While Muslims may still disagree on who among Prophet Mohammad's companions should have led the nascent Muslim community after his death, most Muslims would agree that it took less than 50 years after the Prophet's death for the religion to be turned on its head by self-serving caliphs who used it as the instrument of power and control.
The poisoned fruit of destructive governance magnified by periods of colonial plundering is today seen in most Muslim countries--underdevelopment, oppression, hopelessness, anger and conflict. Some observers point the finger of failure at Islam. In this they are mistaken, as we hope will be seen in what follows and in the postings to come. Here, we attempt to explain the important teachings of Islam and how they combine to provide the institutions for a flourishing society. In the next posting, we will explain the best instrument--"Islamicity indices"--to transform Muslim countries.
As we have said in two earlier postings, Muslims should stop listening to the interpretations of Islam offered by unjust rulers and clerics. Instead, they should study the teachings of the holy Quran on their own, discover its philosophical underpinnings, discuss and debate its meanings and adopt its recommended rules and institutions as the foundation for a turnaround on the path toward flourishing societies. What Muslim countries need is more, not less, Islam. Change in Muslim countries will only come about in the context of Islam. If Muslims do not take charge of their religion, terrorists will fill the void and impede progress for centuries to come.
Let us explain what we see as the Islam of the Quran and the practices of the Prophet. Four fundamental concepts are the foundation of the Islamic system. The first is the unconditional Love of the Supreme Creator for His Creation. Humans reciprocate this Love by extending their love to other humans and to the rest of creation. Second, humans are the crowning achievement of the creation for whose individual and collective development everything else has been created. Third is the primordial covenant in which all humans are called before the Supreme Creator to testify that He is the One and Only Creator. Finally, humans are trustees to preserve what the Almighty has given to all generations.
The concept of development in Islam has three dimensions: individual self-development, the physical development of the earth and the development of the human collectivity. When it comes to the development of the human collectivity, the Quran recognizes legitimate authorities in a Muslim society. However, those in positions of authority must be rule-compliant if they are to oversee the implementation of the prescribed rules.
Islam is a rules-based system that includes rule for: governance, accountability and transparency; property ownership and protection; the formation and the structure of the market; the role of the state vis-à-vis the market; behavior by market participants; distribution and redistribution of economic output; education, technological progress and society's infrastructure; sources of government income and its expenditures. The central axis of design and operation of these rules is justice. The Prophet especially emphasized the equality of individuals before the law. In the absence of justice, societies invariably end up in conflict and self-destruct. How do these rules translate into policies, practices and institutions?
Allah has created sufficient resources to meet the needs of all humans as long as humans share. The Prophet emphasized that it is always the rich, the powerful and the opulent who are exploiters of other humans, who, in order to amass wealth, are the source of persecution and suffering. In practical terms, the Quran is clear that this means that humans must create a balanced society that avoids extremes of wealth and poverty. Islam ordains that what is left after one has reached a modest living standard must be returned to the less able members of society to allow them to redeem their rights. Therefore, while Islam praises hard work, the development of the earth and natural resources provided by the Creator and the use of proceeds for the satisfaction of the needs of all humans, it prohibits the concentration of output in the hands of a few. It is the adverse institutional structure of society that allows a pattern of wealth accumulation, creating abundance for some and scarcity for many. This is what creates social divisions.
How should economic resources be distributed? The answer depends on the underlying concept of justice and fairness. The concept of justice for humans is unambiguous: justice is obtained when all things are placed where intended by the Creator. How are humans to know where the right (just) place is for everything? The answer is: follow the rules prescribed by the Creator. The Quran's theory of justice is that societies do not need a separate theory of justice, and compliance with rules of behavior handed down in the Quran and interpreted by the Prophet assures the emergence of justice as a natural outcome of the practice of a rule-compliant society. Justice and a just political, social and economic system is thus an essential outcome of the Islamic system if Muslims comply with Divine rules. Simply said, a society will be just in Islam if the rulers and the people are rule-compliant.
The central goals of Islam for society are the welfare of all its members and socioeconomic justice. All members of an Islamic society must be given the same opportunities to advance, namely, a level playing field, including equal access for each member of society in every generation to the natural resources provided by Allah. For those for whom there is no work and for those who cannot work, society must afford the minimum required for a dignified life: shelter, food, healthcare and education. For those who cannot access the natural resources provided by Allah, society must preserve their rights, while preserving the rights of future generations.
Based on the Islamic vision elaborated here, we expect the Islamic solution to differ in the following important ways from the conventional capitalist market-based system: greater degree of justice in economic management, higher moral standard, honesty and trust in the marketplace and in all economic transactions, poverty eradication, a more even distribution of wealth and income, no hoarding of wealth, less opulence, no exploitive speculation, risk sharing as opposed to debt contracts, better social infrastructure and provision of social services and improved treatment of workers.
Lest the reader think of us as delusional, let us emphasize that what we have outlined here is how a rule-compliant Muslim society should appear, and not the description of Muslim societies as they are. Today there is a total disconnect between the philosophy and the practice of Islam. In a very important tradition, the Prophet said that even if a person fasts, prays, performs bigger and small pilgrimages and says 'I am a Muslim,' he is still a hypocrite if: (i) when he speaks, he lies; (ii) when he promises, he breeches; and (iii) when trusted, he betrays. Islam demands much more than prayers from Muslims.
How can Muslim societies be transformed into flourishing societies as envisaged in the Quran to enhance human unity? We hope to take this up in our next postings.