IT IS our religious belief that the fortunate in the society should make all attempts to assist the less fortunate to progress.
The law of human nature insists that everybody needs each other.
The poor definitely require the assistance of the wealthy and vice-versa.
It is wrong to assume that the rich do not need the poor.
Both the wealthy and the poor make up the society.
Prosperity should be shared in a just manner if society is to continue to progress.
Thus, all the basic requirements of the less fortunate have to be satisfied if a harmonious society is to be developed.
This implies that every member of society has to be above the poverty line and wealth disparity should be reduced.
The realisation of this social justice can be the starting point for society’s sustainable success.
In order to achieve social justice, all exploitative mechanisms in all aspects of society’s activities should be eliminated.
Room for manipulation and corruption should be closed.
Ethical practices among all individuals must be enhanced.
Poverty among certain segments of society is a social ill which retards the entire process of social development.
Our ability to find solutions to poverty is a requirement for further optimum social progress.
It should not be considered as a less important agenda item in social development.
Neither should it be considered as just another problem.
To this effect our nation is quite successful.
The worrying phenomenon is the wider disparity of wealth.
In supporting the principle of sharing our prosperity towards society building, the Quran gives the clear guideline that wealth should not circulate only among the rich.
This guideline gives great emphasis to distributive justice where opportunities are made available to everybody.
This healthy environment creates high motivation for everybody to excel.
Islam insists that those who are successful voluntarily assist the less fortunate.
In a lengthy Madinan passage, the Quran states that expenditure on the needy is like a single grain that grows seven ears of corn, each ear containing a hundred or more grains, that those who spend in order to show off or who want recognition from their beneficiaries are like rock, upon which there is a thin layer of earth which is easily washed away by a torrential rain (2:260-264).
The Quran reiterated that Satan inspires you with (fear of) poverty (for investing in society) and commands you obscenities; God, on the other hand, promises you forgiveness and prosperity (for such investment) (2:268).
Allah reminds the Muslims that in the absence of concern for the welfare of the poor, even prayers became hypocritical.
The Quran reminded – Did you see the one who gives the lie to the Faith? It is he who maltreats orphans and works little for the feeding of the poor. Woe betide then those who pray, yet are neglectful of their prayers – those who pray for show and even deny the use of their utensils (to the poor) (107:1-7).
These verses of the Quran clearly condemn those who propagate the “beggar thy neighbour” approach to social arrangement.
The attitude of not helping and unwilling to share prosperity with others can be a great obstacle not only to spiritual development but also to economic growth.
This is because by subscribing to this principle it can lead to social disequilibrium.
At the same time there are big economic costs.
The Quran also reminded humanity that a civilisation can be destroyed if its individuals committed serious vices like economic, political and social oppression of the poor, idolatry and permissiveness as happened to the people of Prophet Noah and Prophet Lot.
In another strong warning, Allah says: When we want to destroy a town (i.e. a civilisation), We command its luxurious ones, so they commit unrighteousness in it and when the judgment becomes ripe upon it, We destroy it utterly (17:16).
In the present materialistic and individualistic society it is a very tall order to realise the ideal of sharing prosperity in a just way.
But through the commitment of those in authority and through in-depth knowledge about humanity among society, there is always the possibility for all individuals to reject the approach of conflict in social organisation in preference of cooperation and sharing of prosperity for human survival and success.
Islam from the beginning insists Muslims establish political and social orders based on the fair and moral principle of sharing prosperity.
Under such an approach, all corruption on earth would be minimised and eventually eliminated.
Thus, the Muslim community has to go all out to address the present human predicaments in line with the spirit of “commanding good and forbidding evil” (3: 104).
The ability to put into practice all aspects of Islamic principles, including the sharing of prosperity for further social progress in a nation, is a jihad (holy struggle) which requires in-depth knowledge and skill to manoeuvre society along the right path.