Islamic Economy Its Ideological and Legal Foundations

The Proper Grounds Which Islam Prepares For Its Economic System

In this regard, the analyst can find in front of him a huge wealth of noble nu#u'# that emphasize various concepts and numerous rules and fixed historical laws and that all serve the cause of Islamic economy and participate, in a natural way, in the realization of its far-reaching goals. We mention below a number of these issues:

A. The Real ownership belongs to Allah, the Exalted: This principle is the most important tenet that forms man's image as it leaves its visible marks on the economic behavior of Muslim individual. Ownership belongs only to the Unpaired, Almighty Allah and He the Exalted bestowed an assumed, legal ownership upon the human being so that it distributes the properties among its individuals and exercises this ownership according to the purposes that Allah chose for the benefit of humanity. This notion has great influence on the exclusion of negative effects on ownership in its absolute capitalistic form.

B. The purpose is to reclaim the land through a joint, human effort and responsibility: In this way, the man believes that the human effort from the beginning to the end is one and that the important goal is to make the humanity subservient before God, establish the worshipping society and prepare the grounds for it through making the earth inhabitable, extract the greatest benefits from it to the advantage of all through performing the duties arising from the joint responsibility. Diversion from this is diversion from the purpose.

C. Ethical concepts in the service of economic cause: Islamic nu#u'# are full of a magnificent ethical plan which leads to its contribution to this economic system and to the realization of its goals. Most of the riwa'ya't [traditions], on one hand, encourage in the human being the spirit of cooperation, responsibility, Islamic fraternity, itha'r [self-sacrifice], zuhd [piety], and compassion for the miseries and aspirations of others.

On the other hand, they drive away from the human being such vices as stinginess, greed, exclusivism, transgressing the rights of others, opportunism, avarice, and envy. Ima'm @a'diq (`a) counted all good manners as the troopers of `aql [wisdom] and all vicious attributes as the troopers of jahl [ignorance]. We can neither mention all of the riwa'ya't in this regard nor touch on their educational details, therefore, only point to this particular fact that the Islamic ethics and educational system augment in human being the spirit of generosity before they emphasize the economic freedom and the possibility of using it to his own particular benefits. The story of Qa'ru'n [Korah] is well-known for its focus on this ethical principle (And seek by means of what Allah has given to you the otherworld's abode and do not neglect your share of this world ... (28:77)).

This story and this principle is a multifaceted Islamic creed which, if prevails in the society, will provide the greatest grounds for the implementation of the desirable economic system.

D. Al-infa'q al-musta [commendable spending for a divine cause] and the extended life: Here, a wonderful aspect of the solution to the problem of conflict between the inherent motivations for serving one's self and the motivations for serving the society is manifested. According to this notion, one begins with the prolongation of his own life and ends up with a level of eternity in the hereafter. He finds out that self-interest and social interest are integrated; a notion that encourages him to make continuous infa'q which does not ever run out of its driving forces according to the principle which says "whoever establishes a favorable habit he will be rewarded both for it and for the action of whoever follows it." And here we would like to remind emphatically the extended effect of waqf since, as the result of these motivations, the private property is transferred to the public ownership and man's permanent exploitation of his property is realized.

E. Shukr al-ni`mah [gratitude for a blessing] means to make the best use of the wealth and avoiding its waste: The major problem in the global economic domain does not lie in the weakness of growth rates of natural resources and their failure to keep up with the population growth rate but it lies in the failure to make ideal use of natural resources or, as the nu#u'# put it, in kufra'n al-ni`mah [ingratitude for the blessing] and squandering the natural, mineral and animal resources and so forth (And He gave you of whatever you asked Him for and if you count Allah's blessings you will not (possibly) obtain their number. Man is indeed very unjust, very ungrateful. ... (14:34))

And it is a kind of shukr al-ni`mah to make ideal use of he labor force and to avoid wasting it. For this reason, the nu#u'# emphasize the continuous work and even declare it obligatory for those who are able.

F. Relationship between moralities and material pursuits at the civilizational level: There is an amazing civilizational fact that nobody can perceive it except those who believe in the ghayb [the metaphysical world] and its various aspects. The Holy Qur`a'n stresses that ~ulm [injustice] leads to hala'k [annihilation] (Thus, because of their injustice We destroyed them) and that 'adl [justice] and du`a'' [praying] and shukr [gratitude] leads, in a lawful way, to rakha'' [comfort] (Ask for your Lord's forgiveness, surely He is the most Forgiving. He will send down the cloud upon you pouring down abundance of rain. And help you with properties and sons, and make for you gardens and make for you rivers. (71:10-12). This fact arouses, in hearts, a great hope in the future, even the material future, and opens the way for a social and economic dynamism.

Add to what was mentioned above other major factors that contributes to this background.