An Islamic Model of Social Security QURAN AL FAJR: “The case of those who spend their property for the cause of God is like that of a grain that brings forth seven ears, each bearing a hundred grains. God gives manifold increase to whom He wills. God is Munificent, All- Knowing. (261)Those who spend their property for the cause of God and do not follow their spending by vaunting their own generosity, or by hurting others, shall have their reward with their Lord. They have nothing to fear, nor shall they grieve. (262) A kind word with forgiveness is better than charity followed by injury. God is free of all wants, clement. (263) Believers, do not render your charitable deeds worthless by boasting about your benevolence and causing injury to others, as does he who spends his wealth to impress people, while he believes neither in God nor in the Last Day. Such a person is like a smooth rock covered with earth. Then heavy rain falls on it and leaves it hard and bare. Such as these shall gain nothing from their works. God does not guide the unbelievers. (264) But those who give away their money out of a genuine desire to please God, and out of their own inner certainty, are like a garden on a hillside. When heavy rain falls on it, it yields up twice its normal produce. If no heavy rain falls on it, then a light drizzle [will suffice]. God sees all that you do.(265) Would any of you wish to have a garden of palm-trees and vines, through which running waters flow, bringing forth all kinds of fruits, then to be well advanced in age, with helpless offspring; and then a fiery whirlwind smites it and leaves it all burnt down? Thus God makes plain to you His revelations, so that you may reflect. (266)Believers, spend on others out of the good things you have earned, and out of that which We bring forth for you from the earth. Do not choose for your spending the inferior things which you yourselves would not accept without turning your eyes away in disdain. Know that God is free of all want, ever to be praised. (267) Satan promises you poverty and bids you to commit indecency, whereas God promises you His forgiveness and bounty. God is Munificent, All-Knowing. (268) He grants wisdom to whom He wills. He who is granted wisdom has indeed been granted abundant good. Yet only those with sound minds would take heed. (269) Whatever alms you give or vows you make are known to God. The evildoers shall have none to help them. (270) If you give alms openly, that is well; but if you give them to the needy in private, it is even better for you, and will atone for some of your bad deeds. God is aware of all you do. (271) It is not for you to make people follow the right guidance. It is God who guides whom He wills. Whatever good you may spend in charity is for your own good. You should only spend out of pure dedication to God. And whatever good you give in charity will be repaid to you in full, and you shall not be wronged. (272) [Alms are] for the needy who, being wholly preoccupied with God’s cause, are unable to go about earning their livelihood. The unthinking take them for men of wealth on account of their restrained behaviour. You can recognize them by their special mark: they do not importune people for alms. Whatever good you give is certainly known to God. (273) Those who give their property by night and by day, in private and in public, shall have their reward with their Lord. They have nothing to fear and they shall not grieve. (274)” THE QURAN ILLUSTRATED 6TH JANUARY 2015: Overview: The last three passages centred mainly on ideological concepts of the Islamic faith, clarifying its aspects and ensuring its firm establishment in people’s hearts. These passages constituted an interval in the line followed in this long sūrah which prepares the Muslim community to undertake its role of leadership of mankind. From this point and up to its concluding verses, the sūrah is largely devoted to Setting out some fundamental features of the socioeconomic system that the Muslim community should adopt. It is a system based on social cooperation and welfare through the established financial obligation of zakāt and other unspecified voluntary contributions and donations. We learn in this passage that, in contrast to the system prevalent in pre-Islamic Arabia, the Islamic socioeconomic system is fundamentally opposed to usury and encourages fundamentally different financial dealings. Thus, the sūrah speaks of a proper method of charity, denounces usury and outlines the Islamic principles of lending and trade which complement the social and economic principles according to which Islamic social life is organized and conducted. All this is spread over three closely interrelated passages. In the present passage we learn that contributing financially to charitable causes is akin to jihād, in the sense that its purpose is to serve the cause of God. Jihād is prescribed for Muslims to fulfil their duty of implementing God’s message and conveying it to the rest of mankind and protecting its followers against persecution and oppression. The call to spend of one’s money is frequently made in this sūrah, and this part of it lays down the basic principle underlying that call. Its social and psychological ethics are presented in terms of both compassion and benefit, so that charity becomes a means of financial and spiritual exaltation and refinement for both donor and recipient. It is an act that spreads the spirit of brotherhood, empathy and cooperation among members of the community and makes them feel and behave as equal members of the same family. It is important to point out that although the directives given in this section of the sūrah are universal and general, one can, nevertheless, detect that they were revealed in response to specific situations faced by the Muslims at the time, though these often recur. It is clear that a Muslim community may include selfish and parsimonious individuals who need rigorous discipline and convincing arguments and examples to absorb the facts. Besides the sincere and generous people, there were miserly individuals who would exact a steep price for lending or donating their money. There were those who would give for charity with much difficulty and reluctance or merely for ostentatious reasons, and there were those who would use their money to demonstrate their superiority, and others who would give only what they disdained. It is important to acknowledge these facts because they help us understand the nature and role of the Qur’ān as a dynamic and active force within the developing Muslim community. It was revealed to deal with actual situations and to lead, inform and educate the Muslims to whom it was addressed. This is how the Qur’ān should be viewed by Muslims today: a living dynamic agent in society, especially in view of the widening gap between Islam and the reality of their daily life. We seem to view the Qur’ān as an abstract thing that has no historical living reality. We no longer perceive of it as the force that once shaped Islamic life and society, or the source of the daily orders that Muslims used to receive and act upon. Our perception of the Qur’ān has died, or at least has gone into a coma, and its true original image has faded from Muslim minds today. We have grown accustomed to listening to the Qur’ān recited by beautiful voices in melodious ways and to being moved and affected by the experience. Or we have become satisfied by simply reading it for spiritual or emotional stimulation, or to gain some esoteric or mystical comfort — all of which the Qur’ān does, indeed, evoke and provide. We need to approach the Qur’ān in a way that restores its dynamic role in society and breathes life and consciousness into Muslim minds, and leads Muslim life and moves it forward. Muslims today need to turn back to the Qur’ān for advice, enlightenment and direction, as their predecessors did, and to understand its teachings on all aspects and areas of life. They need to see and learn the historic process through which Islam and the first Muslim community came to be established, to appreciate that process and accept it as part of their own formation and existence, and to recognize their life as an extension of that of their pioneering predecessors. It is important for Muslims today to identify with the struggle and achievements of the early generations of Islam, and see the Qur’ān as equally and directly addressed to them in their present situation, and that they should let it guide all their plans and activities as a comprehensive code of life and a universal body of law and wisdom. Reading the Qur’ān in this way helps us to recognize the human natural response to faith and the duties it imposes. We can see such response in reality through the Qur’ānic references to the life of the first Muslim community. Although that community was the first recipient of the Qur’ān and the immediate beneficiary of the Prophet’s special care, it had certain weaknesses that needed to be addressed and remedied. Yet such weaknesses did not stop that community from achieving its rank as the best generation in the history of mankind. Thus we can see human communities in their reality, unlike the exaggerated images often given to them. We also learn not to despair as we see ourselves well below the high standards Islam calls on people to seek. It is enough that we are making a sincere effort to improve ourselves and achieve a higher standard. Moreover, we learn an important fact, namely that the urge to work towards perfection must continue all the time, unaffected by people’s shortcomings and weaknesses. By nature, people will respond gradually as they are constantly reminded of their virtue, duty and goodness. They will also respond to repeated reminders showing the beauty of goodness and the horrible nature of evil. They need a helping hand whenever they slacken as they travel along the road leading to the sublime goal. Such an intelligent reading of the Qur’ān will put before our eyes an often overlooked simple fact: it is the same people, the same divine message and the same battle fought throughout history. First and foremost, it is a battle against human weakness and parsimony of the individual, and against evil, falsehood, error and tyranny in human life. The fight must be engaged; there can be no way of averting it. The rulers of the Muslim community must fight this battle in both domains, just like the Qur’ān and the Prophet fought it the first time. It is inevitable that some slips and errors would occur; weakness would surface at some points. But a remedy must be found whenever a weakness appears. It is imperative that people should be guided to God in the same Qur’ānic method. This brings us back to what we said at the beginning: we must consult the Qur’ān before embarking on any course of action. It must be seen to mould our lives like it moulded the life of the first Muslim community.”(Source In the Shade of the Quran, vol11, pp -365-367)
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 03:04:03 +0000
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