ECONOMIC SYSTEM IN ISLAM

By

Abdul Husain Muhammad

2nd Edition1975

Published By

World Organization for Islamic Services,P. O. Box No.11365-1545,

Tehran. (IRAN)

Compared with

Capitalism and Socialism

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH,THE MOST COMPASSIONATE,

THE MERCIFUL.

Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all. beings;the Most Compassionate, the Merciful;

the Master of the Day of Judgment;Thee only we serve, and to Thee alone we pray

for succour;Guide us in the straight path;

the path of those whom Thou hast blessed,who are immune from Thy wrath

and have never gone astray.

O'Allah! send your blessings to the head ofyour messengers and the last of

your prophets, Muhammadand his pure and cleansed progeny.Also send your blessings to all your

prophets and envoys.

CONTENTS

Foreword ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..

3

Introduction .................................... 7

The Triple Nature of Possession

... ... ... ... ...

18

Freedom of Private Enterprise and its

Limits ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

21

Social Justice

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

34

Economic Problems ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

38

Dear Reader

This leaflet is one of several Islamic publi-cations that we distribute, as a contribution,among the people throughout the world.

You are requested to study the present pub-lication with care and if you find it useful,please pass it on to your friend. You may requisition for further Islamic publications avai-lable with us. We assure you that the books re-quested by you will be mailed to you imme-diately.

Yours in Islam,

Publication Secretary,

P.O. Box No.1136-1545, Tehran, Iran.

FOREWORD

The urgent need of Islamic literature is feltthroughout the world. Many young Muslims bybirth, when asked which religion they adhere totheir answer comes hesitatingly M-U--S-lims. Manyothers deny or hide their identity and claim tobe progressive `atheists,' since it is the fashionnow! It is needless to say that this shamefulsituation has resulted from ignorance. It is thedreadful ignorance about Islamic ideals, concepts,and philosophy. Anyone is shocked at comparingthe magnificent role played by Muslims in history,and seeing today's Muslims. It is acknowledgedthat Muslims had performed remarkable achieve-ments in every field such as, astronamy, algebra,geometry, chemistry, optics, and medicine........The human and organisational fields receivedtheir full share also, where the form of govern-ment is formulated, wealth is evenly and justly

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distributed, rights are protected.......

The topic of this booklet is the economicsystem in Islam. This might cause astonishmentamong Muslims who received Western style education. They are taught that religion is a mererelation between God and man. They are told thatreligion has nothing to do with society, its wel-fare and organisation. This world is Caesar's King-dom, while God's Kingdom is the next world.Islam firmly rejects these foreign ideas, and dic-tates that both worlds are belonging to God alone,and it is the Heavenly light which truly guidestowards prosperity.

The Muslim Youth Association, which cameinto existence last year, is striving to perform therequired Islamic duties. This series of booklets isa humble work, which we seek through it dis-charging the big responsibility resting on our shou-lders. It is a small contribution towards the awa-kening of Muslims, and aid them in retaining their

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identity in this wild struggle of ideologies. It isthe right of Islam to be known, before beingjudged, whether by Muslims or non-Muslims.

This series of booklets will cover some popu-lar Islamic topics, in a short and lucid style, inorder to meet the need of young Muslims whowant to know the basic Islamic concepts. Thewriters of these short surveys are young people,who understand very well present trends, andconvinced that Muslim youth have been neglectedand wronged. They feel that young Muslims werekept aloof from the sources of Islamic knowledge,either by their fathers' ignorance or by receivingdistorted information from non-Islamic sources.We sincerely believe that if the Muslim youthhave the opportunity to have a glimpse of therealities of Islam, they would stick to it, and neverpart from it, as was the case with us.

May God accept our work for His sake, and

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let it be a good reward in the next world.

Muslim Youth Association

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In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent,

the Merciful

INTRODUCTION

The following points should be considered asa prelude to our discussion.

1. It is of utmost importance to differentiatebetween two concepts, namely, the economicsystem and economic science. The former, thatis the economic system, deals with the best waysdictated by an ideology, to provide and safeguardnational welfare and justice among people; whilethe latter, that is economic science, is concernedwith natural laws which govern economic ope-

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rations and transactions, independent of justice.For instance, take the laws of "supply anddemand." It is observed that when demand onparticular goods is increased, its price will increaseaccordingly. Then the rise in the price will effectthe demand which contributes to the price de-crease. This is a well known law in the science ofeconomics which can be applied or observed inany economic operation, irrespective of the eco-nomic system prevailing in the society. But if wetook the concept of possession, we find that Capi-talism is centred about private ownership: Social-ism proclaims collective ownership; while Islamneatly balances the interests of individuals andsociety. Islam has its unique and independentsystem which shall be dealt with in time.

The main purpose of this article is to com-pare the existing economic systems as it is definedby the title. The comparison is based on doctrinalgrounds. The following systems shall be examinedin sequence:

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a. The Democratic Capitalist System.

b. The Democratic Socialist System.c. The Communist System.d. The Islamic System.

The Democratic Capitalist system is followedby countries like America, England, France........It is needless to say that the evils of this systemhas made its advocates retreat from many of itsvalues, ideals and laws. It is not astonishing to hearcries of socialist measures, such as national healthservice, free education etc. It is then not surp-rising at all to find France and England claiming tobe Socialist countries! The Democratic values inthese countries have been challenged to whetherthey actually achieve social justice, and reflect thesociety's opinion as a whole. It actually fails thetest of securing true representation of all peo-ple and protect their interests without some sec-tor being victimised.

The Democratic Socialist system prevails in

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China, Russia, Yugoslavia........ This system allows,but limits the possession of people, and the gover-nment assumes the ownership and administrationof the bulk of the country's wealth and industries.In other words, individuals will not be allowed tohave more than they barely need, while the gover-nment manages, develops, secures, and maintainsevery aspect in the society. This is obviously nothealthy, because it will deny people the initiative,responsibility and the imaginative power, and selfinterest. Indeed, Russia and other Socialist coun-tries wondered at first about the impracticabilityof their ideas, and thought the reason to be theprecipitates of Capitalism. But when fifty yearshave lapsed and their dilema has not changed, theyimplicitly realised the wrong concepts assumed.Hence they introduced remarkable changes andalterations in the system to the extent that Chinaaccuses Russia to be deviating to the capitalist line.

The Communist system has no existence, andno practical experience up to now. In other words,

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it is theoretical and has never been realised inpractice. It should be noted carefully that theCommunist system assumes in man idealistic mo-tives. This means that Communism demands bio-logical and psychological transformations and cha-nges in the human being! The simplest thing to sayin order to discard the Communist theory is thatit contradicts

with human nature and instincts.This is scientifically proved and materially beyonddoubt, because this theory deviates from experi-ment and observations. The Islamic system is thelast one to be examined in this short review.Although the Islamic system has no existence now,but it has passed the experience of application.It is a practical system unlike Communism. It wasvery successful in raising the primitive Arabiannation of the sixth century to the greatly civilisednation of the 12th century. The boundaries ofthe Islamic Empire, then, were stretching betweenChina in the east, and the Atlantic Ocean in theWest. It was the deviation from Islam which causedthe failure of the Islamic Empire. It was in 1918

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when for the first time in the Islamic world, thatthe Quranic law was replaced by Western law.

2. Here it is advantageous to pass quicklyover the recent Islamic revivals, and its develop-ment in order to have a proper grasp of the under-standing and mentality of today's Muslims.

The Qur'an is not considered as a scientifictext to provide a systematic description of theeconomic system in Islam. The modern IslamicMovement started at the beginning of the presentcentury and did not take the shape of formalorganisations till the fourth decade.

Muslim thinkers pursued the traditional man-ner of Islamic legislation which depends on thefollowing sources:-

(a). Qur'an - which is God's revelation tothe Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).

(b). Tradition - which is the sayings of the

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Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).

(c). Ijma ̀- this comes when there is no spe-cific mention in Qur'an or Tradition about aparticular case. It specially refers to conceptswhich have been accepted throughout the Islamichistory as Islamic concepts.

(d). Human reasoning or logic - this againcomes when there is no specific mention inQur'an, and Tradition.

Hence it is revelant for Muslim thinkers toseek solutions for the various problems of life, inthe Qur'an. If there was no clear cut solution,then the true sayings of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.a.h.f.) are reviewed to get more satisfaction. Ifthat was not enough, then Ijmd ` and Logic areused as a final resort.

This particular topic is the field of specialistswho possess sound knowledge of Islam.

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It is pointless to say that the following ana-lysis is only quotation of Modern Muslim thin-kers, and ideological leaders, and cannot be regar-ded as my own analysis or reasoning.

3. It is important to note that the Islamicprinciple is a complete set of concepts and lawswhich cannot be divided into small pieces or partsseparately. It is essential to deal with Islam as awhole, otherwise, the fruits would not have theIslamic flavour and taste. In other words, it is notpossible to take some Islamic laws while rejectingothers.

A principle is defined politically as a doctrinewhich gives rise to a system of life. The doctrineis the philosophy which defines the universe andman, the origin of universe, the nature of the lawsgoverning the universe, the destination of man,etc. The system is a natural organisational formof the doctrinal view of what the society shouldbe like, and its dealings within its sphere and

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outside relations.

The word Islam means submission. Islamconsiders man as a part of nature which is des-tined to obey certain rules. The natural laws havebeen created by an ultimate cause called God(The Arabic word is Allah). Islam views nature asMuslim. The movement of electrons around thenucleus is an obedience to a godly law, and in thissense, the election is a Muslim.

Human being is distinguished from otherparts of nature by his consciousness and power ofthinking. His status has two kinds of laws. Thefirst kind covers the instinctive, materialistic, andpsychological activities, which are independent ofhis will, such as the beating of heart, or the curi-osity instinct, etc. The second kind covers thoseactivities which are based on man's free will. Godoffered man the best norms for his behaviour.That was delivered through Prophets by revela-tion. Prophets are looked at from the Islamicangle as extremely good people who are worthy

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of being God's messengers to humanity. Therewere thousands of them throughout the historyon this planet. But five of them were the greatest,because they came with complete code of life.They were namely, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus,and lastly Muhammad.

We are ordered by theCreator through His Prophets to be in harmonywith the natural laws which covers all fields ofhuman life.

"Shall I seek for judge other than God whenit is He who hath sent down unto you the Book,explained in detail? They know full well to whomwe have given the Book, that it hath been sentdown from thy Lord in truth. Never be then ofthose who doubt". ( Qur'an, 6:114)

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"And this (He Commands): Judge then bet-ween them by what God hath revealed, and follownot their vain desires, but beware of them lestthey beguile thou from any of that (Teaching)which God hath sent down to thee. And if theyturned away, be sure that for some of their crimesit is

God's purpose to punish them. And trulymost men are rebellious?" (Qur'an, 5:49)

After finishing from these notes, it is time todiscuss the economic systems in detail. The Isla-mic economic system is based on the followingthree foundations:-

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1. THE TRIPLE NATURE OF POSSESSION:

Capitalism views private possession as a basicneed which voluntarily fulfils the community'sdesires and requirements rather than being inconflict with it. Capitalists consider Nationalisa-tion as exceptional cases of remedies for tem-porary crisis of the Nationalised economy. Itargued that nationalised sectors of economy canbe de-nationalised after that crisis has disappeared.

Socialism, on the other hand, claim collectiveownership as the fundamental concept in itseconomic system. Private capitals must be nationalised according to Socialism. But the Socialistswere confronted in the field of application withdifficulties and were forced to recognise privatepossession. That attitude was a temporary curefor their economic problems. It is argued thatwhen the difficulties have gone, then the privatesectors are re-nationalised again.

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Islam recognises three kinds of possessions:-

(a). Private Possession

"O ye who believe! Eat not your propertyamong yourselves in vanities: but let there beamongst you traffic and trade by mutual goodwill." ( Qur'an, 4:29)

"But if ye turn back, ye shall have your capi-tal sums: deal not unjustly and ye shall not bedealt with unjustly?" ( Qur'an, 2:279)

The Prophet (p.b.u.h.a.h.f.) said: "The pos-session of a Muslim is illegal to his brother exceptwhich he willingly offers to him."

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(b). Collective Possession

This field covers the national wealth whichbelongs to all people of the Islamic State, irres-pective of their financial status. The bulk of thewealth is expended and utilised in building schools,hospitals, etc. The sources or incomes of this sec-tor of economy are specific and noted. For exa-mple, the so-called (Kharaj land) is one sourcewhich is a land naturally productive. ProphetMuhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.f.) said: "People are toshare three .things, fire, water, and grass." AllMuslim thinkers throughout the Islamic historyaccepted the generalisation of this statement toinclude all natural resources to be under collectiveownership. There are many other examples ofincome to the collective possession, which can beconsulted in the Islamic legislation books.

(c). State's Possession

State's possession differs from other kinds ofpossession not only in the sources of income but

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in utilisation and fields of expenditure also. Thereare specific sources of income to this economicsector, like the so-called (Dead land). The evidenceof this in the Qur'an is the following verse:

"They ask you concerning "Anfal" (acce-ssions) say "Anfal" is at the disposal of God andthe Apostle. " (Qur'an, 8:1) The Prophet is mentioned here as a representative of the IslamicGovernment. The ways in which this wealth isused are many. One of the basic channels is help-ing poor people to work, by offering small capitalor building a factory for their employment.

2. FREEDOM OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISE AND

ITS LIMITS:

Capitalism permits individuals to manipulatetheir wealth in all ways and means, regardless oftheir possible consequences on the society. It isbelieved that the society's interests are served by

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the individual's motives and enterprise. Hence,there is no conflict economically between privateand society interests as it is viewed by Capitalism.For example, a bus company is providing socialservice, but it is private enterprise. Other publicservices, like education, railways, roads, etc., usedto be considered as private enterprises, whichfurnish social services.

Socialism denies individuals economic free-dom. The State or Government steps in, plan andadminister the bulk of the country's economywith no regard to people's incentives.

Islam recognises people's freedom and rightof possession, but defines its boundaries and limits.The boundaries are located by the followingitems:

(a) Indirect influence of the Islamic education:

It should be taken for granted that one of the

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main tasks of the Islamic State is education;education which carries the Islamic image and spi-rit. It is important to note that no menas of pro-pagation and education will be spared, when theIslamic State re-emerges again. This is a naturalmeasure since education moulds people's thoughts,sentiments, and their general attitudes towardslife. Then, when the Islamic moral code is pre-vailing in the society the fear of violating thelaws will be considerably less. This is a logicalconclusion for there will be, in every person, aninner motive for safe-guarding the law. Hence thedanger of capital inflation and monoply are consi-derably reduced when Islamic laws are applied.

(b) Direct Interference of the State:

Islamic State can intervene on two levels.

(i) Protection of the permanent fundamentalIslamic legislations. This field includes the follow-ing sectors:

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1. Taking the permanent tax (Zakat) whichranges between 2.5-10% of the stored possession(which is not essential for one's living), in everyyear.

"Of their goods take alms, that so thoumightest purify and sanctify them; and pray ontheir behalf. Verily thy prayer is a source of security for them: and God is One heareth and kno-weth. " (Qur'an, 9:103)

Khums is another revenue of taxation. It isone fifth of the annual excess of one's profit to betaken by the Islamic Government.

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"And know that out of all the booty that yemay acquire (in war) a fifth share is assigned toGod, and the Apostle, and to near relatives, orphans, the needy, and the wayfarer. " (Qur'an,8:41)

2. To prevent capital interest or usury.

"Those who devour usury will not standexcept as stands one whom the Evil One by histouch has driven to madness. That is because theysay: "Trade is like usury, "but God hath permittedtrade and forbidden usury. Those who after rece-

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iving direction from their Lord, shall be pardonedfor the past; their case is for God (to judge): butthose who repeat (the offence) are companions ofthe Fire: they will abide therein (for ever). "( Qur'an, 2:275)

"O ye who believe fear God, and give upwhat remains of your demand for usury, if ye areindeed believers. If ye do it not, take notice ofwar from God and His Apostle: but if ye turnback, ye shall have your Capital sums: deal notunjustly, and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly. "( Qur'an, 2:278-9)

3. Seizing lands and national resources which

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are not under exploitation by their owners. Thereis a well-known Islamic rule in this respect: "Landis for whoever cultivates it."1

4. Preventing accumulation and storage of

money which is not utilised in the national pro-duction.

"And there are those who bury gold andsilver and spend it not in the way of God:announce unto them a most grievous penalty."2

(Qur'in, 9:34)

5. Protecting the hereditary laws which help

I. See "Eqtesaduna" Page 425 onwards, by SayedMuhammad Baqir AI-Sadr.

2. Ibid p.579 onwards.

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in distributing the person's wealth among his rela-tives, which is a big action against capital infla-tion.

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"Allah enjoins you concerning your children:the male shall have the equal of the portion of twofemales; then if they are more than two females,they shall have two-thirds of what the deceasedhas left, and if there is one, she shall have the half;and as for his parents, each of them shall have thesixth of what he has left if he has a child, but if hehas no child and (only) his two parents inherit him,then his mother shall have the third; but if he hasbrothers, then his mother shall have the sixth after(the payment oft a bequest he may have beque-

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thed or a debt; your parents and your children youknow not which of them is the nearer to you inusefulness; this is an ordinance from Allah: SurelyAllah is Knowing, Wise.

"And you shall have half of what your wivesleave if they have no child, but if they have achild, then you shall have a fourth of what theyleave after (payment of)

any bequest they mayhave bequeathed or a debt; and they shall have thefourth of what you leave if you have no child, butif you have a child then they shall have the eighthof what you leave after (payment

of) a bequestyou may have bequeathed or a debt; and if a manor a woman leaves property to be inherited byneither parents nor offspring, and he (or she) has abrother or a sister, then each of them two shallhave the sixth, but if they are more than that, theyshall be sharers in the third after (payment

of) anybequest that may have been bequeathed or a debtthat does not harm (others); this is an ordinancefrom Allah: and Allah is Knowing, Forbearing":(Qur'an, 4:11-12)

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6. Preventing wastage of national wealth byluxuries.

"And when We intend to destroy a town,We (first) send Our commandment to the peopleof it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves true against it, so Wedestroy it with utter destruction." (Qur'an, 17:16)

"And give to the near of kin his due and tothe needy and the wayfarer, and squander not(thy wealth) wastefully. Verily the squanderersare the brethren of the satans;

and Satan is ever an

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ingrate to his Lord." ( Qur'an, 17:26-27)

7. Administering and utilising the nationalproduction by using the collective possession field.

etc.8. To prevent gambling, cheating, monoply,

"O ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling(dedication of) stones, and arrows, are an abomi-nation, of Satan's handiwork: eschew such (abo-mination), that ye may prosper."(Qur'an, 5:90)

The Prophet (p.b.u.h.a.h.f.) said: "No oneindulges in monoply but a sinful."

Imam `Ali (peace be on him) wrote in his

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letter to Malik al-Ashtar (governor of Egypt at thetime): "Prohibit monoply for the Messenger ofGod had forbidden it. Therefore, if anyone whoindulges in monoply after being warned, should bepunished and penalised with no excess."

The Prophet (p.b.u.h.a.h.f.) said: "He whocheats us is not one of us."

(ii) There is a special right for the Islamic

Government to nationalise or seize part of thepossessions of affluent people. This right is prac-tised during national crisis such as wars, etc.

In Imam `Ali's letter to Malik al-Ashtar, wereorders which fixed prices. He wrote: "Let sellingbe with just balances, and prices should cause nounjustice for the seller or the buyer." Tirmidhinarrated, his source was, Rafi` bin Khadij, thata letter read: (The Messenger of God has forbiddenus from something which was useful to us; whenone of us had a piece of land we used to rent it

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for some of its products or money. The Prophet(p.b.u.h.a.h.f.) said: "If any of you has a land,let him offer it to his brother (in Islam) or heshould cultivate it").

Ibn Taymiyyah wrote in his book al-His-

bah' ; "The head of State has the right to forcepeople to sell what they possess, in return of itsequivalence at the time, when people are in des-perate need of it. When somebody has food whichhe does not need, while people are starving, heshould be forced to sell in return of its equiva-lent price, and for this reason jurists said: `Thosewho are in need of food which is possessed byothers, can obtain the food without consent oftheir owners provided the equivalent value is paid.In the case of demanding a higher price than thenormal one, their claim does not hold' "

3. SOCIAL JUSTICE:

There are two means for achieving social

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justice in Islam:

(a). Islamic Social Insurance:

This is partly the duty of all Muslims in theIslamic State. For they are responsible for theirbrothers and sisters in Islam. The Prophet (p.b.u.h.a.h.f.) said: "He who sleeps the night not caringabout Muslims welfare is not one of us". He alsosaid: "He is not one of us, who sleeps the nightwhile his neighbour is hungry." It is clear then thatif the State's possession is not enough to satisfythe necessary needs of the poor people, it hasthe right to pass laws on rich people in orderto help the poor.

The State's duty is not providing the essen-tial requirements of her citizens only. This is theminimum which should be given, but the Stateought to endeavour for higher standard of living,whose degree is decided by the economic progressof the Muslim community.

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Imam Musa ibn Ja'far (al-Kazim) said: "TheMuslim governor should distribute the nationalwealth according to the directions made by God.It should be divided into eight shares, for thepoor and the needy. He should distribute it amongthem so that they will be satisfied during the yearwithout hardship or concealing their need. Ifsomething is left it should be returned to thegovernor, but if it was not enough so that theyare not yet content, the Governor ought to sup-ply them from the reserves according to theirneed till they become satisfied."

(b). Islamic Social Balance:

The Islamic State strives to limit and lessenmaterial differences among Muslims. Althoughit recognises natural differences among people dueto environment, education, and personal gifts,etc. On the other hand, Capitalism approves andcontributes to widen the gap between two extremeclasses in the society. One class have all the

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wealth, while the other is empty handed.

Socialism denies any natural difference amo-ng people and forces its "concept of equality"on the society.

"And it is He who made you (His) vicegerentin the earth and raised some of you above othersin grades, that He may try you in what He gaveyou; Verily your Lord is quick in the requital (ofevil) and He is most surely the Forgiving, theMerciful". ( Qur'an, 6:165)

two:The ways of conceiving social balance are

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(1) The Islamic State provides equal oppor-tunities for all members of the society to work,develop and utilise their powers.

(2) The Islamic State endeavours to lift upthe standard of the poor, on one hand, while itcloses the revenues and causes of capital inflation,on the other. This action would limit and gradu-ally converge the gap between the poor and richpeople, which prevent any class-consciousness.There are many examples by which the IslamicState secures social balance in the society. It hasbeen already mentioned that a large sum of thenational economy is taken under collective andState ownership.

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

It is considered by Capitalism, that the causeof economic problems is the scarcity of naturalresources. As time goes by, claims Capitalism,"man's needs will increase, and since the natural

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resources are limited; then it is clear tliat naturewill be unable to supply mankind with his needs".

Socialism has a different view. It claims thatthe economic problems arise from the theft whichthe Capitalists make out of the workers' efforts.Work, Socialism claims, creates the value of goods,therefore, the goods must be possessed by theworkers. Profits are taken by Capitalists, that isa contradiction which has lead to the economicproblem. Islam differs from both by consideringthe reason of the economic problems to be manhimself. This attitude is given by the Qur'anicverse.

"And He has made subject to you the sun and

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the moon, both diligently pursuing their courses,and the Night and the Day has He (also) madesubject to you. And He gives you of all that youask for; and if you count the favours of God, youwill not be able to number them; Verily man isvery unjust, very ungrateful". (Qur'an, 14:33-34)

Hence we can conclude the following:

1. There exists, sometimes, unjust peoplewho do not comply with the principles of socialjustice which creates differences between classes.

2. Man is liable to be (kafir) for it seemsthat man always tend to try the easy path. It isman who does not work to utilise the naturalresources. Islam considers that the root of theproblem are in man, if man is cured, then thereis no more problems.

Now we should discuss the Capital interest,and its bearings on the society. Capitalism views

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profits of production as to be shared by all thecontributing factors of production (that is naturalresources, Capital, management, labour and ma-chines), in the form of (rents, interests, wages,etc.). They are all governed by the laws of supplyand demand.

Socialism forwards the following rule:

"From each according to his ability, to eachaccording to his effort."

Socialism believes that work creates the valueof goods, and hence workers must possess theirwork.

In Islam, the following rule is applied: "Workis the excuse for possession, but it does not alonecreate the value of goods."

Means of Possession in Islam:

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1. The basic concept that possession cannotbe achieved without work.

2. Work is not the only contributor to thevalue of goods, because goods have an intrinsicvalue. Hence the phenomena of persistence ofpossession appears. Workers are to own their work.For instance, mines should be owned by the wor-kers, and not by the Capitalists. Natural resourcesare not possessed by any person. But anyone whoprovides the raw materials is considered as theowner of it after production, according to thesecond half of the rule (that is the phenomena ofpersistence of possession). This point is veryimportant in distinguishing the Islamic Economicsystem from Capitalism and Communism.

A final note:

The Economic System in Islam is part of acomplete set of codes for the whole life. Withthis view kept in mind always, we should examine

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and analysis. It is not possible to isolate theEconomic system from other parts of Islam be-cause they are interconnected. For example, (Za-kat) is viewed as purifying act, beside its econo-mic value and importance. It is the spiritualattitude which the Muslim reflects in life and thegreat care for morality.

Islam does not believe in radical changes ofthe relations of production as a result of changesin the nature of production, as Socialism claims.Islam starts from man and not from production.The needs of man are of two kinds, one is basic,while the other is changing with time. There mustbe a permanent set of standards to ensure thesatisfaction of the first kind of needs. Also theremust be a changing set of standards which adaptsthe progress in the means of production.

Islam has a very important advantage whichother principles do not have. Islam binds man toGod. It makes him think of God's satisfaction,

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reward, and punishment too. Islam starts fromthe depths of the human conscience, and pro-ceeds in its endeavours to secure a happy lifefor all.

THE END

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