Economic Philosophy of Islam

Thoughts on Economics Vol. 18, No.
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Economic Philosophy of Islam: A Comparative Conceptual Study

Sarwar Md. Saifullah Khaled
Abstract: The Article discusses Philosophers views on religion and the conceptual 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 the participants 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. Introduction He 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, because all 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 realize that 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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Economic Philosophy of Islam: A Comparative.......................
The title of the Article warrants a wide range of discussion on the subject, but the author his analysis to the most relevant aspects of the topic without going into their details. Section I of the paper presents the Philosophers views on Religion together with some verses from Al Quran and quotations from Hadiths. Section II gives an idea about the concepts of Land, Labor and Capital. 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, The struggle 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 protest against 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 ultimate truth, 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 no Hereafter 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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powers by force and attack. The duty of the communists is to go forth with a ceaseless struggle against God the Arch Enemy of mankind.4 Allahs simple reply 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 your relation 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 rightful measure. 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. In China, 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 to Hazrat Mohammad (s) who advised Muslims to go to far distant China in search 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 is the 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 to remote 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 of mankind.6 Bertrand Russell says: Ueberweg, rather amusingly, undertakes to defend Averroes (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 of interpretations, 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 that would 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 among the ignorant.2/67 but only men of understanding really learn.3/7 As for these similitudes, 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 and day, 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 the winds, 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 to two distinct meanings. To the philosophers (nuzzar) and scholastic theologians (mutakallimun) the term yaqin 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 blood is shed, and through his juridical opinions unlawful adultery is rendered lawful. He is not capable of dispensing with the problems which have been submitted to 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 jesting lest it be rejected8 Hazrat Mohammad (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 an addiction 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 of nature; 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 the laws of nature or in other words giving consent to the will of Allah, its retribution 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 establishing sovereignty 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 Tremendous Throne?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 in allegories, for Allah is Knower of all things.24/35 Such sayings of Allah, no doubt, led different scholars to give similar but a bit different interpretation of Quranic verses which have never led them to distract from the faith that: Allah is Knower of all things.24/35 Perhaps basing his 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 to reflect. 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 Ali said 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 mean the 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 As for 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 and understand. 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 am leaving 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 to hand, 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. Such are 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, as defined 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 heavens and 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 special circumstances which lead inevitably to the accumulation of large landed property 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 class and 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! 23/115116 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 of His 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 of agricultural 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 repay their 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 The fall 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 linked with everyday life of common people, whether these are near or far from human habitation, cannot be the property of any individual or Zaminder. These landed properties will lie under the management of the state for the welfare of the 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 that piece of land. The un-owned land which is cultivable but not of any use to urban or rural people will be the property of Baitulmal. 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 that they 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 Baitulmal will 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 labourprice. 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 Capitalism In 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 the workers 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 he necessarily 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 thus alienated 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 to struggle to get work, i.e. the possibility, the means, to perform his activity. But political 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 the product of his labor as 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 for the 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. It produces 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 but mortifies 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 is therefore not voluntary, but coerced; it is forced labor. [The worker thus becomes estranged]. In estranging from man (1) nature, and (2) himself, his own 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 interpretation of 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 abstract individual 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, and there 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 the personal 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 the material 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 is abolished. 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 joint owners 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 as represented by an enterprise or an association or combine of enterprises. Socialist ownership and an equal relation to the means of production create a need 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 the principle He who does not work, neither shall he eat.22 The Russian economy was a peasant economy at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution 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, besides that, 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 Old Russian 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 of production. In capitalist countries industrialization usually begins with light industry. 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 the rapid 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 to voters, 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 the cultural 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 cultural revolution, 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 an expression of egoism, economism, bourgeois ideology, revisionism, etc.26 Some of the aspects of the operational doctrine of socialists and communists which have just been discussed not only raise doubts as to its contemporary relevance, but also make analysis cumbersome. Soviet Union does no longer exist 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 holds the 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.49/10 Hazrat Mohammad (s) also said that: Every Muslim is a brother to each other; you help 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 earth have 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 stores thereof. 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 of that 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 from others.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 right and 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 the responsibility 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 capitalist possesses 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 is stored-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 real capital whose components are: Fixed Capital, Floating or Circulating Capital, Specific Capital, and nonSpecific 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 after some 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, the necessary 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, the means 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 laborer works, 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 the exchange 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 of the 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 fluent in 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 of surplus-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 and function. It produces also the premature exhaustion and death of this laborpower 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 final depopulation of the human race, as by the probable fall of the earth into the sun. 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-wants prescribes. 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 directly compulsory 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 of production. 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 the means 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 them loss.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 by the 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 societys productive 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 and millions 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, socialist economic 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 by man 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 the gladness 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 encourages them 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 view to 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 of the 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 not done 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 those conditions, balance will exist in the economy; capital investors will not be able to reach the loathsome capitalistic system. The workers will not have to lead the 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 between the 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 or profit 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 be renewed, 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 the supposed 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 remains after 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 of the 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 three original 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 their own. 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 in proportion to their natural fertility.37 Islam does not permit the landlord system. Hazrat Mohammad (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 ownership of land, Hazrat Mohammad (s) enjoined the owner of the land to cultivate himself; though there are some other Hadith, 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 the Islamic 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 is prevalent 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 a result of the struggle between the tenant and landlord. We find that the hostile antagonism of interests, the struggle, and the war is throughout political economy as the basis of social antagonism. 40 In this struggle struck between landlord and tenant is always advantageous to the former in the greatest possible degree. In adjusting the terms of the lease, the landlord endeavors to leave him no greater 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 of farming 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 is the 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 most part 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 and profit 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 and necessarily 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 not inevitably.41 Now an attempt may be made to show how the landlords exploit everything from 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 of communication. 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 produce of 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 income of 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 determined by 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 cropping under 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 Islam In the terminology of Islam rent takes a different meaning. It is a kind of Zakat (a compulsory payment) imposed on land, termed as Oshor and Khiraz payable to Baitulmal (State fund). Oshor is payable by the Muslims on their land while Khiraz 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 is the 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 of Zakat on land are termed as Oshor. As regards the basis of Oshor the following 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 the earth for you.2/267 The difference between Oshor and Khiraz lie on the fact that Oshor is 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 imposed upon the land of the Muslims alone. Since Oshor is a fixed portion of the produce of land, it is not payable if there is 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, the owners will have to pay Khiraz because it is a cash payment independent of the produce of land. But if Khiraz on land is imposed on the basis of sharecropping, and productions fail, in that case it is pardonable. Khiraz will 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 cultivated thereby.44 02. The Concept of Wage A worker aspires his labour-price i.e., wage, because he needs food, clothing, a place 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 a society. (i) Wage under Capitalism The wage of a worker like the prices of all other factors of production and the prices 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 productivity of 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 and average 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; workers who 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 scope for 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 by two 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 social theory 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 surplus value. 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 unions through 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 the inflationary 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 be seen, 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 of the 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 cooperative) distributed according to plan between workers for their personal consumption in accordance with the quantity and quality of their labor inputs in 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. Society creates 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 belonging to 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 new demands. 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 the idea that since all of my personal efforts and needs rest with the connection and 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 or not, 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 their deeds. 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 ensure fruitful 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; now those 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 ye who 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 workers Hazrat 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 clothing he 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 not determined 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 they should 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, insults him 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 both the 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 be the 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 of which he oversees the management. And although the labor of the proprietor is here reduced almost to nothing, he still demands profits in proportion to his capital.52 As an answer to the question: why does the capitalist demand this proportion between 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 him as 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 and wholesome 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 rate of surplus-value. The rate of surplus-value measured against the total capital is called 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 surplusvalue 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 profit expresses 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-value directly 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 it remains 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 to the value of the total capital, or the rate of profit. Although the rate of profit thus differs numerically from the rate of surplusvalue, while surplus-value and profit are actually the same thing and numerically 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 the product, 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 sumtotal 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 surplus value or surplus product with the minimum of capital advanced; in so far as this 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 as what 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 by converting 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 in the 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. For them 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 the maximum satisfaction of the constantly rising material and cultural requirements of the whole of society. Yaroshenko thinks that what he is confronted 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 principal aim 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 of higher techniques is the means for the achievement of the aim 56 not maximizing profit as is done in a capitalistic economy.
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Under socialism the social nature of commodity production and exchange is different because here the profit obtained is social property and production and exchange 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 in this 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 Allah much, 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 Hazrat Mohammad (s) says: Honest and responsible businessmen will be the companions of the Prophets, Truthful and Martyrs in the day of resurrection. Since the legitimacy of business is based on mutual consent, care should have to 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 not permissible 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 by mutual 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 the employer and the employee. Hazrat Mohammad (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, grabbing and 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 causes inevitable loss to others, and also such transactions which have not been spontaneously 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 who swallow 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 they grieve. 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) concealed under both capitalism and socialism has been briefly touched upon in the relevant sections (no. 31 and 46) without going into the details of its determination 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 that humankind 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, then the 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 the following rules are followed in the life system of human race, only then mutual cooperation 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 being grabbed 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 class instead 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 of spending 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., Al Quran] 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 had been (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 this way are few;/They pass unrecognized, their goal unknown,/While slowly and steadily 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 the religion 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 will attain 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. 21/107 Verily 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 Hazrat Mohammad (s) says: Your blood, your wealth and your honor are as sacred as this day of Haj, 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 ask for 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, by the 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 within quotations are the act of the Author of this Article.]
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1. Portent means all those instances which irrevocably prove that there is some Creator, Legislator, Conductor of this universe and He is none but 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 will should 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 and disbelieve 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 [by Yaqub Al-Mansur the successor and the son of Caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf who in 1184 made Averroes his physician] of cultivating the philosophy of the ancients at the expense of the true faith. Al-Mansur published 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 into favour shortly before his death. Ibid. P. 418. (The last sentence quoted 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-Gazzalis Ihya Ulum Al-Din by Dr.Nabih Amin Faris, as The Book of Knowledge, 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 by Maulana 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 Islamic scholars. 12. 13. Al Ghazzali. op.cit., P. 228. Marx, Karl, Capital. Vol. I. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1984. P.174. If, on the other hand, the subject of labor has, so to say, been filtered 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 of labor. Vide. Ibid. P. 174. Ibid. P. 570. Marx, Karl. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. Second Impression, Foreign Language Publishing House, Moscow 1961. P.52, 58, 61. Ibid. P.58, 61.
14. 15.
16.
82
17. 18.
Kozlov, G.A. General Editor. Political Economy: Socialism. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1977. Ibid. P.62. 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. Marx, Karl, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. op.cit., Pp.20-30. Marx, Karl. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. op.cit., Pp. 67-83. Marxist Leninist Theory. The Fundamentals of Marxist-Leninist Philosophy. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1974. P. 534. Kozlov, G.A. General Editor. Political Economy: Socialism. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1977. Pp. 153-154. 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. Ibid. P.103. Leites quoted this portion from Joseph Stalin, The Soviet Union and World Peace, p.14. Krivtsov, V.A. et.al.(Editor in Chief). A Critique of Mao Tse-tungs Theoretical Conceptions. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1972. P. 205. Ibid. Pp. 202-203. Dainandin Zibane Islam (Islam in Daily Life). Islamic Foundation Bangladesh, Dhaka 2000. P.432-434. 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. JulyDecember 2007. Pp. 20-21. Marx, Karl. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. op.cit., P.37, 243. Keynes, John Maynard. The General Theory Of Employment, Interest And Money. Macmillan & Co. Ltd. London. 1961. P.226.
19. 20. 21. 22. 23.
24. 25. 26. 27. 28.
29. 30.
83
31.
In the words of Marx: [The] increment or excess over the original value 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 fragments fall 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 of surplus-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. In the words of Marx surplus labor is his labor, being no longer necessary 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 name surplus labor-time, and to the labor expended during that time, I give the name of surplus-labor. Vide Marx. Capital. Vol. I. op.cit. Marx, Karl, Capital. Vol. I. op.cit. Kozlov, G.A. General Editor. Political Economy: Socialism. op.cit., P.60-63. Ibid. P. 63. Rahman, Maulana Hifzur, Islamer Arthanaytik Babostha. op.cit., p. 288. Marx, Karl. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. op.cit., pp. 52-53. Rahman, Maulana Hifzur, op.cit. P.190-200. Marx, Karl, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. op.cit. P. 54. Ibid. P. 53 Ibid. P. 54-56. Ibid. P.56-57.
32.
33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42.
84
43.
Golikov, Victor, Soviet Deshe Krishi Jouthikaran (Collectivization of Agriculture in Soviet Land). Progress Publishers, Moscow 1977. P.55. Footnote. Shafi, op.cit. Pp.165-172 Stonier, Alfred W. et.al. A Text Book of Economic Theory. ELBS, London, 1962, Pp. 232-272. for elementary elaboration. Kozlov, op.cit. Pp. 157-158. Ibid 158-159. Ibid. Pp. 185-189. Marxist Leninist Theory. Ibid. P.544. Rahman, Maulana Hifzur, Ibid.P.341. Marx, Karl, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. op.cit. p.43. Ibid. P. 37. Marx, Karl, Capital. Vol. III. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1984. Pp. 43, 45,47, 48. 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. Ibid. Pp. 79-80. Marxist Leninist Theory. Ibid. P.318. 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. Rahman, Maulana Hifzur. op.cit. P. 13. Al Ghazzali. op.cit. P. 106. Ibid. P.208.
44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 52. 53. 54. 55.
51. Ibid. P.205.
56. 57. 58.
59. 60. 61.
85
62.
Azad, Professor Md. Ali Ershad Hosen. Priya Nabir (s) Samaj Sangskar (The Social Reforms of Dear Prophet (s)). The Daily Ittefaq, 56th Year, No.88. Friday, 21 March 2008. P. 27.
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Keynes, John Maynard. The General Theory Of Employment, Interest And Money. Macmillan & Co. Ltd. London. 1961. 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. JulyDecember 2007. Kozlov, G.A. General Editor, Political Economy: Socialism. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1977. Kozlov, G.A. General Editor, Political Economy: Capitalism. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1977. Krivtsov, V.A. et.al. (Editor in Chief). A Critique of Mao Tse-tungs Theoretical Conceptions. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1972. Leites, Nathan. A Study of Bolshevism. The Free Press, Publishers, Glencoe, Illinois, USA, 1953. Marx, Karl. Capital. Vol. I &III. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1984. Marx, Karl, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. Second Impression, Foreign Language Publishing House, Moscow 1961. Marks, K. and F. Engels. On Religion. Fourth Printing 1966. Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1966. Marxist Leninist Theory. The Fundamentals of Marxist-Leninist Philosophy. Progress Publishers, Moscow 1974. Maududi, Syyid Abul Ala. Tafhimul Quran. Vol. 3 & 13. Translated into Bengali by Maulana Muhammad Abdur Rahim. Published by Khairun Prokashani, Dhaka 1999. 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. Rahman, Maulana Hifzur. Islamer Arthanaytik Babostha (The Economic Order of Islam). Translated from Urdu into Bengali by Maulana Abdul Awal, Islamic Foundation Bangladesh, Dhaka, 1998.
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87
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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. 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. Stalin, J. V. Economic Problems of Socialism in the U.S.S.R. Foreign Languages Press, Peking 1972. Stonier, Alfred W. et.al. A Text Book of Economic Theory. The English Language Book Society and Longmans Green & Co. Ltd. London 1962.
24.
25. 26.

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Thoughts on Economics Vol. 18, No.

Economic Philosophy of Islam: A Comparative Conceptual Study

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

19. 20. 21. 22. 23.

24. 25. 26. 27. 28.

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

51. Ibid. P.205.

56. 57. 58.

59. 60. 61.

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

12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

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