Muslim Woman: About Ill Gotten Earnings
A typical Muslim, however unreligious-low morals, missing prayers and fasts, even drinking (alcohol) and fornicating-is sure to abstain from consuming pig's meat. Even the mere mention of the term is distasteful to him; just imagining it gives him shivers. In fact, consuming pig's meat has become synonymous with illicit gain of wealth. But this attitude is restricted to swine. Muslims do not react with equal intensity to illicit earnings, despite God forbidding it, just as He forbade consumption of swine. A restaurant suspected of frying halal kebabs in pig's fat is very likely to be vandalized by an angry mob. But the same people think nothing of unfair, illicit means of making money. Is it not baffling? Even when some means of earning are deemed illegal by the state, people consider them just that-illegal-not illicit or forbidden (haraam). There may be some means of making money allowed by the state but deemed unfair by God. Let us have a look at the criterion of permitted (halal) and forbidden (haraam) means of earning as laid down by Allah Almighty.
Wrongful Earnings
Two of the fundamental terms of the Quran are: haq (Right)-honest means of income, and baatel (Wrong) dishonest ways of making money. The ways of making money approved and disapproved by the Quran are halal (allowed) and haraam (forbidden, respectively. Al-Baqara, Chapter Two of the Quran, deals with Fasting in verses 183-187. Muslims the world over very honestly follow them but very conveniently, without any qualms whatsoever, ignore the very next verse (188): "And do not consume each other's wealth illicitly." The Quran cites illicit financial practices as one of the basic causes of the downfall of the Jews (4:161), going on to say: ".... And the transgressors among them had been promised a painful punishment." There are various illicit financial practices-cheating, fraud, bribery, stealing, embezzlement, hoarding, overpricing etc-but one mentioned specifically by the Quran often escapes our attention. And that is the one practiced by the clergy and the spiritual leaders: "O ye who are Convinced! Most of the (religious) scholars and mystics consume illicitly the public money and block the way to Allah" (9:34). Allama Shabbir Ahmed Usmani explains it thus: 'That is, (they) change and misinterpret God's word and religious rules for money. The masses, who have elevated them to godly status, accept as final whatever fallacies they present. Thus the priests and the mystics keep the masses entrapped in their web of deceit in order to safeguard their own vested social and financial interests. Obviously, if the public break free of the mesh and see the Truth, these men will have no more income
Bribery
Top of the list of illicit means of making money, bribery appears to have been widely accepted as a necessary evil. The verse mentioned earlier in regards to Fasting (2:188) goes, in its entirety, like this: "And don't consume each other's wealth illicitly; and don't get it to the officials (as bribery) so that you can knowingly gain something from other's money in an improper way."Is it not strange that, with such clear instructions from God, people abstain from pig's meat but think nothing of gulping down bribery?
The Business World
The practice of bribery may be restricted to specific sections of society, but the area flooded by illgotten money is the world of business-trade, buying and selling, factories, shops, etc. The Quran has laid down various rules of conduct in this regard. Take trade for example: "O those who are Convinced! Don't consume each other's money illicitly; social life necessitates buying and selling, so that it should be done in agreement of the parties involved; otherwise, it is just like killing others. God wishes to save you from it." (4:29)
The verse in point resolves the problem of trade. But actually the exact opposite happens. Shopkeepers unite and decide prices. If a prospective customer finds a price too high, he is told to try elsewhere. Failing to get a lower rate, he is forced to pay the price for the asking. That is obviously not 'in agreement' of the parties involved but the shopkeepers maintain, wrongfully of course, that that is the case! They obviously exemplify the verse: "Many go astray, as many find the right path by this (Quran)." (2:26) The shopkeeper, who insists on charging his quoted price and maintains that it does not impinge on the 'agreement' of the customer, does not himself feel the same way when the roles are reversed! That is why the Quran goes on to say: "Then whoever commits it, does it deliberately and wrongfully; the end of it will be hellfire, which is easy for God to do!" (4:30). As trading involves the manufacturers, stockist, wholesalers, retailers as well as consumers, 'fair trade' can only exist in a system which controls profits and prices.
Usury (Interest)
The Quran allows al-Bae' (trade) but forbids ar-Riba (interest) (2:275). Since I have dealt with riba in detail elsewhere, I shall point to a very simple form of it where a borrower is bound to pay interest to the lender. The Quran forbids it and allows repayment of the original sum only as it is not unfair to either of the parties (2:279). Thus, in allowing trade but forbidding interest, the underlying consideration is exploitation. Weighed against this principle, the currently prevalent trading practices, the entire economic system, and for that matter, almost every sphere of human life, features exploitation of men by fellow men.
The Balance
Tremendously important in the Quranic scheme of things, balance is the basis of the Universe: "God has formulated laws to keep a balance between stellar bodies. "God has formulated laws to keep a balance between stellar bodies. You should also crate a balanced society in which justice is done and nobody is wronged." (55:7-8-9). A just social system shall have the divine Balance with divine laws (57:25; 42:17), on Judgment Day, Man's deeds shall be weighed in the Balance so that "no one is wronged at all." (21:47) With this principle of the Balance in mind, let us consider the world of commerce. Verses like 6:153 and 17:35 instruct to "keep your measurement fair and the balance correct." Obviously, it means that the buyer must get his money's worth. Individual traders will keep their measuring fair but the 'money's worth' shall be monitored under a central system of price and quality control. Over-pricing, misrepresentation of merchandise, poor quality etc, inevitably lead to a nation's ruin. Prophet Shoaib repeatedly told his people: "Keep your measurement fair and balanced; don't cheat people in merchandizing; don't spread chaos instead of order and fairness." (7:85), (11:84-85), (26:181).
Reward of Labour
The Question is of prime importance according to the Quran. If labour (work) is not fully (fairly) rewarded, it is haraam. That, precisely, was the Pharaoh's sinful system which Moses was commissioned to abolish so that "everyone gets the reward of their labour." (20:75) and "no one fears unfairness and exploitation." (20:12). This is impossible to achieve under the capitalistic system of economy where the rate of wages is determined by the investor/employer and the worker/labourer is forced by his destitution to accept it (just as the customer 'accepts' prices as mentioned earlier). Under the Quranic system of economy, the question of wages simply does not arise because the state assumes full responsibility of providing sustenance to all citizens. Before that ideal is achieved, the state must see that the worker is not exploited. If he is, the employer is making 'haraam' money.
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