Three Men in a Boat (2)

The man in jacket said, "There is consensus of opinion among economists that capitalism at the start, brought about great progress and rendered considerable services to humanity. Production was increased, means of communications were improved and national resources were exploited on a larger scale. The standard of living among the working classes became higher than when they were mostly or completely dependent on agriculture.
But such a glorious picture did not last long because the natural development of capitalism, as they say, led to the amassing of wealth in the hands of capitalist owners and to a relative diminution of the properties owned by the working classes. This enabled the capitalist owners to use workmen— the real producers in communist eyes— in considerably stepping up the production of various commodities but the wages paid to workmen were too low to ensure decent life because the employers took all the profits and spent them leading a life of luxury and corruption.
Besides this, the scanty wages paid to workmen did not enable them to consume all the production of capitalist countries. This led to the accumulation of surplus production. As a result of this, the capitalist countries began to look for new markets for their surplus production, which in turn gave rise to colonialism with all its incessant conflicts among different nations over markets and raw material resources. Destructive wars were the inevitable outcome of all this.
Moreover, the capitalist system is always exposed to periodic crisis, resulting from depression caused by low wages and the scantiness of world consumption in relation to increasing production.
Some propagandists of materialism refer all the problems of the capitalist system to the nature of capital itself rather than to desire for exploitation on the part of the capitalists. Such na'ive and strange reasoning means that man with all his emotions and thoughts is but a helpless creature in the face of the power of economy.

Capitalism did not originate in the Islamic world as it came into being only after the invention of the machine in Europe.
Capitalism was imported into the Islamic world at a time when it was under European domination. Together with the wave of development, it spread into the Islamic world when it was suffering from poverty, ignorance, illness and backwardness. This made some people think that Islam approves of capitalism, with both its evils and merits. They also claim that there are no provisions in the Islamic law or regulations such as might be in conflict with capitalism. They argue that since Islam permitted individual ownership, it must likewise permit capitalism.

There is no doubt that Islam would have encouraged the good and progressive achievement that were brought about by capitalism without legislation to organize it and to preclude any exploitation which might result from ill-will on the part of the employers or from the very nature of capital. The Islamic principle which was laid in this respect entitles the workmen to share the profit with their employers.

In the beginning, industry consisted of simple manual work involving a small number of workmen who worked in simple workshops. The relation between work and capital should be on an equitable basis.
Economists say that the development of capitalism, from its early benevolent phase to its present morbidly evil phase was accompanied by its increasing dependence on national loan. This led to the creation of banks which carried on financial operations, and advanced loans in return for some interest. Such loans as well as the majority of banking operations are based on usury which is expressly prohibited by Islam.

Islam put a great concern with the establishment of justice. Such concern for the establishment of justice was voluntarily introduced by Islam. It was not forced thereon by any economic exigency nor was it the result of the struggle among classes which is regarded by the propagandists of certain economic doctrines as the sole effective factor in the development of economic relations.
Tough competition, which is another feature of capitalism, leads to the destruction of minor companies or to their merger into major ones. This encourages monopoly which is also prohibited by Islam, as is borne out by some sayings of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), "He that monopolises is a wrongdoer." Because Islam prohibited usury and monopoly, it would have been impossible for capitalism to develop under Islam into its present evil stage which involves exploitation, colonialism and war."

The man in cardigan questioned, "What would have been the fate of industry if it had originated under Islamic rule?" The man in jacket said, "Surely, Islam would not have restricted industry to minor workshops whose profit is shared by the employer and the workman. Production would have rather grown, but the relationship between the employer and workmen would have developed on different lines from those outlining the development of the employer-employee relations in Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It would have developed in accordance with the basic principles of Islam such as the above-mentioned principle which provides for an equal division of profit between the workmen and their employer.
By so doing, Islam would have avoided resorting to usury or monopoly and would have precluded the injustice to which workmen are subjected under capitalism where they are exploited and left to suffer poverty and humiliation.

It would be foolish to suggest that Islam could not have established such justice without first passing through hard ordeals, class conflicts, and economic pressures all of which would ultimately lead to the amendment of its legislations. It is proved beyond all doubt that Islam had been ahead of all nations in dealing with the questions of slavery, feudalism, and early capitalism. In so doing, Islam was not acting under any outside pressure whatsoever. It was rather acting voluntarily and in accordance with its own conception of eternal equity and justice scoffed at by communist writers. On the other hand, it is a fact that Russia, a model communist state, itself passed directly from feudalism to communism without passing through the intermediary stage of capitalism. Thus Russia— which adopted the doctrine of Karl Marx— practically gives the lie to Marx’s theory regarding the phases of development which, he says, every state has to experience.

As to colonialism, wars and exploitation of peoples, it should be pointed out that Islam is firmly opposed to all these as well as to all the other universal evils engendered by capitalism. It is not one of the principles of Islam to colonize other peoples or to wage any war against others for the purposes of exploitation. The only war approved by Islam is that which is waged against aggression or is meant to spread the Word of Allah where its peace and peaceful dissemination is rendered impossible, even then it is carried out very carefully.
The communists and their like, allege that colonialism is an inevitable phase in human development. They add that colonialism could not have been averted by any doctrine or moral principle since it was essentially an economic phenomenon resulting from a surplus in the production of industrialized countries and the need for foreign outlets for marketing such surplus.

Needless to say, Islam does not recognize about the inevitability of colonialism. Besides, the communists themselves say or profess that Russia will solve the problem of surplus production by reducing both working hours and workmen’s role in production. The solution which communism professes to have found may be used by other systems as well.

History bears witness that colonialism has been an ancient human propensity. It did not originate with capitalism although capitalism with its modem weapons of destruction rendered it more ferocious. As to the exploitation of the vanquished, Roman colonialists were more ruthless and monstrous than their modem counterparts.

History furnishes us with the best evidence to the effect that Islam has been the cleanest of all systems as far as war is concerned. Islamic wars have always been free from exploitation as well as subjection of others. Therefore, if the industrial revolution had taken place in Islamic countries, Islam would have solved the problem of surplus production without resorting to war or colonisation. Besides, it may be said that the problem of surplus production is an outcome of the capitalist system in its present form only. In other words, if the basic principles of capitalism are changed, the problem would not exist.

As against this, the ruler in the Islamic state shall not remain helplessly indifferent towards the problem of the accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few people while the majority are suffering from poverty and deprivation. Such amassing of wealth is contrary to the principles of Islam which expressly prescribed that wealth should be fairly distributed among all the people lest it should be confined to the rich only. The ruler in Islam is charged with the enforcement of Sharee‘ah (Islamic law) by all means at his command without any injustice or harm to anyone. In this respect, the ruler is invested with full and unlimited powers within the bounds set by Allah’s law— the law that precludes the accumulation of wealth. We might refer in this respect to the law of inheritance which ensures that wealth left by each generation is properly distributed. Reference should also be made to Zakah (poor-due) which prescribes that 2.5% of the capital and profit should be annually earmarked for the poor. In addition, Islam explicitly prohibits the hoarding of wealth. It likewise prohibits usury which is the basic factor in the accumulation of capital. Moreover, the relationships among the members of Islamic society are based on reciprocal responsibility rather than exploitation.
It should also be added that Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) ensured for officials of the state certain rights including the basic necessities of life, “If a person who is charged with work for us (i.e. the state) has no wife, he shall have one; if he has no dwelling place, he shall have one; if he has no servant, he shall have one: if he has no animal to ride, he shall have one."
Such guarantees are not to be confined to officials of the state only. They are the basic necessities required by every person. They can be obtained in return for work done in the service of the state or through any profession or occupation from which society may benefit. If the state ensures the basic necessities for its officials it must also ensure the same for every working individual in the state. This is evident from the fact that the Public Treasury is responsible for supporting those who are unable to work owing to old age, illness, or childhood. The Public Treasury is also responsible for providing basic necessities to persons who cannot obtain them owing to insufficient means.

These all facts, emphasize the responsibility of the state to ensure by all means the basic necessities for workers. There is no great importance to the means by which such necessities could be provided to the workers; what really matters is the principle which guarantees that profit and loss shall be equally shared by all members of the nation. By providing such necessities for workers Islam protects them against exploitation, besides ensuring a decent life for all.

Islam would not have allowed capitalism to grow into the monstrous forms. The Islamic legislations— whether originally prescribed by Sharee'ah or newly adopted to face new developments within the frame-work of Sharee‘ah— would not have allowed the capitalists to exploit the working people or suck their blood. Islam would have precluded all the evils of capitalism including colonisation, war and the enslaving of people.

Islam, as usual, is not content with the mere enactment of economic rules and laws. In addition to law, Islam also makes use of moral and spiritual incentives which are satirised by the communists because they see that such values have no practical significance in Europe. But in Islam moral and spiritual values are not separated from practical considerations. Islam has a unique manner of combining and harmonising both the purification of the spirit and the organization of the community. The individual is never left to wonder how to reconcile the ideal with the practical.

Islam formulates its legislations on a moral basis so that the moral values are always in harmony with the legislations. In this way, each side supplements the other without any fear of conflict or divorcement.
Islamic morality prohibits and discourages all forms of luxury and sensuality which are the inevitable results of the amassing of wealth in the hands of a few people. Along with this, Islam also prohibits being unjust to employees or underpaying them. As the amassing of wealth is an outcome of injustice to employees, it invariably means that it must also be discouraged.
Islam calls the people to spend their money in the way of Allah— even if that should lead to disposing of all one’s property. It is because, generally, the rich people spend their money on themselves rather than in the way of Allah that the majority of the people live in poverty and deprivation.

The spiritual elevation of men brought about by Islam brings them closer to Allah and makes them renounce all worldly pleasures and profits in striving to attain Allah’s pleasure and in expectation of His recompense in the other world. There is no doubt that a man who keeps his peace with Allah and has faith in the other world, in Heaven and Hell, will not rush madly for the amassing of wealth or resort to exploitation or injustice for the realization of his selfish ends.
In this way the moral and spiritual edification will pave the way for economic legislations which aim at curbing the evils of capitalism. Consequently, when such legislations are made they are sure to be complied with, not because of fear of punishment but rather because people would be acting according to the dictates of their conscience.

In conclusion, it should be made clear that the monstrous capitalism which is currently prevalent in the Islamic world is not a part of Islam as it is the outcome of colonialism, and consequently, Islam cannot be held responsible for its evils."

The man in cardigan said, "And what about Communism?"

[Part 3]
[Part 1]

Bahasa

Three Men in a Boat (1)

Seagull stood up, then sang a part of a song,

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything feels like the movies
Yeah, you bleed just to know, you're alive

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am *)

After saying salaam, delivered the opening sentence, she continued, "One day, when I was sitting at a dock, I saw three men in a boat. One was wearing hoodie, he always seemed to be staring down, as if he wanted to hide his face. Another man, wearing a jacket, his hands always in his pockets. And the last man, wearing a cardigan, he looked calm and always stared at the open sea. As long as I listened to their conversations, they shared what they knew, never arguing with each other.

The man wearing the hoodie asked, "Is Islam dangerous?" The other two men were silent for a moment, then the man wearing the cardigan said, "I don't think so!" The hoodie asked, "What do you know about it? Tell us!" The cardigan said, "All I know and have heard, Islam, in a word, means liberation from all sorts of slavery which may inhibit the progress of humanity or may not allow it to follow the path of virtue and goodness. It means man’s freedom from dictators who enslave him by force or fear, make him do what is wrong and deprive him of his dignity, honour, property or even life. Islam liberates him from such tyranny by telling him that all authority vests in Allah and Allah Alone; He Alone is the Real Sovereign. All men are His slaves and, as such, He Alone controls their destinies, none of them having the power to benefit aught or even avert any distress from his own self contrary to or independent of His Divine Will. All men shall be presented before Him on the Day of Judgement to account for their performance throughout their lifetime. Thus Islam brings to man freedom from fear or oppression inflicted on him by men like himself who are in reality as helpless as he is, and who are no less subject to the Dominant Will of Allah the Almighty than he himself is.

Not only this. Islam means freedom from lust as well, including even the lust for life, as it is this very weakness of man which is exploited by tyrants and dictators intentionally or otherwise, in enslaving their fellowmen. But for it, no man would silently accept slavery to men like himself or sit idle to watch tyranny strut abroad and dare not challenge it. It is a great blessing of Islam that it taught man to fight tyranny and oppression bravely rather than cringe before them in abject servitude.

Islam attaches so great importance to the freeing of man from his animal passions. For this purpose, it neither favours monarchism, nor does it forbid its followers to partake freely in the good things of this life. Rather, Islam aims at the attainment of a balance between these two extremes. Whatever things are here, are for man. They are to serve him, not to dominate or rule him. He should not, therefore, allow himself to be made slave to them. He should rather use them as means to a higher end i.e. his spiritual perfection by disseminating the word of Allah amongst his fellowmen. Thus Islam has a two fold objective in this regard: in the individual life, it aims at making a just and sufficient provision to each and every individual so as to enable him to lead a decent, clean life; and in the collective sphere, it arranges things in such a way that all the social forces of a community are directed towards the enhancement of progress and civilization in accordance with its basic outlook upon life that aims at striking a balance between the units and the whole, between individuals and the community.

Islam has also had the most liberalising effect on human intellect as it is diametrically opposed to all sorts of superstition. Humanity has been in the course of history, found to fall a prey to diverse absurdities of thought as well as practice, some of which were the lively play of man’s fancy and were acknowledged as such, whereas others were referred to as originating with gods to whom human hands gave shape. Thus did the human intellect grope about in the dark before the advent of Islam. With Islam it attained maturity and freedom from this hotchpotch of nonsense, symbolised in these so-called gods. Islam, once again, brought human intellect back to the folds of True Faith and True God; Allah The Most High.

Islam uses a very simple terminology. Its teachings are very easy to understand, perceive and believe in. It invites man to make use of the faculties given to him and try to acquire the fullest possible understanding of life surrounding him. It does not as such admit of any inborn hostility between reason and religion or, for that matter, between science and religion. It does not force man to believe in silly stuff as a prior condition to his belief in Allah. Nor does it compel him to renounce his Allah so as to be able to admit of scientific facts. Not confined to this, Islam impresses upon man in clear and unequivocal terms that it is Allah and Allah Alone Who has in His Immense mercy subjected all the things on this earth to man, and that all the facts that are discovered by scientific exploration or the material benefits that flow therefrom to man, are in fact a blessing of Allah, for which man should offer his thanks to Allah, and strive hard so as to become a worthy slave of so Merciful and Beneficent a Master.

Islam holds knowledge and science as a part of faith rather than regards them as an evil intrinsically opposed to genuine belief in God; Allah The Most High. Science is a powerful instrument to help us increase our knowledge of the things around us. As such, it has an impressive record of achievements to its credit. Islam equips man with a sound outlook upon life telling him that whatever knowledge he acquires or the material or spiritual benefits he enjoys, are in fact so many gifts to him from a Beneficent God. And that He is pleased with man so long as man employs the knowledge thus acquired in the service of mankind; and that Allah does never get angry with His creatures for their aspiring after knowledge, nor does He have any fear whatever of them that they would challenge His authority or vie with Him; and that He is provoked to anger only when man abuses his knowledge of science and makes it a means of tormenting his fellowmen or committing aggression against them.

Thus Islam not only establishes peace and harmony, but also rids mankind of tyranny and oppression. The contemporary world presents in this respect, no better view than it did thirteen hundred
years ago, when Islam freed it from all false gods. Tyranny still struts abroad in the guise of haughty kings, insolent demagogues and heartless capitalists who are busy as ever sucking up the blood of the working millions, subjugating them and making capital out of their helplessness and miserable plight. There is still another class of dictators who rule with fire and sword, usurp peoples’ liberties and go about chanting that they are merely instruments in enforcing the people’s or the proletariat’s will.

The world was divided into two big power blocs — the capitalist and the communist blocs, each set against the other in a deadly struggle for the capture of world-markets and important strategical points on the globe. They, however, despite all their differences, still remain one and the same thing as both are imperialistic in outlook and are out to enslave other peoples of the world. With this end in view, they are both anxious to capture the maximum possible resources, human as well as material. Other human beings are in their eyes no better than so many chattels, man-power they call it, or mere tools with which to realize their nefarious designs."

The hoodie asked, "What do you know about capitalism? Tell us!" The cardigan was silent, turned to the man in the jacket and said, "You tell us!" The jaket said, "Some think that Islam was a feudalistic system. Let us see what the word feudalism means in fact and what are its characteristics. Speaking about feudalism, there is an author says, “Feudalism is a way of production, the distinguishing mark of it being the existence of a perpetual system of serfdom. It is a system wherein the landlord or his representative is entitled to receive a fixed share of production and enjoys certain specific economic rights, carrying with them the privilege to make their tenants serve them or, instead thereof, receive payments from them in cash or kind. As an explanation of this, we may say that the feudal society is divided into two classes of people, first, The owners of feudal lands, and second, the tenants, who may again vary in their grades, farmers, agricultural workers, and slaves, the number of some of them dwindling off more rapidly than that of others. It is the farmers, the direct producers, however, who enjoy the right to possess land and have a share in the produce that is so necessary for them to support their families and themselves, besides the right to build farmhouses on the tillage. Against these benefits, they are required to serve the landlord every week by rendering free services in his fields working with their own cattle and instruments, along with performing for him a number of other services at the time of harvesting and reaping, and offering him on the occasion of festivals whatever gifts and presents they can. They are also expected to get their food-grains and grapes milled and pressed in his flour mills and pressing machines.

The landlord also exercises full executive and judicial powers over his tenants living within the bounds of his feudal lands. The real producer in feudalism did not enjoy freedom in the sense we know at present; he did not own the land, nor could he sell, inherit or give it as a free gift to others. He was compelled to a forced labour in the lands of his master even at the expense of his own material gains or considerations thereof. Moreover, as a mark of his obedience to the master he had to pay him taxes that were unlimited in amount as well as extent. With the land he too changed masters passing from one to the other, for he did not have the right to shift of his own free will from one chief to another in search of work or even join the service of still another master. As such, the feudal villain forms the connecting link between the slaves of old times and the free tenants of the modem times.

It was the master who fixed the extent of the land to be given by him to the peasant. He also decided about the services that he expected his tenants to render him without being under any obligation to have a consideration for the rights of the other landowners or the needs of the peasants while making such momentous decisions.

Then, what is the relationship between Islam and feudalism? Islam has nothing to do with it. There is no serfdom in Islam as it recognized no other form of servitude save that of slavery, the causes and conditions whereof and the means of freedom. Islam admits of no bondage arising out of a tenant’s being bound to the soil. The only slaves that we know of in Islam were those captured in wars which is quite sufficient to prove that in the early Islamic society the number of slaves was far less in comparison with the total numbers of its free citizens. They worked on the soil of their masters till they were freed voluntarily by, or they themselves took the initiative and demanded the writing of their freedom of their masters.

Islam is not at all familiar with this type of serfdom as it is in principle opposed to all forms of servitude save that rendered by man unto his Rabb, the Creator of all life. There is no provision in Islam for the subjection of some creatures to other creatures like them. Whenever such an abnormal state-subjection of some men to others is found due to certain external causes without any initiative from Islam, it always is a temporary or a transitional phenomenon, which Islam strives to do away with, with all the possible resources at its disposal, encouraging the slaves to earn their freedom besides holding the state responsible to render to them all possible help towards that end.

In economics too, Islam does not recognize any bondage of man to other men like him. The system of slavery to which we have alluded above is an exception as there was no other economical alternative before Islam at that time. Islam tolerated it till the slaves were freed spiritually and till the time they were able to shoulder their responsibilities as free members of the community, whereupon Islam actively helped them in winning back their lost freedom.

Islam bases its economic structure on freedom of action coupled with a relationship of a complete co-operation and exchange of mutual services among all individuals. The Islamic government acts as a guardian and custodian of all such people who happen to lag behind in the struggle of life for some reason and are denied all amenities of a decent living. Thus with all the resources of the state backing him in an Islamic community; no man needs let himself become a bondsman to the landowners. Islam provides for all his basic needs without degrading him or making him lose his independence, self-respect or honour.
Thus both spiritually and economically Islam is opposed to feudalism. It brought to men freedom from feudalism even before they were caught up in the shackles of serfdom."

The hoodie asked, "So, what about capitalism? "

[Part 2]

Bahasa