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God and Commerce
by
Anisa Abd el Fattah
Recent Wall
Street scandals, bankruptcies and acts of malfeasance have
served us well. No doubt we are all upset, disappointed,
and mortified by the amount of corruption and ambivalence
to ethics that these events portrayed, yet, when we
consider that what is actually happening is a sort of
"ethical correction," we might humbly count our blessings.
The men that only last year,
we had exalted, and deified as icons of contemporary capitalism, have now
been reduced to examples of what we hate most about humanity, and that is
imperfection. We love not the imperfect, and that might be a good thing.
So far as we understand the significance of mankind’s imperfection, there
is no real harm in our moral posturing, and pontification. We are happy
that God in His mercy simply will not allow us to confuse Him with others,
and especially not with CE, CF, or UFOs, or even accountants and auditors
for that matter.
Our dislike for imperfection,
and our search for perfection, or excellence, might be an inherited trait.
We may have picked these two of our most compelling human traits, up from
our forefather Abraham. Abraham searched for and found perfection, in the
laws of life, as taught by God, that when personalized, caused Him and his
righteous descendants to be exalted among mankind, and to achieve wealth,
and the status of leaders and legends in both common myth and religious
liturgy. The Qur’an retells the story of Abraham’s search for perfection
saying in chapter 6, "al-Anam" (The Cattle),
" So also did we show Abraham
the power and the laws of the heavens and the earth, that he might have
certitude. When the night covered him over, he saw a star and said:
" This is my Lord." But when
it set, he said, "I love not those that set." When he saw the moon rising
in splendor, he said: " This is my Lord." But when the moon set, he said,
"unless my Lord guide me, I shall surely be among those who go astray."
When he saw the sun rising in splendor, he said, " This is my Lord, this
is the greatest of all." But when the sun set, he said: "Oh my people, I
am indeed free from your guilt of giving partners to God. For me I have
set my face, firmly and truly towards Him who created the heavens and the
earth, and never shall I give partners to God."
There are those, who in
reading this passage have submitted that Abraham was here, in fact
searching for God, and that it was through this observation of creation
that he (Abraham) realized God. Yet, the verse of Qur’an that seems to
most relate to a search for God, that culminated in Abraham’s realization
of God as "One" is pointed out in his disputation to that effect in a
different discussion. This discussion is found in al-Baqara,
Chapter 2, verse 258, where it says:" Has thou not turned thy vision to
one who disputed with Abraham about his Lord, because God had granted him
(the man) power? Abraham said: " My Lord is he who gives life and death.
He, (the man) said, " I give life and death." Said Abraham, "but it is God
that causes the sun to rise from the East, do you then cause it rise from
the West?" Thus was he confounded who (in arrogance), rejected faith." It
is as if to say that Abraham was here invoking one of the primary
manifestations of ! God, which is the divine order, or law.
In the al-Anam Chapter,
it appears that what Abraham may have ascertained through observation of
the stars and moon was in fact law, and order, and the imperfection of
created things in comparison with the perfection of the Creator of all
things, who is God. Yet, he also, according to the Qur’an learned from
this exercise and observation, the "laws of the heaven and the earth,"
wherein was power and certitude, the first verse saying at the beginning,
" So did we show Abraham the power, and the laws of the heaven and the
earth…." It was this power of organization, adaptation of the law, and
divine order that empowered Abraham, the progeny of Abraham, and his
community, who constructed the first Sacred House, ummat, or nation
of monotheists. It is what has distinguished advanced societies from those
that have been retarded by ignorance, ill will, and rebellion, and not
revolution, and that have no observable organizational structure, or
purpose. ! Most importantly, Abraham realized that life is indeed
regulated by a universal law and righteous order that is observable, and
that can be utilized to mankind’s benefit, which is its purpose. He
realized that God’s Will, or force, is a part of creation, and that when
recognized, harnessed and set in motion, carries mankind beyond conscious
limits, and outside conformity, and mediocrity, and towards excellence, or
human perfection.
In the New Testament of the
Bible, in the Letter of James, this same concept of law and the power of
the higher law and order are discussed. James opens his letter saying, "
James, a slave of the One God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve
tribes that are scattered about: Greetings." James begins his dissertation
on excellence, asking his brethren in faith to be patient under trial,
saying that in life, there is purpose. James identifies this purpose,
realized through trial as mankind’s "completeness and soundness in all
respects." James says: " Consider it all joy my brothers when you meet
trials, knowing as you do that this tested quality of your faith works out
endurance. But let endurance have its work complete, that you may be
complete, sound in all respects, not lacking anything." Is this human
perfection to which James is calling? He goes on in Chapter 2, to credit
the prophet Abraham as the example of this basic of all religious
concepts, which! is the purpose of divine law and principle to elevate the
human species from animalism, to human perfection. James taught that this
is accomplished through the actuation of God’s law, which results in the
realization of a higher order or life. The reward says James is
completeness, and ample sustenance, or "soundness in all things." James
says:" A certain one will say "you have faith and I have works. Show me
your faith apart from your works. You believe there is one God, do you?
You are doing quite well. And yet the demons believe and shudder. But do
you care to know, oh empty man, that faith apart from works is
inactive…Was not our father Abraham declared righteous by his works…?"
Works, as discussed in the
Holy Books are the conduct of our daily affairs. They are not, as some
have suggested, only the preaching work, or what is considered "religious"
work. James himself makes this clear saying: " Not many of you should
become preachers." This work, it seems, thought James, was for a certain
group of people, those who had submitted their whole selves to God. James
said further: "We shall receive heavier judgment." Then he speaks again,
but this time about all of humanity, saying: "We all stumble many times,"
and then distinguishes the group of teachers, saying: " If anyone does not
stumble in word, this one is a perfect man, able to bridle also his whole
body." These distinctions are important since they allow us to see that
contrary to the rhetoric of so-called secularists, there was never any
competition between God and "Caesar," in the way of kingdom or in the
works of man. There is no competition in respect to what is due to one or!
the other, since Caesar, representing a human authority or government, is
but a lesser, imperfect manifestation of the perfect and divine order,
which includes an authority, with rights and duties.
God’s laws exists, and
according to the prophets, are universal, yet they become operative in the
individual human soul and affairs as a matter of choice, not compulsion,
and in various ways. Yet, every man has the duty, upon acquiring, and
according to his achieved level of knowledge and occupation, to actuate
his truth in pursuit of excellence in daily affairs, since what sane
person is in pursuit of failure, poverty, and injustice. This realm of
human activity includes of course our public institutions, which are also
the benefactors of our works. The public works of the human being, whether
it be the proper teaching of children, the organization of governments,
commerce, and even deciding through a democratic process, what policies
are best suited to just ends, or rather, completeness, "not lacking
anything," is guided by our beliefs, and realized through our works.
Perhaps the "Kingdom of God" includes the realm of man, where there is
truth, choice, and! consequence.
One of the most inspiring
parts of James’s letter in the Bible, is his discussion on the attainment
of peace, and prosperity. In James 3:18and 4:1-3, James says: " …the
fruits of righteousness has its seed sown in peaceful conditions for those
who are making peace." He asks," from what source are there wars and from
what source are the fights among you? Are they not from this source,
namely, from your cravings for sensual pleasure that carry on a conflict
in your members? You desire, yet you do not have. You go on murdering, and
coveting, and yet you are not able to obtain. You go on fighting, and
waging war. You do not have because of your not asking. You do ask, and
yet you do not receive because you are asking for a wrong purpose
(emphasis mine), that you may expend it upon your cravings for sensual
(selfish) pleasure." Here, it seems that James is making the distinction
between the selfish desire or pursuit of good things for one’s own
pleasure ex! clusively, and the good work performed for the right purpose,
which might be the betterment of all mankind, which includes of course,
the self. James explains this saying later in 5:1-6, " Come now, you rich
men, weep, howling over your miseries that are coming upon you. Your
riches have rotted, and your outer garments have become moth-eaten. Your
gold and silver are rusted away, and their rust will be as a witness
against you…Look! The wages due the workers who harvested your fields, but
which are held up by you, keep crying out, and the calls for help on the
part of the reapers have entered the ears of Jehovah of armies. You have
lived in luxury upon the earth and have gone in for sensual (selfish)
pleasure. You have fattened your hearts on the day of slaughter. You have
condemned, and you have murdered the righteous ones. Is He (God) not
opposing you?"
In reading these passages from
the Letter of James, we are forced to ask ourselves, what is the crime of
those who seek selfish pleasures at the expense of others? Is it their
wealth, ownership of property that is criminal, as socialists or
communists might say? Is it that these men or women live in societies
where there are different economic classes of people, one class enjoying
wealth, while another is poor? The Qur’an, which was revealed years after
James’s letter was written, picks up on James’s theme, and defines for us,
with perhaps more clarity, the Islamic concept of economic injustice. In
the Qur’anic discussion, we see that it is not personal, or private wealth
that is deemed immoral, or sinful. Rather, it is corruption, as in
nepotism and cronyism, unfair discrimination, restricting the circulation
wealth through commerce, as well as breach of contract, including
breaching the public trust, which are covenants, and greed, or
covetousness, that is! deemed sinful. In Islam, it is also prohibited to
become preoccupied with the desire to acquire wealth, to the extent that
we are distracted from the pursuit of righteousness. Yet, some have
interpreted this verse as a condemnation of competition, while the Qur’an
teaches us that "competition" is an aspect of the divine order, and that
mankind must "strive" and that he will get nothing, except what he strives
for. The Qur’an says to us, "Vie as though in a race." We are vying for
God’s grace, for what purpose? That we might seek and attain the bounty
and favors of God, which include property, wealth, and all good things,
and even the simple desires of our hearts, so far as we have not desired
evil. The Qur’an says in Chapter 10, "Yunus," verses 58-60: " Say; In the
Bounty of God, and in His mercy, in that let them rejoice; that is better
than the wealth that they hoard. Say, see you what things God hath sent
down to you for sustenance? Yet you hold forbidden some things the! reof,
and some you make lawful." Say, "Hath God indeed permitted you, or do you
invent things to attribute to God? And what think those who invent lies
against God of the day of Judgment? Verily, God is full of Bounty to
mankind, but most of them are ungrateful."
The Qur’an says in Chapter
102, "Al-Takathur," (The Piling Up), verse 1, " The mutual rivalry
for piling up the good things of this world diverts you from the more
serious things." The Qur’an teaches us that whereas every human being has
the right to private ownership, and to profit from their at risk
investments, which include labor, as well as money, equipment, etc., no
one has the right to withhold wages, or to cause poverty, or economic
hardship. In Islam, as in other faiths, it is wrong to cause a loss to
others, or to challenge the good purpose of public economy, which is a
common good that takes priority over individual gain. The Qur’an says, in
Chapter 83, "al-Mutaffifin," (The Dealers in Fraud), verse 1, the
following: " Woe to those who deal in fraud, those who, when they have to
receive by measure from men, exact full measure. Yet, when they have to
give by measure, or weight to men, they give less than what is due."
It is perhaps true that the
texts of Books such as the Qur’an and the Bible, can be interpreted in any
number of ways, and used to support almost any position, or argument. Yet,
when we consider that along with the Holy books, God sent prophets who
lived according to His guidance, and who served as examples, this makes it
difficult, if not impossible to distort to any significant degree the
meanings of the text. In the Qur’an, and the Bible, both the Hebrew
scriptures and the New Testament, we see that there were righteous people
who accumulated and enjoyed not only wealth, but also power, and
authority, or "kingdom" as it is described in the Qur’an. Among these
prophets, enjoying such authority, power and wealth were of course David
and Solomon. According to some hadith, or traditions, God gave the
prophet Muhammad (pbuh) the choice. He could have been either a prophet,
like Jesus who adopted asceticism, and who lived among the poor, or a
prophet lik! e David and Solomon, about whom God said: " And he enjoyed
indeed a near approach to Us, and a beautiful place of final return." The
prophet Muhammad, it is said, chose asceticism, but did not forbid the
seeking of God’s Bounty to any other man, and in fact encouraged
investment, risk, and profit. The Qur’an says on this issue, in Chapter 2,
verses 261 and 265, the following: " The parable of those who spend their
sustenance in the way of God is that of a grain of corn, it grows seven
ears, and each ear has a hundred grains. God gives manifold increase to
whom He pleases."
The question that has been
raised due to the recent Wall Street scandals, among some religionists,
whether or not the capitalist system is an economic evil in the sight of
God? Many, including some Muslims, believe that capitalism is an evil, and
that it breeds greed, and immorality, and class strife, and that it
rewards mankind for besting one another in vice rather than virtue. Yet,
the question that actually seems to be presenting itself for our review is
whether or not God’s law, as it was revealed to Abraham, and observed by,
revealed, and advanced by other righteous men and prophets, prohibits free
markets, competition, profit, private wealth and property. We agree that
immorality, which includes corruption, greed, and other wrongs are
prohibited. We also agree, that there is an obligation, not only upon
individuals, but also upon institutions, and governments to give in
charity, and to respect and protect the rights of the weak, the disabled,
and some! specified others, when they are in need. Yet, in respect to
private ownership, one does not have to look far to see that private
ownership is allowed in Islam. In fact, it is encouraged, and not
discouraged. The right of the individual to own property is protected in
Islam and more than this, it is unlawful to take, or to force an
individual to share what he or she has earned with those who have not
earned. The following verses of the Qur’an support these assertions, and
disprove the Communists and socialists argument that ownership is an evil,
or that anyone has a right to, as Marx suggests in his Communist
Manifesto, "abolish the right of personally acquiring property as the
fruit of a man’s own labor." Without much thought it might be clear,
especially to Muslims, that what Marx suggested was merely rebellion
against the divine law, and order, which is why socialism and communism
are hard pressed to co-exist with religion. Marx sought to create a system
of politics and e! conomy that would enslave mankind to dictators, who by
some self assumed right could determine the "just" distribution of a
nation’s wealth, place a value upon your labor, and distribute your
property according to what criteria? Is it the criteria of God, who says
in the Qur’an, "Who is it that prohibits the beautiful things of this life
to the servants of God? They are for them in this life, and "purely" for
them in the next life?" Or is it their criteria? Friends, concubines, and
cousins, who stand first in line and receive the fruits of your labor?
The Qur’an says that God has
given us cattle, and other things in which we take pleasure, not only in
their use as food, medicine, etc., but also in their beauty. The Qur’an
said we use them for trade, as well as for food and other purposes. The
Qur’an says that we ride the backs of animals with pride, and it condemns
the one who rides arrogantly, as though he himself is a god, a creator of
these things, while it praises the man who rides with gratitude to God,
for His favors bestowed upon mankind. God says we have the right to
inherit, what can our children inherit if we don’t own anything? The
Qur’an says, that God subjugated all things to mankind that we might seek
of his Bounty, and that God created the seas that we might sail its waves
seeking His Bounty. In all of this is an "individual interest." The
interest is to stay alive, be healthy, to marry, to pro-create, to live
according to the divine law, and rhythm of life, and to be free, enjoying
what Go! d has created, feeling gratitude that God created, loving God for
what He created, and subjected to mankind. So thankful are we to God, so
much do we love Him, that we establish His revealed order, His Kingdom in
our very hearts. The power of this Kingdom then manifests in our societies
through the recognition and actuation of His law, and order, and the
protection and perpetuation of the systems and institutions that support
and guard mankind’s quest for lordship. Marx would have us believe that we
are like animals, whose value is only our labor, Islam says our value is
unknown, until we have ascertained, or understood our proximity to God,
and come into our purpose, which the Qur’an says is to worship God. If
this is our purpose, how has the Muslim become enslaved to communists and
socialists in the Muslim world who hide behind the banner of Islam, while
they usurp the rights of the people to be lords in the Kingdom of God, and
who have instead made the lords into slaves a! nd the beast into kings?
Can we not understand that man cannot be free if he cannot own, if he
cannot expend his labor and his investment in his own interest first.
Societies are groups of individuals, individuals are not societies until
they are organized, have structured administration, and commerce. Look at
the Kingdom of David, the Kingdom of Solomon, and the Muslim nation under
the prophet Muhammad. When the prophet’s companion Abu Bakr told the
prophet Muhammad, that upon his (Abu Bakr’s) death, he wished to turn over
the ownership of all of his gardens to the Muslim treasury, the prophet
discouraged this and told Abu Bakr that his children should inherit his
wealth, and that only "some," should be set aside for charity. Does it
mean anything to us that the prophet Muhammad owned private property, and
that his companions also owned private property? Some of them eventually
gave up their property to charity, yet for much of the Islamic campaign,
they maintained private ! ownership and distributed their earnings, or
profits at their own discretion.
The Qur’an says in Chapter 16,
"Al Nahl," verse 81, " It is God who made out of the created things some
things to give you shade, of the hills he made some for your shelter. He
made you garments to protect you from heat, and coats of mail to protect
you from your (mutual) violence. Thus does He (God) complete His favors on
you, that you may bow to His Will in Islam (return to perfect and complete
monotheism). And in verse 83 of this same chapter, the Qur’an says: " They
recognize the favors of God, then they deny them, and most of them are
ungrateful."
So deeply entrenched is the
evil of communism and communist thinking in the Muslim world, that the
people can no longer recognize their own interests, not as individuals and
not as a society or ummat. They have been taught that their
interest is a sin, while the interest of the authority that stands with
both feet on their throats is akin to god’s interest. Are they god? If
not, why do we worship despots, and tyrants, and oppressors? The people
think the crime of the dictator is that he steals wealth, including
freedom from the people, while the real crime is that he closes all
opportunities for self-development in the face of the people, and
transfers our rights to his friends and concubines, and cronies. They are
killers of promise, opportunity, possibility, hope, ingenuity, faith,
struggle, and worse of all, they hinder our progress toward the lordship
we have inherited from prophets, and implant their godless authority
through brute force over the! people, while they lie on God, and corrupt
and hide the truth. Shame on the Muslim who supports a tyrant, in protest
against right thinking and prudent policy. Shame on the Muslim who would
enslave himself for fear of struggle, and who would share in the earned
wealth of another without having earned. Shame on the Muslim whose
politics is driven by greed, and envy, and self-hatred, because he feels
that God created him impotent, when it is God who ordered you to fight
against the tyrant, the usurper of authority, the killer of hope, and
progress, and the stealer of our inheritance, and called you "Uppermost."
Shame on the Muslim who has rejected peace, law, and order, and adopted in
their stead, disorder, and violence, and rebellion. Those who support
those who have denied God, and who have in fact persecuted and killed the
believers, merely for their faith, forced them from their homes, hoping to
obscure their message of freedom, progress and human development for the
Musl! im too. Why should the Muslim be impoverished, illiterate, and the
proletariat? We are inheritors of a legacy of Lordship!
We should always remember what
James said in his letter. He said to the believers, to count trials as
joy, and allow trial to have its work completed, which is endurance, and
through endurance (strength, power) you shall be complete, "not lacking
anything." If we can’t, or don’t want to hear James, even though the
Qur’an says in al-Ahqaf, verse 10," Say; See if this teaching be
from God, yet you reject it, and a witness from the children of Israel
testifies to its similarity with previous scripture, and he believed while
you were arrogant, how unjust you are, and God guides not a people
unjust." The Qur’an says, in Chapter 47, "Muhammad," verses 36-38:" The
life of this world is play and amusement, and if you believe and guard
against evil he (God) will grant you your recompense, (earnings, and
rewards) and will not ask you to give up all of your possessions. If He
(God) were to ask you for them, and press you, you would withhold, and he
would bring o! ut all of your ill-feeling. Behold, you are those who are
asked to spend in the way of God, yet among you are some who are stingy
(and greedy). But any who are stingy (and greedy) are so at the expense of
their own souls. But God is free of all wants, and it is you who are
needy. If you turn back from the path (the struggle for human progress) He
(God) will substitute in your stead another people, and they will not be
like you." In the Qur’an, Chapter 34, "Saba" (Sheba), in verse 47,
God commanded the prophet Muhammad to say to the people…" it is all in
your interest."
The writer is
the Founder and President of the National
Association of Muslim American Women.
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