3.1 Private Ownership

It is part of man’s nature to work so as to satisfy his needs and to possess property in order to satisfy these needs and accordingly to strive for this possession. Satisfying man’s needs is an inevitable matter that man cannot desist from. In addition to being part of man’s nature, man’s acquisition of wealth is thus an inevitable matter. Any attempt to prevent man from possessing wealth would be contradictory to his nature and any attempt to restrict his possession to a certain quantity would also be contradictory to human nature. It would, therefore, be unnatural to stand between man and his acquisition of wealth, or to stand between Him and his efforts to achieve this acquisition.

This acquisition should not, however, be left to man to achieve, strive for, or dispose of as He wishes, as this would cause evil and corruption resulting in anarchy and disorder. This is inevitable due to the disparity between people in their abilities and in their needs for satisfaction. If they were left to their own devices, only the strong would acquire the wealth and the weak would be deprived of it; the sick and the incapable would perish and the greedy would be excessive. Enabling the people to acquire wealth and strive to achieve it must therefore proceed in a way that guarantees the satisfaction of the basic needs for all the people. It should also guarantee the possibility of people being able to satisfy their desire to acquire luxuries. It would, therefore, be imperative to confine this acquisition to a specific method, in which simplicity is achieved, so as to make the acquisition within reach of all people despite the disparity in their abilities and their needs. This method would also conform to human nature so as to satisfy the basic needs and enable people to fulfil their luxuries. It would thus be imperative for the ownership to be determined in quality and to resist the abolition of ownership, as this contradicts human nature. It is also necessary to resist the confinement of ownership to specific quantities, as this restricts man’s striving to acquire wealth, thus contradicting his nature. The freedom of ownership should also be challenged as it causes evil and corruption resulting in chaotic relationships between people. Islam allows individual ownership and defines its method rather than its quantity, in accordance with human nature. It also organised the relationships between people and thus enabled man to satisfy all of his needs.

Superior Economic Model : Islamic System

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