The existence or non-existence of Islamic economics has been a discussion among scholars of Islamic and human sciences for the past few decades. Hujjat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin Gholamali Ma’sumi Nia believes that the existence of an Islamic economic system, in contrast to capitalist and communist economic systems, is a clear and self-evident matter. Born in 1961 in Isfahan, he has been teaching and researching in the field of Islamic economics for years. An Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics, Kharazmi University, in this oral note, he addresses the reasons for the existence of Islamic economics in contrast to other economic systems.
In jurisprudence, there are many chapters related to economic issues. Of course, issues that have economic, legal, and financial dimensions are nowadays called interdisciplinary. Some of these jurisprudential chapters are in the field of contracts, such as the chapter on muzara’ah (sharecropping), musaqat (irrigation contract), ijarah (lease/hire); some are in the field of taxes, such as the chapter on khums (one-fifth tax) and zakat (obligatory charity); and some are not in these two areas but are related to economics.
Some jurisprudential rules also have both an economic and a legal aspect; such as: the rule of the prohibition of consuming wealth unjustly (akl al-mal bil-batil), the rule of la darar (no harm), and many other jurisprudential rules.
Someone might say that most of the topics of these rules are legal, not economic. The answer is that their connection to economics, if not greater, is at least not less. Martyr Sadr correctly stated that legal rules have a superstructural aspect relative to the rules of economic relations and economic schools of thought. He even says that we can, through a systematic method, by logically placing jurisprudential rules alongside jurisprudential principles, also arrive at an economic doctrine. This method of Martyr Sadr is well-known; that is, moving from the superstructure to the substructure. In his opinion, every economic doctrine has a set of principles that are part of the values of that doctrine, and it has established rules in accordance with them. If we consider the principles of an economic school and doctrine, we can guess what the general outlines of the jurisprudential and legal principles are. For example, if we go and correctly identify the capitalist school of economics from the books of its great economists, we can guess how they act in their rulemaking. Conversely, if we look at the legal rules and regulations of a country and do not know which country it belongs to, we can well say which school of thought these have arisen from; for instance, if they give us the economic legal regulations of exports, imports, economic activities, and taxes of France, England, and America, and then tell us what economic system prevails here and what the economic school is, we can say that capitalism is here. Or if they show us the legal relations that prevailed in the former Soviet Union, we say that Marxism prevails here.
It is the same in jurisprudence. When we put together the economic rulings stated in our jurisprudential books, we realize how economic relations are described in Islam, and these regulations and principles arise from those principles that are specific to Islam.
For example, the prohibition of riba is a legal relationship in today’s language and has been discussed in detail in jurisprudential books. In addition to that, there is another relationship under the title of the prohibition of bay’ al-dayn bil-dayn (selling a debt for a debt), which is based on the saying of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) who said: “La yubaya’ al-dayn bil-dayn” (Debt is not to be sold for debt). There are also detailed discussions about the prohibition of bay’ al-‘inah. Bay’ al-‘inah has two forms, one of which is forbidden, and the other is permissible. Permissible bay’ al-‘inah is when a person sells a commodity for cash and then, without any stipulation in between, the buyer says, buy this from me on credit. Forbidden bay’ al-‘inah is when, while selling for cash, the buyer stipulates that you must buy it from me on credit. On the other hand, Islam has forbidden consuming wealth unjustly (akl al-mal bil-batil).
When we put these together, we understand that the economy that Islam had in mind is that if someone wants to earn an income, they must enter the real economy and the real scene; that is, earn income by combining labor and capital. This view of Islam is a special view that is different from other economic schools, especially capitalist economics. In capitalist economics, most people are trapped by a few individuals called big capitalists and become their dependents and wage-earners, and in return for the value-added they create, they only receive a fixed wage, and this surplus of capital goes into the pockets of these capitalists. But in the Islamic economic system, profit is proportional to work, so those poles of wealth are not created. Even in communist economics, profit is not proportional to work; rather, everyone profits equally, and the surplus of their efforts goes into the pocket of the state, and the state turns into that big capitalist.
It is this very difference that causes riba to be permissible in capitalist economics but forbidden in Islamic economics. Islam says that one should receive in proportion to their work, and this is justice. In Marxist economics, it says everyone must toil and get a minimal thing. Islam does not accept this either.
In addition to these points, there are many other principles in jurisprudence that must be discussed in order to discover the economic system of Islam; a system that is compatible with justice, with progress, and with human nature.
The intention of discovering the economic system is not through purposive methods such as sadd al-dhara’i’ (blocking the means), qiyas (analogical reasoning), and istihsan (juristic preference), which are incorrect; rather, it is the discovery of principles from the Book and the Sunnah.
Of course, to discover the economic system of Islam, in addition to jurisprudential rulings, attention must also be paid to the verses of the Quran and the Sirah (biography/conduct) of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS); such as the Sirah of the governance of Amir al-Mu’minin (AS) during his four years and nine months of rule, or His Holiness’s statements in Nahj al-Balagha, or the Sirah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
For example, Prophet Shu’ayb (AS) lived at a time when a series of economic corruptions were prevalent. One of the main elements of his preaching, which is stated in the Holy Quran, was to deter people from polytheism and idolatry: “And if the companions of the Wood…” The second element of Prophet Shu’ayb’s (AS) call was to deter from economic corruptions. What did they do in the time of Prophet Shu’ayb (AS)? The Quran says Prophet Shu’ayb told them: “And do not diminish the measure and the balance. Indeed, I see you in prosperity.” Then Prophet Shu’ayb (AS) summarizes and says: “And do not deprive people of their things.” It seems that after the prohibition of riba, one of the most general Quranic rules is the rule of the prohibition of bakhs. Bakhs means to give less; that is, the entire economy should be such that everyone gets their due right, and no one diminishes the right of another.
Or the verse “Woe to the mutaffifin (those who give less in measure and weight).” After the prohibition of riba, perhaps the strongest expressions in the Quran are regarding tatfif. “Woe to the mutaffifin” means woe to those who give less in measure and weight! Tatfif is, for example, buying a kilo of oranges and giving a little less to him! Allamah Tabataba’i says: Tatfif is a general rule that can regulate economic relations. In capitalist and Marxist economics as well, the entire economy is built on one or several rules.
Martyr Sadr has a brilliant sentence that shines above all interpretations. He says: “The capitalist system focuses on production, and Islam focuses on distribution”; meaning, rules such as the prohibition of riba, the prohibition of bakhs, and the prohibition of tatfif aim to rectify the distribution system so that those poles of wealth are not formed.
Given these points, it is truly surprising that some deny the existence of an Islamic economic system. Allamah Tabataba’i (RA) in Al-Mizan has discussed this issue extensively for about 50 pages, stating that in human systems, it is impossible for humans themselves to reach a conclusion in times of disagreement; rather, they need revelation. Now, is economics an exception to this rule? In the Mahdavian government as well, His Holiness Baqiyatullah (may Allah hasten his reappearance) will act according to his own economic version, not human versions of economics.