How does Islam address global poverty?

Answer 1

Applying the Islamic economical system & regulations is foreseen as the best recommended solution to the poverty on our planet. the following are somemain Islamic issues related to the subject.

1. First of all, due to Islam, being poor or rich is a fate from Allah (God) & in either case you are in a test that you have to pass, the poor mustn't be jealous, mustn't complain from Allah & thank him at all cases, mustn't steal anything from others. About the rich he has another kind of test, he mustn't boast or be arrogant due to his wealth, he must expend & invest his money only on good deeds that are allowable in Islam & never uses his wealth in bad deeds that are forbidden, he must thank Allah for his favour on him, & it's very important to help the poor people & give them their rights in his wealth.

2. Muslims believe that all resources created by Almighty Allah are enough for all creatures on earth including the humans. Allah says in the Holy Quran :

"Verily, all things have We created in proportion and measure"

(Al-Qamar"moon":verse 49 )

I'm not an economist but I've heard that planting some countries like Australia can produce food enough for all humanity!!!

Consequently, Muslims believe that the reason behind the hunger of a poor is that the rich is over-saturated "above satisfaction" ...so that both of them can't sleep but surely for opposite reasons!!!

3. Islam is the religion of moderation in everything, e.g. it prevents both stinginess & wasting. Also, the Islamic economical system is an independent system that is unlike capitalism or Communism.

Capitalism puts no limits into investments & doesn't prevent the Ill-gotton profits that depend on Illegal profit prices in the perspective of Islam ( which is called "Reba" i.e usury & considered as a sin that Allah threatened to be in a war with those who commit it as He says in Holy Quran:

" Allah will deprive usury of all blessing, but will give increase for deeds of charity: For He love not creatures ungrateful and wicked. " (Al-baqara : verse 276)

& He says :

"O ye who believe! Fear Allah, and give up what remains of your demand for usury, if ye are indeed believers. ye do it not, Take notice of war from Allah and His Messenger. But if ye turn back, ye shall have your capital sums: Deal not unjustly, and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly" (Al-baqara : verses 278-279)

Certainly, capitalism causes oppression to many people & increases the gap between the rich & the poor, because it increases the wealth of the rich as it increase the poverty of the poor. Then ,what kind of catastrophic results will be obtained?!!

4. Also Islam is against the ideas of communism which rejects the principle of communal ownership...& how much frustration this causes ?!!

Work & investments are allowed in Islam , the prophet himself worked in a period of his life in trading & He was famous for His honesty & good morals even before His prophecy!!

5. Not only does Islam encourage working but also we are ,as Muslims, commanded to work. The Prophet Muhammad PBUH said to a worker after kissing his hand :" This is a hand that Allah & his prophet love"

And also ,he said a hadeeth that means :" He who sleeps tired from working (for feeding himself &/or his family) , sleeps while his sins are forgiven "

6. Islam makes Al-zakah one of its 5 pillars on the rich (after special conditions that mainly proves his wealth), Al-zakah is a compulsory amount of money that must be paid to the needy sectors of the community that are mentioned in Holy Quran.

Al-zakah is equal to 2.5% of the rich's wealth. It's not a favour from the rich upon the poor, on the contrary it's his responsibility in that wealth, & Allah the lord of all creations had decided & commanded it. The Almighty Allah promised those who pay al-zakah to be rewarded by Him & at the same time He promised those who don't pay it with a great punishment as He tells us in the Holy Quran.

7. Another concept in Islam is Al-sadaqa " charity "which has many types, & can be either compulsory or voluntary ,& can be either quantified or let as free ...according to its type. The prophet Muhammad PBUH said that " Al-sadaqa extinguishes the fault as the water extinguishes the fire "....& also,some faults in Islam, like swearing & not holding or keeping, have an expiation of feeding poor people .

8. The Islamic economical system was applied with all of its laws & morals & the Islamic community was perfectwith all of what this word means. For example, in the time of the famous great Muslim ruler, Omar ben Abd Al-azeez, money of charity & zakah was collected & the surprise was that no one accepted it ... None was a poor in the wholecommunity !! & none saw that he deserved that money .... after a long thoughts they decided to liberate the slaves by paying them money to buy their freedom & also they buy grains & spread them over the hills to feed the birds from the charity of Muslims. (How magnificent civilization Is it ?!)

Currently, we are in the 21st century & unfortunately the number of hungry people worldwide exceeds the one billion !!!

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Comment on Answer above:

The above answer is excellent, from my point of understanding. Only one comment to be added, that is:

If the Islamic principle of Alms giving (zakat) is applied among countries (regardless their cultures, races, or beliefs), no poverty or hunger will exist on any spot of the world. All what is recommended is that for countries, with annual budget surplus, to allocate 2.5 % of that surplus to finance development projects in poor countries in the fields of industry, agriculture, and other fields (without any political or cultural conditions). This approach will reflect, later on, positively to those rich countries as these poor countries will be, later, forming strong purchasing and investment power for rich countries that makes more surplus in the country annual budgets and so on the world economic cycle moves to the better.

It also should be noted that the Islamic economic system isn't really an economic theory, as capitalism, socialism, and communism are. Rather, it is an integrated system where the basic principles of capitalism and socialism are blended together, with an eye towards maintaining "fairness". That is, the Islamic economic system is capitalistic in nature, with a considerable layer of socialistic regulation used to enforce the edicts of the Quran.

Also, please be careful not to overstate the benefits, as the ideal of Islam's system has never been approached, in the same way that no other system can be perfect in a human world. Human beings are sadly imperfect, and this is reflected in their inability to completely follow their religion's strictures, which leaves all human society imperfect (Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz's Umayyad caliphate is no exception).

And, one last note: the above ideal Islamic economic system generally hasn't included non-believers in its charity and consideration. That is, it isn't applied to non-Islamic people, even though those people may be considerably numerable.