And Now Islamic Capitalism

muneer.khalili@hotmail.com

Islam is, anyway, Islam. As a perfect religious code and an all-inclusive system of life, Islam needs no patches of ‘isms’ in its tunic. The Quran makes this fact clear:

“This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion…” (Al-Maidah: 3)

Not a single realm of man’s life is left by the Quran and Prophet Muhammad, be peace and blessings upon him, void of guidance. As for the economic principles, we can imagine how much importance is given to it from the fact that the longest verse of the Quran (Al-Baqarah: 282) consists of not about worship but contains the instructions how to reach the contracts of debts, how to arrange the witness and how to settle the matters of dealing in the business. The Messenger of Allah, be peace and blessings upon him, was himself an honest merchant and once when he bought some foodstuff for a limited period, he mortgaged his armour for it. (Bukhari)

Interest is mainstay of modern capitalist economy and since long before advent of Islam had been deemed to be simply like trading. In Islam it is one of the greatest evils, heinously used by the manipulators as a weapon for their selfish and unfair advantages. Only because of cruel interest gains entire system is plagued by the corruption and disorder. “Allah has permitted trading and forbidden Riba (interest).” (Al-Baqarah: 275)

The Quran has laid a great emphasis on fairness in business and repeatedly enjoined not to give short in measure and weight. Long before Muhammad, be peace and blessings upon him, the people of Prophet Shuaib (AS) met their awful end because of their evil of indiscretion in business matters.

“And to (the people of) Madyan (We sent) their brother Shuaib. He said: “O my people! Worship Allah! You have no other God but Him. Verily, a clear proof from your Lord has come unto you; so give full measure and full weight and wrong not men in their things, and do not do mischief on the earth after it has been set in order, that will be better for you, if you believe.” (Al-Araf: 85)

For encouraging the propriety in the trade our Holy Prophet, be peace and blessings upon him, is reported to have said: “A truthful and trustworthy merchant will be raised on the Day of Judgment with Prophets, Siddiqeen and martyrs.” (Tirmidhi)

Purpose of the detail given above is to make the fact clear that Islam has its own economic system, based on wise prospects and rules. Islam needs not to have duplicates of Socialism or Capitalism. Capitalism thrived on the relics of the cruel feudal system of Medieval Europe and Industrial Revolution gave it a rise.

Vali Nasr, professor of International Relations in Tufts University, a renowned intellectual and author of numerous books, is not a man not to be seriously taken. He has come up with his latest work ‘The Rise of Islamic Capitalism’. His diagnosis that stagnancy of the Muslim countries is only because they have failed in embracing modernity may not be fully conclusive. Non-acceptance of the modernity in the Muslim countries Turkey, Iran and Pakistan was not only because of aggressive secularism and state-imposed efforts of westernizing the societies by Mustafa Kamal, Reza Shah and general Ayub Khan. There was something else also and that was strict adherence to the teachings of Islam and its moral values. The term ‘fundamentalism’ still eludes the Western and also Muslim intellectuals and they fail to define it in its proper perspectives.

Turkey and Iran forced their people to adopt modernity but it brought no stability in their economy, while the present regime in Turkey does and also former prime minister of Malaysia Dr. Mahathir Muhammad did have their roots in religion, their sincerity and bright vision has proven fruitful in bringing a big change under them. The credit in no way goes to the modernity or Capitalism.

Capitalism is not at all a guarantee of success for all the people. Western man himself is fed up of this system. Very recent movement and violent demonstration in America and some other parts of Europe for taking over Wall Street are the proofs of the failure of Capitalism.

Very first victim of this Capitalistic system was handicrafts and then it absorbed up small industries. Supermarkets and then gigantic shopping malls in the business hubs are the present day phenomenon, great tools of the avaricious industrialists engulfing groceries and traditional small bazaars. It leaves little room for the middle class of the society and lower class of the business community to survive. Middle class of the society is speedily diminishing. A little of it is rising to high riches and larger part of it has slipped below the poverty line.

Rocking down the local business firms this system boosted big companies, of which there are now of multi-national status. Seven hundred out of one thousand multi-national companies, signs of globalization and sentries and guardians of the Capitalism, are said to ruling America and no American president can go against the interests of these companies. Companies of this nature have monopoly over fast food, soft drinks, cosmetics, print and electronic media, IT and dozens of other fields. They even enjoy control over the politicians, legislative institutions and governments to get the rules made and policies shaped in their interests.

One of the biggest differences between the Capitalism and Islam is that the later is in favor of circulation and against the accumulation of wealth, while the Capitalism has hoarding nature with off-hand and merciless it lets on amassing the wealth. Islam has its strict checks how it comes and where it is dispensed. Islam has drawn lines of Halal (lawfulness) and Haram (unlawfulness) on earning and spending of the wealth. Miserliness and extravagance, both are contemptible and blame-worthy things according to the rules set by the Quran and the teachings given by our Holy Prophet, be peace and blessings upon him. In the Islamic system the wealth is like a flowing canal which irrigates the lands around it but in the Capitalism the wealth drains off into the dirty ponds of the capitalists. The Quran has very clear position in this matter:

“What Allah gave as booty to His Messenger from the people of the townships-it is for Allah, His Messenger, the kindred (of the Messenger), the orphans, the poor and the wayfarers, in order that it may not become fortune used by the rich among you…” (Al-Hashr: 7)

There remained a group of intellectuals, mostly under sway of different man carved systems and influenced by the glitters of the terms, inaptly have been trying to ‘decorate’ it with their cherished prefixes and suffixes for a long time. In different brands of socialism one was ‘Islamic Socialism’ in the second half of the previous century.

Islam never recommended putting bars on right of private property, free enterprise and free markets. As the modern states having Capitalist system have lot of things in prohibited list of their imports, Islam also imposes an embargo on the goods prohibited under its laws or against the interest of a Muslim state, but in general Islam is in favor of free trade. Only this similarity between the Islamic and the present Capitalistic system is not the propriety for labeling it ‘Islamic Capitalism’. We can find a clear incongruity in the nature of the Capitalism and Islam in a lot of matters.

Vali Nasr's fresh book ‘The Rise of Islamic Capitalism’ is claimed to be the right dynamic for positive change. But we have to see the genuineness of the grounds on which he has established his assumptions. Islamic Capitalism is actually Vali Nasr’s post-fundamentalism supposed picture.

First of all we have to ascertain is fundamentalism really on its way out leaving a vacuum for Capitalism to fill it? The realities on ground do not support this assumption. As a sole super power an arrogant move of America into Iraq and Afghanistan with claim of ridding of undemocratic and ‘uncivilized’ regimes and embrace the societies there with democracy and imprints of the western culture. But after over a decade of exhausting its economic resources and military power proves not fructifying and the obverse of the situation is now naked.

America disgracefully quitted Iraq leaving this country haunted by disorder and severe inner conflicts, but with no gains for itself except hatred and curse. Now leaving Afghanistan is written on the wall to be much more ignominiously. Taliban are more likely to have a triumph come back. They might have learnt something good and bring a slight change in their views and policies but no radical change is anticipated.

In spite of an apparent rise of modernity and western culture in a particular class in the Muslim societies with the help of present day overspread of media is not to disaffirm but we see the trend of sticking to the religious bonds equally on their high. Light of the ideas and dogmas of the Islamic Movements and not the anti-fundamentalism is appearing as the slits in the iron curtains of the despotic rule in the Arab countries are getting widened.

Being the son of the Iranian soil Vali Nasr’s predictions may be in the light of current circumstances there, but a quick fall in the popularity of Ahmadi Nejad does not mean a big slump in the existing system there yielding the ground for Capitalism hiding its face under the covering of ‘Islamic’.