Islam and Economy
Islam and Economy
Prophet Muhammad and Economical System / Seyed A.M. Shahrestani
Promoting economic growth through business whilst ensuring that society and the environment do not become victims of businesses financial gains are one of the fundamental challenges faced by societies and businesses.
Nowadays, economic struggle is one of the most issues which most Islamic societies and Muslim individuals are facing. Economic struggle includes poverty, inflation, costly life, low productivity, high debts and etc. High interest, usury and high taxation which are posing by Western societies are reasons for these economic problems.
It is also important to mention that the reasons behind most of crimes which are happening around the world are because of poverty and need for money. Many young peoples do not marry or many married couples stop reproduction or even many people die because of poverty and need for money.
When Islam was introduced by Prophet Mudammad (peace be upon him) 1400 years ago, one of the main issue which discussed and emphasized was the economic struggle such as usury or interest. All of these issues had negative impact on society and individuals; for example, the unfairness of the usury of debt lies in that the debtor by paying the creditor interest on his funds invested is in fact giving the creditor a higher benefit then what he received from the use of the funds. Interest payment by people, who need to borrow from people who have money to lend, in aggregate, increases economic inequality. In addition, usury displaces worthwhile economic activity which will affect social interest. Therefore, because of these negative impacts Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) implemented the Islamic economic system.
Micheal Hart (The 100, pages 3-10) indicates that the Prophet Muhammad “brought about the greatest revolution, even an economic and political miracle in human history”.
After the implementation of the Islamic economic system by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) the economic condition of the people changed.
The economic system which was introduced by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) includes: Zakat, Khoms, Inheritance (mirath) and the Riba-Free System of Transactions. This economic system emphasized three important issues. First issue was that money is not a commodity and it does not reproduce. The only way of economic growth is when money used in an economic activity.
Religion and Media / Seyed Mohammad Ali Abtahi
I believe all those who have had “religion” or “the media” as their field of study or area of experience, in recent years, especially after the bitter catastrophe of September 11, are faced with two essential questions:
Why have the borders of religious “difference” become more prominent and why have the identity factors become clearer?
How can the media diminish religious alienation and support inter-religious dialogue?
Prophet Abraham’s Call : Reasoning in order to approach the Proof / Dr Abbas A. AbdulRidha
Historically, the period of the Prophet Abraham is determined to have been in around 2400 B.C. Prophet Abraham came from the town of Ur in Babylonia. Among the ancient cultures that developed in the river valleys, Babylonia was well-advanced.
Allah commands the followers of Abraham to see and perceive in their mind; i.e., to use their mind and their reason in order to attain what Abraham had seen and perceived. Because human perception is related to what can be seen, and this varies between human beings, Allah showed his prophet what is beyond that physical world and helped him see the real world behind.2
American Youth in Crisis / Dr. Hussein Al-Amili
As I write these lines, I could not contain my outrage at the school incident that happened yesterday in Waycross, Georgia (USA). A group of elementary students, boys and girls aged 9 and 10, were plotting to kill their teacher in the classroom. They brought a kitchen knife, handcuffs, duct tape and other items for the job. They assigned children tasks ranging from covering the windows to block the view, taping the teacher’s mouth, beating her unconscious, and stabbing her to death. All this because the teacher scolded one of them for standing on a chair. The plot was uncovered when one of the students tipped off the others to an administrator.
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