2.4. THE ISLAMIC MOVEMENT AND BUSINESSMEN AND FINANCIERS
Among the fields that the Islamic Movement should invade and influence is the field of traders, businessmen and financiers. Except for those whom Allah protects against wrongdoing, the members of this class live in the world of figures and balance sheets, money and capital, loss and profit, monopoly and competition.
Such mentality often makes its owner forget the barrier between halal and haram and neglect the dhikr [remembrance] of Allah and the performance of salat [prayer] zakat [alms].
That is why the Prophet was careful to guide and admonish traders against the evils and perils lurking on the path of commercial activity.
He warned them against cheating, saying: (He who cheats us is not one of us)
He warned against monopoly, saying (He who monopolizes [a commodity] is a sinner).
He warned against much swearing by Allah in trading, criticizing those merchants who make Allah the Almighty a commodity (so that they would not buy or sell without swearing by Allah).
He warned against false oath, as it (may forward a transaction but will deprive the seller of Allah’s blessing).
He warned against riba [usury], saying: (Allah curses those who receive riba, those who pay it, those who write its contracts and those who witness it)
He warned against the Gharar [sale of goods that are not present] because of the involved ignorance of the buyer and the consequent dispute over the sale once the commodity is present.
The Holy Quran also admonishes against fraud in measuring or weighing, saying (Woe to those that deal in fraud. Those who, when they have to receive by measure from men, exact full measure. But when they have to give by measure or weight to men, give less than due. Do they not think that they will be raised up? On a Mighty Day. A day when [all] mankind will stand before the Lord of the Worlds?) [Surat AlMutaffifin: 1 6].
On the other hand, the Quran praises those, merchants who are not distracted from their duty to Allah and His faridas. It describes those who visit mosques regularly for prayer, (In them [the mosques] He is glorified in the mornings and in the evenings [again and again], by men whom neither trade nor sale can divert from the remembrance of Allah, nor from regular prayer, nor from paying zakat: their [only] fear is for the Day when hearts and eyes will be turned about ) [Surat AlNur: 3637].
Merchants and businessmen hold a large portion of the Nation’s wealth. They control people’s supply and set the prices of needed commodities. They influence the Nation’s economy and financial policy.
Therefore, merchants and businessmen should be [made] aware of what they must and must not do, and of what they have to give out of their wealth in zakat and in dues other than zakat.
Merchants and businessmen should not be regarded as hopeless cases who do not fall within the scope of the Awakening and who are preoccupied with worldly life alone.
Merchants and businessmen are human like other people: they are affected by promises and warnings, and they can be influenced by the word of wisdom and the patient and suitable approach.
In the early days of the Prophet’s Message, many merchants took up the Belief in Allah and His Messenger and supported the Message of Monotheism, even if their action exposed their commerce and capital to destruction and waste.
There was AbuBakr, Osman and AbdulRahman IbnAuf, who were among the very first to take up Islam, and they are among “the Ten Who Received Glad Tidings”.
Their hijra [migration] to Medina forced them to abandon their homes and wealth in their quest for Allah’s pleasure and grace and their endeavor for supporting Allah and His Messenger. They welcomed their lot and were content to take it for the sake of Allah. In our contemporary age, we see many faithful merchants and businessmen who prefer the Hereafter to this life, spending, of their free will, for the support of their religion and not holding to the good wealth sent down to them by Allah out of His Grace, for they regard themselves and their wealth as a property of the Islamic Call and the Islamic Movement.
Financiers in the Christian West provide missionary foundations all over the world with the funding necessary for their work, donating billions of dollars for that purpose. The same applies to Jewish capitalists who, despite the known Jewish miserliness and money worship, have given generously to the Jewish cause before and after the establishment of Israel. Muslim financiers must not do less, as they know that the wealth is Allah’s wealth and they are only appointed by Allah as its guardians, and that they are required to strive in Allah’s cause with their money, and that they will be rewarded by Allah for everything they spend for the sake of Allah’s cause.
There is an important point in regard to material contribution and donation that we have to cast light upon: I know that there are many among rich Muslims who are pious and straightforward and wish to give of their wealth in quest for Allah’s pleasure. They donate much and give freely and generously. However, they need to know how and where to spend their money. It is required in the field of Islamic work and donation that those who have money to spend on charity should know that it is not so important to spend the money as it is important to spend it in the right ways.
It is vitally important in this connection to arrange priorities, giving precedence to what is more important, followed by what is important, and so on.
It is really regrettable that the majority of rich Muslims, particularly those rich Muslims who spend their money on philanthropic purposes, pay most of their attention to the construction of mosques and similar institutions of a purely religious nature. This has been a cause for many complaints from workers in the fields of Call and Islamic work.
Our brothers in the Islamic Call Organization in Africa complained of it. Our big brother Dr Mohammad Nasser and his colleagues in the Supreme Council for Islamic Call in Indonesia complained of it, too. It has also been a cause for complaint among our brothers working in the fields of Islamic preaching and education and other brothers who work in confronting secularism, Marxism and other ideologies and trends.
Experts and faithful supporters of the Call agree that there is something that is more important than building mosques: it is the building of people, men who build civilizations, win victory for messages, achieve hopes, establish prayer in mosques and realize progress in institutions.
Building a center for spreading the call and enhancing the awareness of Muslims is one of the first deeds that bring a Muslim closer to Allah and serve Islam in a proper way. Spending money in such a way is a priority, a great deed that wins a Muslim the pleasure of Allah. Such a center will help in promulgating the right Islamic ideology among the young Muslims, correcting their doctrine and reforming their conduct. It will cultivate in their hearts the love of Islam and the jealousy for it, through various means and approaches, including trips, camps, workshops, lectures etc.
Qualifying preachers who are well trained, capable, knowledgeable in both religious and worldly matters and wholly devoted to their task through possession of the means of sustenance that enable them to see to their mission properly is a duty whose neglect constitutes a sin, and whose discharge represents a good deed worthy of Allah’s reward and people’s praise. It is, in fact, a deed that deserves devotion of money, time and effort for its implementation.
Source: Islamic Basics by Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
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