 13. P.163.

3. Marx, K. and F. Engels. On Religion, Fourth Printing 1966. Progress

Publishers, Moscow, 1966. Pp. 37-38.

4. Hashim, Abul. Islami Darsaner Ruparekha (Outlines of Islamic

Philosophy), an Article included in Nurul Islam ed., Islami Manik

Darshaner Ruprekha, Islamic Foundation Bangladesh, Dhaka

1999.P.1.

5. Russell, Bertrand.History of Western Philosophy. Second Edition First

published in 1961 by George Allen & Unwin Ltd. Reprint in 1995 by

Routledge London, Published in Canada by Routledge , New York.

P.395.

6. Nilu, Matiur Rahman. Islami Darshane Shadhin Icha Prashanga

(Attachment of Free Thinking in Islamic Philosophy), an Article

included in Nurul Islam Manik ed., Islami Darshaner Ruprekha,

Islamic Foundation Bangladesh, Dhaka 1999.P. 123. Such free willshould not violate Allahs message: Verily! those who disbelieve in

Allah and His messengers, and seek to make distinction between

Allah and His messengers, and say: We believe in some anddisbelieve in others, and seek to choose a way in between; such are

disbelievers in truth; and for disbelievers I prepare a shameful

doom.4/150.

7. Russell, Bertrand. op.cit pp.418-419. [Averroes] was accused [byYaqub Al-Mansur the successor and the son of Caliph Abu Yaqub

Yusuf who in 1184 made Averroes his physician] of cultivating thephilosophy of the ancients at the expense of the true faith. Al-Mansurpublished an edict to the effect that God had directed hell-fire for

those who thought that truth could be found by the unaided reason.

All the books that could be found on logic and metaphysics were


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given to the flames. It is said that Averroes was taken back intofavour shortly before his death. Ibid. P. 418. (The last sentencequoted above is in the footnote of the page.) Averroes is more

important in Christian than in Mohammedan philosophy. In the latter

he was a dead end; in the former, a beginning. Ibid. P. 419.

8. Al Ghazzali. English Version of The Kitab Al- Ilm of Al-GazzalisIhya Ulum Al-Din by Dr.Nabih Amin Faris, as The Book ofKnowledge, Published by Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, Lahore, Pakistan,

1962. Pp. 192-203.

9. Rahman, Maulana Hifzur. Islamer Arthanaytik Babostha (The

Economic Order of Islam), Translated from Urdu into Bengali byMaulana Abdul Awal, Islamic Foundation Bangladesh, Dhaka 1998.

P.10.

10. Hashim, Abul. op.cit., P.14.

11. Bucaille, Dr. Maurice.Bible Quran O Bigyan, Bengali version of The

Bible, The Quran and Science, by Akhtar-ul-Alam and Published by

the Gyankosh Prakashani, Sixth Edition and Third Publication,

Dhaka 1995. P. 200. The book has highly gladdened the Islamicscholars.

12. Al Ghazzali. op.cit., P. 228.

13. Marx, Karl, Capital. Vol. I. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1984.

P.174. If, on the other hand, the subject of labor has, so to say, beenfiltered through previous labor, we call it raw material; such is ore

already extracted and ready for washing. All raw materials are the

subject of labor, but not every subject of labor is raw material: it can

only become so, after it has undergone some alteration by means oflabor. Vide. Ibid. P. 174.

14. Ibid. P. 570.

15. Marx, Karl. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. Second

Impression, Foreign Language Publishing House, Moscow 1961.P.52, 58, 61.

16. Ibid. P.58, 61.


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17. Kozlov, G.A. General Editor. Political Economy: Socialism.Progress Publishers, Moscow 1977. Ibid. P.62.

18. Shafi, Mohammad Mufti.Islamey Bhumi Babostha (The Law of Land

in Islam), Translated from Urdu by Maulana Karamat Ali Nijamee,

Islamic Foundation Bangladesh, Dhaka 1985. P.1-39.

19. Marx, Karl,Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. op.cit.,Pp.20-30.

20. Marx, Karl. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. op.cit.,

Pp. 67-83.

21. Marxist Leninist Theory. The Fundamentals of Marxist-LeninistPhilosophy. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1974. P. 534.

22. Kozlov, G.A. General Editor.Political Economy: Socialism. ProgressPublishers, Moscow 1977. Pp. 153-154.

23. Leites, Nathan. A Study of Bolshevism. The Free Press, Publishers,

Glencoe, Illinois, USA, 1953. Pp.99-100. Leites quoted this portion

from Sir John Maynard, Russia in Flux, p.301.

24. Ibid. P.103. Leites quoted this portion from Joseph Stalin, The Soviet

Union and World Peace, p.14.

25. Krivtsov, V.A. et.al.(Editor in Chief). A Critique of Mao Tse-tungsTheoretical Conceptions. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1972. P. 205.

26. Ibid. Pp. 202-203.

27. Dainandin Zibane Islam (Islam in Daily Life). Islamic FoundationBangladesh, Dhaka 2000. P.432-434.

28. Khaled, Sarwar Md. Saifullah, Issues in Development Economics: An

Islamic Model. Thoughts on Economics, The Quarterly Journal of

Islamic Economics Research Bureau, Vol.17, No.3 & 4. July-December 2007. Pp. 20-21.


P.37, 243.

30. Keynes, John Maynard. The General Theory Of Employment, Interest

And Money. Macmillan & Co. Ltd. London. 1961. P.226.


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31. In the words of Marx: [The] increment or excess over the originalvalue I call surplus-value. The value originally advanced, therefore,not only remains intact while in circulation, but adds to itself a

surplus-value or expands itself. It is this movement that converts into

capital. Surplus-value . splits up into various parts. Its fragmentsfall to various categories of persons, and take various forms,

independent the one of the other, such as profit, interest [i.e. Usury],

merchants profits, rent, &c. . Whatever be the proportion ofsurplus-value the industrialist capitalist retain for himself, or yields

up to others, he is the one who, in the first instance, appropriates it.Vide Karl Marx. Capital. op.cit.

32. In the words of Marx surplus labor is his labor, being no longernecessary labor, he creates no value for himself [i.e. the laborer]. He

creates surplus-value which, for the capitalist, has all the charms of a

creation out of nothing. This portion of the working-day, I namesurplus labor-time, and to the labor expended during that time, I give

the name of surplus-labor. Vide Marx. Capital. Vol. I. op.cit.

33. Marx, Karl, Capital. Vol. I. op.cit.

34. Kozlov, G.A. General Editor. Political Economy: Socialism. op.cit.,

P.60-63.

35. Ibid. P. 63.

36. Rahman, Maulana Hifzur, Islamer Arthanaytik Babostha. op.cit., p.

288.


pp. 52-53.

38. Rahman, Maulana Hifzur, op.cit. P.190-200.

39. Marx, Karl, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. op.cit.P. 54.

40. Ibid. P. 53

41. Ibid. P. 54-56.

42. Ibid. P.56-57.


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43. Golikov, Victor, Soviet Deshe Krishi Jouthikaran (Collectivization ofAgriculture in Soviet Land). Progress Publishers, Moscow 1977.P.55. Footnote.

44. Shafi, op.cit. Pp.165-172

45. Stonier, Alfred W. et.al. A Text Book of Economic Theory. ELBS,

London, 1962, Pp. 232-272. for elementary elaboration.

46. Kozlov, op.cit. Pp. 157-158.

47. Ibid 158-159.

48. Ibid. Pp. 185-189.

49. Marxist Leninist Theory. Ibid. P.544.

50. Rahman, Maulana Hifzur, Ibid.P.341.

51. Ibid. P.205.

52. Marx, Karl, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. op.cit.

p.43.

53. Ibid. P. 37.

54. Marx, Karl, Capital. Vol. III. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1984.Pp. 43, 45,47, 48.

55. Stalin, J. V.Economic Problems of Socialism in the U.S.S.R. Foreign

Languages Press, Peking 1972. P. 79. Quoted from Karl Marx,

Theory of Surplus Value, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Works,German ed., Vol. 26, Part 2, Chapter 18.

56. Ibid. Pp. 79-80.

57. Marxist Leninist Theory. Ibid. P.318.

58. For a useful study on Interest [i.e. Usury] Vide Md. Sharif Husain,Al-Quraner Dristite Shud (Interest The Quranic View). Thoughts

on Economics, The Quarterly Journal of Islamic Economics Research

Bureau, Vol.17, No.3 & 4. July-December 2007. Pp. 79-88.59. Rahman, Maulana Hifzur. op.cit. P. 13.

60. Al Ghazzali. op.cit. P. 106.

61. Ibid. P.208.


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62. Azad, Professor Md. Ali Ershad Hosen. Priya Nabir (s) SamajSangskar (The Social Reforms of Dear Prophet (s)). The Daily

Ittefaq, 56th Year, No.88. Friday, 21 March 2008. P. 27.

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