Part 2, The Islamic Rules of Trade

Due to the current global financial crisis there is increasing interest in the Islamic Economic System, the most comprehensive book on this topic is 'The Economic System of Islam' by Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani. However as people have many questions relating to the Islamic rules of trade we will be posting related extracts from the draft translation of the Fiqh masterpiece 'The Islamic Personality, Volume 2' by Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani.

It is not allowed to sell what you do not have

It is not allowed to sell a good before completing its ownership so selling it in this situation is a void sale. This is verified in two situations. Firstly, that one sells the good before he owns it. Secondly, he sells it after buying it but before he completes owning it via taking possession in that whose completion of ownership is conditioned upon taking possession. This is because the sale contract only occurs upon owned property so that which is not owned yet or is purchased but its ownership is not yet completed since its possession has not yet been taken, then there cannot occur over it the sale contract because there does not exist a place for the contract to occur over it in the Shar’a. The Messenger of Allah (saw) prohibited the sale of what the seller does not own. It is narrated from Hakeem bin Hazam (ra) who said:

لا تَبِع ما ليس عندك
“I said: O Messenger of Allah, there comes to me a man asking me to sell what I do not have to sell then I buy if from the market. He said: Do not sell what you do not have” (narrated by Ahmad).

And from Amru bin Shuaib from his father from his grandfather who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

لا يَحِل سَلَفٌ ولا بيع ولا شرطان في بيع ولا ربح ما لم يُضمن ولا بيع ما ليس عندك
“It is not allowed to borrow and sell, nor two conditions in one sale, nor a profit that is not included nor the sale of what you do not have” (narrated by Abu Dawud).

The expression of the Messenger (saw) of “what you do not have” is general including your ability to deliver what you don’t completely own. This is strengthened by the ahadith which came with a prohibition of selling that which is not possessed in that whose completion of ownership is conditioned upon taking possession. This indicates that whoever buys that which requires taking possession until his purchase is completed is not permitted to sell until he takes its possession. So its rule became the rule of selling that which he does not own due to the Prophet (saw)’s statement:

من ابتاع طعاماً فلا يَبِعه حتى يستوفيه
“Whoever sells foodstuff, he should not sell it until he pays its due” (narrated by Al-Bukhari).

And due to what Abu Dawud narrated

أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم نهى عن أن تباع السلع حتى تُبتاع حتى يحوزها التجار إلى رحالهم
“That the Prophet (saw) prohibited goods to be sold where they are bought until the trader collects them to their mounts”

And due to what ibn Majah narrated

أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم نهى عن شراء الصدقات حتى تُقبض
“The Prophet (saw) prohibited the purchase of charity (sadaqat) until it is taken possession.”

And due to what was narrated

أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم لما بعث عتاب بن أسيد إلى مكة قال: إنهَهُم عن بيعِ ما لم يقبضوه
“That when the Prophet (saw) sent Uttab bin Usayd to Makkah, he said: ‘Prohibit them from buying that which they have not taken possession of.’”

These ahadith are explicit in prohibiting that which they have not taken possession of since the seller has not completed his ownership over it. This is because that which requires taking possession of, then its ownership is not completed until the buyer possesses it and also because it is in the guarantee of its seller.

Hence it is clarified that it is a condition of the validity of sale that the seller owns the good and has completed his possession therein. If however he does not own it or he owns it but has not completed his own ownership therein then it is absolutely not allowed to sell it. This includes what he owns but has not taken possession in what taking possession is a condition to complete the sale which is what is measured, weighed and counted. As for those for which taking possession is not a condition of completing ownership which is other than that which is measured, weighed or counted such as the animal, house and land and what is similar then it is permitted for the seller to sell it before taking possession. This is because the mere occurrence of the sale contract by offer and acceptance completes the sale whether he takes possession of it or not, so he would have sold that which his ownership over it is accomplished. The issue of the absence of sale is not related to taking possession or not; rather it is related to the ownership of the sale and the completion of ownership therein. As for permitting the sale of something that has not been possessed in other than what is weighed or counted, this is established by the sahih hadith. Abu Dawud narrated from ibn Umar (ra):

كنا نبيع الإبل بالبقيع بالدراهم فنأخذ بدل الدراهم الدنانير ونبيعها بالدنانير فنأخذ بدلها الدراهم، فسَألْنا النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم عن ذلك فقال:لا بأس إذا تفرّقتما وليس بينكما شيء
“That he said: I used to sell camels at Baqi’.. I would sell in dinars and take in dirhams, and I would sell in dirhams and take in dinars. I took this for that, and this would be given for that. I came to the Messenger of Allah (saw) while he was at the house of Hafsa and said: O Messenger of Allah, slowly (ruwaydak) let me ask you. I sell camels at Baqi. I sell for dinars and take in dirhams, and sell in dirhams and take in dinars. I take this for that and this is given for that. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: There is no harm if you take it for the daily price as long as you have not departed while between you is something (left).”

This is disposal of the price before taking possession of it, which is one of the things given in exchange like sale. And Al-Bukhari narrated from ibn Umar (ra) that he was at a (s’ab) camel of Umar

أنه كان على بكر صعب –يعني لعمر- فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لعمر: بِعنِيه. فقال: هو لك يا رسول الله. فقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: هو لك يا عبدالله بن عمر، فاصنع به ما شئت
“So the Prophet (saw) said to him to sell it to him. So he bought it then said: It is for you, O Abdullah ibn Umar, so do with it as you wish.”

This is disposal in the sale by gift before taking possession of it which indicates the completion of ownership in the sold good before taking possession of it. It indicates the permissibility of selling it because the seller’s ownership therein has been completed. Accordingly whatever the seller owns and his ownership is completed over it then it is permitted for him to sell it. And whatever (good) whose ownership is not completed is not permitted to be sold. Hence what is done by small traders of bargaining with the buyers of the good then agreeing with him over the price and selling it to him, then going to another trader to buy it for the one whom he sold it to and then presenting it and delivering it to the buyer is not permitted because it is selling that which is not owned. When the trader is asked about the good, it is not before him nor does he own it but he knows it exists in the market with others. So he lies and tells the buyer that it is present and sells it to him, then he goes to buy it after selling it. This is haram and not permitted as it is selling that which is not owned. Similarly what is done by the owners of shops in the vegetable and grain market when they sell vegetables and wheat before their ownership therein is completed. Some traders buy vegetables or wheat from farmers and sell it before they have taken possession of it. This is not permitted as it is from the foodstuff wherein ownership is not completed except by taking possession of it. Similarly what importers from other countries do. Some of them sell the goods and make the delivery in the country a condition therein, then sell them before they arrive i.e. before their ownership over them is completed. This sale is forbidden as it is selling before the ownership over it is completed.

Article 9, Explanation of the Draft Constitution of the Khilafah

The following is from the draft english translation of the Arabic book مقدمة الدستور
أو الأسباب الموجبة له (Introduction to the constitution and the evidences that make it obligatory) published by Hizb ut-Tahrir 1382 Hijri (1963 CE). Please refer to the original Arabic for accurate meanings. Please note some of the adopted opinions of the Hizb have changed since the time the book was published so any of the adopted literature published after this book which contradicts what is mentioned in this book abrogates those specific points.

Ijtihad is a duty of sufficiency and every Muslim reserves the right to perform Ijtihad provided he meets all its prerequisites.

Explanation and evidences:

The Islamic Shari'ah has made Ijtihad to deduce the Shari'ah rules from the address of the Legislator i.e. from the Shari'ah texts, revealed by Allah (swt) to the Messenger of Allah (saw), an obligation upon the Muslims. The fact that Ijtihad is an obligation has been confirmed through several Ahadith. In the narration of Bukhari on the authority of Amr Ibnul Aas who said that he heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say: “If one were to give a ruling, so he made Ijtihad and reached the sound rule, he would get double the reward; and if he were to give a ruling, so he made Ijtihad and reached the wrong rule, he would still get a reward.” He (saw) also said: “…and a man who passed onto people his judgement without knowledge, he is in Hell fire.” This confirms that the judge must be acquainted with what he judges on. It is also reported that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said to Mu’ath and Abu Moussa Al-Ash’ari when he was about to dispatch them to Yemen: “What will you judge by?” They said: “If we did not find the rule in the Book nor in the Sunnah, we would make analogy between the two matters and whichever were closest to that which is right we would act upon it.” This analogy is in itself a kind of Ijtihad to deduce the rule which the Messenger of Allah (saw) approved of. It is also reported that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said to Mu’ath when he appointed him as Wali to Yemen: “What will you rule by?” He said: “By the Book of Allah.” He (saw) said: “What if you do not find the rule?” He said: “By the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah.” He said: “What if you do not find the rule?” He said: “I will exert my own opinion.” Upon this the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Praise be to Allah Who guided the envoy of the Messenger of Allah to what Allah and His Messenger love.” This clearly indicates the approval of the Messenger of Allah (saw) with regard to Mu’ath performing Ijtihad. Furthermore, the knowledge of the rules in linked and related to Ijtihad, for the perception and cognisance of the rules could not be established without it. Hence, Ijtihad becomes obligatory because the Shari'ah principle stipulates: “Whatever is necessary to establish a duty is in itself a duty.” The Istinbat, i.e. the deduction of rules is in essence performed by Mujtahideen, because the knowledge of Allah’s rule in a given matter cannot be reached but through Ijtihad, thus Ijtihad becomes indispensable. The scholars of Usul, i.e. foundations of Jurisprudence, have indicated that Ijtihad is a duty of sufficiency upon the Muslims and that it is forbidden for Muslims to have no Mujtahid at any given time, and if they all agreed upon forsaking Ijtihad, they would be sinful, because the way to recognising the Shari'ah rules is Ijtihad; so if an era were devoid of at least one Mujtahid upon whom it could be relied in perceiving the rules, this would lead to the disruption of Shari'ah, and that is forbidden. Besides, the Shari'ah texts makes it incumbent upon Muslims to perform Ijtihad, because these Shari'ah texts, i.e. the Book and the Sunnah and nothing else, have not come in an elaborate manner, but rather in a general manner that can be applied to all matters faced by humanity. Their understanding and the deduction of the rule of Allah from them requires the exhausting of efforts in order to obtain the Shari'ah rule from them for every matter. This Ijtihad is not an impossible task, nor is it extremely difficult; it is the process of exhausting one’s effort in order to acquire the Shari'ah rules with the least amount of doubt. In other words, it is the understanding of the Shari'ah texts with the exhausting of one’s utmost effort in order to attain this understanding and perceive the Shari'ah rule. This is in fact within everyone’s reach. Ijtihad was to the Muslims in the early times natural and evident, and it had no prerequisites. However, since the Arabic tongue started to weaken, and since people started to devote less attention to discerning the Deen, it has become incumbent upon the Mujtahid to recognise the aural evidences from which the principles and the rules are deduced; it has also become incumbent upon him to discern the meaning of expressions which are credible in the Arabic tongue and in the usage of eloquent people. apart from these two conditions, there are no other conditions to performing Ijtihad. Therefore, in addition to being a duty of sufficiency upon the Muslims, Ijtihad is within the reach of all the Muslims. These are all the evidences of this article.

88.5% people believe in Islamic system - Al Jazeera poll

The following is the translation of a poll on the Al Jazeera website.

After the outbreak of the global financial crisis, what financial system do you believe it is best for the world to follow?

- The Capitalist financial system: 4.9% [1457 votes]
- The Communist financial system: 6.5% [1915 votes]
- The Islamic financial system: 88.5% [26069]
Total no of votes: 29441

Source: http://www.aljazeera.net/Portal/KServices/supportPages/vote/vote.aspx?voteID=2352&yourAnswer=0&actionType=0&dispType=1

PK: America’s presence is the cause of our insecurity and instability

The Muslims are suffering from immense insecurity and instability in recent months. People are scared to venture into the public places where the crowds gather, for fear of bombings and attacks. American troops have killed Muslim women and children within the tribal areas and their unmanned aircraft continuously fire missiles into Pakistan. And America continuously demands that the Pakistan Army fights in the tribal areas, regardless of how many Muslims are killed on both sides.

America’s attempts to distance itself from the chaos are pathetic. On 20 October 2008, during his visit to Islamabad, US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, declared like a convicted criminal protesting his innocence, “Every time something explodes there, the US is accused of doing it.” He then justified America’s continual attacks in Pakistan and demands upon Pakistan’s army, “The only way we’re going to be able to solve this (tribal areas problem)... is dealing with this from both sides (of the border), so there are complementary actions.”

It is well known that the Americans are responsible for insurgency and violence throughout the world, including the doorstep of America, Central and South America. America’s agencies, CIA and FBI, are the most active and largest terrorist organizations in the world, with tens of millions of dollars at their disposal. They are responsible for bombings and assassinations around the world and now are firmly entrenched within Pakistan. So, it is little wonder that there are many reports of how Muslims are being offered large sums of money to fight the Pakistan Army!

Also, America has appointed its most capable man to ensure the Muslims burn in the fires of chaos, John Negroponte, US Deputy Secretary of State, is an expert in creating chaos and civil strife. He was appointed to Central America, then Iraq and now has launched his mischief within Pakistan.
Adding to the chaos, America spills of blood and spreads mayhem in broad daylight in the tribal areas. And remember, it is America that opened the door for India to establish consulates throughout Afghanistan, from where it can join America in creating mayhem within Pakistan.

Moreover, America is the chief beneficiary of the chaos within Pakistan. The Americans use the instability within Pakistan is used as a justification to maintain its brutal military presence within Afghanistan, especially at a time when Russia, China, Britain and NATO have all expressed reservations about America’s war and are calling for the withdrawal of troops from the region. Allah (swt) said,

لاَ يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ جَمِيعًا إِلاَّ فِي قُرًى مُحَصَّنَةٍ أَوْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ جُدُرٍ بَأْسُهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ شَدِيدٌ تَحْسَبُهُمْ جَمِيعًا وَقُلُوبُهُمْ شَتَّى ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ
“They will never fight you together, except from within fortifications or from behind walls. There is severe enmity between them. You would think they are united, but there hearts are divided for they are a people that do not know.” [Surah Al-Hashr 59”14]

As America faces widespread and mounting opposition to its poisonous presence with the region, and whilst it is occupied with an economic crisis involving hundreds of billions of dollar and a viciously competitive presidential election, you have a golden opportunity to liberate yourselves from the colonialists.

The time is now for you to stand with us and establish the state so as to remove the American influence from the region, whether military, political or economic. Establish the state so that the Muslims can emerge as the single most powerful state in the world.

From Pakistan

Views on the news - 23/10/08

Powell’s comments sway Muslims
Stressing that Obama was a lifelong Christian, Powell denounced Republican tactics that he said were insulting not only to Obama but also to Muslims. “The really right answer is what if he is?” Powell said, praising the contributions of millions of Muslim citizens to American society. He further added:” We can’t allow ourselves to become a society where “Muslim” or “Arab” is a dirty word.” Whilst his comments have infuriated those on the right of American politics, many Muslims have been swayed to vote for Obama. Muslims in America must realize that whether the president is republican or democrat, black or white America’s foreign policy towards fighting Islam is not going to change. The messenger (s.a.w) said, “The Muslim should be sharp so that he is not stung from the same hole twice.”

Germany’ spy chief reveals that Islamists think the West can be beaten
Ernst Uhrlau, the head of the BND, the German equivalent of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), told Reuters it was too early to judge whether recent financial woes would help militants recruit new adherents, but suggested it had become a topic of debate in Islamist forums. He said, “We're hearing some first voices on this. Some see the fact that the United States has been so shattered by the financial crisis, and that its dominant role in the world is shaken, as confirmation the West can be beaten.” Communism is dead and capitalism is on life-support. In fact, if it was not for the rulers of the Muslim world, capitalism would have died long ago.

Another video game vilifying Islam
The release of a video game has been delayed amid fears that lyrics in a song for the background music could offend Muslims. Sony's LittleBigPlanet (LBP) was held back after it was discovered that one of the background music tracks to the game included expressions from the Qur'an. Sony is recalling all copies of LBP that had been sent to retailers and is manufacturing new discs of the PlayStation 3 blockbuster, removing the music track by the Mali-born singer Toumani Diabate. The game allows players to design their own level in detail and share it with friends over the internet. A post on the official PlayStation forum from a gaming enthusiast identifying himself as Yasser explained that the offending musical track was in the first level of the third world in the game. The level is known as Swinging Safari. The track featured Arabic words from the Qur'an translated as "Every soul shall have the taste of death" and "All that is on earth will perish". He went on to say that "we Muslims consider the mixing of music and words from our Holy Qur'an deeply offending" and said it was not the first time games had contained material offensive to Muslims. The unprecedented level of attack against Islam by the West is a direct result of inaction by the rulers of the Muslim world. Their inability to cut oil supplies, withdraw money from Western banks and cease support of America’s war against ‘terrorism’ has emboldened the kuffar and resulted in a barrage of insults. The only way to minimize the insults is to re-establish of the Khilafah.

Humiliated, Zardari takes his begging bowl to IMF
After having travelled to Saudi Arabia, Dubai, London and China in a desperate bid to raise money to counter Pakistan’s dwindling foreign reserves, the humiliated Zardari returned home empty handed. To add insult to injury, Pakistan’s supposedly arch alley America also refused to help. On 20/10/2008, US Assistant Secretary of State, Richard Boucher said, “It is not going to be a cash advance for Pakistan.” Pakistan is now forced to turn towards the IMF, and secure a loan that is accompanied by humiliating conditions. This is America’s reward for Pakistan’s leadership for spilling Muslim blood in the Tribal Areas and Swat. Despite this, the defeated leadership of Pakistan still continues aid and abet America’s war against Islam— a war where America’s faithful European allies are on the verge of deserting her.

Imam of India’s Jama Masjid should embark on a regional campaign to safeguard the rights of Muslims
Earlier this week, Ahmed Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid in India, sought an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the current state of affairs of Muslims in India, especially the targeting of Muslims in the name of countering terrorism.“Muslims are severely offended at the indiscriminate arrests of the Muslim youths in the name of investigating bomb blasts and terrorist activities in different parts of the country, particularly in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Azamgarh and Delhi,” Bukhari said in his letter to the prime minister. “We will wait for some time and if our demands will not be accepted then we will launch door to door campaign against the government. We are planning a massive rally in the last week of January 2009,” Bukhari said. It is pointless to engage with the Hindu leadership over the plight of Muslims of India. Rather, the Imam of Jama Masjid should urge Muslims of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to take it upon themselves to re-establish the Khilafah, where their rights will be protected. How is it that the Sub-continent’s 450,000 Muslims cannot overcome 900,000 Hindus. In the past, a minority of Muslims ruled over a Hindu majority through the justice of Islam for a thousand years

23rd Oct 2008

Part 1, The Islamic Rules of Trade

Due to the current global financial crisis there is increasing interest in the Islamic Economic System, the most comprehensive book on this topic is 'The Economic System of Islam' by Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani. However as people have many questions relating to the Islamic rules of trade we will be posting related extracts from the draft translation of the Fiqh masterpiece 'The Islamic Personality, Volume 2' by Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani.

Trade

Trade linguistically is exchange in an unrestricted manner, and it is opposite to purchase. Trade is also used for purchase, just as purchase is used for trade. So it is said he (ba’a) from him meaning he bought it, and they (shara) to them meaning they sold it so each of them is used for the other and the connotation specifies the meaning. As for trade in the Shar’a, it is exchanging property for property by placing in possession and being placed in possession via the way of mutual agreement. Trade is permitted by the Book and Sunnah. Allah (swt) said:

وأحلّ الله البيع
“Allah permitted trade” [Translation of the meaning of the Qur'an 2:275]

And He (swt) said:

وأشهِدوا إذا تبايعتم
“And take witnesses when you trade” [Translation of the meaning of the Qur'an 2:282]

And:

إلاّ أن تكون تجارة عن تراضٍ منكم
“Except if it is trade of mutual agreement among you” [Translation of the meaning of the Qur'an 4:29].

And he (saw) said:

البيِّعان بالخيار ما لم يتفرَّقا
“The two traders have an option as long as they do not separate” (narrated by Al-Bukhari).

And Rufa’ah narrated

رفاعة أنه خرج مع النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم إلى المصلى فرأى الناس يتبايعون فقال: يا معشر التجار. فاستجابوا لرسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ورفعوا أعناقهم وأبصارهم إليه، فقال: إن التجار يُبعثون يوم القيامة فُجّاراً إلاّ من صَدَق
“That he left with the Prophet (saw) to the place of prayer and he saw people trading, so he said: O group of traders. So they responded to the Messenger of Allah (saw) and lifted their necks and eyes to him. He said: ‘Verily, traders will be resurrected as wicked persons (fujjar) on the Day of Judgement except the one who fears Allah, is righteous and give charity.” [narrated by At-Tirmidhi].

He also narrated via the way of Abu Said from the Prophet (saw) that he said:

التاجر الصدوق الأمين مع النبيين والصديقين والشهداء
“The sincere trustworthy trader is together with the Prophets, sincere persons (siddeeq) and witnesses (shuhada).”

It is a condition for the trader that there exists offer and acceptance by words indicating each one of them or what stands in the place of words like the signs of the mute person. Writing is considered from speech. As for practical trade like where the buyer takes the good and pays its price like buying bread, books, postal stamps and the like, it is looked into. If it is a good with a well-known price in the market without bargaining therein then the action indicates offer and acceptance so it is considered trade and it is what the fuqaha term trade of mutual taking. Whereas if the price of the good is not defined in the market and needs bargaining, then the trade of mutual taking is not valid therein because the action does not indicate offer and acceptance as it is possible for disputes to enter therein. This is opposite to what transactions must be since transactions must be of a form preventing disputes. So this trade of mutual taking is not considered trading due to the absence of the clear statement upon offer and acceptance. Accordingly this clarifies that since offer and acceptance are conditions of the validity of the trade, it is necessary for them to occur by words indicating them or an sign indicating them with a decisive indication not carrying (any possibility) other than the two together with the absence of dispute.

Trade is accomplished in other that what is measured, weighed or counted merely upon finishing the contract, and taking possession is not a condition to conclude the trade therein. If the sold thing spoils before its possession is taken, this is in the responsibility of the buyer and not the responsibility of the seller like the buying of the house, animal, car and what is similar to that which is not measured, weighed or counted. This is because of the Messenger (saw) saying:

الخَراج بالضمان
“The expenditure is with the responsibility” (narrated by Abu Dawud).

The increase in this trade is for the buyer so its surety is upon him. So if he bought an animal and did not take possession of it then it give birth, its child is for the buyer not the seller. And (also) due to what ibn Umar narrated:

هو لك يا عبدالله بن عمر، فاصنع به ما شئت
“That the Prophet said when a cale camel was born belonging to Umar. The Prophet (saw) said to him: Sell it to me so Umar said: It is for you, O Messenger of Allah, and he bought it. Then he said: It is for you, O Abdullah bin Umar, so do with it as you please” [narrated by Al-Bukhari].

Disposition occurred therein before its possession was taken so it is excluded because it is not measured, weighed or counted. However if the trade occurs upon (something) measured, weighed or counted, the trade is not completed except upon taking possession of the sold thing so if the sold thing spoils before its possession is taken, then it is from the property of the seller. This is because the Prophet (saw) prohibited the sale of foodstuff before its possession is taken, and due to his (saw) statement:

من ابتاع طعاماً فلا يبيعه حتى يستوفيه
“Whoever buys foodstuff, let him not sell until its full due is given” (narrated by Al-Bukhari).

And Muslim narrated from ibn Umar who said:

كنا نشتري الطعام من الركبان جزافاً فنهانا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أن نبيعه حتى ننقله من مكانه
“We used to purchase foodstuff from mounted riders, buying and selling by guessing, and the Messenger of Allah (saw) prohibited us from selling it until we transferred it from its place.”

This indicates that the sold thing is in the responsibility of the seller. Were it to enter the responsibility of the buyer, it will be permitted for him to sell it and dispose it just like after taking its possession. So when he prohibited its sale before taking possession, he had prohibited disposal of it meaning that his ownership in it is not completed so it is in the responsibility of the seller, not the buyer. Accordingly even though the prohibition came regarding foodstuff, foodstuff is not free of being measured, weighed or counted. So the prohibition is placed upon measured, weighed and counted foodstuff so the prohibition covers selling everything measured, weighed or counted until its possession is taken whether it is foodstuff or not since it came in some ahadith stating the measured thing, some stating the merchandise and some stating a thing. Muslim narrated that the Prophet (saw) said:

من اشترى طعاماً فلا يبيعه حتى يكتاله
“Whoever buys foodstuff should not sell it until he measures it.”

And it is narrated from Hakeem bin Hazam who said:

إذا اشتريتَ شيئاً فلا تبعه حتى تقبضه
“I said: O Messenger of Allah, I purchase goods so what is allowed to me of them and what is forbidden? He said: If you purchase something, do not sell it until you take possession” (narrated by Ahmad).

It is narrated from Zayd bin Thabit:

أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم نهى أن تُباع السلع حيث تُبتاع حتى يحوزها التجار إلى رحالهم
“That the Prophet (saw) prohibited selling goods when they are bought until traders gather them to their mounts” (narrated by Abu Dawud).

And Ahmad narrated that the Prophet (saw) said:

من اشترى طعاماً بكيل أو وزن فلا يبيعه حتى يقبضه
“Whoever buys foodstuff by measure or weight, he should not sell it until he takes possession.”

All these ahadith indicate the generality of things measured, weighed or counted with the evidence of excluding things not measured, weighed or counted by the hadith of ibn Umar wherein it was mentioned that he i.e. the Messenger of Allah (saw) bought from Umar a camel and his gifting it to Abdullah bin Umar before taking its possession. So taking possession is not a condition therein contrary to measured, weighed and counted things where taking possession by the buyer of the sold thing is a condition for completing the sale. The taking possession considered taking possession by the Shar’a differs according to the difference of things. The taking possession of each thing is by confining it, so if it is measured and weighed then its taking possession is by measuring or weighing it due to what Al-Bukhari narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saw) who said:

إذا بعتَ فكِل وإذا ابتعتَ فاكتَل
“When you buy then measure and when you sell, measure.”

And from Uthman who said:

كنت أبتاع التمر من بطن من اليهود يقال لهم بنو قينقاع وأبيعه بربح، فبلغ ذلك النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال: يا عثمان إذا ابتعتَ فاكتَل وإذا بعت فكِل
“I used to buy dates from a tribe of Jews who were called: Banu Qaynuqa. I would buy with profit. This reached the Messenger of Allah (saw) who said: ‘O Uthman, when you buy then measure and when you sell then measure.”

Whereas if the sold thing was dirhams and dinars, then taking possession is by hand. If it is clothes then it is by moving them. If it were animals then its taking possession is by walking it from its place. And if it is from that which is not moved or transferred like the house and land, then its taking possession is by vacating between it and its buyer without any obstacle between them. This is because the word taking possession is a word with a deduced definition so if there came no Shar’i text upon it then its reality is considered what an indication to the people is. Taking possession is allowed before or after paying the price because delivery is from the contract’s requirements so whenever it exists after the contract then its reality has occurred. Similarly, taking possession of the price and taking possession of one of the two does not depend upon the other.

Everything forbidden for man, trading it is also forbidden

There are things which Allah (swt) forbade like eating carrion meat, like drinking alcohol, like owning idols, like acquiring statues, like manufacturing paintings. For all these things, there came Shari’ah texts of ayaat and ahadith forbidding them. Whatever Allah (swt) forbade for the slaves from things that the Shari’ah text prohibitted, whether He (swt) forbade eating or drinking other than that, then selling these things became haram due to their price being forbidden. It is narrated from Jabir that he heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) saying:

إن الله حرّم بيع الخمر والمَيْتة والخنزير والأصنام. فقيل: يا رسول الله أرأيت شحوم المَيْتة فإنه يُطلى بها السفن ويُدهن بها الجلود ويَستصبح بها الناس؟ فقال: لا، هو حرام. ثم قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عند ذلك: قاتل الله اليهود، إن الله لمّا حرّم شحومها جَملوه ثم باعوه فأكلوا ثمنه
“Verily Allah and His Messenger forbade selling alcohol, carrion, pig and idols. It was said: O Messenger of Allah, what about the grease of carrion because ships are anointed with it, skins are greased and people light themselves a lamp with it? He said: No, it is haram. Then the Messenger of Allah (saw) said regarding that: May Allah perish the Jews. When Allah forbade its grease, they embellished then sold it and ate its price. When Allah forbade for a people eating something, He forbade its price for them.”

This Shari’ah text in forbidding is not reasoned nor does there exist another text which reasons it. Hence it remains unrestricted without being reasoned. So it is not said the reason in forbidding it is the absence of an allowed benefit, so as to conclude from there that if there was an allowed benefit it would be permitted because the absence of reasoning is clear in the text. Nor is it possible to understand from it that it is reasoned. Therefore selling what is forbidden upon the slaves is forbidden whether there is within it an allowed benefit or not. Accordingly it is forbidden to sell idols and crosses, and it is forbidden to sell statues if they are statues of something with life like the human being or animal. And it is forbidden to sell paintings drawn by hand if it is a painting of something with life like a human being or animal.

To be continued...

Capitalism in Crisis

The following is the transcript of a talk delivered on this subject recently.

مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ كَمَثَلِ الْعَنْكَبُوتِ اتَّخَذَتْ بَيْتًا وَإِنَّ أَوْهَنَ الْبُيُوتِ لَبَيْتُ الْعَنْكَبُوتِ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ
“The likeness of those who take (false deities as) Auliyâ' (protectors, helpers) other than Allâh is the likeness of a spider who builds (for itself) a house; but verily, the frailest (weakest) of houses is the spider's house – if they but knew” [TMQ 029:041]

Allah speaks about the home of the spider and says that the weakest of the homes is that of the spiders. Although in reality the capitalist system looks sophisticated and complex but it is the weakest of the systems as Allah (swt) said in the ayah.

The last few weeks saw the collapse of many of the largest and oldest banks in the western world. First it was AIG which declared bankruptcy and then the government bought it over and after that it was the Lehman Brothers and then Meryl Lynch and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These banks could not find someone to buy them out or invest in them and eventually they collapsed which led to an economic slowdown in the world and increased prices of goods and the loss of employment.

Although we are in India and we think we are a couple of thousand kilometers away from the western nations but we are not insulated from these Global events. Today’s papers showed how the Bombay stock exchange and the NSE has been falling down. BSE has fallen down by 16% in the past one week and has reached its lowest since 3 years. The rupee has fallen down to 49.5 per dollar which is the worst ever.

The collapse of the banks and other investments institutions in the Americas and the Europe has created a domino effect all over the world.
Be it the BSE which has been falling for the past few days or be it the Saudi KSE which has declined by a 43% in the past weeks.

The Indonesian Stock exchange has not opened for the past three days. Indonesian index has fallen down 47% in the past one year and 20% in the past week.

The Question arises. What is the key factor behind this decline?
The main factor behind this entire problem is the Credit Crunch. The credit crunch crisis threatens a worldwide economic slowdown and a recession, potentially eliminating a decade of economic growth & unemployment & prosperity for the western economies and wiping almost 1trillion dollars off the economy.

What is the credit crunch & what actually happened?

To make things simpler, in the capitalist model of economics if someone wants to buy a house and he doesn’t has money then the banks or lenders will buy a house for this person and give it to him. This person will have to pay the principal amount and the interest on it to the bank. This is a easy way for the public to buy houses of their choice and as well for the banks since they receive more money than what the invest. This system of buying houses is called mortgaging.

The borrower has to pay dividends over a period of time before he can actually own the house and in the event of not paying the dividend on time it is called defaulting which if someone does then the real estate is repossessed by the owner which is called foreclosure or (repossession)

In 1940 42% Americans owned their houses and in 1960 62% owned their own houses and now almost 70% people own their own houses. When we say owning it means that they are not on rent.

There were many people who were unable to buy houses because they did not have enough money and also because they did have the capability to pay back the money if the banks lent them the money. This population constituted almost 25% of the population.

In 1980 the government of America came with a new policy which removed many of the restrictions on the lending of money which led to loans reaching higher levels which eventually led to the saturation of the mortgage market and the peak of profitability.

This type of mortgaging is called as the Subprime mortgage. A subprime mortgage is a type of loan granted to individuals who normally would not be able to receive the loans. These mortgages obviously because they were risky hence they were charged higher interest rates.

The subprime mortgage was created for this 25% people of the American population and this market came to constituted 1.3 trillion dollars by 2007 January.

The housing sector continued to inflate due to the appetite of the American for housing and the subprime mortgage also continued to grow. The first sign that the housing bubble was in trouble was in 2007 April when the New Century Inc the largest Subprime mortgage lender declared bankruptcy due to the increased number of defaults from borrowers.

The Americans in confidence of their economic system had forgotten to think about the scenarios and consequences if a large number of borrowers defaulted.
Due to their want of more and more they destroyed themselves and the world as well.

Allah (swt) speaks about such people in Surah Attakathur.

أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ
“The mutual rivalry (for piling up of worldly things) diverts you”

Investment giants such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae which have declared bankruptcy and have been closed down started selling houses to all people irrespective of their credit histories and unmindful of whether their credit history was weak. They sold homes at “teaser rates“of 7% for the first year which rose to 9.5 % two years later. This resulted in the doubling of the monthly installments payable by the buyer who had purchased the house and naturally was unable to pay back his loans. Under the capitalist real estate laws the buyer is not allowed to sell his property before repaying his loan which by now has doubled. Under this law, even if the debtor has sufficient funds to pay for the loan amount, he is not allowed to pay. On the contrary he is bound to pay the installments including the interest for the entire loan period! If for instance his loan was for a period of ten years, he is expected to wait for this period and continue to pay the monthly installments including the interest which results in doubling the loan amount. Thus for every one thousand dollar loan amount, he ends up paying 350 dollars extra. Hence the debtors were unable to repay their installments and the number of such defaulters reached millions, even 3 million according to some estimates.

Bush had previously proposed to freeze interest rates for a period of five years in order to enable the defaulters to pay their installments. In the meantime, the number of houses for sale increased with no buyers for them and the real estate prices plummeted sharply. The number of such houses for sale increased by 75% in 2006 and yet one could not find a buyer. All these factors compounded the problem for these two and other real estate firms like the Lehman Brothers who had ventured into this market.

Why could it be that they kept on lending?

Weren’t they afraid that people wouldn’t pay them back? It was out of over confidence and arrogance that they did not think about it and they were only bothered to get more and more profit out of the interest money they were going to make. It was like making a building without any foundations. They kept on laying bricks and bricks until the building lost balance and everything came down.

Allah (swt) says about such greedy people.

الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ الرِّبَا لَا يَقُومُونَ إِلَّا كَمَا يَقُومُ الَّذِي يَتَخَبَّطُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنَ الْمَسِّ
“Those who eat Ribâ will not stand (on the Day of Resurrection) except like the standing of a person beaten by Shaitân (Satan) leading him to insanity”

Allah (swt) speaks about the people who eat riba that they are similar to the ones beaten by shaitân to insanity and this is what the west has become. They have become insane and they don’t know what they are doing. They always keep on coming back to the source of the problem to find the solution only to find more trouble.

It is like the fire which is burning high and you keep on sprinkling water on it forgetting that you have to close the gas supply before you can stop the fire.
As I said earlier almost 20% of the American populations have more debt than assets. The individual debt stands at 6 trillion dollars and there is only 1.3 trillion dollars in circulation in the American economy.

Almost 3 million people defaulted on their debts and the result is what, the result was the that the consequences of which the investments giants had not thought of occurred and led to their demise and financial crisis embroiling the whole world. Big giants such Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lost almost 2 trillion dollars combined.

American economy stands at the footholds of obliteration and suicide. It has lost almost 1 Trillion dollars and America has incurred large debts although its history. Its debt stands at 34 Trillion $ combined all together. And the total money even in circulation in America is only 1.3 trillion $.

Now why am I talking about the Credit Crunch and what does it has to do with us? May be the Americans might be in serious problems but Alhamdulilla we are still ok.

Let me make it clearer. When the investment giants started collapsing their shares collapsed and therefore the people started selling their shares.
Stock markets are financial markets where people buy and sell shares of companies. But these markets are completely different to real markets in which people may sell fruit or clothes

When a Company floats on the stock market or becomes a Public Limited Company (PLC), basically this means that they issue shares. The reason that they issue shares is to gain revenue (money) for them to use, e.g. Company X worth $10million, if it going floats on the stock exchange shares in the company will be issued for public to buy. The valuation of the company could become $50 million over night even though the ground reality of the company has not changed.

The reason that people buy shares is basically to make money because the shares market goes up and down. So people buy shares when they think prices will go up and sell shares when prices go down. It is all based on greed and confidence in the companies; therefore it is similar to gambling in a casino.
When the prices of the big banks started to go down the people started losing confidence in the market and more and more people started selling their shares which led to the price of the share going down and down and eventually the collapse of some of the giants. Share values of some investment banks went down by 92%.

To solve the crisis which is not the first the capitalists look back to Capitalism. Time and again it has been proved that Capitalism is a failed system and is moving towards its demise as did communism but the capitalists fail to realize and understand as did the Qaum of Aad who were arrogant and haughty and thought themselves to be the most powerful. Allah (swt) says in the Quran about them.

فَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَاسْتَكْبَرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ وَقَالُوا مَنْ أَشَدُّ مِنَّا قُوَّةً أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ الَّذِي خَلَقَهُمْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً وَكَانُوا بِآَيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ
“As for 'Ad, they were arrogant in the land without right, and they said: "Who is mightier than us in strength?" See they not that Allâh Who created them was mightier in strength than them. And they used to deny Our Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, revelations, etc.)!” [TMQ 041:015]

The capitalists in the move to salvage their economy have even contradicted their own system but still hold on to their system as sacred and mighty and call for its implementation all over the world. The American congress approved a bailout program for the American economy and provided it 700 Billion dollars for bail out.

They thought they would sprinkle some water into the fire and the fire will stop. 700 B $ is nothing when compared to the losses that have occurred all around the world.

The story does not stop at stocks

Have you ever thought what is the value of the money in your pocket? It is the value of its printing and paper only and nothing else. Everything else is the confidence you hold in you economy. It is not backed by gold as is understood by some people. In fact in 1970’s every country abandoned the gold backing of the currency.

So now when the government wants money to pay its debts it prints money. And this is what America has done and this is what the whole world does. At this point there is more money in the market to buy the products and hence the price of the commodities goes up. And also the money becomes devalued.
The people call it the decrease in the purchasing power of the money. So your money get devalued and to satisfy the poor people the government has the alternative of interest which balances the saving you have in your bank. So 100 rupees will be worth only 88 rs next year but the government gives you 14rs as interest so you are happy and you believe that it is 114 Rs.

This is what we term as inflation. To counter inflation they have interest. When there is inflation the poor man who is still earning at the original basis shells out extra money from his pocket to pay for the products. The poor man becomes poorer and the rich richer.

The Capitalists have no ethics in their race for money and have left the people to suffer . Indeed they have become the friends of shaitan and they are from the party of the shaitan.

اسْتَحْوَذَ عَلَيْهِمُ الشَّيْطَانُ فَأَنْسَاهُمْ ذِكْرَ اللَّهِ أُولَئِكَ حِزْبُ الشَّيْطَانِ أَلَا إِنَّ حِزْبَ الشَّيْطَانِ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ
"Shaitân (Satan) has overpowered them. So he has made them forget the remembrance of Allâh. They are the party of Shaitân (Satan). Verily, it is the party of Shaitân (Satan) that will be the losers!" [TMQ 058:019]

But the capitalists forget as did the people of Aad and transgress in arrogance and pride and they will see a similar fate as did the people of Aad. They are arrogant as were Aad and Thamud.

وَتِلْكَ عَادٌ جَحَدُوا بِآَيَاتِ رَبِّهِمْ وَعَصَوْا رُسُلَهُ وَاتَّبَعُوا أَمْرَ كُلِّ جَبَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ
"Such were 'Aad (people). They rejected the Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of their Lord and disobeyed His Messengers, and followed the command of every proud, obstinate (oppressor of the truth from their leaders)." [TMQ 011:059]

The Aad were arrogant as are the capitalists and they thought they are the most powerful on the earth.

The capitalists have a speculative economy which has led them to where they are. Every problem they face they believe that they will solve it with their talent and intellect. It is like the mirage which we see in the desert. From far it looks like water but when we come near it is not what we think it is. Similar are the capitalists who even after facing many problems do not realize that their system is flawed .I will end at the ayah where Allah (swt) speaks about such people in the Quran.

وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَعْمَالُهُمْ كَسَرَابٍ بِقِيعَةٍ يَحْسَبُهُ الظَّمْآَنُ مَاءً حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءَهُ لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئًا وَوَجَدَ اللَّهَ عِنْدَهُ فَوَفَّاهُ حِسَابَهُ وَاللَّهُ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ
“As for those who disbelieved, their deeds are like a mirage in a desert. The thirsty one thinks it to be water until he comes up to it, he finds it to be nothing; but he finds Allâh with him, Who will pay him his due (Hell). And Allâh is Swift in taking account.” [TMQ 024:039]

11/10/08

PK Government should stop Geo TV Network from telecasting blasphemous play

Date: 19 Shawwal 1429 AH No: PR08039 18th Oct 2008 CE

PRESS STATMENT

Government should stop Geo TV Network from telecasting blasphemous play

On 13th October an ad sponsored by Geo TV network was printed on page 11 of The NEWS International (Lahore edition) about its upcoming plays for the next quarter. According to the ad Geo TV network would telecast a drama serial by the name of “Habibi Habiba” from 20th October. In this ad a man and a woman are shown to be dancing and holding each other while the text reads:

“Markazi khayal, mabni barqissa Hazrat Yousuf (A.S.)” (i.e. central theme taken from the story of Hazrat Yousuf (A.S.) )

This is not the first time Geo network has aired programme attacking Islam and Muslims. It is the very network which provides daily air-time to Voice of America (VoA) for US propaganda. And it is the same network which proudly screens obscene Indian films in its bid to promote Hindu culture in Pakistan. All this is carried out under the watchful eye of the government and PEMRA (Pakistan’s Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) which shows that the network has full government support for its ongoing war on Islam and Muslims. However, the current act of Tauheen-e-Risalat (blasphemy) which is geared towards linking our sacred and holy Prophets with obscene plays and immoral pictures has surpassed all its previous ills. Does Geo think that it can openly commit these acts of blasphemy in a Muslims majority country? Do the owners and administrators of the Geo network have no fear of the punishment of the Day of Judgment? We demand from the government and PEMRA to stop Geo from airing this blasphemous drama serial. We want to make this clear to the rulers as well that Muslims will never allow Geo or any network to commit any act of Tauheen-e-Risalat (blasphemy) in Pakistan.

Naveed Butt

The Official Spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Pakistan

Views on the news - 16/10/08

Anti-Muslim DVD rattles US voters in key battleground states

On 12/10/2008 morning just weeks before the presidential election, Priscilla Linsley opened her local Denver newspaper and discovered a DVD inside. "I was shocked at the content and horrified that this had been in my Sunday paper," said Linsley, a 74-year-old Democrat, who watched about half of the video before throwing it in the trash. The hour-long film on DVD, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," was made by Israeli filmmaker Raphael Shore and shows disturbing, sometimes violent images. In September, some 28 million of the "Obsession" DVD's were distributed as advertising inserts in 70 newspapers, primarily in critical swing states such as Colorado, Florida and Ohio. The distribution of the DVD clearly demonstrates how desperate the supporters of Republican Party have become. The clearly believe that by emphasizing Islamaphobia over policy will win over voters in key swing states.

Americans are now scared of a toy doll that allegedly to Islam

On 16/10/2008 the English paper the Telegraph reported that a Fisher-Price doll that sounds like it is saying "Islam is the Light" has been described as inappropriate by parents. The doll is meant to make realistic baby sounds and occasionally cry out for its "mama". But some parents in the US claim that one of its noises sounds just like "Islam is the Light", and have complained to Mattel, which owns Fisher-Price. Some shops in the US have removed the doll from shelves after complaints from customers, according to reports. A spokesman for Fisher-Price insisted that the doll was not pushing pro-Islamic messages, adding that the sound some parents were hearing was caused by an accidental distortion of the doll's soundtrack.

A Woman to lead jumma prayers in Oxford UK

Islamic prayers will be led by a woman at Oxford's Muslim Education Centre (Meco) on 17/10/2008. It is thought to be the first time a woman has acted as Imam to a mixed congregation anywhere in the UK. Meco chairman Dr Taj Hargey invited Prof Amina Wadud to lead the service as part of a two-day conference on Islam and feminism. When Prof Wadud led a similar service in New York, in 2005, three mosques refused to host it. Dr Taj Hargey said: "We believe we are actually resurrecting the original practices of Islam. The most learned should lead the prayer, and Prof Wadud, in terms of her knowledge of the Koran and Islam, exceeds anyone I know here in Oxford. Every time someone does something new they get extreme views and threats. We don't take this lightly, but what we are saying to those Muslims who object to women leading prayers is we ask them very respectfully not to attend.” How many times have the kuffar and hypocrites used the excuse of protecting the original Islam only to innovate? The messenger (s.a.w) said “Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours [i.e., Islam] that is not a part of it, will have it rejected.”

Funding shortage forces America to beg her allies to inject cash in the war against Islam

According to US defense officials, the United States has asked Japan and NATO allies who have refused to send troops to Afghanistan to pay the estimated $17 billion needed to build up the Afghan army. "… God knows we operate far more expensively than the Afghan national security forces do... At a minimum it's going to cost $17 billion. That's a hefty price-tag and someone's got to pay it," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell. The new Pentagon push to share costs more widely reflects a realization among U.S. officials that America’s $700 Billion bank bailout has started to create a financial strain on US operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Allah says : Lo! those who disbelieve spend their wealth in order that they may debar (men) from the way of Allah. They will spend it, then it will become anguish for them, then they will be conquered. And those who disbelieve will be gathered unto hell (8:36)

China is hesitant to use its $2 trillion reserves to bail out the West

With nearly $2 trillion worth of foreign currency reserves, China is being touted by some as the potential savior of the Western banking system. In order to bail out ailing financial firms, Western governments need money - and China seems a good place to get that much-needed cash. "The Chinese government could offer to lend up to $500bn to the US government for the rescue of its financial sector," wrote Mr Subramanian, of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. In fact the Chinese have already been doing something similar for a number of years. Beijing has been buying up US government debt, which has allowed the US to spend beyond its means. "China is already helping the US economy and, if possible, it will continue to do this," said Zhao Xijun, of Beijing's Remin University of China. But in a telephone conversation with Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, he also made it clear where China's priority lay. "The most important thing for China now is to handle its own affairs well," China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported him as saying. And for all its foreign exchange reserves, China is still a developing country with its own problems that will require lots of money to fix.

16/10/2008

The Capitalist economy is self-destructing

The following is a translation of an Arabic leaflet.

The Capitalist economy is self-destructing, just as Socialism-Communism before it. Only the Islamic model is the cure and prevents economic crises

The real-estate crisis exploded in America and engulfed mortgages, rendering debtors unable to pay their loans. Major banks and financial corporations either collapsed, or are on the verge of bankruptcy. Incited by attractive subsidy packages and public announcements of anticipated heavy profits, international banks and investment funds rushed to this sector. So, the collapse of American banks and financial establishments, globalised, spreading to the world. It is as if America sneezed, infecting the entire world, which has now caught its cold.

Some financial sector sources have estimated the losses incurred, due to the real-estate mortgage crisis, at 300 billion dollars in the US alone, and another 550 billion dollar outside America! Therefore, affected nations, particularly the wealthy ones, intervened by pumping in billions of dollars into the financial markets, to restore confidence and provide some liquidity for stimulation of economic activity. In fact, some countries intervened directly to the extent of nationalizing certain banks, as Britain did!

As such, an all important foundation of the capitalistic economy, the free market and “laissez faire,” was demolished. These two matters are held as a fundamentalist belief by the capitalists. Indeed, the US Senate in December 1999 issued an act of law prohibiting any restriction upon the financial system and declared keeping the financial markets free at all cost. Subsequently, the invalidity and corruption of this foundation was manifest even to the chief advocate of capitalism, ِAmerica. America announced state intervention in the market, after approval by both the Senate and the Congress of a plan devised by the US Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, to salvage the economy by pumping 700 billion US dollars in order to purchase financial instruments, issued by troubled banks and financial institutions in the real-estate mortgage market. And within hours of approval, the Treasury Secretary implemented the plan.
This indicates that after the burial of the Communist Socialist system, the Capitalist economic system is on its death bed!

These events triggered a world wide effort. Four of the major European states, France, Germany, Britain and Italy, gathered for a meeting and called for a wider meeting to review the financial system. Similarly, finance ministers and central bank officials of the G-7 (or G-8 if Russia is included) called for an extraordinary meeting in Washington.

But will such efforts really save the capitalist economy as intended?

Any observer of the state of the Capitalist economic system can see that the system is on the verge of collapse, if it has not collapsed already. Whatever efforts the capitalists have planned to salvage the system can only at best relieve its pain for the time being. This is because the causes of the collapse require serious treatment of capitalism’s foundation, rather than mere patch work. There are four factors at the heart of capitalism’s foundation that need addressing:
First: The curbing of gold as the sole standard for currency, by bringing in the dollar as a parallel standard at the end of the Second World War under the Bretton Woods’ agreement, and then finally completely replacing gold by the dollar as the monetary standard in the early seventies, rendered the global economy susceptible to any economic shock in the United States. This was because the currencies of most other countries, if not all, were tied to the dollar instead of gold, even though the value of the dollar bill itself is that it is not more than a piece of paper printed in America. Even after the advent of the Euro in the arena, the dollar generally retained its position, as most currencies were tied to it.

It is for this reason that unless gold returns as the monetary standard, such economic crises will certainly be repeated. Any dollar shock will automatically shake the economies of other countries. Even American policies that impact the dollar will have effects outside of America. Indeed, this can happen with any paper, fiat currency of any influential state.

Second: Interest based loans result in great economic difficulties. Even though the original loan, or principle, gradually decreases in time with respect to the interest payments, individuals or states are unable to repay loans, in many instances. This results in a loan repayment crisis. Economic activity slows down due to the inability of many, or most, of the middle income bracket to repay loans and this effects production as well.

Third: the system and practices in the financial markets and stock exchanges of buying and selling of shares, financial instruments and commodities does not require possession of goods. Rather these are sold and bought many times over, without being actually transferred from the original seller. This practice is invalid. It causes difficulties rather than solving them, because it inflates and depreciates prices of goods, even though the goods are not in possession. All this triggers shocks in the markets. Thus profits and losses accrue through various speculative means. These may accrue repeatedly, unabated and undiscovered, until an economic crisis ensues.

Fourth: A very important factor is the complete of lack of awareness about the reality of ownership, both amongst in the East as well as the West. Under the communist socialist ideology, all ownership is vested in the state and under the liberal capitalist ideology, it is held by the private sector with no state intervention, simply because the liberal capitalist ideology promotes free market. This is further compounded and exacerbated by globalisation.

The complete ignorance of this reality leads to economic tremors and crises. This is because the ownership rights should not be held by the state and the private sector alone; rather there are three types of ownerships:

Public Ownership: consisting of solid, liquid and gaseous minerals including petrol, iron, copper, gold, natural gases etc. found in the depths of earth, all forms of energies and the energy-intensive, heavy industrial plants. These public properties are to be managed by the state and their benefits distributed amongst all the people.

State Ownership: consisting of various taxes that are collected by the state, along with revenues for the state from agricultural, trade and industrial activity, outside the ambit of public properties. The state spends these incomes on state expenses.

Private Ownership: unlike the above two, it is held by individuals and disposed off in accordance with the Shariah rules.

If these three types of ownership are considered as one and are held either by the state or the private sector, crises and failures are inevitable. This has previously led to the collapse of the communist economic model, as they had vested all ownership in the state. In the communist economic system, the sectors that must naturally be owned by the state were a success story- like the petrol and heavy industry etc. On the contrary, such sectors that must naturally be held in the private ownership, such as most agriculture, trade and small to medium industry, were a disaster and led to its downfall. Similarly, the capitalist economy has failed and is on the verge of inevitable destruction. This is because it vested ownership of public utilities and properties like petrol, gases, energy sources, heavy and even strategic arms industry to individuals, enterprises and companies, while the state remained excluded from the markets, deprived of owning things that it was responsible for in origin. This was done in the name of free markets, laissez-faire non-intervention and globalisation. The natural result of this was inevitable: repeated recessions, rapid collapse of one financial market after another and one corporation after another.

This is why the communist ideology failed, and now the capitalistic ideology is on the verge of destruction.

Without doubt, it is the Islamic economic model alone that cures and prevents the occurrence of such economic crises. For it alone has prohibited factors that lead to economic crises in the first place.

Islam mandates that only gold and silver are the monetary standard. Any paper currency issued in lieu of the monetary standard must be fully backed by gold and silver and fully convertible on demand. Consequently, paper currency of one country should not be tied to the currency of any other country. Rather each state’s currency must be free of any other currency and have its own fixed, unalterable and intrinsic value.

Islam has further prohibited interest in all its forms and mandated loans to the needy to assist them, without any interest or surcharge over their principal amount. Islam mandates that the treasury, the Bait ul-Maal, maintains a separate head to provide interest-free loans to the needy and farmers in order to assist them.

Islam similarly prohibits selling of goods before the buyer takes possession, thus prohibiting transactions in goods that are not in possession. It has also prohibited transactions in financial instruments, derivatives and shares resulting from invalid contracts, as well as speculative trading, that are all allowed in the capitalist economy in the name of freedom of ownership.
Islam further prohibits individuals, companies and corporations from ownership of items coming under the ambit of public ownership, such as petrol, minerals, energy sources, electrical energy etc. and charged the state with managing them in accordance with the Shariah rules.
In this manner the Islamic economic system has addressed and treated all economic problems and crises resulting from man’s heartlessness. This is the system mandated by the Creator of the universe, Who knows best what is beneficial for His creation.

أَلاَ يَعْلَمُ مَنْ خَلَقَ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ
“Should not He Who has created know? And He is the Most kind and Courteous (to His slaves), the Well- Acquainted (with everything)” [Surah Mulk 67:14]

O Muslims!
Allah سبحانه وتعالى has granted you a most honorable status through the great deen of Islam, which He سبحانه وتعالى revealed to His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم and He سبحانه وتعالى also warned you through it. It is due to Islam that you are raised as the best of nations before all of humankind. Your honor and prosperity lies in the implementation of this deen. And this prosperity is not for you alone, but for all of humanity, after it has endured and continues to endure oppression, under the devilish man-made systems.

Moreover, the implementation of this great deen of Islam will not be by concealing it under covers of the No ble Qur’an, but by establishing a state that implements it and carries its message to the world – the Khilafah State on the model of Prophethood- which will revive blessed, safe and secure living.

But remember that whilst you are couched in comfort, Allah سبحانه وتعالى will not send down His angels to establish the State. Rather the establishment of this State is obliged upon you, just as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had established a State in Madinah and his Companions رضي الله عنهم and their followers had continued to do so thereafter…

O Muslims! Rejoice in your blessing, prepare yourselves and stand up to work with Hizb ut-Tahrir and support it, and seek Allah’s grace to be with a Hizb which Allah سبحانه وتعالى has blessed. So, that Allah سبحانه وتعالى’s promise of granting authority and succession, as well as the glad tiding by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, of the re-emergence of the Khilafah on the method of the Prophethood, are realised.

O Muslims! You are the torch bearers of well-being for the world and more deserving of its leadership.

وَاللَّهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَى أَمْرِهِ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ
“And Allah has full power and control over His Affairs, but most of men know not.”
[Surah Yousuf 12:21]

Hizb ut-Tahrir
8 Shawwal, 1429 A.H
7 October, 2008 C.E.

Arabic Source

Remembering Dr. Aafia Siddiqui

The following is a touching letter written by a sister in Pakistan regarding the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui

Just at a walking distance from my office is present the house of a family in terrible suffering, a family who needs the state to which they paid their taxes to ensure their safety, peaceful living and sense of living normal life like any other; a family who is now a question mark to where we all pay our taxes? The family needs well-do support from people of the state known as Islamic Republic of Pakistan, who needs attention of Ummah but are now forced to rely on only prayers. The seventh biggest army of the world and pride of Muslim Ummah has now become a real question mark to every common family who lived under and paid taxes to the state which has a leadership and system both but yet no shame and honor. Yes I am talking about the family of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui; her name is not new for any of us. We all know what has happened to her and the terrible ordeal she along with her three innocent children have gone through.

I am not a paid writer but today I was moved and deeply touched, today I have great burden on my heart after visiting the family for a Dua (prayer gathering) that had been organized by them. I feel restless as I write this but yet I need to do something. For how long will we stay silent as our Muslim sisters are insulted and Ummah is tortured in whole? It’s too late even to say now or never.

The program kicked off with a wonderful dua of uniting whole Muslims’ lands under one roof of Islamic state Caliphate, then after that Dr Aafia's mother started giving Dars. The face of that old, innocent mom still revolves in my eyes, Ismat Aunty as they call her: what a courageous lady. Each and every word of her echoes in my ears, her tears make me restless as she talked about her lovely daughter. Even amidst such a calamity she kept thanking the Lord for having given her daughter such a high status for we all know that Allah tests whom he wishes to; He tests us too whether we sit quiet or stand up for her and many others. She kept saying that Aafia now sees very pleasant dreams. She has quite often dreamt of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RAA) and Hazrat Ibraheem(AS). She told all present how sensitive her daughter was, she used to get her clothes made of Egyptian cotton because she was unable to wear hard cloth but now her brother saw how ruthlessly their sister is tied in shackles and chains. Tears kept coming in the eyes of all ladies that were present at the occasion; we felt guilt and a terrible pain in our hearts. We whom the Quran declares as the best of nations are silently watching our sister Aafia being ruthlessly tortured.

Ismat Aunty told us that whenever the door bell of her house rings she rushes to the door saying, "Meri Aafia aa gayee, meri Aafia aa gayee!" At times her heart feels comforted when she feels the Lord is saying to her, "Why do you cry? I love her more than you and I am with her."

The tortures that Aafia has gone through and is still going through are unimaginable.......her only fault was being a Muslim and this was enough for FBI to issue a whole charge sheet against the holder of 75 awards and an MIT Muslimah graduate known as Dr. Aafia Siddiqui: a charge sheet full of horrible lies and absurd fairy tales. The so-called civilized leadership of USA and the place where people yearn to go to is so horrible.............her mother even told us that she recently received a phone call of an American and he said, "The Americans fear that Aafia's children would be as sharp as her mother so they are thinking of making her permanently infertile."

She spoke of Asma bint Abu Bakr(RAA) who sacrificed her son for the cause of Islam, she spoke of the great martyrs from the family of the Prophet i.e. Hazrat Imam Hussain(RAA) and his supporters. I was astonished to see an old lady whose daughter has been held captive for more than 5 years now and yet she was so full of courage and love for the Ummah. She introduced us to Dr. Aafia's 11-year old son Muhammad Ahmed: the child doesn't speak much but he is a ray of hope for his Naani and aunt Dr. Fauzia Siddiqui. The years that a child spends in playing with toys, in developing his personality and in learning new things have been spent in a horrible prison structured by self proclaimed world's best cultured society USA full of terrible and merciless people: who will return all these years to Muhammad Ahmed? Who will bring US leadership to justice? The child still seems as if he is new to this world, will he ever get back to normal; he has even forgotten his mother and his brothers and sisters for all these years when he was 6 years old up to now he has been kept in a torture cell and was separated from the rest of his family from day one.

The family is now really worried about Dr. Aafia's daughter who was 4 years old when she was handed over to the FBI by none other than Islamic Republic of Pakistan's forces in the name of "War Against Terror" which is now even more clear that whose war this is, who are the friends and who is the enemy. Was Ahmed a terror for them? Really!! ..... Ahmed's sister is now growing up and this is what makes Dr. Fauzia more restless as no good can be expected from the dark age that USA is going through and what they did to Dr. Aafia is not an unknown matter. During the gathering I and a friend of mine asked about the daughter and why can’t she be traced, the reply was even worse than any Muslim could expect. Aafia's sister replied, because there were many pictures that were shown to us of age 9 and it’s extremely a guess work to say anything from pictures since we only have picture of the time when she was 4. Now question comes to my mind who were the other young girls? What’s happening? Whose war is this and who is being captured? Where are we standing today? Was Pakistan only meant to save our daughters and sisters from Hindus, and who knows what happens in Kashmir too?

In end there was once again a nice and pleasant dua for the unification of Ummah under one roof of Islamic State Khilafah and an urge to all Muslim sisters not to be afraid of any one anymore.

This event made me think; if rulers are from us, then who will do this with our sisters and daughters, if we can bring a change by studying and through education then why MIT graduate with extreme talent of holding 75 awards suffered this and Pakistan's own government handed her over to such a place and to such leadership of the world and; why did not they honor her as an esteemed Pakistani. Why Abdul Qadeer after inventing nuclear bomb suffers that much? I guess the answer lies in Dua that sandwiched the whole gathering.

By A Muslim Sister,
Arjumand Younus.
11th October, 2008.

The Islamic Economic System as an alternative

The following is the transcript of the speech delivered by a brother on Saturday 11th October 2008.

Allah (swt) says:

كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ

“You are the best of the nation raised up for mankind because you enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong and believe in Allah” [Ali-Imran 3:110]

Allah (swt) has blessed us as being the best nation raised up from humanity because we enjoin the good and forbid the evil – we need to realise our responsibility of speaking our against the evil and injustice that we see globally today. One of these great evils we see around us is the economic injustice and oppression caused the world over by the current capitalist world order

The current financial crisis has seriously eroded confidence in the Western world and has exposed the free market. However the Western world when looking at alternatives only see remnants of Socialism or some state intervention in economy as feasible and workable systems. It is also this reason that allows free market ideologues to continue citing more regulation, transparency i.e. more capitalism with some tinkering as solutions. I recall a discussion with my previous economic Professor where I put forward the ills of Capitalism, after debating the points exhaustively he said, ‘Capitalism is the best of the worst’. I then went on to explain the Islamic economic system as an alternative, it became obvious that he had never considered Islam as having any alternative nor had studied it.

This crisis represents an opportunity for all Muslims to present the Islamic economic system as an alternative. We have to realise to consider that when Marx wrote his theories of Communism in the 1800’s whilst sitting in Britain, his ideas although many people disagreed with them were seen as a viable alternative, this is why Lenin later took up these ideas, formed a party based upon them and they were eventually embodied in a state. This occurred even though these were new theories that had no history of implementation. We have to then consider that unlike Marx who denied the existence of Allah and whose ideas were disproved by the clear reality of the failure of Communism, we have the truth from Allah (swt) and also have a history of the implementation of Islam.

Therefore today it is vital for us to present Islam as an alternative. It is important to show Islamic economics as much more then Islamic finance and Banking. What is known as Islamic banking and Islamic finance is about individuals or groups attempting to generate profits in the current system without breaking the shariah rules such as the prohibition of Riba. However today I’m going to focus on the Islamic economic system as a whole which is much wider than this and is the true alternative to the Capitalist system

Although no Islamic state exists today, we have the economic system of Islam derived from the Quran and the Sunnah and over a thousand years of history of its implementation. Based upon this we must initiate thinking amongst the ‘left’ and the right’ and to demonstrate to them how Islam is not just a religion like the others but is a comprehensive ideology able to deal with the current crisis’s that humanity is faced with.

The Islamic economic system

Of course in a short talk such as this it is not possible to go through the entire Islamic economic system in detail, I aim to cover its key aspects especially in relation to how an Islamic system holds the key to solving the current financial crisis.

As any economic student would learn in their first economics lesson, we have to start with the definition of the economic problem which is the fundamental view of the economy. In Capitalism they believe that there is unlimited wants and limited resources therefore the focus of the economy should be production, so they believe in producing more and more for people to consume. This has also come be known as ‘trickle down economics’ where the focus is on increasing the size of the cake, believing that it will somehow trickle down into the bellies of the hungry.

This is why they have so much emphasis on the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) or GNP (Gross National Product). This is why we saw the BJP talking about ‘India shining’ when the GNP had increased, even if that increase was in the bank accounts of the corporate’s and not reaching the common man

1. Islam focuses on the distribution of wealth not just the production.

Islam views the economic problem in a radically different way than Capitalism and Socialism. Islam focuses on the distribution of wealth not just the production. The problem of poverty will not be solved by producing more and more for the rich to consume rather it will be solved by ensuring that basic needs of every individual are satisfied completely. There are enough resources in the world to satisfy the basic needs of everyone

Islam looks at every individual by himself rather than the total of individuals who live in the country. It looks at him as a human being first, who needs to satisfy all of his basic needs completely. Then it looks to him in his capacity as a particular individual, to enable him to satisfy his luxuries as much as possible.

2. All basic needs guaranteed

The Ahkam Shari'ah have secured the satisfaction of all of the basic needs (food, clothing and housing) completely, for every citizen of the Islamic State (Khilafah).

The Prophet (saw) said, "The Son of Adam has no better right than that he would have a house wherein he may live, a piece of clothing whereby he may hide his nakedness and a piece of bread and some water" [Tirmidhi]

The Islamic state has a duty to provide for those who cannot provide for themselves or whose families cannot provide for them

Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz, the famous Khalifah, wrote to his agent in Basra, Iraq, ‘Search for the people of the covenant in your area who may have grown old, and are unable to earn, and provide them with regular stipends from the treasury to take care of their needs.’ [Abu Ubayd, al-Amwaal, p. 805]

The Islamic state used to have public baths, Musafir Khana’s where travellers could stay for free and even open kitchens – e.g. in Bosnia during the Ottoman Khilafah period there were open kitchens where the poor could go and eat for free

The first organised hospital was built under Islamic rule in Cairo in 872CE. The Ahmad ibn Tûlûn Hospital treated and gave free medicine to all patients. It provided separate bath houses for men and women, a rich library and a section for the insane. Patients deposited their street clothes with the hospital authorities for safe keeping, before donning special ward clothes and being assigned to their beds. Each patient would also have his or her own medical record.

3. Circulation of wealth is a duty

Allah (swt) emphasizes that the wealth should not circulate amongst the few, He (swt) says referring to wealth:

كَيْ لَا يَكُونَ دُولَةً بَيْنَ الْأَغْنِيَاءِ مِنْكُمْ
“That it does not become a commodity between the rich among you.” [TMQ Al-Hashr: 7]

Islam has made the circulation of wealth between all citizens an obligation, and it has forbidden the restriction of such circulation to a certain group of people to the exclusion of others.

Hoarding/monopolizing goods is forbidden. Producers or retailers cannot hoard or monopolize goods in order to cause the price to rise. This is based on the ahadith: “The Messenger of Allah (saw) forbade that a foodstuff be monopolized.” [Athram] and “Whoever monopolized is a wrongdoer.” [Muslim].

4. Prohibition of Riba – encouragement of investment

The abolition of all interest based contracts, to be replaced by contracts which share returns and risks.

Allah (swt) says:

وَأَحَلَّ اللَّهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّبَا
“Allah has permitted trade and forbidden (all) interest.” [TMQ Al-Baqarah: 275]

The prohibition of Riba (usury/interest) encourages people not to just save their money in a bank waiting for the interest – rather if there will be 2.5% Zakah charged on their unused wealth – this encourages people to spend and invest which generates economic activity and is healthy for the economy. The more spending and investment, the more jobs are created and more wealth is circulated.

I want to touch briefly here about the concept of loans and Riba – people don’t realise the exploitative nature of Riba. In Islam loans are given for ethical reasons with the intention of achieving a reward from Allah. The Prophet (saw) said: "Every loan is a sadaqah". In capitalism the one who gives the loan, shares the profit but not the loss, this is very unfair and unjust. In Islam if you want to share the profit then you must share the loss also – this is the model of Partnerships or company structures in Islam. Like Mudharabah - where someone invests and the other person works and they share the profit and loss. Islam has an equity based system when both sides share the risk and the reward is fair unlike the oppressive Riba based system

Today interest based debts are crippling people and entire nations. Ali (ra), the cousin of Allah's messenger, pointed out regarding the pre-Islamic age: "We withstood the weight of the Iron, the Stone and the Lash, but we could not endure the weight of debt."

5. The Islamic economy is real and Islam prohibits the current form of financial markets

The Islamic economy is based upon wealth generation where participants partake in investment, employment and trade in the real economy. Islam does not have a dual economy where the real economy operates alongside a financial sector. The Islamic economy focuses all participants on the real economy, through employment, company profits, utilisation of land (agriculture) and manufacturing, wealth is generated in only one sector. This brings the huge benefit of wealth only circulating in one sector - the real economy, where all can participate.

The Islamic system does not recognise the financial markets in their current form. One is able to purchase shares and transfer them without actually partaking in the running of the underlying company that the shares are meant to represent. In Islam ownership is a direct role in a company and not just a share certificate which in effect the stock market allows to be traded and re-traded. It is this ability to not have a direct role in a company that allows excessive speculation. The financial markets are different to the real economy of goods and services. As the first speaker pointed out this is in fact one of the root problems of Capitalism, the size of the world’s stock markets are estimated at $51 trillion, the world derivative markets are valued at $480 trillion, 30 times the size of the US economy and 12 times the size of the world economy!

There are many reasons as to why Public Limited Companies (PLC’s) stock markets are haram in Islam. One of the key reasons being the issue of liability. The public limited company system gives the public company a distinct quality of limited liability, aimed at protecting major capitalists and businessmen in case the company fails and incurs losses, in which case, those who have claims against it would not be able to demand from its investors any compensation no matter how large the personal assets of the investors are. The financial claims are only confined to what is left in the company in terms of assets. This system is contradictory to Shari'ah in every aspect. The Shari'ah rule obliges all to repay debts in full to the rightful owners, and it is forbidden to cut anything from them.

Al-Bukhari reported on the authority of Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: "He who takes money from people with the intention of paying it back Allah will pay on his behalf, and he who takes it with the intention to waste it Allah will waste him."

Ahmed also reported on the authority of Abu Hurayrah who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: "You shall return the rights to their rightful owners on the Day of Judgement, even the ewe with no horns will get even with the ewe with horns by butting it back."

Hence, the Messenger of Allah (saw) has confirmed the obligation of fulfiling one's rights in full in temporal life, and if one does not he will do so on the Day of Judgement. This serves as a warning for those who devour people's rights.

Islam has its own company structures, there are 5 types which are all related to real partnerships between body and capital. These are Al-'Inan (equal), Al-Abdan (bodies), Al-Mudharaba (two or more), Al-Wujooh (faces) and Al-Mufawadha (negotiation)

Ad-Daraqutni narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (SAW) said: “The Supreme said I am the third of the two partners as long as one of them does not betray his companion. If he betrayed, I would withdraw from them.”

Islam is against monopolies and encourages competition

PLC stock market companies are able to amass huge amounts of wealth today, to the extent that some companies have more wealth than some countries. In an Islamic system this could not happen due to the prohibition of PLC’s who are able to generate this wealth by issuing shares to the public. This has a positive impact on the economy, as huge companies are able to become monopolies, duopolies or oligopolies which are able to dominate the market place such as Microsoft, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Even Capitalist agree that monopolies are negative externalities and Adam Smith, the founding father of Capitalism dreamed of an economy with perfect competition an ideal which they can never achieve due to the free market itself. However the Islamic economic system leads to this as by applying its rules it would lead to small to medium companies competing with each other in every market which is healthy for the economy as competition decreases the price and increases quality.

E.g. Why should 3 companies dominate the entire soft drinks market in the world as is today? They completely dominate the market, have enough wealth to buy out any competitors like Coke did with ‘Thumbs Up’ in India. Monopolies have the power to sell lower grade goods to the market without us having any choice, we all remember the Pesticide scandal that took place here.

6. It is prohibited to sell what you don’t have

Unlike today where we see short selling or forward selling, where people sell what they don’t yet own

Islam makes it a requirement for traders to own currencies, instruments and commodities before selling them. It is narrated from Hakeem bin Hazam (ra) who said: “I said: O Messenger of Allah, there comes to me a man asking me to sell what I do not have to sell then I buy if from the market. He said: Do not sell what you do not have” [Ahmad]

7. Islam neither believes in a free market nor a command economy

The Islamic economic system is neither Capitalist where the market is left free to lead to the disasters that we are seeing nor Communist where everything is owned and controlled by the state. Islam distinguishes between public property, state property and private property. Islam forbids the private ownership of the large resources such as the Oil and Gas that we see the Western companies fighting over in the Muslim world.

The Prophet (saw) said:

«الناس شركاء في ثلاث الماء والكلأ والنار»
"People share in three things, fire, water and the green pastures" reported by Abu Dawud. Anas reported from Ibn Abbas adding “and its price is forbidden”.

In addition to this the Prophet (saw) used to take back lands from people if he found they contained vast resources such as a salt mine.

The huge revenue generated by public resources such as Oil and Gas in an Islamic state be utilised for the benefit of the public and not for the personal interests of the rulers who siphon off the money into their swiss bank accounts and spend it for their own pleasure as we see the rulers of the Gulf doing today. The Prophet (saw) said:

«…الإمام راع وهو مسؤول عن رعيته »
“The Imam is a shepard and he is responsible.” [Bukhari, Ahmad, Bayhaqi]

8. The Gold & Silver standard for currency

As the brother has explained in the first talk, today’s currency is fiat currency backed by no real assets, only backed by confidence. This is the reason we have increasing inflation the world over. Islam solves this problem as the basis of the currency in Islam is Gold & Silver, the currency is backed by and is interchangeable with it.

The Prophet (saw) established the basis of the Islamic currency, the Dirham and the Dinar upon these tangible things which hold real value and retain value. The Islamic rules have been set in the Quran and Sunnah in terms of Gold and Silver such as the Nisab of Zakah.

It is allowed to have paper notes as long as they are backed by Gold and Silver. So in the Islamic state you can go to the Bayt al-Mal and exchange the paper notes. Therefore inflation is eliminated as the value of gold and silver are stable. The Islamic state cannot just simply print money as they do today without any asset backing, or create money out of thin air! In fact due to the current inflation and financial crisis we can see people are turning to buying gold instead of putting their money in stocks as they know it has a real value.

Conclusion

As you would have realised the key aspects of the economic system I highlighted are much more than the current Islamic banking or Islamic finance and it should be clear that this system cannot be implemented without a true Islamic state which rules by the Shariah and unlike the Muslim world today is a truly independent state and not an agent of the West.

Instead of turning to billions of dollars of bailouts where the US and UK are spending tax payers money in order to save their collapsing financial system, people should realise that Islam offers the world a practical alternative. The next speaker will elaborate on the importance of taking the Islamic system as a whole and not separating the economic system of Islam from the other systems such as ruling or punishment.

Even many non-Muslim thinkers have recognised the progress and development that was achieved under Islamic rule in history in all fields of science and technology.

Phillip Hitti in 'Short History of the Arabs' says, "During all the first part of the Middle Ages, no other people made as important a contribution to human progress as did the Arabs, if we take this term to mean all those whose mother-tongue was Arabic, and not merely those living in the Arabian peninsula. For centuries, Arabic was the language of learning, culture and intellectual progress for the whole of the civilized world with the exception of the Far East. From the 9th to the 12th century there were more philosophical, medical, historical, religious, astronomical and geographical works written in Arabic than in any other human tongue."

The Islamic system has come for the whole of humanity

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ
“And We have sent you (O Muhammad SAW) not but as a mercy for the 'Alamîn.” [TMQ 21:107]

It is a system not thought up by the minds of men, rather it is from the creator of humankind Allah (swt) and it is the perfect system for humanity. Let us all work to re-establish this system once again.

Hasan al Basri narrated that Allah's Messenger (saw) said: "He whom death overtakes while he is engaged in acquiring knowledge with a view to reviving Islam with the help of it, there will be one degree between him and the Prophets in Paradise." [Al-Tirmidhi]

Saturday 11th October 2008