Full Employment (1)
"There was only a chair left on the corner table." the Swan continued her story. "The young wayfarer was a little hesitant, because at the table, there were three guests, but it seemed other visitors were reluctant to sit with them. When the young traveler was getting ready to leave, one of the three guests, who had a violet peci, raised his hand, gesturing him to sit on the empty chair.
"Thank you!" said the young wayfarer as he sat down. "You're welcome, o young man!" said the man, then he said, "It seem that you're not from here, young man?" The young wayfarer said, "Yes, I come from the Land of the sailors. I come to this town for seeking knowledge." The man asked, "Are you a muslim?" The young wayfarer said, "Yes, I am!" The man said, "Good! Know o young man, Islam places a great emphasis on spreading knowledge and sharing it with others. Historically, Muslims have served as the means for transmitting knowledge to people of all regions and races." The man paused, he realized that this young man, a liitle bit shy, then he said, "By the way, I'm a historian, these two guys here are my friends. The guy who had gray peci is a politician, and the one who wears a brown peci, is an economist." The other two men smiled and greeted him. "Nice to meet you, young man!" said the two guys. The young wayfarer smiled, and said, "Can I ask a question?" The historian said, "Sure!" The young wayfarer said, "Which one is more important over another, politics, economics or history?" The three men laughed. "Of cource, politics is more important!" said the politician. The economist said, "No, economics is more important." The historian said, "No, no, no... without history, there will be no politics and economics." The three men laughed again. The young wayfarer said, "For me, these three subjects are important. Do you mind to tell me your opinion about each subject in Islamic perspective?"
The three men looked at each other, then the economist said, "O young man, Allah Azza wa Jalla has created the universe for the benefit of all human beings. Allah has made the resources of this earth available to man who has the responsibility to make use of them, to mould them, and transform them according to his needs. Allah has given man the necessary apparatus to cultivate his faculties, to understand himself and nature, and to develop the means to nourish himself and satisfy his needs. But man is supposed to observe certain limits in the exercise of his freedom. Within these bounds all his acts are to worship Allah. Nothing remains profane or secular . This belief fills man with an enthusiasm to proceed continually in his pursuit to discover, understand , live and enjoy this world without having any feeling of guilt, provided he seeks to please Allah and lives within the limits prescribed by Him.
Islam requires man to maintain a balance between his love for and abstinence from material things. This counsel of restraint in the acquisition of material resources is true for the entire humanity. The requirement is that man should not cause the non-renewable resources of the earth to be recklessly depleted. Every generation should show consideration for the future generations in the use of resources. At the global level all nations should exercise restraint in the use of the resources of the earth.
Islam treats all human beings as children of Adam. As human beings they are all equal. It visualizes equal opportunities for everyone. It opposes the creation of monopolies. It liberates man from the bonds of other human beings. It envisages a society where everyone is self-reliant. At the global scale, it expects all nations of the world to live a respectable life. Thus the present-day situation in which the poor countries are heavily indebted to the rich countries is not in conformity with the Islamic vision of the world . By the same token, according to the Islamic vision , justice should be provided to everyone and to all nations. It is opposed to all forms of exploitation. Islam encourages a free market economy but with a degree of government intervention that would prevent the building up of concentration of economic power.
As the vicegerent of Allah, man is accountable to Him for all his actions on the Day of Judgment. Thus Islam prescribes a strong system of accountability at all levels. This is true at the international level as well. The present situation in which certain powerful nations and global corporations are not accountable to anyone in this world is not in consonance with the Islamic Worldview . Islam envisages a world in which everyone with authority is accountable for his actions. It aims at the establishment of an economic order in which all nations of the world would get together to devise a global arrangement to monitor and check irresponsible behaviour by any nation. The resources of the earth must be safeguarded against waste, reckless depletion , and destruction for narrow economic gains."
The economist paused, then said,"O young man, if we are discussing about Islamic Economics, in this case, I will talk about it from the perspective of the economy as a whole, or in economics, known as macroeconomics, and there are basic assumptions. First, about human nature. Conventional economic analysis assumes that human beings are inherently selfish , that their primary concern is to derive maximum satisfaction or utility; and that in so doing they maximize the utility of the society as a whole . As a result, under capitalism the selfish behaviour of individuals and nations is not only rationalized but also encouraged . At the individual level , a starkly selfish and individualistic attitude which shows little concern for the betterment of others is accepted as reasonable. At the national plane, it is considered perfectly legitimate both for individuals and nations to adopt policies which serve selfish interests. This assumption has been widely criticized in the light of everyday observation and the findings of other social sciences such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology.
Islam, however, recognizes the dual nature of human beings. Human beings are selfish as well as altruistic. It does not, however, encourage human selfishness. Instead , it seeks to control human selfishness. It channelizes the selfishness of people to common good and prevents men from hurting others . It energizes their altruistic motives and arouses them to help one another. Consequently, the Islamic economic order visualizes a third sector, besides the private and public sectors, known as the voluntary sector. It recognizes that every individual, besides serving his selfish interests, should play a positive role in promoting common good by helping other human beings. Thus, it propagates that everyone can and should make a contribution to creating a better society.
The second, about materialism. The capitalist economic order places a very high value on material attainments. In fact, progress and material possessions are used synonymously. The capitalist approach to life has resulted in widespread depletion of non-renewable natural resources, deforestation of wide areas, pollution of environment, and ecological imbalance.
Islam treats material possessions as embellishments of life. But it treats them as secondary to the moral and spiritual development of human personality. It does encourage enterprise and effort to increase one’s material well-being, but it also enjoins that the focus of human striving on this earth is to obey Allah, and to achieve His pleasure in the Hereafter. This change in the focus of human striving introduces a balanced approach to economic development. The Islamic approach visualizes a restraint in the human endeavour to increase material consumption. It supplements material accomplishments with the moral and spiritual growth of personality as desired goals.
Islam treats material possessions as embellishments of life. But it treats them as secondary to the moral and spiritual development of human personality. It does encourage enterprise and effort to increase one’s material well-being, but it also enjoins that the focus of human striving on this earth is to obey Allah, and to achieve His pleasure in the Hereafter. This change in the focus of human striving introduces a balanced approach to economic development. The Islamic approach visualizes a restraint in the human endeavour to increase material consumption. It supplements material accomplishments with the moral and spiritual growth of personality as desired goals.
The third, about ownership. Capitalism visualizes an absolute right to private ownership so far as it is not acquired by damaging another person’ s similar right. Consequently, people are free to make use of their resources the way they like. For example, if they so choose, they may destroy and squander some of their resources. They are free to consume, save, invest (or lend on interest) whatever they own. They have an unlimited freedom to engage in any activity or profession. They can invest their money in any trade or occupation, even if it is socially harmful or destructive.
Islam recognizes the right of absolute ownership for Allah only. Man has been granted the right to benefit from the resources of the earth. He can earn his livelihood through lawful (halal) means. He is not totally free to consume, save or invest his earnings in any way he likes. There are definite moral limits on his right to earn, consume, save and invest. Within this general framework, Islam accepts the right of a person to sell, bequeath and leave for his heirs the property which he happens to own. Thus the Islamic concept of property limits human freedom to the use of the resources of the earth. It holds everyone accountable to Allah for the proper use of those resources.
The fourth, about universalism. Capitalist economics has not been able to come out of the general framework conceived by its founding fathers in the eighteenth century. The time when The Wealth of Nations was written by Adam Smith (d. 1776), most of the present-day rich countries were pursuing their colonial goals. The ideas of Adam Smith rationalized the notion of the nation-state. The Wealth of Nations provided a philosophical basis for a narrow' approach to global economic issues. Instead of conceiving the world as a place for all human beings, it rationalized the concept of national policies in solation from other peoples of the world . It introduced a chauvinistic approach towards economic problems, giving the industrially advanced countries an unbridled right to pursue whatever policies suited them. The same approach still persists. Individual states take economic decisions in their selfish interest. This is not to deny the fact that they do study the situation around them. However, they continue to adopt policies which suit their selfish ends ignoring the effects such policies might have on other nations. In this process, the people of the whole world suffer."
Islamic view is that the entire world has been created by Allah for the benefit of all human beings. There is, thus, a great need for all the peoples of the world to consult and cooperate with one another while pursuing economic policies which might adversely affect others. Although lip service is being paid to the need for greater international cooperation, in practice human beings have not made any significant progress in that direction. It is time for people to transcend the conventional economic ideas and build a global economy on the basis of equality and mutual cooperation.
The economist continued, "O young man, these basic assumptions will then, take up the questions of economic organization, the role of money, consumer behaviour: the problem of poverty, and fiscal management." The young wayfarer said, "How about the economic organization in Islamic perspective?"
[Part 2]
