According to Wikipedia[1] secularism is the assertion that governmental practices or institutions should exist separately from religion and/or religious beliefs. In other words, secular views are based on the materialistic and individualistic with less socio economic justice and only concern to the worldly matters. Thus, the above statement of differentiation between Islamic economics and secularism by only certain characteristics is untrue as both of them are mutually exclusive. In the secular system, of course, such characters described in the question can easily be eliminated, however, the purpose of doing it, is just for the worldly purpose through rationalization without concerning the hereafter. The same also applied to the Christianity.
As far as Islamic worldview is concern, men were created by Allah to worship Him and to act as vicegerent (Khalifah) to manage the world towards the achievement of the world and hereafter. Thus, men has to follow the guidelines that have been determined by Allah through His messengers in the form of Quran and hadith, and later evaluated by Ijma’ and qias that has been acceptable as the primary sources in syariah rules inclusive of the Islamic economics. On the other hand, conventional economic theory has evolved on the assumption that people are always rational, however in reality, they are not.
According to Al Attas[2] (1994), Islamic worldview is “a metaphysical survey of visible as well as the visible worlds including the perspective of life as a whole, is not a worldview that is formed merely by the gathering together of various cultural objects, values and phenomena in to artificial coherence”. Thus, men should act by observing the values of the beliefs by understanding the responsibility of being a vicegerent of Allah which are the responsibilities towards the relationship between man and god, man and his fellow men, man and the other elements and creatures of the universe and finally man and his innermost self.
The Muslims also should believes that all of their behaviors will be accounted for whatever they do in this world in the hereafter, thus have to fulfill the will of Allah in order to seek His pleasure and the promised rewards in the hereafter. This act should be supported by the element of transparencies and trustworthiness to avoid injustice. Moreover, men should observe the guideline of ethical behavior so called Akhlaq which emphasizes on the real spirit of Islam over and above legal limits.
Therefore, as a guideline, syariah is designed as a set of rules and regulations that aims of protecting public interest and the welfare of the people in this life and hereafter. According to Imam Al-Ghazali, “the objective of the Shari`ah is to promote the well-being of all mankind, which lies in safeguarding their faith (din), their human self (nafs), their intellect (`aql), their posterity (nasl) and their wealth (mal). Whatever ensures the safeguard of these five serves public interest and is desirable”[3].
Syariah has been divided into 4 types; ibadah, muamalah, jinayah and munakahat. The guideline of Islamic economics is in the discipline of muamalat. Fiqh al-Muamalat presents a framework for conduct in the civil arena. It deals in part with economic functions in an Islamic society but not comprehensively with factors impacting upon economic behavior since it is concerned solely with legal relationships between members of the society[4]. In fact, the goals of the Islamic economics are:
i. Fulfillment of the basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, medical care and education for all humans;
ii. Ensuring equality of opportunity to all;
iii. Preventing concentration of wealth and reducing inequality in the distribution of income and wealth so as, among other things, wealth does not become a means of domination of man by man;
iv. Ensuring to all the freedom to pursue moral excellence; and
v. Ensuring stability and economic growth to an extent necessary for realization of the above-mentioned goals.
Under muamalat, any action that is not specifically or generally described as prohibited or haram automatically becomes permissible or halal. In addition, according to Dr Muhammad Nejatullah Siddiqi[5], the institutional framework in an Islamic society can be briefly noted as follows:
i. Although absolute ownership belongs to Allah, Islam recognizes ownership rights for the individual as well as for society, the latter quite often being represented by the state. Private property is a trust involving obligations towards others and subject to constraints in its acquisition, use and disposal. Public property too is a trust, the trustees being accountable to people as well as to Allah.
ii. Freedom of enterprise including freedom of contract is granted subject to constraints designed to protect the interest of others. Competition is therefore permitted, with due care not to harm others.
iii. In joint enterprise profits will be shared by all those who bear the risks and uncertainties involved. The lender to whom the repayment of the principal is guaranteed is not entitled to any return.
iv. Mutual consultation should be the basis of political organization.
v. Muslims should care for one another and help those in need. There is a role for voluntary organizations in this regard. The state has the responsibility and the power to ensure, through collective action, realization of the Islamic goals. Individuals too have inviolable rights and it is the people who have the power to appoint state functionaries.
In addition, Muslims as individual or corporate have the obligation of distribute a portion of their wealth to the public in form of compulsory and voluntary contribution namely zakat and sadaqah as they have to help each other. In term of market, market exchange is the main feature of economic operation in the Islamic system, however, this system is filtered through an Islamic process that produces a socially concerned environmentally friendly system. In this process, socialist and welfare state oriented frameworks are avoided not to curb incentives in the economy.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularism
[2] Islam and the Challenge of Modernity, Proceeding of the Inaugural Symposium on Islam and the Challenge of Modernity: Historical and Cotemporary contexts, Kuala Lumpur, August 1 – 5, 1994
[3] M. Umer Chapra, The Future of Economics: An Islamic Perspective (Leicester: The Islamic Foundation, 2000), 118.
[4] http://www.islamic-finance.com/item40_f.htm
[5] Dr. Mumammad Nejatullah Siddiqi, Teaching Islamic Economics, Islamic Economics Research Centre, 2005, Pg 9-10
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