KEY ISSUES IN ESTABLISHING ISLAMIC ECONOMIC
SYSTEM IN CONTEMPORARY MUSLIMS SETTING - 2

Published in Frontiers and Mechanics of Islamic Economics,
pages 77-82 which was First printed 1988/ 1409 A.H.
Edited by: Rafiqul Islam Molla, Abdul Rashid Moten,
Sule Ahmed Gusau and Abubakar Allyu Gwandu.
University of Sokoto 1988/1409 AH).

[Introduction]    [The Standard]   [ The Issues Involved]     The Standard Human society, like the human body, is organic. Just like the various physiological systems of the human body work jointly to keep the body fit and living so do all systems of fife ‑ political, social, economic, legal, etc., ‑ work to keep the society living and functioning. In Islam the life of a society is symbolized by adl. Adl to be sure goes beyond the term justice to encompass equity, fairness, balance and harmony. Human society as well as the universe which accommodates it has been built on Adl and are sustained by it. Adl, in other words, ii to the human society what the soul is to the human body. Adl infact appears to be the target of man's mission on earth. For, soon after the Hijra to Madina came the command:   “To those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight) because they are wronged: and verily, Allah is most powerful; for their aid (xxii:39).”   This guarantee given to the victory of the oppressed Muslim is however conditional. Allah says:   “Those who, if we establish them in the land, establish regular prayer and give regular charity, enjoin the right and forbid wrong; With Allah rests the end (and decision) of (all) affairs (xxii: 41).”   Salat (prayer) and zakat (charity) symbolize worship and social justice; ‘enjoin the right and forbid wrong’ symbolize the shari’ah which sets the limits and adl in practical terms. It is this community balanced on adl which the Most High  gave the trust and responsibility of overseeing the whole of mankind .   In His words: “thus have we made of you an Ummah just balanced, that ye might be witness over yourselves” (ii:143) In carrying out this mission, the standard again is adl: “Be Just (adl): that is next to piety (taqwa)” (v: 9).   Thus adl is both the goal as well as the standard of human society. Every system ‑ social, legal, political and economic must conform to it or be purged out of the Ummah. While  assembling the building blocks of the Islamic economic system for our contemporary Muslim Ummah it is important for us to weight every step and every block on the practical scale of adl. Less than 200 years ago the same care and concern was exhibited by the leadership of the Sokoto Caliphate. Taxation in the Sokoto Caliphate, for example was seen by the leadership as a means, of redistribution of wealth from those who already have, to those who do not have, as a means of enhancing the well‑being of the people, not an excuse to dispossess or impoverish them. Today. the same concern for the protection of the poor and the down trodden and the maintenance of justice balance and harmony is echoed in Iran. Since the revolution many foundations, projects, and institutions had sprang up having geared towards restoring that balance, justice, and harmony which imperialism under its agents (the Shah and his team) had painfully jeopardized. The leadership symbolizes the aspiration of the people and are striving hard to meet this aspiration. Thus the product of this rewarding endeavour to produce an Islamic economic system for our contemporary Ummah must be weighted on Islam's own scale, adl, and on the practical level improve the quality of life of people, especially the poor and the weak in the society. Unless it meets this standard, the idea, no matter how attractive, will have to remain out of the house of the Islamic system.