What Are the Reasons of Economic Injustice? (3)
Distribution
Bad distribution is the second gravest external cause of the economic problem, which also results in the spread of poverty and need, and unbalanced economic life. As clearly seen from secular systems, different social classes have arisen. One of them lives in the lap of luxury, enjoying every kind of material pleasure, amassing wealth, monopolizing means and sources of riches. While the other is hardly able to have daily bread and scrape together a subsistence living.
This gross inequality in economic life, which represents a dangerous and harmful schism in society, has its main causes principally in bad distribution and the implementation of bland, man-made economic systems which have their own momentum is aggravating the catastrophe. Feudalism, capitalism, and communism and the like have merely exacerbated the crisis all the more.
Ill-distribution, has a long historic experience, regardless of whatever secular economic system has been tried. Its consequence of an unjust spread of wealth is the prime basis of today’s social tragedy of mankind.
Such is well established, by Muslim and non-Muslim experts alike, as exampled by one report in an Italian publication, and translated and published in the Kuwaiti daily “Al-Qabas”, back on August 15-8-1976 in its issue 1525:
“Experts in the fields of development, food and population unanimously agree that the available natural resources in the world are so abundant that they can meet all the needs of the nations if goodwill was shown and if these resources were equally distributed among all nations. The root cause is the unjust distribution of the resources…and the failure of many nations to win their real independence, decide the fate of their wealth and distribute it justly and fairly.
“Russian scientist Ivan Shatilov has also said that cultivated areas now could satisfy the hunger of tens of billions of people if their crops were distributed equally and fairly among the nations of the world. He further points out: ‘On the other hand, we must not lose sight of the fact that the advanced industrialized world has not, so far, made use of the marine sources of food. The oceans constitute 71 percent of the total surface of the earth, whereas they produce no more that 1 percent of man’s foodstuff.’“
Man will never be able to taste the flavour of happiness and dignity, as historical records testify, unless he sheds the shackles of short-sighted man-made systems, and blot out forever their traces in the human community, souls and lives. Such systems proved themselves a failure. They only record their flagrant, tragic defeat, which victimize humanity and brings forth unspeakable cries of starvations, wars and deprivations.
Man was metamorphosed into a machine working incessantly in-favour of the ruling classes, whether being individuals as is the case in the capitalist and feudalist systems, or authorities, and parties as it is in the socialist and communist systems.
Only when man recovers his consciousness from the anesthesia of propaganda manipulated by those who covet these principles from their won vested interest and breaks the fetters of servitude which subdues him by force and coercion, man will see the fountain of light and find the path to an honorable free life, where he finds his righteousness and dignity. Only when man strives to seek and intensifies his efforts to win good and happiness will he find the key presented by Islam.
This concise discourse, is not intended to delve into great detail the major principles and important lines drawn by Islam in its unmatched economic system. It is but an outline of just its view. This concise discourse, is not intended to delve into great detail the major principles and important lines drawn by Islam in its unmatched economic system. It is but an outline of just its view.
Source: Economic Distribution in Islam. Presented by: Al-Balagh Foundation
