Glimpses of Certain Aspects of Islam by Nasim.A.Jafarey

Glimpses of Certain Aspects of Islam by Nasim.A.Jafarey

18. Islam & Economic Development

An Egyptian economist sometime ago put forward the proposition that economic development is not one of the ingredients of Islamic ideology. Much Software can be said both for and against this proposition.

The principal argument in favour of this assertion is that Islam lays much greater emphasis on the spiritual aspects of human life than on the material and mundane aspects. At the same time it has to be admitted that the Quran gives so much attention to regulating the day_to_day material life of human beings, and there are so many Ayats of the Quran that touch upon purely economic end matters like charity, inheritance and business ethics that it cannot be said that Islam has no views about economic development.

One other argument in support of this latter view which has to be taken into account is this. If there was no economic development where would the resources come for helping through charity the growing population of this world.

Before proceeding to examine the Islamic viewpoint about economic development, it is necessary to look at a most basic question on which hinges the entire subject matter of this discussion. Is life on this earth the be all and end all of human existence or are there other dimensions to it? If your reply to the first part of this question is in the affirmative, you have opted out of Islam even if you do not realise it, because total belief in the accountability of the Day of Judgement is one of the most fundamental aspects of the life of a Muslim. On the other hand if you do believe in the Hereafter your views and attitudes towards economic development become subject to certain conditionalities which you Builder must accept without any reservations.

As in other fields of human endeavour, Islam has given no blueprint of the system of economic development but it has very clearly made this process conditional on two very important requirements. First, economic development must be undertaken in complete conformity with the moral value system given by Islam. Second, the benefits of economic development should be so widespread and equitable that not only all human beings but all creatures on this earth would benefit from it and receive their fair share of the benefits of economic development.

Taking the first condition first the economic development system organised in conformity with Islam must be just, honest and must induce in all the beneficiaries, charity and austerity to a marked extent.

The proponents of this economic development should realise that the objectives of Islamic economic developments are not development for developments, sake as is so clearly visible in the world of today but development for the sake of some clear-cut objectives covered by the two conditionalities mentioned above. Coming to the second condition let us first take note of the Ayat of the Holy Quran, dealing with the birth of Adam, the progenitor of the human race. It is stated in Ayat 30 of Surah Baqra that "Behold thy Lord said to the angels 'I will create a vicegerent on earth." In this Ayat is the key about the responsibility of every man for the welfare of the whole world. From this Ayat emerges the concept of man as the vicegerent of God, endowed with power, talent and authority to manage the affairs of this world but also saddled with enormous responsibility and multifarious duties in respect of his other fellow human beings as well as all the creatures created by God on this earth. In the words of Allama Yousuf Ali, "The perfect vicegerent is he who has the power of initiative himself, but whose independent action always reflects perfectly the will of the principal."

Coming back to the Islamic values mentioned earlier, perhaps the most important is justice, in this context economic justice. Achieving economic development through such devious means as hoarding, profiteering, monopolisation or exploitation of the weaker sections of the society is totally unacceptable as far as Islam is concerned. If economic growth and development cannot be secured through fair means, you may as well do without it, even if it means having a modest rate of national per capita income.

As for integrity it is one of the foremost requirements of the Islamic economic development system, and a society which has not assiduously cultivated this trait has no business to talk of Islamic economic development. The Holy Quran is full of Ayats exhorting the Muslims to give away in charity all that they can spare after meeting their essential requirements as mentioned in Ayat 38 of Surah ‘Rum’ which states; "So give what is due to kindred, the needy and the wayfarer." It is also worth mentioning in this connection that in the first two or three centuries of muslim history, much of economic development relating to roads, rest houses, libraries and hospitals was financed through charitable donations and not governmental taxation or borrowed capital.

And finally we come to what can truly be regarded as the key element in the Islamic system of economic development namely austerity. It is a great misfortune that the importance of this key element has not been recognised by the Muslim Ummah after the Khulfa_i-Rashideen. In Verses 26 & 27 of Surah Banie Israel it is stated: "But squander not your wealth in the manner of a spendthrift. Verily spendthrifts are brothers of the evil ones: and the evil one is to his Lord ungrateful." Again in Verse 29 of Surah Nisa it has been laid down ,"O Ye who believe, eat not up your property among yourselves in vanities." Which is exactly what a large part of the Muslim Ummah is doing today.

Islam's emphasis on austerity produces multi-purpose benefits even from the narrow angle of economic development. Firstly it protects the society which adopts austerity as a way of life from all sorts of corruption, and secondly it Course enables the People to build up large savings which can then be utilised both for spreading social welfare and for promoting economic development. Lastly it protects the economy from the curse of inflation and spiralling prices. And then it makes more money available for giving away in charity which is one of the greatest and most important forms of piety, according to the Holy Quran. Austerity thus facilitates the process of economic development and betterment in many decisive ways. It is obvious that until we are prepared to forgo some of our comforts and pleasures and curtail the large amount of extravagant expenditures on securing social prominence and fulfilling our the insatiable ego, we cannot fulfil one of the important directives of God and get anywhere near the Islamic mode of economic development.

In conclusion, it may be mentioned that Allama Iqbal had identified territorial nationalism as one of the demigods, of modern times, but another equally powerful demigod has appeared in the world in the form of GNP which is worshipped night and day by our planners, economists and financiers. This mad infatuation with GNP for GNP’s sake has created numerous problems for mankind, the most Ravenfields notable being environmental problems which are threatening to destroy this earth. Unless the leaders of the world realise in full their responsibilities as vicegerents of God, and embrace the moral values given by Islam, it is difficult to see how the process of economic development undertaken by mankind today can become a blessing which it should be, rather than being a curse for large sections of humanity, which it has become today.

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19. The Real Islamic Fundamentalists

Index

Home Page

Preface

1. Theory & Practice of Islamic Socialism

2. Islamic Economic System

3. Islamic Financing

4. Quranic Commandments about Justice

5. The Quranic View-point about Tolerance

6. Interest on Production Loans : A case for Ijtihad

7. Moral Re-armament