Reestablishing the forgotten system
The crumbling of the global economy caused by the collapse of financial institutions in USA and Europe has sparked off a debate among the intellectuals and masses all over the world that whether the world is witnessing the end of Capitalism or not. If the opponents of Capitalism are to be believed then the question arises that what alternate economic system should the world adopt then. The world has already witnessed the downfall of Communism after the disintegration of USSR. Nonetheless, Communism exists but it is not a system entirely with merits as it failed to address the problems posed by Capitalism. Therefore, it is obvious that the world needs a system different from these which can solve the problems of people all over the world.
While going through Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s speech of 1st July, 1948 which he delivered on the inauguration of the State Bank of Pakistan I came across something entirely different from the above mentioned systems. An excerpt of the speech is as follows
The economic system of the West has created almost insoluble problems for humanity and to many of us it appears that only a miracle can save it from disaster that is not facing the world. It has failed to do justice between man and man and to eradicate friction from the international field. On the contrary, it was largely responsible for the two world wars in the last half century. The Western world, in spite of its advantages, of mechanization and industrial efficiency is today in a worse mess than ever before in history. The adoption of Western economic theory and practice will not help us in achieving our goal of creating a happy and contended people. We must work our destiny in our own way and present to the world an economic system based on true Islamic concept of equality of manhood and social justice. We will thereby be fulfilling our mission as Muslims and giving to humanity the message of peace which alone can save it and secure the welfare, happiness and prosperity of mankind.
It was clear from the words of Quaid-e-Azam that we, Pakistanis need to devise an economic system based on the values of Islam as he believed that Western Economic model created more problems than it solved. Even an ordinary man with a little understanding of the western system can identify the harms and their effects inflicted by this system. It is no wonder that a system which aims at creating a society based upon different socio-economic tiers, where self-interest is one of its fundamental characteristics, where the desires of the wealthy individuals are placed above the needs of the poor community, where the system itself is morally neutral, is bound to fail.
We need to devise our own system based upon the values preached by our Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him); a system where the resources are considered as a trust of God to people, where the concept of Halal and Haraam is understood and acted upon, where the rich take upon themselves the responsibility for the socio-economic uplift of the poor by the principle of Brotherhood and justice, where the people are taxed on their surplus wealth than on their incomes and expenditures. And, last but not the least; we need a system which is devoid of exploitative elements like interest and usury.
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