Dialogue: Can a True Islamic Government Guarantee Peace and Prosperity in Society?

First lets understand the soul of Islamic system, which is : “Allah (almighty) is the sole Creator and Ruler and Lord of all the worlds and Allah alone is the Law-maker, Government should only execute his law and serve as his deputy. We Obey him As our True Creator to Get his Pleasure and Blessings.

The Holy Quran in surrah yousuf, ayah 40 says: “There is no command except that of Allah”

Let’s commence the Red Hot discussion which basically started with my comment below:

Comment: Interest and Usury is Haraam(Not Legitimate) and Islamic society can not be guarantee prosperity unless it is totally eliminated.

His response(Question): It’s very easy to point out faults and very difficult to fix them. Although “interest” and “usury” are 2 different things but let’s just go with your comments for now. Do you have any practical alternative financial and economic system in mind, on macro and micro-level?

MY Reply: usury is an older term for interest. And regarding to your question about the practical alternative financial and economic system on macro and micro level
My Brother, there is no problem without a solution. Islam suggests Profit and Loss Sharing,

Zakaat and Usher system. Profit and Loss for traders Because, that way lender will not squander his money in a greed of earning interest from needy individual because if borrower is unable to pay back, the lender can claim his assets which is socially and morally injurious to both individuals. If terms are on the basis of profit and loss sharing, lender will give his money wisely because in case of loss he will also suffer a loss. That is why he must be very careful in analyzing business plan.

Question: if you look at the world, the more a society is away from a religion, the more socially stable they are (it’s an exaggeration to make a point). For example look at Scandinavian countries, they have social stability, justice and equality and they are doing quite well (btw, they are not muslims).

Reply: Man made religion can not be as effective as compare to the creator’s religion itself and Islam is not like other religions that only addresses the relationship between man and his creator in addition to that it also gives direction of living life and dealing day to day affairs. For example no other religion will tell you that how much share each child should get after the death of either of his parents. How should economy work. Manners, Trade Issues and many other affairs about which only islam gives you a clear guidance as compare to other religions.
(Btw islam is the first religion to give the concept of welfare state)

The success of Scandinavian states is mainly because these governments addressed most of the issues that islam had given top priority(For proof you can refer to last sermon of Prophet Muhammad PBUH). Main three well addressed issues by world most developed countries are to promote social and income equality, to alleviate poverty by equal distribution of wealth and giving rights to all individuals in society.

Talking about human rights: Not only people have rights in islam but also there are rights for animals. As i have stated above, If you could compare the last sermon of Prophet Muhammad PBUH to the various societies of that time you will notice that islam was the first religion in the world that truly demolished the roots of social and income inequality.
Zakat and usher system is the best way to discourage the concentration of wealth in few hands. How well has Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad written:

“If the plan islam has drawn for society were to be implemented, all the squares, not just a few, in their right places, a collective order would emerge in which there are neither millionaires nor miserable beggarly classes but a medium condition would overtake the dominant individual”(Tarjuman ul Quran).

Talking more about Scandavian countries, I have few friends living in these countries especially in Norway. In my past discussion with them, They do approve your point of stability in these countries, but they also say that only thing that is lacking in these countries is the social interaction among peoples.

There is a feeling of indifference among people there in Norway. Perhaps people there start a social movement (as they have done before for equal rights of women in society) i.e. that can resolve this issue by creating social norm of saying greetings to each other (i.e. same as islam urges to say asselam o alaikum) even to the person that one don’t know. That’s the only cure of the problem of being indifferent to other and that’s the only way to enhance the sense of belongingness to the society.

Another important premise of Scandavian success is freedom of expression. Nordic countries like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland e.t.c. have made laws to ensure that their people have freedom of expression.

Guess what? Islamic society encourages freedom of expression more than any other society in world.

According to the Qur’an, truth is one of Allah’s most important attributes, and the Qur’an emphasizes that standing up for the truth is a right and a responsibility that no Muslim may disclaim, no matter how hard the truth may be to tell [Surah 4:An-Nisa':135]. Further, the Qur’an forbids others to harm those who testify to the truth [Surah 2:Al-Baqarah:282].

The right to freedom of thought and expression was exercised by Muslims in the early centuries of Islam and was pivotal in the creation of an Islamic civilization characterized by outstanding achievements in diverse fields of knowledge. The early Muslims celebrated cultural diversity and engaged in rigorous intellectual discussion. Here, it is apt to mention Wilfred Cantwell Smith’s comment that, whereas the original Muslims believed in God, modern Muslims believe in Islam. Centered in God and self-critical, the original Muslims believed that although God had given them the Qur’an and the Prophet had exemplified its teachings, it was their responsibility to implement its message in the “Islamic” societies that they were creating. These Muslims read the Qur’an as an “open,” rather than a “closed,” text and strove continually to understand its deeper meaning. This intellectual striving (”ijtihad”) — which Allama Muhammad Iqbal, poet-philosopher of Pakistan, calls “the principle of movement” in history

If Islamic countries, who claim to have islamic shariah on their state (e.g Sudan), do not act upon pure islamic laws, this does not give right to any one to say that Islamic shariah can not function to bring prosperity and peace in a state.

Referring back to Nordic countries, Please note that: I am not saying that they have taken all these solutions from Islam, what I am trying to say is that, these government–to make welfare state, had to do the right things and eventually have come to the point, which happens to be same as the Islamic way of governing.

Islam is a divine religions and any one, doesn’t matter whether it is muslim or non muslim acts upon its prescribed rule is bound to success.

Question: A state can’t fix (by using law) people’s beliefs. Pakistan was formed so people can have a place to practice Islam if they want to, free of any fear. I believe, Pakistan’s purpose is being served…actually a little too well because then we get these people who blow up innocent people in the name of God.

Reply: Only rules and regulations are the ways to bring change in society, because you don’t just make rules and policies but also draw a road map to make it executable. I do agree with the discussed purpose of formation of Pakistan. In addition to that i must say blowing oneself up to kill innocent people is strictly against the teachings of islam, Thats so disappointing. Islam is a religion of peace and it condemns every action that goes in favor of creating disharmony and chaos in the society.

Question: Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah(the founder of Islamic State of Pakistan) was not a “practising” muslim but that does not make him bad. He was married to a Parsi(non muslim women) (which is not allowed in Islam) and he did not use to pray and so on. Similarly, the 600 years you are refering to, those rulers were quite secular as well. They had “harems” (again something not allowed in Islam) and the strongest one of them actually went so far as to create his own “version” of Islam OR another religion. So please get your historic facts straight, none of the people you mentioned were true “Momineens(Believers)”.

Reply: What is the most important point about Jinnah is that he fought for the formation of Islamic state. In various addresses he referred to the greatness of islamic teachings.With out this base, there was no point of division of the Subcontinent. If islam permits non muslim to perform their religious activities with total freedom, its does not make islamic state a secular one. to answer your Second response, I was actually referring to Rulers like Muhammad Bin Qasim and descendants of Arab like Mahmood Ghaznavi. Jehangir Re introduce the islamic law in subcontinent and compiled the rules of islam in a book form, you can buy that book from urdu bazaar title name of “Fatawaa-e-AAlamgeree”. However, I do agree that i generalized history little too much by calling all of them momineen.

To end my discussion I am very confident to say that only Islamic Shariah can assure prosperity and peace and no man made rules are effective as that of Creator himself, Because, Allah is the one who has created us and He is the one who has authority to Set Rules For Us and for Every Thing.