The Life of Muhammad

by M. Husayn Haykal

  Morality and Utilitarianism

  These virtues and the ethical system which they constitute are all founded on the spiritual system revealed in the Qur’an which is essentially related to iman in God. As we have said earlier, this characteristic is the most important feature of Islamic morality. It guarantees the grasp of the human soul by these values and ideals, as well as saves that system from all corruption. Morality founded upon utility and mutual advantage is quickly corrupted as soon as the moral subject is convinced that his personal advantage does not, suffer in consequence of his immorality. In such morality, it is most often the case that the subject is double-faced, showing an appearance different from what he holds deep within him. He would, for instance, seek to appear trustworthy while giving himself the right to use another’s confidence as a means for increasing his advantage. He would seek to appear truthful but would not restrain from false pretense as long as this added to his advantage. A morality founded upon such standards falls down as the winds of temptation begin to blow. Its subject is often found pursuing ulterior motives and ever running after the satisfaction of his own prejudices

  This essential moral weakness is most conspicuous in our present-day world. How often have we heard of great scandals occurring in this or that part of the civilized world, scandals all traceable to the pursuit of wealth and power on the part of their subjects, and on the weakness of their will to possess true iman and noble morals. Many of these people who fall to the nethermost depths in morality and perpetrate the worst crimes have started out with high morals based upon utilitarianism. They regarded success in life as based upon the observance of these high morals; and so they observed them in order to succeed, not because moral practice is a necessary part of their personal path which they ought to follow even though it might incur serious disadvantage. Hence, when they realized that some deviation from moral uprightness did in fact bring forth a measure of success within the civilization of this age, they allowed themselves to swerve. Many of them have been able to keep their personal code of behavior hidden from the public and, therefore, have never been exposed to scandal. They continue to be respected and esteemed. Others, less adept, have been exposed and have fallen into scandalous involvements which often have ended in personal ruin or suicide.

  To found morality on utility and advantage, therefore, is to expose it to eventual but certain calamity. On the other hand, to found it on a spiritual system such as the Qur’an has revealed is to guarantee its permanent strength, its moving appeal, and power to determine man’s ethics. The intention behind a deed is itself the measure of its moral worth, the genuine rubbing stone against which it should be tested. The man who buys a lottery ticket designed to build a hospital does not buy it with the intention of doing good and being charitable but in pursuit of material gain. Such act is not moral. Likewise, the man who gives to the insistent beggar in order to rid himself of the nuisance caused, is not on a par with the man who gives to the poor who not only do not insist when they ask, but do not ask at all out of a deep sense of dignity, shame, and self-respect. Furthermore, the man who tells the truth to the judge in fear of the punishment the law metes out to perjurers is not equivalent to the man who tells the truth because he believes in the virtue of truthfulness. A system of morals based upon utility and mutual advantage therefore cannot have the strength of a morality which the subject believes to be essentially related to his human dignity and to his iman in God, a morality founded upon the spiritual system on which his iman in God is itself founded.

  The Wisdom of Prohibition of Alcohol and Gambling in Islam

  The Qur’an, seeking to preserve the jurisdiction of reason in morality, thus has kept morality immune to all that might vitiate its judgment in matters of faith or morals. Consequently, it has regarded alcohol and gambling as anathema, the inspiration of the devil. Even though they might bring some advantage in their wake, their crime and evil are greater than their advantage; hence, they ought to be avoided. Gambling, for instance, takes such possession of the mind of the gambler that its victim can think of nothing else and can make no other use of his time. It tempts him away from the fulfillment of any moral obligation. On the other hand, alcohol dissolves reason as well as wealth, to use the terms of ‘Umar ibn al Khattab when he prayed that God might reveal His judgment in its regard. It is natural for the mind to err in its judgment when intoxicated; it is easy for the mind, once it has gone astray, to tolerate the pursuit of crime and evil instead of warning man against them.

  The Qur’an and Science

  The ethical system of the ideal state revealed in the Qur’an does not deprive man of the enjoyments of the good things of life, precisely because both privation and overindulgence may lead to the same consequences: neglect of the cosmos as a whole and of the pursuit of cosmic knowledge. The Islamic system strongly rejects man’s total surrender to enjoyment of affluence and comfort even as it rejects his surrender to privation and abstinence in which he loses himself in subjective psychic pursuits. On the contrary, Islam seeks to make its people a community of the golden mean, to orient them toward pure virtue, to develop their knowledge of the cosmos, and to master all that it contains. The Qur’an continually speaks of the cosmos and of what it contains in a way directing us toward increasing our knowledge of it. It speaks about the new moons, about the sun and the moon, day and night, the earth and the creatures that roam over it, the sky and the stars which adorn it, the sea whose surface is crisscrossed with ships sailing in pursuit of God’s bounty, of the animals we take as beasts of burden and others as ornaments, and of all that the earth contains for knowledge and art. In speaking about all these, the Qur’an asks man not only to look into them and study them but to enjoy their effects and to feel grateful to God for His bounty. With such discipline as the Qur’an has enjoined, and by following its insistent call to seek cosmic knowledge, man may fulfill his destiny. If he responds to the ‘call of the Qur’an and fulfills its requisite rational contemplation of the cosmos, he bases his economic and social system upon solid and worthy foundations.

  The Islamic Economic System

  Were economic and social systems to be based upon such moral and spiritual foundations, man would be able both to achieve happiness and to put an end to human suffering and misery on earth. The high ethical principles which the Qur’an poses as the very content of its creed, as well as its faith, command men to remove any shortcoming or misery in the world which it is possible to remove. A person disciplined by these principles and gripped by their ethic will condemn selfish interests, the basis of present economic life and the source of misery for all mankind. That is why Islam categorically forbids charging interest for loans. God said, “Those who appropriate interest are like men possessed of the devil.” [Qur’an, 2:275] Further, the Qur’an says, “The interest which you impose seeking to increase your wealth will not bring about any increase in the sight of God. Rather, it is the zakat which you pay for the sake of God alone, that brings about such increase of your fortune.” [Qur’an, 30:39]

  The Evils of the Interest System

  The prohibition of interest is a basic principle of Islamic civilization. It guarantees and safeguards the happiness of mankind. In its least offensive sense, interest is a system which enables the unproductive man to share in the fruits of someone else’s labor for no reason but that he lent him money. The argument advanced in its favor is that the money lent enabled the producer to produce his fruits and that without it, it would not have been possible for the producer to earn what he did. Even if this advantage were the only consequence of interest, it would not be justified. For, were the money lender capable of usufructing his money for himself, he would not have lent it to someone else. And were that money to remain in its coffer, it would not produce any fruits at all. Rather, it would probably be gradually consumed by its owner. If, therefore, the capitalist allows another man to usufruct his money, hoping thereby to win a share in its fruits, he should certainly be entitled to a share of
the fruits should there be such rather than imposing a definite interest charge for his money. If the operation proves successful and economically profitable, the owner of the capital should receive the share agreed upon. If it should turn out to be a failure and a loss, however, then he, too, should share a proportionate part of the burden. On the other hand, to impose a definite interest charge for the use of capital regardless of whether or not the use of such capital has been productive is illegitimate exploitation.

  It is futile to object here that capital is entitled to its rent because it is used like any other commodity, be it a piece of land or a mule, and that interest is really the equivalent of rent. The renting of movable and immovable property is vastly different from renting money; the latter may bring about mutual benefit and usufruct as well as pure exploitation and crime. Man does not rent a piece of land, a house, a beast of burden, or any immovable property except in order to use it to his advantage. Otherwise, he is insane, and his commitments are not responsible. It is otherwise with money. Money is for the most part lent for purposes of trade. But trade is always exposed to profit and loss. The renting of immovable or movable property is hardly ever exposed to loss except in rare, indeed exceptional, cases falling outside the realm of normal legislation. Where it does happen that the rent of movable or immovable property exposes the user to loss, the legislator usually intervenes between the landowner and the lessees in order to relieve such injustice and prevent exploitation by the landowner. Such has been the repeated practice of the world everywhere. On the other hand, the impose of a definite interest rate of seven or nine percent, more or less, is not affected by whether the usufruct of the money in question has realized a profit or a loss. Where ‘the result of the usufruct is a loss, to demand the interest is surely to commit a crime. It is on this account that hatred and immoral competition arise between men in place of fraternity and love. This source of misery is the primary cause of the repeated crises which the world community has been witnessing in recent times.

  The foregoing is perhaps the least offensive description of interest. In other pictures the money lender is better compared to a wild beast rather than to anything human. Consider the case of the man who needs money for a purpose other than production. It is possible that a man may fall in need and seek financial assistance to feed himself and his family for an interval, pending his finding a job or his engaging in some productive activity. To come to the assistance of such a man is one of the first duties of humanity. This is precisely what the holy Qur’an demands. Is not the charging of interest in such cases a heinous crime, an offense deserving the same punishment as murder? And is it not a crime still more sinister to tempt those who are not shrewd in the management of their own affairs in order to get them to borrow money on interest and thereby rob them of the little wealth they possess? To tempt and to trap a man with interest is no less a crime than the lowliest theft. Surely it deserves the same if not greater punishment.

  Interest and Colonialism

  It was interest and the demand for the profit it entails to the lender which engulfed the world in all the calamities of colonialism. In most cases, colonialism began with a number of capitalists, whether individuals or corporations, lending money to the colonized at interest and infiltrating the colony’s system with the aim of gaining control over its resources. When the borrowing people woke up and sought to liberate themselves from the money lender’s clutches, the creditors appealed to their own

  governments to intervene and protect what then came to be called their national interest. The latter then arrived with their armies and fleets and imposed themselves as colonial powers seeking to protect the interests of their own citizens. The colonial power then imposed its rule, deprived the people of their liberty and began to control whatever God gave the people of His bounty in their own land. Their happiness thus vanished. Misery, suffering, and poverty engulfed them. Ignorance and misguidance

  stifled their minds. Their morals deteriorated and their iman became dissolute. They thus fell below the level of humanity and reached a degree of inferiority that no man believing in God would accept for himself. No man believing that God alone is worthy of worship will allow his fate to be so controlled by someone else as to bring about his own loss and suffering.

  Colonialism is indeed the source of wars. It is the source of the misery which has befallen the whole of mankind in the present age. As long as interest is legitimate and real, as long as it is the basis of economic life and colonialism the dominant factor in international relations, there is no hope for the establishment of fraternity and love. Such a condition cannot be reached unless civilization is rebuilt upon the foundation which Islam has provided and which revelation has recorded in the Qur’an.

  Islamic Socialism

  The Qur’an also contains a system of socialism which has never yet been the object of research. It is a socialism which is not based on the competition of capital or class war, as the socialism of western civilization today. Rather it is based on moral principles guaranteeing fraternity between the classes and fostering mutual security and cooperation for the good and felicity of their members instead of crime and transgression. It is relatively easy to appreciate this Qur’anic socialism based upon brotherhood and institutionized in zakat and charity. It does not allow one class to dominate another or one group to impose its will upon another. The civilization depicted in the Qur’an knows no such dominion or imposition. It rests entirely upon genuine fraternity deriving from unswerving iman in God, a conviction which makes the recognition of God tantamount to giving to the poor and the deprived that which they need by way of nourishment, clothing, shelter, medicine, education, and upbringing, without even making them feel that they have been the object of charity. Under this system, misery will vanish and men may hope God will complete His bounty and grant them the happiness they desire.

  No Abolition of Private Property

  Islamic socialism does not demand the annulment of private property, as is the case with western socialism. The facts are that even in Bolshevik Russia, as well as in any socialist country, the doing away with private property has not been fruitful. On the other hand, it goes without saying that all public utilities should become common property for the people. The definition of public utilities should be left for the state to conclude. As may be expected, men may disagree on such definition, as was the case in the first century of Islam. Some of the Prophet’s companions demanded that all the creations of God should be included in the definition of public utilities. They regarded the land and all that it contained on a par with water and air, and thus not subject to becoming the property of anyone. They regarded every man as entitled to its fruits in proportion to his effort and capacity. Other companions saw the question differently. They deemed the land capable of becoming the property of individuals and, like the immovable properties, capable of being exchanged.

  The Final Groundwork of Islamic Socialism

  At any rate, one basic socialist principle that was agreed upon by all the Prophet’s companions is passing today as a matter of course in the socialist countries of Europe: that every man is duty bound to put to full use all his capacities for the sake of the community; and that is the duty of the community to guarantee to every individual all his basic needs. Every Muslim was entitled to draw from the public treasury all that was required to satisfy his survival needs and those of his family as long as he did not find work to do, or as long as the work he did was not sufficient to satisfy these wants. As long as morality is governed by the principles of the Qur’an, no one may tell a lie and claim that he is out of work when in reality he is just lazy and unwilling to exert himself. Nor will anyone claim falsely that his income is insufficient. In the first century of Islam, the caliphs and leaders of the Muslim community took it upon themselves to inspect the conditions of their subjects in order to insure themselves that no basic need remained unsatisfied.

  Socialism Is Brotherhood

  From this basic
discussion, the reader will realize that the socialism of Islam is not a socialism of capital and distribution but one founded upon. fraternity in the spiritual, moral, and economic spheres of life. If a person’s iman is not regarded as complete until that person has wished .for his fellow that which he wishes for himself, it can be deduced safely that no iman is complete unless its subject has urged the feeding of the hungry and has spent privately and publicly of what God has provided, with a view to serving the commonweal. The more altruistic a person becomes, the closer he comes to realizing internal peace and happiness. If God has so constituted men that some stand above others in capacities and achievements, and if God has given of his bounty differently to whomsoever He chooses, it is certain that there will be no end to evil in this world until the young respects the older, the older shows mercy to the younger, the richer gives to the poorer, and all have done so purely for the sake of God and in praise of Him as well as of His bounty.

  It is not necessary in this connection to give the details of the laws of inheritance, of wills, of contracts, trade, and other areas of the Qur’anic economic system. Even the briefest reference to any one of these topics, whether social or jurisprudential, would require many more chapters. It is sufficient to note that the contribution of Islam in any one of these fields is still unsurpassed by any other kind of legislation. Indeed, one can only react with surprise when he considers some of the details of this Islamic contribution-e.g., the command always to write down one’s contracts unless it be a case of irreversible trade; the arbitration of disputes between husband and wife by representatives of either party in order to avoid dissolution of the marriage; the commandment to reconcile any two disputing factions within the state and to all the Muslims to fight that faction which resists the efforts, judgment or instrument of reconciliation. One is surprised at the novelty of such provisions of Islamic law. And when compared with the provisions of other bodies of law, one invariably reaches the conclusion that that legislation is indeed the highest which has sought to fulfill the Qur’anic principles. It should, however, surprise no one-considering that the foregoing principles regarding interest and Islamic socialism are the bases of the Qur’anic economic system and that this legislation is the highest that has ever been reached by man in any period-that Islamic civilization is not only truly worthy of mankind but is also the only one that can guarantee man’s happiness.