Thoughts on the Causes of the Economic Misery of Muslims

 

Thoughts on the Causes of the

Economic Misery of Muslims

Dr. Burhan Ahmad Faruqi, M.A., Ph.D.

About hundred years ago, there used to be such controversies: Is Jesus Christ (peace be on him) alive or not? If not, did he die on the gallows or otherwise, and if alive, will he come back to this earth or not‘? If yes, will he return as a ‘prophet’ or as a ‘follower’? Now we profess to have outgrown those abstruse controversies and have progressively begun to take interest in such problems as the ‘political- philosophy of Islam’, the ‘economic philosophy of Islam’, so on and so forth.

This is a happy sign and augurs well for the future, because it means that we have begun to take interest in the practical problems of life. But clarity of vision and consistency of thought form the pro-requisites of every genuine success and every true achievement. It is, therefore, necessary to state and evaluate correctly the drawbacks from which we have suffered in the past and also continue to suffer in the present. Without that it would be impossible to adopt a correct line of approach either in the realm of Thought or in the realm of Action.

There are several fields of human activity in which such a clarification and evaluation is needed. For the purposes of the present, I shall confirm myself to the field of Economics and shall state in that connection the theoretical and practical drawbacks from which we have suffered in the past and in the present.

Islam as an Ideology

“Islam”, according to the Holy Quran, “is the only dean acceptable to God”, which means that it is the only ideology in which the true realization of human destiny is possible.

Unfortunately, the term ‘ideology’ has come to possess a certain measure of ambiguity due to the difference in the respective approach of the genuine and the reactionary intellect. Speaking with exactitude, this term comprehends within itself two components the ‘form’ and the ‘factor’. As a ‘form’ the queries an ideology seeks to answer always take the form of ‘what is this?’ As a ‘factor’ an ideology concerns itself with the problem: ‘how is its realization possible?’

Now, since the Quran emphasizes deed rather than idea, Islam concerns itself supremely with the voluntaristic aspect of human nature. But when somehow this aspect is thrown into oblivion either because of some peculiar stage in the process of human development or because of historical reaction, the distorted import of the term ‘ideology’ comes to be confined to ‘form’ and does not proceed beyond question of the type of ‘what is this?’ which obviously have no bearing on practical life. .

Thus, in our usual discussions of the economic problems we seem to have failed to realize that unless those discourses have any practical bearing on the economic life of the Millat-e-Islamiah. They are not only futile but may also be finally harmful, because, on the one hand, they are evasive, and on the other, they betray confusion of thought and diffidence for all practical purpose as to the workability of the economic system of Islam today. This diffidence is all the more evident among those who have the craze for modernity and who, consequently, want to interpret the Islamic ideology in terms of modern ideologies like Communism and Capitalism.

In short, while it is a great step forward to re-discover Islam as an ‘ideology in contradistinction to the limited notion of ‘religion’, the practical as regards the term ‘ideology’ is a serious drawback, which cuts deeply across our chances of success.

Confusion of Islam with other ideologies

The second, and a very sad, draw-back is the inability of many of us to realize practically --- and not merely to believe-that Islam is unique. It is the criterion (al-furqan.) with which every other ideology is to be measured and evaluated, and not vice versa. Those, therefore, who might try to understand Islam as a Communistic or Capitalistic doctrine are bound to fail hopelessly.

Unlike other religions, the function of Islam is to guide the man-made ideologies and not to beg at their door for charity. This is because while other religions are purely salvation-faiths, Islam is a positive and comprehensive Code of Life giving definite guidance on every human problem. To take the case of Economics only: Islam has a very definite stand in this regard, and the Holy Quran and the Prophetic Traditions are rich with economic teachings: and we have not to go far to realize the importance which Islam attaches to the economic problems of man than to refer to the second chapter of the Holy Quran where kasb (production) and infaq (consumption) have been mentioned in relation to the Wisdom (al-Hikmah) about which it has been proclaimed there: “............(Allah) giveth Wisdom unto whom He will: and he unto whom Wisdom is given, he truly hath received abundant good” (II: 269). Indeed, the question of proper adjustment of economic relations in human society is so important from the Islamic point of view that any effort at mal-adjustment is called takzib-e-deen (believing of religion) in the Qur’anic terminology as is evident from the following short chapter: “Hast thou observed him who belieth religion? That is he who repelleth the orphan and urgeth not the feeding of the needy. Ah, woe unto the worshippers who are heedless of their prayers -- who would be seen (at worship) yet refuse small kindnesses!” (Chap: 117).

Islam has, therefore, an economic system of its own — a system positively different from other economic systems of the world. This problem of being different is a vast problem and cannot be taken up here in any detail. Only a passing reference to a couple of basic concepts is alone possible. Thus, for instance: (1) Islam does not view economics as an isolated fact but as a part and parcel of total human life which it views in its totality; and consequently it looks at economies in the context of moral values; (2) according to Islam, wants are limited and economic resources are infinite, while according to the so-called modern progressive ideologies, wants are unlimited and the economic resources are limited; (3) from the point of view of the un-Islamic economic orders, every individual is a unit by himself and has no intrinsic obligation towards other human beings in so far as his personal earnings and wealth is concerned while from the Islamic view-point humanity is a unity and those who are economically ill-off have a right — not only moral but also legal right — to share the wealth of those who have either enough or surplus.

The tragedy of the old school

Our third great drawback consists in the fact that, side by side with the confusion in thought that exists among the ranks of our modernists, our conservatives suffer no less from muddled thinking as regards the role of Islam, and this evil presents itself in gigantic proportions when we view it in the notions and policies of those who run such Muslim states where the dictates of the Islamic shari’ah are proclaimed to be followed. The chief difficulty with those people lies in the fact that they conceive Islam merely as a religion of salvation in the Hereafter on the analogy of the religious which are either no religions from the point of view of Islam or they are adulterated religions. Consequently, the role that the Islamic state has to play in bringing about the adjustment of economic relations through the economic resources that are at its disposal is ignored.

Being essentially a state-function the economic system of Islam is thus paralyzed in these states whose rulers have very peculiar notions of the practice of the Shari’ah. Without realizing that the moral, economic and political systems of Islam are interlinked and dependent upon each other, they proceed with their haphazard enforcement of the Shari’ah and take pride in it. For instance, they seem to hardly understand that, from the moral point view, no Islamic state can justifiably punish a thief with the cutting of the hands unless it has ascertained that all assessable Zakat has not only been realized but also equitably distributed.

Islam is a revolutionary ideology according to the Holy Quran which says:-

“He it is who hath sent His Messenger with the Guidance and the Religion of Truth that He may cause it to prevail over all religion however-much the idolaters may be averse” (LXI: 9).

The Islamic economic system also is revolutionary and it can be handled and worked only by those who have a revolutionary outlook and not by the reactionaries who can hardly ever imagine the predominance of an ideology which cuts across their reactionary sentiments and to whom, consequently, the question of the economic philosophy and the economic system of Islam presents itself only in the sense of ideology as a ‘form’. Little wonder, their adherence to Islam itself is, in the final analysis, purely ‘formal’. Consequently, they shall have to be taught afresh the question: “Can the Revealed Guidance be brought with indubitable certainty to bear upon the economic problems of their people?"

Failure to apply Islamic guidance to changing patterns

Our fourth drawback, which has been in a great measure responsible for the economic miseries of the Muslim world and for her tragic economic backwardness today, consists in our failure to work out and apply, during the later periods of our history, the guidance of Islam to the changing patterns of the economic culture of human society. This being a vital problem, a brief historical discussion is necessary to guide us as regards the present and the future.

At its advent, Islam was confronted with two economic orders, namely, Pastoralism and Commercial Capitalism, — the former covering rural economy and the latter bearing reference to the urban areas. Under Pastoralism, cattle-rearing was the mode of production and accordingly wealth consisted in the abundance of sheep, goats, etc., and poverty in want of them, while under Commercial Capitalism, gold and silver were the means of exchange and formed the capital, — their abundance meant wealth and prosperity and their dearth poverty. That is why cattle and gold and silver were reckoned as nisab (assessable wealth) and the distribution of them amidst those who found deadlock in their economic struggle a means to the adjustment of economic relations, because with this process the economically-disadjusted were equipped with the means of production. "

Subsequently Islam faced agrarianism and Feudalism with their respective modes of production. According to Agrarianism, wealth consisted in arable land, seed, means of irrigation, cattle and sufficient maintenance for the peasant and the cattle till the return of the harvest. Islam, in its days of glory, led to a more and more equitable distribution of agricultural lands, and so much emphasis in the Holy Quran on Zakat and the distribution of inheritance means that everybody should be provided with adequate and equitable means of production necessary at least for taking initiative in the economic field.

Feudalism is not much different as an economic order from Agrarianism except in one respect, namely, that the discipline under the leadership of the feudal lord given to the agrarian mode of production provides the incentive to grow more, on the one hand, and to undertake the responsibility that no one should be left provisionless, on the other. The study of feudalism provides sufficient evidence to the effect that every individual had the basic economic security of at least the essential wants of life and none was allowed to die of starvation.

To that extent feudalism had a positive redeeming feature, and, consequently, so long as feudalism had not to face moral degeneration as a result of historical compulsion, nothing could be apparently discerned wrong. From the Islamic point of view however, the feudal order suffered from a vital defect inasmuch as the adjustment of economic relations under a was sought not through the distribution of the means of production amongst those suffering from economic disadjustment but through the distribution of production itself, — and this was the defect which Islam sought to remedy.

Feudalism had subsequently to encounter the onslaught of a more productive economic order, i.e., Imperialistic Capitalism, and it had to way finally for the main reason that on the one hand, the distribution of production as a means of the adjustment of economic relations in the life of the economically-disadjusted people failed to provide stability, and, on the other, the political force behind feudalism was local, racial and territorial while the political force which fed imperialistic capitalism as an economic order was international in character Finally, the imperialistic capitalism came to hold sway.

As regards the Muslims, they failed — and this was the beginning of their failures in the economic field to adequately interfere with the economic developments sponsored by the imperialistic capitalism in order to bring about the adjustment of economic relations, and the reason was that the concepts of imperialistic capitalism were absolutely alien and the Muslim economists could not apply their own technique of the adjustment of economic relations either as a colonial factor or as imperialists. And how could they when they had ceased to be dynamic and progressive?

The war of American Independence led to a gigantic development of Mechanized Industrial Capitalism, according to which productive labour is a saleable commodity and hence wealth, provided it can find a market.

This development unhinged human life more than it contributed to its enrichment. We all know, for instance, that the United States of America is industrially so advanced today that her technicians can turn iron-ore into a finished motorcar with such terrific speed that it becomes a matter of minutes. But, such an economic system is not workable except with a very highly specialized skilled labour whose very existence demands that the rest of the world be economically prosperous enough to consume the industry produced at such a high speed — without which such an advanced industrial economic order harbours its own death, and, little wonder, it tries to seek refuge in successive world-wars!

The fact is that mechanized industrial capitalism tends constantly towards the decrease in the number of the purchasers of productive labour and increase in the number of its sellers, and, consequently, the problem of the adjustment of economic relations can be solved only if somehow the enhancement of the numbers of the purchasers of productive labour could be conceived without obligation.

This, however, is not conceivable according to any ideology except Islam. But most unfortunately, Muslims had ceased to be the leaders of humanity at the time when mechanized industrial capitalism came to flourish and had lost the initiative of tackling the problems of mankind.

The failure of Muslims in this situation led, as a result of historical compulsion, to the rise of Communism, which aims at reducing the number of the purchasers of productive labour to one institution, i.e.; the State.

Communism as an economic order is a misnomer. Actually, it is state-capitalism. All its claims are false and its so-called principles unworkable and unscientific. To refer to just one: If human nature is the same as conceived by Karl Marx and his followers, how is it possible to raise a class-less society? In the mechanized industrial capitalism the classes are: labour (proletariat) and the capitalist (bourgeoisie); and in the Communistic order, which is actually noting but capitalism — at best state-capitalism — , the classes are: the proletariat which wields state-authority to purchase labour and the proletarians who are but the sellers. This makes the classless society under Communism an Utopia.

The responsibility for the havoc which Communism caused on the strength of its superficial merits lies squarely at the door of the Muslims who, inspite of being the possessors of Divine Guidance, not only failed to lead the world aright but have themselves become embroiled in the vices thus engendered.

The appalling disadjustment in the present- day Muslim society

The fact cannot be over-emphasized that the basic concept of Islamic economics is the adjustment of human relations on that plane. Most unfortunately, however, it is in the matter of adjustment itself that Muslims of the later days have failed hopelessly. They have not only failed in guiding aright the new economic forces that have been emerging with the changes in the cultural patterns of human life-forces, which having been deprived of the blessings of Revealed Guidance are now threatening not only the peace and prosperity of the non-Muslims but also of the world of Islam —, but they have also failed in progressively readjusting their own house. The unfortunate result of this latter failure is that the disadjustment of economic relations has assumed such alarming proportions in all Muslim countries as to have constituted itself into a challenge to our entire progress as Muslims. How this is happening can become clear if we go deep into the socio-moral and religious conditions of our society.

To put it in plain words: there are mainly four institutions of social reform all of which seem to have fallen into a dangerous condition. They are:

1.    the Mosque;

2.    the Educational Institutions;

3.    the Press;

4.    the Political Platform.

It is difficult to deny that the mosque has become practically powerless as an institution of social reform. But why? Evidently for no other reason than that the person who has to play the role of the reformer has economically to depend on the assistance of those who stand in need of being reformed morally, socially and religiously. And our lack of sense of values becomes clear when we find that, economically-speaking, a security guard of a locality is far-better adjusted than the Imam of a mosque. And why is it so? Primarily because of the disadjustment of economic relations.

The same situation we find as regards our schools and colleges, whether managed by private finances or through governmental aid. They fail to work as model institutions because their very creation rests generally on a compromise between the ideals of education and the ideals and interests of those who finance them. The ultimate result is that our educational institutions have ceased to function as instruments of reformation.

Similarly: those who run a journal daily, weekly or even monthly — have a first-hand realization of the truth that it can hardly thrive unless it falls back upon those means of income which are decidedly questionable. This shows that the Press which has to play an important role in our life stands actually hand-cuffed as an organ of social reform. But why? Simply because of the mal-adjustment of economic relations.

If we consider the political platform as a means of public reform and well-being, we shall have to come to similar conclusion, because undesirable leadership with its vested interests can raise so much party-funds and employ them as an investment that proper leadership suffering from the disadjustment of economic relations can never stand the contest.

Towards the future

All this reveals a tragic state of affairs and demands an urgent and immediate action. But, in what does such an action consist? First and foremost we should forsake the habit of applying the alien conception of religion to Islam. Islam stands for complete guidance and covers the human life in its totality. Consequently, we should learn to accept and apply its guidance in each and every sphere of our activity. As regards our economic affairs, they form a vital part of our existence and should not be deprived of the light of revealed guidance. Islam's economic philosophy as well as its economic system should, therefore, be worked out in detail in the light of the demands of modern human problems. In doing so, however, we should bear in mind two very important facts; (1) Our approach should not be merely scholastic but practical; -- we should take into consideration the practical life-situations as they exist today in the world in general as well as in the Muslim world. (2) We should not be led away by the catch-phrases of modern ideologies. They are all man-made and positively imperfect and unbalanced. It would, therefore, be the height of folly to measure the revealed guidance with their tape and to interpret it to suit the whims and fancies of those who are themselves misguided.

With courage and determination and with undivided loyalty to revealed guidance we shall have to work, and work unceasingly, for grasping and applying the solution which Islam offers to our economic problems. Then and then alone shall we be able to build up, along with the help of the guidance of Islam in other spheres of human activity, the edifice for Perfect Muslim Life.