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With the different roles played by religion in the Islamic and Western economics , it pulls along with it the issue of godhead as another important motivational factor in their economics outlook.

 

In the Western economics , being secular based with religion side – stepped as a personal obligation , there isn’t any link to any godhead whatsoever totally. The fundamentals of Western economics are basically basing on human motivation alone. The earliest views on human motivation were dominated by the concept of hedonism : the view that people seek pleasure and comfort and try to avoid pain and discomfort in this world alone.  It was this recognition of hedonism that prompted the emergence of the different Western perspective in approaching economics. This extremely limited view of human behaviour has brought about the importance of striving for physical and material gains only for a better life in this world. The basic assumption of Man being selfish is another motivational theory introduced by  Adam Smith , the capitalist guru. These theories have resulted in the accumulation of wealth for oneself , the rich getting richer while the poor gets poorer , developing a materialistic attainment as the primary objective in life and many other unethical values in society in obtaining wealth. This can be seen in the capitalistic and socialist economics concepts. Matter or material has taken the place of God , being given the primary objective in attaining happiness in this world.

The essence of religious experience in Islam is al – Tawhid : that is , the recognition that there is no god but God. To assert ‘la ilaha illa Allah ’ means that Allah s.w.t. is the sole and ultimate value , that everything else is only an instrument whose value depends upon God for its valueness , and whose goodness is measured by its actualization of ultimate , divine goodness. It means that God is the final end of all desire. In Islamic economics , the main fundamentals of its concepts and ideologies are directed to this Supreme Being. The acknowledgement of al – Tawhid also provides the basic motivating force for a Muslim which is Iman which means the true faith and belief in Allah s.w.t. According to al – Faruqi , Iman is ‘conviction’ , absolutely free of doubt of probability, of guessing and uncertainty. Iman is the most powerful motivating force. All the concepts and ideologies of the Islamic economics are a manifestation of his Iman. 

A true Muslim performs all types of tasks including organisational and productive work , with the basic intention of seeking the pleasure of Allah s.w.t. His fear in the punishment of God and the reward to those who do good in the day of judgement inculcates an inner motivation and self – direction within a man which is very much applicable to the economics and productive activities. In view of this al – Tawhid and Iman , economic activity is only a mean to serve Allah s.w.t. which serves as the ultimate goal of life. Economic life is motivated by normative power rather than the limited remunerative material power , unlike the Western economic perspective. Thus, by submitting to God and setting God pleasure as the ultimate objective of Man’s activities , Islam thus creates the real inner motivation and self direction within a man providing the highest possible motivation for improving Man’s behaviour in his economics life.

Rational Laws vs Revelations

In the Western perspective of economics , the absence of divine guidance has brought about few economic theories as perceived by certain scholars. These scholars , imbued by intelligence , creativity and diligency with the aim in making this world to  be a more prosperous place to live in have came out with their theories and concepts of economics. The 2 famous scholars were Adam Smith and Karl Marx establishing the two world most accepted economic theories , the capitalist and socialist respectively. Following that came the neo – classical economics theory called neo – classical liberalization articulated by the IMF in its adjusment programmes to improve the existing conventional economics theories.

Thus , these theories have been a motivational factor behind the economic life of Man till today. But all these theories being rational and man – made , and Man being created and not the creator , by itself full of limitations , automatically resulted in an inefficiency and ineffective solutions to solve Man’s economic issues and problems. The theory of Adam Smith in Man being selfish which will further lead to societal interest through free market , competition and price index has been the motivation behind  the establishment of capitalism. As for Karl Marx socialism , inspired by a programme which promised nothing less than paradise on earth : the eradication of all social classes , economic quality and freedom from all forms of tyranny , through the theory of hedonism , has been the motivational approach taken in the socialistic economic. But as said before , these theories lacking in the humane approach , a more divine guidelines , has caused a lot of injustice in the world economics.

Revelations has been the motivational approach of the Islamic economies in establishing the Islamic economy. The revelations being Divine in nature , which has been revealed by the Creator Himself , has been the absolute Truth in guiding man in his field of economic life. The guiding principles of Islamic economics are derived from the Shari’ah and Islamic law ( Fiqh ). The sources of the Shari’ah are the al – Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. Islamic Law or Fiqh is the legal literature developed by the Muslim jurists over the last fourteen centuries including economic theories as well.

a) The Al–Qur’an: 

The Qur’an is the book of God which has been preserved since it was revealed. The Qur’an contains general and broad guidelines for the conduct of human beings. On economic matters , too , it provides a set of fundamental principles to guide human conduct. Consistent with these principles , the superstructure of economy has to be built , in each age. The injunctions of the Qur’an are immutable and applicable to all societies and are valid for all times to come. The Qur’an is thus a primary source of Islamic economics.

"But seek , with the ( wealth ) which Allah has bestowed on thee , the Home of the  Hereafter , nor forget thy portion in this World : but do thou good , as Allah has been  good to thee , and seek not ( occasions for ) mischief in the land : for Allah loves not  those who do mischief ." ( 28 : 77 )

b) The Sunnah of the Prohet Muhammad s.a.w.

The sunnah is the speech , action or tacit approval of the Prophet s.a.w. as recorded in the books of traditions. The literature on traditions of the Prophet s.a.w. covers the entire orbit of life , including the economic aspect. Although most of the traditions are general and applicable for all times , there are some whose relevancy is time bound. Knowledge of the traditions containing injuctions about economic activities is an essential part of  the approach to be taken in Islamic economists.

The Prophet has said , "It is better for one among you to bring a load of firewood on his back , and give charity out of it and be independent of people , than that he should beg from people where they give him anything or refuse." ( Imam Muslim , Kitab al – Zakah )

c) Islamic Law or Fiqh

There exists a vast legal literature developed by the Muslim jurists over the last fourteen centuries. It deals with formalization of the injunctions of the Qur’an and the traditions of the Prophet s.a.w.. The jurists have been elaborating and deriving

inferences about economic questions as well. In fact some of the early works of Islamic law deal with finance and land management. Islamic economics draws heavily on this rich heritage , for example Kitab al – Kharaj by Abu Yusoff. But the opinions of the jurist are not inviolable and can be modified and adjusted according to changes in time and space. That is where the process of ijtihad need to be maintained especially in today fast growing economic conditions. Colloboration of religious scholars with economists is , thus , a necessity for the development of Islamic economics.

Thus , in the light of the above discussion , we can see the way the Western and Islamic perspectives and approach in establishing their economics theories.

Economic Objectives vs Maqasid al - Shariah

As said above , the Western perspective of economics objective is in the attainment of material gain only in this world especially for the capitalist economic. Without any Divine Guidance or godhead , it has made their approach to economics very limited to the wordly gains only. Money and matter has been the prime driving force. In view of this outlook , their economics concepts and ideologies are a manifestation of such motivations. This wordly objectives only has caused a lot of misery in this present world , for example , many poor countries are heavily indebted to the rich countries with interest rates skyrocketting. Unjust distribution of wealth is seen because everyone is scared to part with their money and no spiritual objectives is in placed to control such behaviour due to the capitalistic self – interest philosophy.

The capitalist approach to economic life has resulted in widespread depletion of non – renewal natural resources , deforestation of wide areas , pollution of environment and ecological imbalance. Consumer in capitalism is explained in terms of sovereignty of consumers , where they have the freewill to but what they likes without any need of moral  checks thus leading to greed , wasteful , imbalance justice of wealth distribution and etc. In socialism, its theory has resulted to the emergence of a new privileged bureaucratic class , in contrary with its theory. Thus , the drive to attain economic excellence in the worldly aspect alone has caused tremendous flaws in the world society.

In the Islamic perspective , the economics objective must be in conformity with  the maqasid al – shariah or goals of the shariah. The need for worldly gains are followed together with the need of  spiritual gains. Islam maintains that the soul cannot be separated from the body and that spiritual needs cannot be separated from bodily needs. This unity is the most striking characteristic of Islam. In view of this characteristic , the economic objective of Islamic economics is directed to realize this bodily and spiritual needs. In the maqasid al – shariah , the objectives are namely to educate the individual , to establish justice and to realize benefit or public interest ( maslahah ) to the people.

 Education is usually done through the basic rituals such as prayer , fasting , paying zakah and infaq so as to nourish the mind , purify the heart and 'cleans' the wealth. The attainment of falah ( well – being ) through brotherhood and justice for all human beings is the principle goal of Islamic economics. In establishing maslahah , Islamic economies will design the package to serve the interest and welfare of the people in protecting their religion , life , faculty of mind , lineage and property in meeting different levels of maqasid such as daruriyyat (essentials) , hajiyyat ( needs ) and tahsiniyyat ( complementary needs ).  The elimination of absolute poverty is one of the important agenda in the Islamic economics.

Thus , the differences in the economics objectives has brought about a different motivational approach by these two economics perspectives.  in the motivational aspects of economics , we noticed the vast differences of their economics approaches in solving economic issues. Below is a table showing the differences in approach between the two economics system.

NEXT: Role of Man-Economics 

Ismail Raji al Faruqi / AL TAWHID : Its Implications for Thought and Life / IIIT / Herndon Virginia, USA /  1992 / Pg 157Islamic Principles Of Buisness Organisation And Management / Dr. F. R. Faridi / S.Abdul Majeed & Co /   K.L / 1997 / Pg 85Ismail Raji al Faruqi / AL TAWHID : Its Implications for Thought and Life / IIIT / Herndon Virginia, USA /   1192 / Pg 40  

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