Dr. Shirin Haque-Copilah
Physics Dept, Univ. of the West Indies
Introduction
“We have not created the heaven and the earth and all that is between them in mere idle play. None of this have We created without an inner truth: but most of them understand it not.” (44: 38-39)
“In the creation of the heavens and earth, and the alternation of the night and day, and the ships which sail the seas to people's benefit, and the water which Allah sends down from the sky -- by which He brings the earth to life when it was dead and scatters about in it creatures of every kind -- and the varying direction of the winds, and the clouds subservient between heaven and earth, there are signs for people who use their intellect.” (2:164)
Need more be said? One of the purposes of the Holy Qur'an's revelation is to invite people to think. What can possibly be more straightforward than that regarding our conduct here on earth with respect to the use of our intellect to understand the world around us. The holy Qur’an delves into the many signs of Allah in nature, around us and within us to convey a deep sense of awe at the many signs of our Lord, apparent to those who use intellect. It is truly remarkable that the Qur’an revealed between 610 and 632 CE contains in it, scientific knowledge that has taken centuries to be discovered. The only explanation for this is that without a doubt, it is divine in origin. We Muslims believe that the Qur’an, in original Arabic, is the actual word of Allah, the Most High. A proper understanding of the Qur’an therefore also requires an understanding of science. It is not the purpose of the Qur’an to explain science to us but it encourages persons to reflect on the works of creation so that we may realize the greatness of Almighty God. Before we delve any further, it is necessary to make clear a very important distinction – that between Astronomy and Astrology – the two terms are often confused by many persons as meaning the same. They cannot be further from each other. Astronomy is a science and halal whereas astrology is a pseudo science and haram. Astronomy deals with the study of the heavens in an effort to understand the underlying principles governing the behaviour of the planets, stars and galaxies and the Universe in general. Astrology claims to predict the destinies of persons as a result of the ‘action’ of planets and so on, on their lives. There has not been to date any contradiction between Astronomy, as we understand it, and the Qur’an.
The Qur’an deals with many areas of science such as geology of earth, the animal and vegetable kingdom, human reproduction and Astronomy. This article concentrates on the position of Astronomy in Islam with emphasis on observed facts and not theories. A theory is used to explain an observed or hypothesized phenomena and it may be modified, changed, or rejected in due course depending on how appropriate it may be against observational data. Theories can be subjective in nature. An observation is a fact and is not liable to be changed but may be further refined.
This article does not deal with speculative Astronomy. Because like all sciences, we do not understand everything and there are many things that remain as models. It should be borne in mind that a thousand experiments will not prove a theory correct but one experiment can disprove it. Understanding the underlying principles behind the clockwork of the Universe endows us with a far deeper sense of awe and appreciation of the One that created it. The sentiment is similar to that expressed by Physicist Richard Feynman:
“I have a friend who's an artist and he's sometimes taken a view which I don't agree with very well. He'll hold up a flower and say. “Look how beautiful it is,“ and I'll agree, I think. And he says - “ you see, I as an artist can see how beautiful this is, but you as a scientist, oh, take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing.“ And I think that he's kind of nutty. First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people and to me, too, I believe, although I might not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is, but I can appreciate the beauty of a flower. At the same time I see much more about the flower than he sees. I could imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside which also have a beauty. I mean it's not just beauty at this dimension of one centimeter, there is also beauty at a smaller dimension, the inner structure. Also the processes, the fact that the colors in the flower are evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting - it means that insects can see the color. It adds a question: Does this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower form? Why is it aesthetic? All kinds of interesting questions which a science knowledge only adds to the excitement and mystery and the awe of a flower. It only adds; I don't understand how it subtracts.“ - Richard P. Feynman (1918-1988)
It not only adds, but enriches, it deepens. Understanding and developing an appreciation of creations of Allah using the tools of science can enrich and deepen a believer’s consciousness of the Creator.
If there is any religion that invites man to the study and understanding of the heavens, it is Islam. An understanding of the discipline of Astronomy is essential for the appreciation of the religion of Islam. No other religion uses or relies on the heavens and the motion of the moon and sun for timekeeping and calendars as Islam does. Allah created this tremendous Universe that we live in and we are invited to reflect upon it, to understand it so that we may be able to practise our religion with conviction based on reason to the best of our abilities. By God’s laws, the laws of Physics, we are glued to the planet earth yet Almighty God granted us eyes, intellect and knowledge that we may see far in excess of our ordinary reach- surely in these things are signs of the omnipotence of our Creator.
“Allah is He, who created the sun, the moon, and the stars (all) governed by laws under His commandment.” (7:54)
“He has made subject to you, the night and the day; the sun and the moon; and the stars in subjection by His command.” (14:33; 16:12)
Astronomy in the Qur’an
Just pause and try and imagine the Arabian night skies – crisp and clear, twinkling gently and kindly …invitingly, literally showing mankind the way. We see below a sampling of some of the mentions of Astronomy in the Qur’an. It is by no means a catalogue. The Qur’an tells us that the stars are there to guide us on land and sea.
“And it is He who ordained the stars for you that you may be guided thereby in the darkness of the land and the sea.” (6:97)
“And marks and sign-posts and by the stars, (men) guide themselves.” (16:16)
If you become familiar with the constellations and the stars in the sky, one can never be lost anywhere in the world. They are truly a guiding light in the canopy of the heavens. You can be anywhere in the world and immediately on looking up in the night sky and by recognizing stars, you can know what latitude you are at and where is north and thereby all the other directions. You can know what time of the year it is in the absence of any calendars. It is rather appropriate that the crescent moon and star is used as signs to represent matters of religion among Muslims. The moon holds a most important position for the reckoning of time among Muslims. The lunar calendar is one of the oldest and a natural calendar system and astronomers acknowledge that the Muslim calendar is the only purely lunar calendar in wide use
“They ask you about new crescent moons, say they are to mark fixed times for mankind and Hajj.” (2:189)
“And He who made the night for rest and sun and moon for reckoning of time. This is the decree of the Exalted, the All-knowing.” (6:96)
“It is He who made sun a lamp, and moon a light and measured stages so you know number of years and count (of time).” (10:5)
“And He subjected the sun and the moon (to His law); each one runs its course for a term appointed.” (13:2), (31:29), (35:13), and (39:5)
It is interesting to note that that the Qur’an refers to many heavens and earths. It is remarkable that one of the more recent discoveries in Astronomy has been that of other worlds such as ours.It was as recently as 1995 that the first planet outside of our solar system was discovered. To date several such planets have been found and extrasolar planets seem to be the rule rather than the exception. How many many aeons ago the Qur’an mentioned this!
“God is the One Who created seven heavens and of the earth a similar number. The command descends upon them so that you know that God has power over all things and comprehends all things in His knowledge.” (65:12)
The Qur’an always refers to the sun and moon differently. The sun is referred to as siraj (light) and zia (signifies that light which exists by itself) while the moon is referred to as nur – which means derived light. This is very accurate since the sun is a celestial body that gives off its own light because of nuclear processes in its interior. However the moon shines only by reflected light.
“And made the moon a light in their midst and made the sun as a (Glorious) lamp.” (71:16)
At the time of revelation of the Qur’an, it was a commonly held belief that the earth stood still and that the sun orbited around us. After all it seemed logical. Man’s ego was bigger than the universe or so he thought. It was easier to believe that he lived in the centre of the universe.
It was not until the16th century that the astronomer Copernicus showed otherwise, that the earth orbited around the sun instead. Just pause and look at the time interval when that piece of information was in the holy Qur’an. Hostility to Science generally and Astronomy particularly was the misfortune of the Catholic Church in the early 16th and 17th century. Let us not imitate them.
“It is He who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in its orbit.” (21:33)
“And the moon, we have measured for her mansions (to traverse) till she returns like the old, (withered, and curved-up like a sickle) date-palm. It is not permitted for sun to catch-up the moon, nor can the night outstrip the day; each swims along in (its own) orbit.” (36:39-40)
The stars adorn our night skies and endow one with a sense of peace with their gentle twinkling. The Qur’an says:
“Consider those (stars) that rise only to set. And move (in their orbits) with steady motion. And float (through space) with floating serene. And yet overtake (one another) with swift overtaking. And thus fulfil the (Creator’s) behest!” (79:1-5)
It is only on the scale of the galaxy that this verse comes to light! A galaxy is composed of millions and millions of stars. A galaxy like ours, the Milky Way is a spiral galaxy and rotates. Yes, the stars do move in an orbit and with steady motion too as they float through space. They do overtake one another because in any spiral structure that is rotating, the outer arms will move at a faster rate than the inner sections and will thereby overtake the stars on the interior in their motion. The spiral nature of our galaxy was only discovered in this century since its spiral nature is not easily evident to us as we reside inside.
There is order, cosmos…not chaos in this tremendous universe. The moon and earth float in orbits and they are predictable in their behaviour. It has been shown that if one planet was removed from our system, our solar system is no longer stable. Comets are predictable and they return as expected bound by the laws of Physics, God’s laws. Man can never truly invent, he can only discover. The Universe is predictable in its behaviour because Allah has subjugated its constituents and they obey him scrupulously, unlike man who has been granted will.
“Then He turned to the sky when it had been gas and said to it and the earth, condense willingly or unwillingly. And they said, “We condensed willingly.” (41:11)
Allah only has to say ‘Be’ and a thing is. It is important to note that present day physics cannot go back to the beginning of time but only very close to the ‘beginning’. The understanding of the physics of the universe begins at t = 10 –43 s, i.e. at 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000001 s. We now understand that the early universe was composed of hydrogen and helium gases and some regions were slightly colder or denser than other regions, these regions condensed to become galaxies composed off numerous stars within them. It is as recent as the 1950’s that such ideas have been explored. Yet there it is in the Qur’an as plain as daylight so many many hundreds of years ago. Even the concept of time is worthy of reflecting over. The order of a second may be comfortable to us but we have been able to use atomic clocks for timekeeping which have an accuracy of one part in 1012 .or meaning that if two Caesium clocks are operated they will differ by no more than 1 s after running for 6000 years! In these things are signs of our Lord…. Allah alone is worthy of praise!
“Consider the flight of time!” (103:1)
With respect to the expansion of the universe we find the following verse in the Qur’an:
“And the universe, we constructed with power and skill and verily we are expanding it.” (51:47)
To date all observations show that the Universe is expanding. Galaxies have been observed to be receding away from us at higher and higher speeds, the further away they are. This indicates that we live in an expanding universe. This was discovered in 1926 by Edwin Hubble. The concept of an expanding universe was so alien at the time that it owes to it the famous fudge factor by Albert Einstein. His calculations showed that the Universe should be expanding, but the concept was so bizarre that he included a constant into the equations so as to obtain a static Universe! This he modified later when Hubble observed that the Universe was expanding. It is far easier to be comfortable with the concept of a static universe than one that is expanding. Yet the Qur’an mentions even this, our expanding Universe.
“He Who created the seven heavens, one above another: No want of proportion will you see in the creation of Most Gracious, so turn your face again; Do you see any flaw ... .... And We have adorned the lowest heaven with lamps ....” (67:3-5)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Role Of Astronomy In Islam - Part 2
Dr. Shirin Haque-Copilah
Physics Dept, Univ. of the West Indies
Contribution of Muslim scholars to the development of Astronomy
The first verse that was ever revealed to Prophet Muhammad (UWBP) implores man towards the acquisition of knowledge:
“Read in the name of thy Sustainer, who has created – created man out of a germ cell! Read – for thy Sustainer is the Most Bountiful One. Who has taught (man) the use of the pen – Taught man what he did not know!” (96: 1-5)
A quick browsing through the holy Qur’an shows many Surahs beginning with astronomical references: “Consider those (stars) that rise only to set” (79:1)
“Consider the heavens and that which comes in the night” (86:1)
“Consider the sun and its radiant brightness and the moon as it reflects the sun!” (91:1)” …… “Consider the sky and its wondrous make” (91:5)
“Consider the night as it veils (the earth) in darkness” (92:1)
It is our moral obligation to study Astronomy! Given the exposition in the previous section, it would seem natural that Astronomy should get its impetus first and foremost from Muslim Scholars. And so it was in the early years of Islam. Sadly, this trend has suffered a serious decline in the last few centuries. It is really interesting to note that Muslims were in fact the first to differentiate and separate the science of Astronomy from the pseudo science of astrology. The development of Astronomy suffered a great decline and the last of the great Muslim astronomers was Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1228 CE). Let us venture back in time and see the richness of the pursuit of knowledge particularly in Astronomy in the early days of Islam. Contributions to Astronomy by Muslim scholars will naturally include contributions to Mathematics and Physics that are indispensable tools for the study of Astronomy. If the tradition of seeking knowledge as Islam emphasizes had continued, Astronomy would have continued to flourish among Muslim scholars and no doubt have been centuries ahead of our time as we have seen from the expositions in the previous sections as highlighted in the holy Qur’an.
Greek works were translated by Muslim scholars in Arabic and they also added encyclopaedias of their own. When Europe later re-awoke, they translated the Arabic works and the Arabic translations of the Greek works. Star names were not translated but transliterated so that to date many many stars names are Arabic in origin. A look through any catalogue of stars, and one is immediately struck by the numerous names that appear to be Arabic in origin such as Aldabaran and Deneb. In an astronomical catalogue of almost 250 stars, over 140 of them had names that were Arabic in origin. Many new stars were discovered by Muslims. The book on stars of 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi was in fact translated into Spanish by Alfonso X el Sabio. The Muslims carried out many observations that were contained in astronomical tables called Zij. One of the most keen observers was al-Battani. The zij of al-Ma'mun observed in Baghdad, the Hakimite zij of Cairo, the Toledan Tables of al-Zarqali and his associates, the el-Khanid zij of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi observed in Maraghah, and the zij of Ulugh-Beg from Samarqand are among the most famous Islamic astronomical tables. These tables had significant influence upon Western Astronomy up to the time of Astronomer Tycho Brahe.
In Astronomy the Muslims integrated the astronomical traditions of the Indians, Persians, the ancient Near East and especially the Greeks from the 8th century onward. The Almagest of Ptolemy, the name of which is Arabic in origin, was thoroughly studied and its planetary theory criticized by several astronomers of both the eastern and western lands of Islam. A major critique of the theory was developed by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi and his students especially Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi, in the 13th century.
The first astronomical observatory as a scientific institution was the observatory of Maraghah in Persia established by al-Tusi. Later European observatories indirectly followed this model. The most famous astronomical instrument, the astrolabe was developed by Muslims to carry out observation. There existed even mechanical astrolabes perfected by Ibn Samh that can be considered as the predecessor of the mechanical clock.
The Muslims also applied their astronomical knowledge to questions of time-keeping and the calendar in making almanacs, this word too being Arabic in origin. The most exact solar calendar existing to this day is the Jalali calendar which was developed under the direction of 'Umar Khayyam in the 12th century. This is still in use in Persia and Afghanistan.
In the field of Mathematics, Muslims began by integrating Greek and Indian mathematics. The first great Muslim mathematician, al-Khwarazmi, who lived in the 9th century, wrote a treatise on arithmetic that brought the Arabic numerals to the West. He is also the author of the first book on algebra. The term algebra itself comes from the first part of the name of the book of al-Khwarazmi, entitled Kirah al-jabr wa'l-muqabalah. Abu Kamil al-Shuja' discussed algebraic equations with five unknowns. The science was further developed by such figures as al-Karaji until it reached its peak with Khayyam who classified by kind and class algebraic equations up to the third degree. The brothers Banu Musa who lived in the 9th century may be said to be the first outstanding Muslims in the field of geometry while their contemporary Thabit ibn Qurrah helped lay foundations of integral calculus. Muslims scholars also developed trigonometry that was established as a distinct branch of mathematics by al-Biruni. Calculus, trigonometry and geometry are the cornerstones of solving problems in Astronomy.
Other Muslim mathematicians such as Khayyam and al-Tusi examined Euclidean geometry that is the geometry of flat surfaces. The Muslim mathematicians, especially al-Battani, Abu'l-Wafa', Ibn Yunus and Ibn al-Haytham, also developed spherical Astronomy. Euclidean and spherical geometry are particularly useful in studying the overall geometry of the Universe in the study of cosmology.
The works of Ibn Sina, Abu'l-Barakat al-Baghdadi, Ibn Bajjah and others led to the development of the idea of impetus and momentum, principles in Physics that are applied to motion of bodies in Astronomy. Another area that is important in Astronomy is optics. It is very relevant in the development of tools for observation like telescopes that employ lenses or mirrors. Ibn al-Haytham (the Latin Alhazen) who lived in the 11th century was one of the greatest student of optics between Ptolemy and Witelo. Ibn al-Haytham's main work on optics, the Kitab al-manazir, was also well known in the West as Thesaurus opticus. Ibn al-Haytham studied the property of lenses, discovered the camera obscura, explained correctly the process of vision, studied the structure of the eye, and explained for the first time why the sun and the moon appear larger on the horizon (very simply put, it is because the thicker layer of atmosphere at the horizon acts as magnifying lens compared to overhead). His interest in optics was carried out two centuries later by Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi and Kamal al-Din al-Farisi. It was Qutb al-Din who gave the first correct explanation of the formation of the rainbow.
Muhammad ibn Jabir al-Battani , one of the top twenty astronomers in the history of civilization comments
“ [Astronomy] has a well earned place among disciplines for its tremendous share in helping man calculate years and months, provide accurate time, mark seasons, observe increase and decrease in duration of days and nights, watch locations and eclipses of the sun and the moon, witness the movements of planets in their faring in alternating places and signs. Much more may be added by it through study and scrutiny that invariably leads to further proof and knowledge of the greatness, wisdom, and power of the Creator (SWT)”
The holy Qur’an is full of gems of expositions in Astronomy - a sprinkling of which have been highlighted in this article. That in itself should be an inspiration to Muslim scholars to continue in the present day the pursuit of knowledge in the Sciences. Like in the days of yore, we should strive to develop a culture that is scientifically rich in the understanding of natural phenomena by “men of understanding”.
In the past few years, there has been a concerted effort by many well-informed Muslims of the need to use Astronomy for the establishment of the beginning of the months. In this connection it is useful to note the following verse from the holy Qur’an:
“The sun and moon (are subjected) to calculations.” (55:05)
The informed Muslim community are now taking these matters very seriously and
there is an international effort via CFCO (Committee For Crescent Observation), an active society since 1978, and the more recent ICOP (Islamic Crescent Observation Project), both of which include members from all over the world whose job it is to observe the crescent young moon not only for the months indicating the beginning Ramadan or its end, but all year long. This issue has been a bone of contention time and time again among Muslims. In this connection, it would be useful to highlight the words of noted fiqh scholar Dr. Taha Jabir al-Alwani from his book Ijtihad1 with respect to the sighting of the moon for the start and end of the holy month of Ramadan. Dr. al-Alwani in pointing out the necessity and significance of Ijtihad in relation to Time-Space factor uses the sighting of the moon as an example, and I quote him:
Ijtihad (1993) Published by International Institute of Islamic Thought,USA. p. 27
”…It could never have been the prophet’s intention to make life so difficult when he established that rule. He was, at that time, addressing illiterate people, and the best they could do to establish the beginning of the month was to see the moon with the naked eye. They had no other means and Allah (SWT) did not wish to make matters difficult or impossible for them. But when there exists more accurate instruments to determine the same fact, it would be totally unacceptable, and indeed backward looking, if insistence is on using out-dated and inadequate methods. The message of Islam is intended for all people in all ages; it was never restricted to the first hijri century Arabs of Makkah. Therefore, to stick to the literal meaning irrespective of the time factor is a benighted approach which is conducive neither to enlightment nor to progress.”
One can be guided by astronomical calculations to help one to know when and where to search for the crescent moon. This has brought to light that many countries have hitherto been in error in establishing the beginning of the new month, Saudi Arabia included. Some have accepted they have been in error and are now revising their position on that count. It is important that we do not follow blindly but we seek to understand and convince ourselves of the correctness of methods employed. The modern era of internet access and electronic communication seeks to educate and unite us as Muslims like we never could before.
There are now several different softwares available for calculating the dates and times of new moons, prayer times and qibla direction. The study of Astronomy is not something to be afraid of - it enlightens us and guides to a deeper understanding and appreciation of our religion and recognition of the omnipotence of our Creator. There is nothing wrong if in searching for the crescent moon we know when and where to look for it. Over and over the Qur’an emphasizes the aspect “for men of understanding”. We need to listen to that, surely there is great importance and relevance for it to be repeated so many times
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has said “ Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave”. Islam is about a lifetime of learning. A lifetime of learning means we can never know or understand everything. It is a dynamic process and we must continue to strive at all times.
“Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the succession of night and day, there are indeed messages for all who are endowed with insight, (3:190)
(and) who remember God when they stand, and when they sit, and when they lie down to sleep, and (thus) reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: “ O our Sustainer! Thou hast not created (aught of) this without meaning and purpose. Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! Keep us safe, then from suffering through fire!” (3:191)
“Praise the name of your Lord, the Most High, Who creates and proportions well, Who determines and guides” (87:1-3)
Physics Dept, Univ. of the West Indies
Contribution of Muslim scholars to the development of Astronomy
The first verse that was ever revealed to Prophet Muhammad (UWBP) implores man towards the acquisition of knowledge:
“Read in the name of thy Sustainer, who has created – created man out of a germ cell! Read – for thy Sustainer is the Most Bountiful One. Who has taught (man) the use of the pen – Taught man what he did not know!” (96: 1-5)
A quick browsing through the holy Qur’an shows many Surahs beginning with astronomical references: “Consider those (stars) that rise only to set” (79:1)
“Consider the heavens and that which comes in the night” (86:1)
“Consider the sun and its radiant brightness and the moon as it reflects the sun!” (91:1)” …… “Consider the sky and its wondrous make” (91:5)
“Consider the night as it veils (the earth) in darkness” (92:1)
It is our moral obligation to study Astronomy! Given the exposition in the previous section, it would seem natural that Astronomy should get its impetus first and foremost from Muslim Scholars. And so it was in the early years of Islam. Sadly, this trend has suffered a serious decline in the last few centuries. It is really interesting to note that Muslims were in fact the first to differentiate and separate the science of Astronomy from the pseudo science of astrology. The development of Astronomy suffered a great decline and the last of the great Muslim astronomers was Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1228 CE). Let us venture back in time and see the richness of the pursuit of knowledge particularly in Astronomy in the early days of Islam. Contributions to Astronomy by Muslim scholars will naturally include contributions to Mathematics and Physics that are indispensable tools for the study of Astronomy. If the tradition of seeking knowledge as Islam emphasizes had continued, Astronomy would have continued to flourish among Muslim scholars and no doubt have been centuries ahead of our time as we have seen from the expositions in the previous sections as highlighted in the holy Qur’an.
Greek works were translated by Muslim scholars in Arabic and they also added encyclopaedias of their own. When Europe later re-awoke, they translated the Arabic works and the Arabic translations of the Greek works. Star names were not translated but transliterated so that to date many many stars names are Arabic in origin. A look through any catalogue of stars, and one is immediately struck by the numerous names that appear to be Arabic in origin such as Aldabaran and Deneb. In an astronomical catalogue of almost 250 stars, over 140 of them had names that were Arabic in origin. Many new stars were discovered by Muslims. The book on stars of 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi was in fact translated into Spanish by Alfonso X el Sabio. The Muslims carried out many observations that were contained in astronomical tables called Zij. One of the most keen observers was al-Battani. The zij of al-Ma'mun observed in Baghdad, the Hakimite zij of Cairo, the Toledan Tables of al-Zarqali and his associates, the el-Khanid zij of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi observed in Maraghah, and the zij of Ulugh-Beg from Samarqand are among the most famous Islamic astronomical tables. These tables had significant influence upon Western Astronomy up to the time of Astronomer Tycho Brahe.
In Astronomy the Muslims integrated the astronomical traditions of the Indians, Persians, the ancient Near East and especially the Greeks from the 8th century onward. The Almagest of Ptolemy, the name of which is Arabic in origin, was thoroughly studied and its planetary theory criticized by several astronomers of both the eastern and western lands of Islam. A major critique of the theory was developed by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi and his students especially Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi, in the 13th century.
The first astronomical observatory as a scientific institution was the observatory of Maraghah in Persia established by al-Tusi. Later European observatories indirectly followed this model. The most famous astronomical instrument, the astrolabe was developed by Muslims to carry out observation. There existed even mechanical astrolabes perfected by Ibn Samh that can be considered as the predecessor of the mechanical clock.
The Muslims also applied their astronomical knowledge to questions of time-keeping and the calendar in making almanacs, this word too being Arabic in origin. The most exact solar calendar existing to this day is the Jalali calendar which was developed under the direction of 'Umar Khayyam in the 12th century. This is still in use in Persia and Afghanistan.
In the field of Mathematics, Muslims began by integrating Greek and Indian mathematics. The first great Muslim mathematician, al-Khwarazmi, who lived in the 9th century, wrote a treatise on arithmetic that brought the Arabic numerals to the West. He is also the author of the first book on algebra. The term algebra itself comes from the first part of the name of the book of al-Khwarazmi, entitled Kirah al-jabr wa'l-muqabalah. Abu Kamil al-Shuja' discussed algebraic equations with five unknowns. The science was further developed by such figures as al-Karaji until it reached its peak with Khayyam who classified by kind and class algebraic equations up to the third degree. The brothers Banu Musa who lived in the 9th century may be said to be the first outstanding Muslims in the field of geometry while their contemporary Thabit ibn Qurrah helped lay foundations of integral calculus. Muslims scholars also developed trigonometry that was established as a distinct branch of mathematics by al-Biruni. Calculus, trigonometry and geometry are the cornerstones of solving problems in Astronomy.
Other Muslim mathematicians such as Khayyam and al-Tusi examined Euclidean geometry that is the geometry of flat surfaces. The Muslim mathematicians, especially al-Battani, Abu'l-Wafa', Ibn Yunus and Ibn al-Haytham, also developed spherical Astronomy. Euclidean and spherical geometry are particularly useful in studying the overall geometry of the Universe in the study of cosmology.
The works of Ibn Sina, Abu'l-Barakat al-Baghdadi, Ibn Bajjah and others led to the development of the idea of impetus and momentum, principles in Physics that are applied to motion of bodies in Astronomy. Another area that is important in Astronomy is optics. It is very relevant in the development of tools for observation like telescopes that employ lenses or mirrors. Ibn al-Haytham (the Latin Alhazen) who lived in the 11th century was one of the greatest student of optics between Ptolemy and Witelo. Ibn al-Haytham's main work on optics, the Kitab al-manazir, was also well known in the West as Thesaurus opticus. Ibn al-Haytham studied the property of lenses, discovered the camera obscura, explained correctly the process of vision, studied the structure of the eye, and explained for the first time why the sun and the moon appear larger on the horizon (very simply put, it is because the thicker layer of atmosphere at the horizon acts as magnifying lens compared to overhead). His interest in optics was carried out two centuries later by Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi and Kamal al-Din al-Farisi. It was Qutb al-Din who gave the first correct explanation of the formation of the rainbow.
Muhammad ibn Jabir al-Battani , one of the top twenty astronomers in the history of civilization comments
“ [Astronomy] has a well earned place among disciplines for its tremendous share in helping man calculate years and months, provide accurate time, mark seasons, observe increase and decrease in duration of days and nights, watch locations and eclipses of the sun and the moon, witness the movements of planets in their faring in alternating places and signs. Much more may be added by it through study and scrutiny that invariably leads to further proof and knowledge of the greatness, wisdom, and power of the Creator (SWT)”
The holy Qur’an is full of gems of expositions in Astronomy - a sprinkling of which have been highlighted in this article. That in itself should be an inspiration to Muslim scholars to continue in the present day the pursuit of knowledge in the Sciences. Like in the days of yore, we should strive to develop a culture that is scientifically rich in the understanding of natural phenomena by “men of understanding”.
In the past few years, there has been a concerted effort by many well-informed Muslims of the need to use Astronomy for the establishment of the beginning of the months. In this connection it is useful to note the following verse from the holy Qur’an:
“The sun and moon (are subjected) to calculations.” (55:05)
The informed Muslim community are now taking these matters very seriously and
there is an international effort via CFCO (Committee For Crescent Observation), an active society since 1978, and the more recent ICOP (Islamic Crescent Observation Project), both of which include members from all over the world whose job it is to observe the crescent young moon not only for the months indicating the beginning Ramadan or its end, but all year long. This issue has been a bone of contention time and time again among Muslims. In this connection, it would be useful to highlight the words of noted fiqh scholar Dr. Taha Jabir al-Alwani from his book Ijtihad1 with respect to the sighting of the moon for the start and end of the holy month of Ramadan. Dr. al-Alwani in pointing out the necessity and significance of Ijtihad in relation to Time-Space factor uses the sighting of the moon as an example, and I quote him:
Ijtihad (1993) Published by International Institute of Islamic Thought,USA. p. 27
”…It could never have been the prophet’s intention to make life so difficult when he established that rule. He was, at that time, addressing illiterate people, and the best they could do to establish the beginning of the month was to see the moon with the naked eye. They had no other means and Allah (SWT) did not wish to make matters difficult or impossible for them. But when there exists more accurate instruments to determine the same fact, it would be totally unacceptable, and indeed backward looking, if insistence is on using out-dated and inadequate methods. The message of Islam is intended for all people in all ages; it was never restricted to the first hijri century Arabs of Makkah. Therefore, to stick to the literal meaning irrespective of the time factor is a benighted approach which is conducive neither to enlightment nor to progress.”
One can be guided by astronomical calculations to help one to know when and where to search for the crescent moon. This has brought to light that many countries have hitherto been in error in establishing the beginning of the new month, Saudi Arabia included. Some have accepted they have been in error and are now revising their position on that count. It is important that we do not follow blindly but we seek to understand and convince ourselves of the correctness of methods employed. The modern era of internet access and electronic communication seeks to educate and unite us as Muslims like we never could before.
There are now several different softwares available for calculating the dates and times of new moons, prayer times and qibla direction. The study of Astronomy is not something to be afraid of - it enlightens us and guides to a deeper understanding and appreciation of our religion and recognition of the omnipotence of our Creator. There is nothing wrong if in searching for the crescent moon we know when and where to look for it. Over and over the Qur’an emphasizes the aspect “for men of understanding”. We need to listen to that, surely there is great importance and relevance for it to be repeated so many times
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has said “ Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave”. Islam is about a lifetime of learning. A lifetime of learning means we can never know or understand everything. It is a dynamic process and we must continue to strive at all times.
“Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the succession of night and day, there are indeed messages for all who are endowed with insight, (3:190)
(and) who remember God when they stand, and when they sit, and when they lie down to sleep, and (thus) reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: “ O our Sustainer! Thou hast not created (aught of) this without meaning and purpose. Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! Keep us safe, then from suffering through fire!” (3:191)
“Praise the name of your Lord, the Most High, Who creates and proportions well, Who determines and guides” (87:1-3)
Friday, June 12, 2009
Understanding Politics in Islam - Fiqh al Siyasah
Adapted and rearranged from the book Fiqh al-Dawlah written by Professor Yusuf al Qaradawi.
1. What is the aim of politics in Islam?
According to Al-Mawardi from his book Al-Ahkam Al-Sultaniyyah, it is hirasatud din wa siasatud dunya - to uphold the religion and administer the world. Politics is not munkar - is not a depravity - real politics is noble virtuous because it administers the affairs of all creatures, bringing man closer to good and away from fasad - evil. According to Ibn al-Qayyim, politics is really the justice of Allah the Almighty and His Prophet (peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him).
The Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. was a politician as well as the messenger conveying the risalah, murabbi - teacher, Qadi - Chief Justice, Head of the nation and Imam of the ummah. The Khulafa' al Rasyidun - the rightly guided leaders who succeeded him were also politicians following the Sunnah - way of the Prophet, establishing just administration, practising ihsan - the betterment of good and providing the leadership of 'ilm - knowledge and Iman - belief.
However in the present time, due to 'politics' man faced suffering as a result of deceit and political ploys and scheming and devious politicians, whether in the form of past colonialists, treacherous rulers, tyrannical leaders and regimes preaching Machiavellian philosophy (the ends justifies the means!).
It became common to label and describe committed Muslims as 'political' so that they are regarded warily and wickedly for the purpose of disassociating and furthering apart the people from them, intending that society will shun and hate what is called 'political Islam'. It has been such that symbols of Islam like the headscarf, the proper attire and congregational prayers - Salat jama'ah are attempted to be labelled 'political'.
It is a blatant lie for those who say that there is no religion in politics and that there is no politics in religion. This deceit was once tried in the form of an attempted fatwa - a decree while the members of the Ikhwan al-Muslimun were imprisoned in the detention camps in Egypt in the 50's. The regime wanted to influence the masses to regard the activists and the Dai' (the very people who wanted to uphold the Syari'ah, Al-Qur'an and Al-Sunnah) as the purveyors of fasad - evil by using corrupted 'ulama - paid scholars.
2. The Fight against Fasad and Zulm (Evil, Transgression and Tyranny) is the utmost in Jihad
From the understanding of the Prophet's tradition (mafhum hadith):
Munkar (transgression) is not limited to khamr - liqour, gambling and zina - - unlawful sex but degrading and defiling the honour and dignity of the people and citizens is a major transgression, so is cheating in the elections, refusing to give testimony - neglecting to vote, letting government be in the hands of those who are not deserving and undesired, stealing and squandering the nation's wealth and property, monopolising the people's needs for personal gains or cronies' interests, detaining people without crime or just cause, without judgement from a fair court, torturing human beings in prison and the detention camps, giving, accepting and mediating in bribes, cowering up to, praising evil rulers, allowing the enemies of Allah and the enemies of the Muslim community to be leaders and shunning the believers - the mu'min.
These are all grave transgressions!
When a Muslim remains quiet upon seeing all of these it means that he or she does not deserve to live (is not alive) from the mafhum of al-ayat and al-hadith.
Islam requires that every Muslim has political responsibility. A Muslim is required by his Iman - faith to be truly concerned with the affairs and problems of the ummah - community, helping and defending the meek and the weak, fighting tyranny and oppression. By retreating and abstaining oneself, it will only invite divine retribution and being seized by the flames of hell (mafhum ayat).
3. Political Freedom is Our Utmost Need Today
Islam is always rejuvenated, its message spread across, its resurgence, its reverberating call heard by all even if it is given some limited freedom. Therefore the first battle is to obtain freedom to deliver the message of da'wah, the risalah of tawhid (Unity of God), spread consciousness and enabling the existence of Islamic movements.
True democracy is not the whims and desires of the tyrannical rulers or their cronies, it is not the place to jail and incarcerate its fighters and not the place to torture its proponents.
Democracy is the simplest and proper way to achieve the aims of a noble life, to be able to invite all to Allah and Islam, to be able to call others to Iman without having our souls being imprisoned and our bodies sentenced to be executed by hanging. It is the space for a free and honourable nation to have the right to choose, evaluate the ruler, change governments without coups and without bloodshed.
The theory, way and system which looks alien maybe adopted if it benefits us and as long as it does not contradict clear Islamic edicts and the rules of Syariah. We appraise, amend according to our spirit, we do not adopt its philosophy, and we do not allow what is forbidden and vice versa. We do not relinquish or compromise what is ordained or compulsory - the wajib in Islam.
The gist of democracy is that the public, the people can choose the rulers who are going to administer them; the people having the right to select, criticise and terminate; and the people are not forced to accept systems, trends, and policies which they do not agree to and they are not abused. They are free to hold elections, referendums, ensuring majority rights, protecting minority rights, having opposition, have multi parties, have press freedom and safeguarding the independence of the judiciary. But once again to constantly uphold and safeguard the principles of Islam, the firm rulings, the al-thawabit: the determined laws - hukm qat'i, the daruri - the essentials of religion and the non-ijtihadiy must not be compromised or neglected.
Syura:
Syura or consultative decision making must be followed and not just as a debating factor. By practising syura, it is closer, hence even better than the spirit of democracy. It is but the lost jewel found, the lost wisdom - al-hikmah which has been rediscovered.
Syura enables musyawarah to be conducted, obtains views and opinions, becomes the responsibility of the people to advise and counsel the government (ad-dinu nasiha) and establish amar ma'ruf nahy munkar - enjoining good and forbidding evil. Among the obligations of amar ma'ruf nahy munkar is the highest jihad (struggle) that is to voice out the truth in front of the unjust tyrant.
The State of Politics in the Ummah:
The musibah or calamity of the ummah then and now is the absence and the abeyying of the system of syura and the adoption of an oppressive dynastical ruling system. In the modern era, dictators stay in power by the force of arms and gold - power and wealth resulting in the syariah being hindered, secularism being forced upon and cultural Westernisation being imposed. Islamic da'wah and the Islamic movement being victimised, brutalised, imprisoned and hounded viciously.
4. Qur'anic Examples of Tyrannical Rulers
The Al-Qur'an denounces all powerful rulers such as Namrud, Fir'aun (Pharaoh), Hamaan and Qarun. Namrud is taghut - the transgressor who enslaves the servants of Allah as his serfs.
There is the pact or collaboration of three parties:
Fir'aun - he claims to be God, carries out tyranny and oppression throughout the land, enslaves the people
Hamaan - the cunning politician, experienced, having self interest, in the service of taghut, propping up and supporting Fir'aun and cheating the people, subjugating them.
Qarun - the capitalist or feudalist who takes opportunity from the unjust and oppressive laws, spending fortunes for the tyrannical leader in order to profit and amass more vast returns, bleeding and exploiting the toils of the people. The origin of Qarun was that he came from Prophet Musa's own clan who colluded with Fir'aun due to the love of worldly life and materialism.
The combination of taghut and Zulm results in the spread of mayhem and the destruction of the community, subjugating man by force and degradation.
The People:
Al Qur'an denounces the people or citizens who are obedient and loyal to their oppressive rulers. The people who remain under the tutelage of taghut are fully responsible and accountable because it is due to their attitude that brought forth these fir'auns and taghuts.
Al-Junud (the collaborators):
These are the armies and enforcers of the rule and order of the taghut. They use force, fear and repression to eliminate and subdue all opposition and dissidents of the tyrant.
5. An Example of Leadership
Balqis, the Queen of Saba' as told in the Qur'an was a woman who lead her people well, just and administered them with intelligence and wisdom saving her people from a war that was destructive and made decisions by syura-consulting them. Alas, the story ended with the acceptance of Islam. She led her people towards the goodness of the world and the hereafter.
Leaders like her are much more capable and qualified with political acumen and wise administration than most of the present Arab and Muslim 'male' leaders. (Prof. Yusuf Qaradawi purposely avoided the term 'al-rijal')
6. Pluralism and Multi Parties in Islam
The existence of various parties or movements is not forbidden as long as unification is not achievable due to differences over objectives, approaches, understanding and the level of confidence and trust. Variety and specialisation are allowed as long as they do not become contradictory and confrontational. However everyone has to be in one united front when facing the challenges to aqidah - belief, syariah, ummah and the survival of Islam. Relations between parties and groupings should be in the atmosphere of non-prejudice, forgiveness, nobleness, counselling truth and steadfastness, wisdom and engaging in healthy cordial debate.
Even when the Islamic State is established there is no reason to feel distraught at the existence of pluralism and differences.
7. Counselling and Corrective Participation in Politics
Without the shedding of blood, the most effective way as the outcome of long and painful struggles is the existence of political forces which the government in power is unable to contain or eliminate: that is presence of political parties. The ruling regime can get rid of individuals and small groups of opponents but it is difficult for them to defeat or wipe out larger organisations which are well structured, organised and rooted in the masses of society. Political parties have the platform, machinery, newspapers and publications as well as mass influence.
Political parties or political movements are necessary to fight oppression, to enable criticism, bringing back the government to to uphold truth and justice, bringing down or changing the government. These parties are capable of monitoring and appraising the government, offer advice and criticism.
8. Voting
Voting in the elections is a form of testimony. A just testimony is considered as long as one is not convicted of crime. Whoever so votes or abstains from voting in the general elections causing the defeat of a trustworthy and deserving candidate but on the other hand allows the candidate who is less trustworthy and undeserving to win, one has gone against the command of Allah concerning giving testimony.
1. What is the aim of politics in Islam?
According to Al-Mawardi from his book Al-Ahkam Al-Sultaniyyah, it is hirasatud din wa siasatud dunya - to uphold the religion and administer the world. Politics is not munkar - is not a depravity - real politics is noble virtuous because it administers the affairs of all creatures, bringing man closer to good and away from fasad - evil. According to Ibn al-Qayyim, politics is really the justice of Allah the Almighty and His Prophet (peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him).
The Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. was a politician as well as the messenger conveying the risalah, murabbi - teacher, Qadi - Chief Justice, Head of the nation and Imam of the ummah. The Khulafa' al Rasyidun - the rightly guided leaders who succeeded him were also politicians following the Sunnah - way of the Prophet, establishing just administration, practising ihsan - the betterment of good and providing the leadership of 'ilm - knowledge and Iman - belief.
However in the present time, due to 'politics' man faced suffering as a result of deceit and political ploys and scheming and devious politicians, whether in the form of past colonialists, treacherous rulers, tyrannical leaders and regimes preaching Machiavellian philosophy (the ends justifies the means!).
It became common to label and describe committed Muslims as 'political' so that they are regarded warily and wickedly for the purpose of disassociating and furthering apart the people from them, intending that society will shun and hate what is called 'political Islam'. It has been such that symbols of Islam like the headscarf, the proper attire and congregational prayers - Salat jama'ah are attempted to be labelled 'political'.
It is a blatant lie for those who say that there is no religion in politics and that there is no politics in religion. This deceit was once tried in the form of an attempted fatwa - a decree while the members of the Ikhwan al-Muslimun were imprisoned in the detention camps in Egypt in the 50's. The regime wanted to influence the masses to regard the activists and the Dai' (the very people who wanted to uphold the Syari'ah, Al-Qur'an and Al-Sunnah) as the purveyors of fasad - evil by using corrupted 'ulama - paid scholars.
2. The Fight against Fasad and Zulm (Evil, Transgression and Tyranny) is the utmost in Jihad
From the understanding of the Prophet's tradition (mafhum hadith):
Munkar (transgression) is not limited to khamr - liqour, gambling and zina - - unlawful sex but degrading and defiling the honour and dignity of the people and citizens is a major transgression, so is cheating in the elections, refusing to give testimony - neglecting to vote, letting government be in the hands of those who are not deserving and undesired, stealing and squandering the nation's wealth and property, monopolising the people's needs for personal gains or cronies' interests, detaining people without crime or just cause, without judgement from a fair court, torturing human beings in prison and the detention camps, giving, accepting and mediating in bribes, cowering up to, praising evil rulers, allowing the enemies of Allah and the enemies of the Muslim community to be leaders and shunning the believers - the mu'min.
These are all grave transgressions!
When a Muslim remains quiet upon seeing all of these it means that he or she does not deserve to live (is not alive) from the mafhum of al-ayat and al-hadith.
Islam requires that every Muslim has political responsibility. A Muslim is required by his Iman - faith to be truly concerned with the affairs and problems of the ummah - community, helping and defending the meek and the weak, fighting tyranny and oppression. By retreating and abstaining oneself, it will only invite divine retribution and being seized by the flames of hell (mafhum ayat).
3. Political Freedom is Our Utmost Need Today
Islam is always rejuvenated, its message spread across, its resurgence, its reverberating call heard by all even if it is given some limited freedom. Therefore the first battle is to obtain freedom to deliver the message of da'wah, the risalah of tawhid (Unity of God), spread consciousness and enabling the existence of Islamic movements.
True democracy is not the whims and desires of the tyrannical rulers or their cronies, it is not the place to jail and incarcerate its fighters and not the place to torture its proponents.
Democracy is the simplest and proper way to achieve the aims of a noble life, to be able to invite all to Allah and Islam, to be able to call others to Iman without having our souls being imprisoned and our bodies sentenced to be executed by hanging. It is the space for a free and honourable nation to have the right to choose, evaluate the ruler, change governments without coups and without bloodshed.
The theory, way and system which looks alien maybe adopted if it benefits us and as long as it does not contradict clear Islamic edicts and the rules of Syariah. We appraise, amend according to our spirit, we do not adopt its philosophy, and we do not allow what is forbidden and vice versa. We do not relinquish or compromise what is ordained or compulsory - the wajib in Islam.
The gist of democracy is that the public, the people can choose the rulers who are going to administer them; the people having the right to select, criticise and terminate; and the people are not forced to accept systems, trends, and policies which they do not agree to and they are not abused. They are free to hold elections, referendums, ensuring majority rights, protecting minority rights, having opposition, have multi parties, have press freedom and safeguarding the independence of the judiciary. But once again to constantly uphold and safeguard the principles of Islam, the firm rulings, the al-thawabit: the determined laws - hukm qat'i, the daruri - the essentials of religion and the non-ijtihadiy must not be compromised or neglected.
Syura:
Syura or consultative decision making must be followed and not just as a debating factor. By practising syura, it is closer, hence even better than the spirit of democracy. It is but the lost jewel found, the lost wisdom - al-hikmah which has been rediscovered.
Syura enables musyawarah to be conducted, obtains views and opinions, becomes the responsibility of the people to advise and counsel the government (ad-dinu nasiha) and establish amar ma'ruf nahy munkar - enjoining good and forbidding evil. Among the obligations of amar ma'ruf nahy munkar is the highest jihad (struggle) that is to voice out the truth in front of the unjust tyrant.
The State of Politics in the Ummah:
The musibah or calamity of the ummah then and now is the absence and the abeyying of the system of syura and the adoption of an oppressive dynastical ruling system. In the modern era, dictators stay in power by the force of arms and gold - power and wealth resulting in the syariah being hindered, secularism being forced upon and cultural Westernisation being imposed. Islamic da'wah and the Islamic movement being victimised, brutalised, imprisoned and hounded viciously.
4. Qur'anic Examples of Tyrannical Rulers
The Al-Qur'an denounces all powerful rulers such as Namrud, Fir'aun (Pharaoh), Hamaan and Qarun. Namrud is taghut - the transgressor who enslaves the servants of Allah as his serfs.
There is the pact or collaboration of three parties:
Fir'aun - he claims to be God, carries out tyranny and oppression throughout the land, enslaves the people
Hamaan - the cunning politician, experienced, having self interest, in the service of taghut, propping up and supporting Fir'aun and cheating the people, subjugating them.
Qarun - the capitalist or feudalist who takes opportunity from the unjust and oppressive laws, spending fortunes for the tyrannical leader in order to profit and amass more vast returns, bleeding and exploiting the toils of the people. The origin of Qarun was that he came from Prophet Musa's own clan who colluded with Fir'aun due to the love of worldly life and materialism.
The combination of taghut and Zulm results in the spread of mayhem and the destruction of the community, subjugating man by force and degradation.
The People:
Al Qur'an denounces the people or citizens who are obedient and loyal to their oppressive rulers. The people who remain under the tutelage of taghut are fully responsible and accountable because it is due to their attitude that brought forth these fir'auns and taghuts.
Al-Junud (the collaborators):
These are the armies and enforcers of the rule and order of the taghut. They use force, fear and repression to eliminate and subdue all opposition and dissidents of the tyrant.
5. An Example of Leadership
Balqis, the Queen of Saba' as told in the Qur'an was a woman who lead her people well, just and administered them with intelligence and wisdom saving her people from a war that was destructive and made decisions by syura-consulting them. Alas, the story ended with the acceptance of Islam. She led her people towards the goodness of the world and the hereafter.
Leaders like her are much more capable and qualified with political acumen and wise administration than most of the present Arab and Muslim 'male' leaders. (Prof. Yusuf Qaradawi purposely avoided the term 'al-rijal')
6. Pluralism and Multi Parties in Islam
The existence of various parties or movements is not forbidden as long as unification is not achievable due to differences over objectives, approaches, understanding and the level of confidence and trust. Variety and specialisation are allowed as long as they do not become contradictory and confrontational. However everyone has to be in one united front when facing the challenges to aqidah - belief, syariah, ummah and the survival of Islam. Relations between parties and groupings should be in the atmosphere of non-prejudice, forgiveness, nobleness, counselling truth and steadfastness, wisdom and engaging in healthy cordial debate.
Even when the Islamic State is established there is no reason to feel distraught at the existence of pluralism and differences.
7. Counselling and Corrective Participation in Politics
Without the shedding of blood, the most effective way as the outcome of long and painful struggles is the existence of political forces which the government in power is unable to contain or eliminate: that is presence of political parties. The ruling regime can get rid of individuals and small groups of opponents but it is difficult for them to defeat or wipe out larger organisations which are well structured, organised and rooted in the masses of society. Political parties have the platform, machinery, newspapers and publications as well as mass influence.
Political parties or political movements are necessary to fight oppression, to enable criticism, bringing back the government to to uphold truth and justice, bringing down or changing the government. These parties are capable of monitoring and appraising the government, offer advice and criticism.
8. Voting
Voting in the elections is a form of testimony. A just testimony is considered as long as one is not convicted of crime. Whoever so votes or abstains from voting in the general elections causing the defeat of a trustworthy and deserving candidate but on the other hand allows the candidate who is less trustworthy and undeserving to win, one has gone against the command of Allah concerning giving testimony.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Islamic political philosophy: Al-Farabi, Avicenna, Averroes Part 1
Islam is based on the Koran (a revelation from God to the prophet Muhammad) supplemented by the sunnah (a set of traditions about Muhammad's words and deeds). Muslims recognise Judaism and Christianity as revelations from God (just as Christianity recognises Judaism), but hold that the revelation made to Muhammad completes and supersedes earlier revelations. Muslims reject the Christian doctrines that Jesus was God and that God is in three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit); they believe that Jesus was a prophet and that God is one.
Islam spread rapidly from its birthplace in Arabia. In part its spread was due to jihad ('holy war' - see Encyclopaedia of Islam (ref/DS37.E523), vol. 2, pp. 538-40, art. 'Djihad'); non-Muslims defeated in battle were offered the choice of conversion or death. An exception was made for Jews and Christians, who were allowed to continue their religious observances provided they acknowledged Muslim political authority and paid a tax. In this way there came to be in Muslim lands many communities of Christians and Jews, who sometimes acted as intermediaries in cultural exchange between Muslims and the Greeks and the Latins. Thus Arab Christians were among the translators who (about A.D. 800) translated the works of Plato and Aristotle into Arabic, and Arabic-speaking Jews were among the translators who (in the 12th century) translated Greek and Arabic works of science and philosophy from Arabic into Latin. The bulk of Aristotle's works became known in Europe first in translations of Arabic translations from Greek (though translations were soon made direct into Latin from Greek) and were accompanied by translations of the Arabic writings of Muslim philosophers. Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi, Abu 'Ali al-Husayn Ibn Sina and Abu al-Walid Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Rushd were well known in the universities of medieval Europe under the Latinised forms of their names, Alfarabi, Avicenna and Averroes.
The works on politics written by the Islamic philosophers were based especially on Plato, with influence also from Aristotle's Ethics; Aristotle's Politics was not well-known, though Aristotle's other works were. Greek Neo-Platonists (Plotinus, Porphyry, Proclus and others) had tried to combine the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle; they held that these philosophies were fundamentally in harmony. This view was passed on to the Islamic philosophers, who expounded a more or less Platonized Aristotelianism.
Islam spread rapidly from its birthplace in Arabia. In part its spread was due to jihad ('holy war' - see Encyclopaedia of Islam (ref/DS37.E523), vol. 2, pp. 538-40, art. 'Djihad'); non-Muslims defeated in battle were offered the choice of conversion or death. An exception was made for Jews and Christians, who were allowed to continue their religious observances provided they acknowledged Muslim political authority and paid a tax. In this way there came to be in Muslim lands many communities of Christians and Jews, who sometimes acted as intermediaries in cultural exchange between Muslims and the Greeks and the Latins. Thus Arab Christians were among the translators who (about A.D. 800) translated the works of Plato and Aristotle into Arabic, and Arabic-speaking Jews were among the translators who (in the 12th century) translated Greek and Arabic works of science and philosophy from Arabic into Latin. The bulk of Aristotle's works became known in Europe first in translations of Arabic translations from Greek (though translations were soon made direct into Latin from Greek) and were accompanied by translations of the Arabic writings of Muslim philosophers. Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi, Abu 'Ali al-Husayn Ibn Sina and Abu al-Walid Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Rushd were well known in the universities of medieval Europe under the Latinised forms of their names, Alfarabi, Avicenna and Averroes.
The works on politics written by the Islamic philosophers were based especially on Plato, with influence also from Aristotle's Ethics; Aristotle's Politics was not well-known, though Aristotle's other works were. Greek Neo-Platonists (Plotinus, Porphyry, Proclus and others) had tried to combine the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle; they held that these philosophies were fundamentally in harmony. This view was passed on to the Islamic philosophers, who expounded a more or less Platonized Aristotelianism.
Islamic political philosophy: Al-Farabi, Avicenna, Averroes Part 2
Al-Farabi (ca. 870-950 A.D.)
The following is based on extracts in R. Lerner and M. Mahdi, Medieval Political Philosophy (JA82.L4) from Al-Farabi's 'Book of Agreement between the ideas of the two philosophers, the divine Plato and Aristotle'. Two key ideas: (1) Aristotle's idea of Nature as a source of development toward a mature state; (2) Aristotle's distinction between demonstrative argument and merely persuasive argument - i.e. between argument that gives genuine knowledge and understanding and argument that induces the hearer to believe a conclusion without understanding the fundamental reason why it is so (see Aristotle, Analytica Posteriora, 71 b19-23).
According to Al-Farabi, human beings, like any natural species, have a perfect state toward which their actions tend.
[H]e cannot labour toward this perfection except by exploiting a large number of natural beings and until he manipulates them to render them useful... [A]n isolated individual cannot achieve all the perfections by himself and without the aid of many other individuals. It is the innate disposition of every man to join another human being or other men in the labour he ought to perform... Therefore, to achieve what he can of that perfection, every man needs to stay in the neighborhood of others and associate with them... which is why he is called the social and political animal (p. 60).
Compare Plato, Protagoras, 322. Republic 369-371, Aristotle, Politics, I.2.
[P]olitical association and the totality that results from the association of citizens in cities correspond to the association of the bodies that constitute the totality of the world... Just as in the world there is a first principle, then other principles subordinate to it, beings that proceed from these principles, other beings subordinate to these beings, until they terminate in the beings with the lowest rank in the order of being, the nation or the city includes a supreme commander, followed by other commanders, followed by other citizens, who in turn are followed by other citizens, until they terminate in the citizens with the lowest rank as citizens and as human beings. Thus the city includes the likenesses of the things included in the total world (p. 61).
Hierarchy, order, is a characteristic neo-Platonic theme; cf. Augustine.
Human beings differ in their natural capacity to acquire the virtues required in a ruler. Therefore
not every chance human being will possess art, moral virtue, and deliberative virtue with great power. Therefore the prince occupies his place by nature and not merely by will. Similarly, a subordinate occupies his place primarily by nature... This being the case, the theoretical virtue, the highest deliberative virtue, the highest moral virtue, and the highest practical art [politics] are realised only in those equipped for them by nature: that is, in those who possess superior natures with very great potentialities (p. 69).
Cf. Aristotle, Politics, I.5; Plato, Republic, 415a.
The person with the most superior natural capacity and acquired virtue must realise these perfections in nations and cities. There are two primary methods: verbal instruction, and the formation of character by making certain modes of action habitual.
Instruction in the theoretical science should be given either to the imams and princes, or else to those who should preserve the theoretical sciences... [T]hey should be made to pursue a course of study and form the habits of character from their childhood until each of them reaches maturity, in accordance with the plan described by Plato [in the sections of the Republic on the education of the guardians]. Then the princes [leaders] among them will be placed in subordinate offices and promoted gradually through the ranks until they are fifty years old. Then they will be placed in the office with the highest authority... [T]hey are the elect who should not be confined to what is in conformity with unexamined common opinion. [For all of this cf. Plato's Republic.] In the earlier stages they should be instructed by means of persuasive arguments and similitudes [as contrasted with demonstrative arguments and knowledge of the thing itself] (p. 70).
The virtue or art of the prince is exercised by directing those who have the lower virtues or arts, whom he uses to instruct and form the character of the various categories of citizens - some by persuasion, some by compulsion (including holy war - the prince needs 'the faculty that enables him to excel in organising and leading armies and utilising war implements and warlike people to conquer the nations and cities that do not submit to doing what will procure them that happiness for whose acquisition man is made', p. 71). In using persuasion, the prince should go back to the things he studied demonstratively and look for persuasive arguments and similitudes and devise methods of political oratory. [Cf. Plato, Statesman, 303e-304a, 309cd; Phaedrus, 271b, d; Laws, 719e-720e, 722d-723d]. Since it aims at the perfection of all mankind, philosophy seeks political power. 'To be a truly perfect philosopher one has to possess both the theoretical sciences and the faculty for exploiting them for the benefit of all others according to their capacity. Were one to consider the case of the true philosopher, he would find no difference between him and the supreme ruler' (p. 76). [Cf. Plato, Republic, 473cd.]
Now when one... receives instruction.., if he perceives their ideas themselves with his intellect, and his assent to them is by means of certain demonstration, then the science that comprises these cognitions is philosophy. But if they are known by imagining them through similitudes that imitate them, and assent to what is imagined of them is caused by persuasive methods, then the ancients call what comprises these cognitions religion... Therefore, according to the ancients, religion is an imitation of philosophy. Both comprise the same subjects and both give an account of the ultimate principles of the beings. For both supply knowledge about the first principle and cause of the beings, and both give an account of the ultimate end for the sake of which man is made - that is, supreme happiness - and the ultimate end of every one of the other beings. In everything of which philosophy gives an account based on intellectual perception or conception, religion gives an account based on imagination. In everything demonstrated by philosophy, religion employs persuasion - (p. 77).
'It follows, then, that the idea of Imam, Philosopher and Legislator is a single idea' (p. 78).
It will be noticed that the implication is that Muhammad is the philosopher-king, but that the philosophers are superior to those who are merely religious.
The following is based on extracts in R. Lerner and M. Mahdi, Medieval Political Philosophy (JA82.L4) from Al-Farabi's 'Book of Agreement between the ideas of the two philosophers, the divine Plato and Aristotle'. Two key ideas: (1) Aristotle's idea of Nature as a source of development toward a mature state; (2) Aristotle's distinction between demonstrative argument and merely persuasive argument - i.e. between argument that gives genuine knowledge and understanding and argument that induces the hearer to believe a conclusion without understanding the fundamental reason why it is so (see Aristotle, Analytica Posteriora, 71 b19-23).
According to Al-Farabi, human beings, like any natural species, have a perfect state toward which their actions tend.
[H]e cannot labour toward this perfection except by exploiting a large number of natural beings and until he manipulates them to render them useful... [A]n isolated individual cannot achieve all the perfections by himself and without the aid of many other individuals. It is the innate disposition of every man to join another human being or other men in the labour he ought to perform... Therefore, to achieve what he can of that perfection, every man needs to stay in the neighborhood of others and associate with them... which is why he is called the social and political animal (p. 60).
Compare Plato, Protagoras, 322. Republic 369-371, Aristotle, Politics, I.2.
[P]olitical association and the totality that results from the association of citizens in cities correspond to the association of the bodies that constitute the totality of the world... Just as in the world there is a first principle, then other principles subordinate to it, beings that proceed from these principles, other beings subordinate to these beings, until they terminate in the beings with the lowest rank in the order of being, the nation or the city includes a supreme commander, followed by other commanders, followed by other citizens, who in turn are followed by other citizens, until they terminate in the citizens with the lowest rank as citizens and as human beings. Thus the city includes the likenesses of the things included in the total world (p. 61).
Hierarchy, order, is a characteristic neo-Platonic theme; cf. Augustine.
Human beings differ in their natural capacity to acquire the virtues required in a ruler. Therefore
not every chance human being will possess art, moral virtue, and deliberative virtue with great power. Therefore the prince occupies his place by nature and not merely by will. Similarly, a subordinate occupies his place primarily by nature... This being the case, the theoretical virtue, the highest deliberative virtue, the highest moral virtue, and the highest practical art [politics] are realised only in those equipped for them by nature: that is, in those who possess superior natures with very great potentialities (p. 69).
Cf. Aristotle, Politics, I.5; Plato, Republic, 415a.
The person with the most superior natural capacity and acquired virtue must realise these perfections in nations and cities. There are two primary methods: verbal instruction, and the formation of character by making certain modes of action habitual.
Instruction in the theoretical science should be given either to the imams and princes, or else to those who should preserve the theoretical sciences... [T]hey should be made to pursue a course of study and form the habits of character from their childhood until each of them reaches maturity, in accordance with the plan described by Plato [in the sections of the Republic on the education of the guardians]. Then the princes [leaders] among them will be placed in subordinate offices and promoted gradually through the ranks until they are fifty years old. Then they will be placed in the office with the highest authority... [T]hey are the elect who should not be confined to what is in conformity with unexamined common opinion. [For all of this cf. Plato's Republic.] In the earlier stages they should be instructed by means of persuasive arguments and similitudes [as contrasted with demonstrative arguments and knowledge of the thing itself] (p. 70).
The virtue or art of the prince is exercised by directing those who have the lower virtues or arts, whom he uses to instruct and form the character of the various categories of citizens - some by persuasion, some by compulsion (including holy war - the prince needs 'the faculty that enables him to excel in organising and leading armies and utilising war implements and warlike people to conquer the nations and cities that do not submit to doing what will procure them that happiness for whose acquisition man is made', p. 71). In using persuasion, the prince should go back to the things he studied demonstratively and look for persuasive arguments and similitudes and devise methods of political oratory. [Cf. Plato, Statesman, 303e-304a, 309cd; Phaedrus, 271b, d; Laws, 719e-720e, 722d-723d]. Since it aims at the perfection of all mankind, philosophy seeks political power. 'To be a truly perfect philosopher one has to possess both the theoretical sciences and the faculty for exploiting them for the benefit of all others according to their capacity. Were one to consider the case of the true philosopher, he would find no difference between him and the supreme ruler' (p. 76). [Cf. Plato, Republic, 473cd.]
Now when one... receives instruction.., if he perceives their ideas themselves with his intellect, and his assent to them is by means of certain demonstration, then the science that comprises these cognitions is philosophy. But if they are known by imagining them through similitudes that imitate them, and assent to what is imagined of them is caused by persuasive methods, then the ancients call what comprises these cognitions religion... Therefore, according to the ancients, religion is an imitation of philosophy. Both comprise the same subjects and both give an account of the ultimate principles of the beings. For both supply knowledge about the first principle and cause of the beings, and both give an account of the ultimate end for the sake of which man is made - that is, supreme happiness - and the ultimate end of every one of the other beings. In everything of which philosophy gives an account based on intellectual perception or conception, religion gives an account based on imagination. In everything demonstrated by philosophy, religion employs persuasion - (p. 77).
'It follows, then, that the idea of Imam, Philosopher and Legislator is a single idea' (p. 78).
It will be noticed that the implication is that Muhammad is the philosopher-king, but that the philosophers are superior to those who are merely religious.
Islamic political philosophy: Al-Farabi, Avicenna, Averroes Part 3
Avicenna (980-1037 A.D.)
The extracts in the Readings come from Avicenna, The Healing, 'Metaphysics', Book X (translated M.E. Marmura, in Lerner and Mahdi, p. 99 ff).
Read Chapter 2 (pp. 99-101).
Compare Plato, Protagoras, 322. Republic 369-371.
'The First Principle': God.
'xvi, 102' and the like are references to the Koran.
'He ought not to involve them': religious knowledge does not include everything that philosophers should know.
'Nor is it proper... vulgar': This explains why Muhammad never indicated that parts of the Koran were to be interpreted allegorically.
Read chapter 3, pp. 101-3.
Thus Avicenna finds philosophical reasons for the practices of religion.
Read chapter 5, pp. 107-110
'Caliph' means 'successor', i.e. of Muhammad. 'Imam' means 'leader'.
'If a city other than his has praiseworthy laws': This and the rest of the paragraph seem to be intended to explain why Jews and Christians are to be treated more leniently.
'Acts that harm the individual himself': Avicenna, like J.S. Mill much later, thought that people should not be legally compelled for their own good.
Averroes, 1126-1198 A.D.
Al-Farabi and Avicenna lived in the eastern part of the Islamic world; Averroes lived in Spain, at that time partly under Muslim control. He was a judge in the city of Cordova. He wrote a series of commentaries on the works of Aristotle, which were translated into Latin and were very influential in the universities of medieval Europe.
In Islamic culture 'philosophy' (in the sense of a continuation Greek philosophy) was somewhat suspect. It never gained a foothold in publically supported educational institutions, it was never well connected with any profession (in contrast with western Europe after the 12th century, where philosophy was the main subject in Arts faculties of the universities). The subject best established in medieval Islamic education was the study of the law (i.e. of the religious law). The extracts from Averroes in the Readings are from The Decisive Treatise Determining the Nature of the Connection between Religion and Philosophy, in which Averroes tries to show (with a readership of lawyers primarily in mind) that philosophy is a legitmate study for Muslims - indeed, that it is the highest form of religion. Like Alfarabi, and like Plato, Averroes envisages a state in which philosophers are the elite. The extracts are from the translation by G.F. Hourani in A. Hyman and J.J. Walsh, Philosophy in the Middle Ages (B721.P48), p. 287 ff)
Read chapter 1, pp. 287-291.
The headings in small print (e.g. 'What is the attitude of the Law to philosophy?', 'If teleological study... then the Law commands philosophy') are not part of the original text but have been supplied by editor or translator.
'teleological': in terms of purpose or end (Greek telos, 'end').
'The Artisan': God, the maker of the world.
'LIX, 2' and the like: references to the Koran.
'Demonstrative', 'dialectical' and 'rhetorical' reasoning: According to Aristotle 'demonstrative' reasoning gives certainty and understanding by showing the reasons why the thing is and must be so. 'Dialectical' reasoning shows that it is probably so by reasons that give no understanding or certainty (e.g. arguments from what is commonly believed, or analogies). 'Rhetorical' arguments induce the listener (perhaps by some emotional appeal) to believe that the thing is so. (Plato used 'dialectic' for the highest form of reasoning; Aristotle gave the word a less favourable meaning.)
'The lawyer': i.e. the student of the religious law of Islam.
'Syllogisms': arguments.
'regardless... shares our religion': Averroes' great antagonist, Al-Ghazali, held similarly liberal views on this topic. 'If we adopt the attitude of abstaining from every truth that the mind of a heretic has apprehended before us, we should be obliged to abstain from much that is true' (Al-Ghazali, in Hyman and Walsh, p. 273).
'Those ancients who studied these matters before Islam': that is, the Greek philosophers.
'For the natures of men are on different levels': This was also the view of Al-Farabi and Avicenna, who also inferred that philosophy was for the elite and religion for the masses.
Read chapter 2, pp. 292-4
Note the argument that on theoretical matters it can never be shown that there has been unanimity, since some of the experts may have believed that they should not communicate their knowledge to the public.
The next few pages are omitted, since they go into controversies on technical questions of philosophy.
Read Chapter 3, pp. 301-6.
'Abu Hamid': Al-Ghazali, whose book The Incoherence of the Philosophers was an attack on philosophy.
'Accidentally certain': i.e. 'happen to be certain'. A dialectical argument uses as premisses common beliefs, and there is no guarantee that commonly held beliefs are true; but it may happen in some instance that they are true.
The rest of the chapter is clear enough.
Like Al-Farabi, Averroes holds that philosophy and Islam are in harmony, that superior intellects ought to philosophise but not in public, that ordinary people should be taught by means of the Koran and the traditions without trying to turn them into philosophers. (Compare Plato's city, where ordinary people are ruled by philosophers who know what is good for them better than they do themselves.) Note that these Muslim philosophers do not suggest (and presumably did not believe) that the Koran and the traditions are in any way false: by a miracle, God has provided a book that is both perfectly accessible to ordinary people and a true guide.
Further Reading
Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (ref/B41.E5), art. 'Islamic philosophy'; R. Lerner and M. Mahdi, Medieval Political Philosophy (JA82.L4).
The extracts in the Readings come from Avicenna, The Healing, 'Metaphysics', Book X (translated M.E. Marmura, in Lerner and Mahdi, p. 99 ff).
Read Chapter 2 (pp. 99-101).
Compare Plato, Protagoras, 322. Republic 369-371.
'The First Principle': God.
'xvi, 102' and the like are references to the Koran.
'He ought not to involve them': religious knowledge does not include everything that philosophers should know.
'Nor is it proper... vulgar': This explains why Muhammad never indicated that parts of the Koran were to be interpreted allegorically.
Read chapter 3, pp. 101-3.
Thus Avicenna finds philosophical reasons for the practices of religion.
Read chapter 5, pp. 107-110
'Caliph' means 'successor', i.e. of Muhammad. 'Imam' means 'leader'.
'If a city other than his has praiseworthy laws': This and the rest of the paragraph seem to be intended to explain why Jews and Christians are to be treated more leniently.
'Acts that harm the individual himself': Avicenna, like J.S. Mill much later, thought that people should not be legally compelled for their own good.
Averroes, 1126-1198 A.D.
Al-Farabi and Avicenna lived in the eastern part of the Islamic world; Averroes lived in Spain, at that time partly under Muslim control. He was a judge in the city of Cordova. He wrote a series of commentaries on the works of Aristotle, which were translated into Latin and were very influential in the universities of medieval Europe.
In Islamic culture 'philosophy' (in the sense of a continuation Greek philosophy) was somewhat suspect. It never gained a foothold in publically supported educational institutions, it was never well connected with any profession (in contrast with western Europe after the 12th century, where philosophy was the main subject in Arts faculties of the universities). The subject best established in medieval Islamic education was the study of the law (i.e. of the religious law). The extracts from Averroes in the Readings are from The Decisive Treatise Determining the Nature of the Connection between Religion and Philosophy, in which Averroes tries to show (with a readership of lawyers primarily in mind) that philosophy is a legitmate study for Muslims - indeed, that it is the highest form of religion. Like Alfarabi, and like Plato, Averroes envisages a state in which philosophers are the elite. The extracts are from the translation by G.F. Hourani in A. Hyman and J.J. Walsh, Philosophy in the Middle Ages (B721.P48), p. 287 ff)
Read chapter 1, pp. 287-291.
The headings in small print (e.g. 'What is the attitude of the Law to philosophy?', 'If teleological study... then the Law commands philosophy') are not part of the original text but have been supplied by editor or translator.
'teleological': in terms of purpose or end (Greek telos, 'end').
'The Artisan': God, the maker of the world.
'LIX, 2' and the like: references to the Koran.
'Demonstrative', 'dialectical' and 'rhetorical' reasoning: According to Aristotle 'demonstrative' reasoning gives certainty and understanding by showing the reasons why the thing is and must be so. 'Dialectical' reasoning shows that it is probably so by reasons that give no understanding or certainty (e.g. arguments from what is commonly believed, or analogies). 'Rhetorical' arguments induce the listener (perhaps by some emotional appeal) to believe that the thing is so. (Plato used 'dialectic' for the highest form of reasoning; Aristotle gave the word a less favourable meaning.)
'The lawyer': i.e. the student of the religious law of Islam.
'Syllogisms': arguments.
'regardless... shares our religion': Averroes' great antagonist, Al-Ghazali, held similarly liberal views on this topic. 'If we adopt the attitude of abstaining from every truth that the mind of a heretic has apprehended before us, we should be obliged to abstain from much that is true' (Al-Ghazali, in Hyman and Walsh, p. 273).
'Those ancients who studied these matters before Islam': that is, the Greek philosophers.
'For the natures of men are on different levels': This was also the view of Al-Farabi and Avicenna, who also inferred that philosophy was for the elite and religion for the masses.
Read chapter 2, pp. 292-4
Note the argument that on theoretical matters it can never be shown that there has been unanimity, since some of the experts may have believed that they should not communicate their knowledge to the public.
The next few pages are omitted, since they go into controversies on technical questions of philosophy.
Read Chapter 3, pp. 301-6.
'Abu Hamid': Al-Ghazali, whose book The Incoherence of the Philosophers was an attack on philosophy.
'Accidentally certain': i.e. 'happen to be certain'. A dialectical argument uses as premisses common beliefs, and there is no guarantee that commonly held beliefs are true; but it may happen in some instance that they are true.
The rest of the chapter is clear enough.
Like Al-Farabi, Averroes holds that philosophy and Islam are in harmony, that superior intellects ought to philosophise but not in public, that ordinary people should be taught by means of the Koran and the traditions without trying to turn them into philosophers. (Compare Plato's city, where ordinary people are ruled by philosophers who know what is good for them better than they do themselves.) Note that these Muslim philosophers do not suggest (and presumably did not believe) that the Koran and the traditions are in any way false: by a miracle, God has provided a book that is both perfectly accessible to ordinary people and a true guide.
Further Reading
Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (ref/B41.E5), art. 'Islamic philosophy'; R. Lerner and M. Mahdi, Medieval Political Philosophy (JA82.L4).
Thursday, June 4, 2009
An Islamic Perspective on the Wealth of Nations (1)
By: Imad A. Ahmad.
Minaret of Freedom Institute, 4323 Rosedale Avenue
Bethesda, Maryland 20814, (301) 656-4717
a Paper Delivered at the International Conference on "Comprehensive Development of Muslim Countries: An Interdisciplinary Approach from an Islamic Perspective"
INTRODUCTION
From the Islamic perspective, economic policy must satisfy both the legal requirements of the sharî`ah and the hard cold facts of economic science. Both come from the will of the Allah. As in the case of physical science (see Ahmad 1992), any perceived conflict between them means that either the sharî`ah or the economic facts of life have been misunderstood.
This paper deals not with Adam Smith's book the Wealth of Nations, although much of Smith's analysis is consistent with what I say here and, as I shall note, Smith to large degree was simply picking up where Ibn Khaldun left off. Our main concern is with the politico-economic policies that account for why some nations are wealthier than others and why nations, or dynasties, may be wealthy at one phase of their existence and poor at others. I recently completed a study which demonstrates this principle through an overview of the rise of Islamic economies of the classical Muslim era under the influence of the Qur'an and sunnah and a parallel analysis of the development of economic theory in the same period (Ahmad 1993a, 1994). That review demonstrated the validity of the tradition attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that the first generation of Muslims adheres most closely to the principles of the religion and each successive generation drifts farther from it. The gradual devolution of Islamic economic practice away from the sharî`ah stands in contrast to the evolution of Islamic economic theory which reached its peak with Ibn Khaldun. Market principles enunciated in the Qu'ran were eventually abandoned by Muslim society, leading to its inevitable collapse. As the Islamic classical era neared its end, Ibn Khaldun, inventor of modern sociology, identified the economic policies that lead to the rise and fall of dynasties. By that time, reform based on evolving understanding was abandoned (called the closing of the door to ijtihâd) and the Muslim world began its decline into intellectual darkness and economic stagnation. Economic development and technical innovation was taken over by Western civilization, where an analogous departure of practice from theory is now being felt. The knowledge that Ibn Khaldun enunciated went neglected or misunderstood by Muslim society, while the principles that he and his Islamic predecessors identified found their way into Western economic theory on the wealth of nations. In this paper I shall elucidate the specific implications of my analysis for modern economic policy.
The framework of our analysis is the sharî`ah. Islam is, politically, a nomocracy, that is, a system of rule of law (Ahmad 1993b). It is not, as the Western press is wont to misrepresent it, a theocracy, that is a rule by clerics. The concept of theocracy violates the fundamental premise of Islam--that there is none worthy of worship but God. In the Islamic world-view, each human being is directly responsible to the Almighty. The issue of what is it that God commands has been answered in writing, in the Qur'an. It is the unchanging sharî`ah itself, and not some human being or assembly, that man must obey. The nomocratic nature of Islam cannot be overstated. If there were ever a human being who could make a demand of obedience upon the Muslims it would have to be the Prophet himself, yet of him the Qur'an directs only obedience "in any just matter" (see, e.g., 60:12) and in it God warned the Prophet "nor art thou set over them to dispose of their affairs" (39:41). No human being after the Prophet could ask for more allegiance than that due to the Prophet himself. The early caliphs did not do so. Abu Bakr's inaugural address reflects an attitude in sharp contrast to that of political leaders before him: "Now it is beyond doubt that I have been elected your Amir, although I am not better than you. Help me, if I am right; set me right if I am in the wrong; truth is a trust; falsehood a treason.... Obey me as long as I obey Allah and His Prophet; when I disobey Allah and His Prophet, then obey me not." (Siddiqi, pp. 46-47).
The Qur'an recognizes man as a being at once rational, volitional, acquisitive, and ethical. Being primarily a book of moral guidance, the Qur'an advises man that it is in his best interest to pursue a moderate course. That is, man should act to provide for existence on this material plane without sacrificing his moral sensibilities. The Qur'an insists on the harmony of man's spiritual and material interests. It is guidance on how to achieve success "in this life and the next." The Qur'an maintains that its dos and don'ts are not aimed at putting man through a period of earthly misery before he reaps heavenly salvation, but that they are rather the tonic for earthly trials, with some earthly rewards and unlimited heavenly ones as well.
The economic perspective found in the Qur'an has been summarized in a number of places (e.g., Mannan 1970 and Ahmad 1986). The key element of the Qur'an from the economic point of view is its stress on moderation (see, e.g., verses 7:31-32, 18:46 and 17:29). Consumption is permitted ("O ye people! eat of what is on earth lawful and good...." 2:168) while niggardliness (35:29), wastefulness (6:141) and extravagance (17:27) are condemned. The desire for a livelihood (4:5), for comfort (42:36), even for ornament and adornment (18:46) or protection from future uncertainty (4:9) in this world is never called evil. Instead the Qur'an insists that its precepts are the means for achieving success in these things without trading it in for failure in the life to come. The Qur'an "not only permits the Muslims to disperse in the earth and earn their livelihood after Friday prayers (62:10) but also advises the holy Prophet to cut short the morning prayers in order that economic activity is also not hampered (73:20). It also allows its followers to continue their trade during their journey for Hajj (2:198). Along with these incentives to earn, it repeatedly asks man to satisfy his wants and demonstrate his prosperity (4:37, 82:20), without going to the extent of ostentatious extravagance" (uz-Zaman 1981). The only line drawn is overspending (isrâf) which is prohibited even in charity (17:29).
The Qur'an deals with a number of specific economic issues. Private property is protected (2:188). The fulfillment of obligations is commanded (2:177;5:1) and is accompanied by details of contract law (e.g., 2:282-283). There is a prohibition of fraud (26:181) and a call for the establishment of clear standards of weights and measures (55:9).
The Qur'an upholds the principle and sanctity of private property in general--modifying it only in certain details. The modifications to which I refer include such things as establishing women's full rights to private property and the abolition of primogeniture (granting to relatives other than the eldest son, including women a share in the inheritance), obligating Muslims to grant to the poor and needy a share in their wealth, etc. Any Muslim who followed the explicit rules of the Qur'an could not be denied his property without his consent. The Prophet said so explicitly in his farewell pilgrimage: "Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly" (Haykal 1976, p. 487).
We shall now discuss how these principles apply to particular issues of primary importance in guiding economy policies of Muslim economies in the modern world: decentralization and preference for private property; requirement of a hard currency monetary policy; limits on taxation; and limits on the domain of the public sector. I shall state the specific policy recommendations for optimal development that follow from the analysis in each of these areas.
Minaret of Freedom Institute, 4323 Rosedale Avenue
Bethesda, Maryland 20814, (301) 656-4717
a Paper Delivered at the International Conference on "Comprehensive Development of Muslim Countries: An Interdisciplinary Approach from an Islamic Perspective"
INTRODUCTION
From the Islamic perspective, economic policy must satisfy both the legal requirements of the sharî`ah and the hard cold facts of economic science. Both come from the will of the Allah. As in the case of physical science (see Ahmad 1992), any perceived conflict between them means that either the sharî`ah or the economic facts of life have been misunderstood.
This paper deals not with Adam Smith's book the Wealth of Nations, although much of Smith's analysis is consistent with what I say here and, as I shall note, Smith to large degree was simply picking up where Ibn Khaldun left off. Our main concern is with the politico-economic policies that account for why some nations are wealthier than others and why nations, or dynasties, may be wealthy at one phase of their existence and poor at others. I recently completed a study which demonstrates this principle through an overview of the rise of Islamic economies of the classical Muslim era under the influence of the Qur'an and sunnah and a parallel analysis of the development of economic theory in the same period (Ahmad 1993a, 1994). That review demonstrated the validity of the tradition attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that the first generation of Muslims adheres most closely to the principles of the religion and each successive generation drifts farther from it. The gradual devolution of Islamic economic practice away from the sharî`ah stands in contrast to the evolution of Islamic economic theory which reached its peak with Ibn Khaldun. Market principles enunciated in the Qu'ran were eventually abandoned by Muslim society, leading to its inevitable collapse. As the Islamic classical era neared its end, Ibn Khaldun, inventor of modern sociology, identified the economic policies that lead to the rise and fall of dynasties. By that time, reform based on evolving understanding was abandoned (called the closing of the door to ijtihâd) and the Muslim world began its decline into intellectual darkness and economic stagnation. Economic development and technical innovation was taken over by Western civilization, where an analogous departure of practice from theory is now being felt. The knowledge that Ibn Khaldun enunciated went neglected or misunderstood by Muslim society, while the principles that he and his Islamic predecessors identified found their way into Western economic theory on the wealth of nations. In this paper I shall elucidate the specific implications of my analysis for modern economic policy.
The framework of our analysis is the sharî`ah. Islam is, politically, a nomocracy, that is, a system of rule of law (Ahmad 1993b). It is not, as the Western press is wont to misrepresent it, a theocracy, that is a rule by clerics. The concept of theocracy violates the fundamental premise of Islam--that there is none worthy of worship but God. In the Islamic world-view, each human being is directly responsible to the Almighty. The issue of what is it that God commands has been answered in writing, in the Qur'an. It is the unchanging sharî`ah itself, and not some human being or assembly, that man must obey. The nomocratic nature of Islam cannot be overstated. If there were ever a human being who could make a demand of obedience upon the Muslims it would have to be the Prophet himself, yet of him the Qur'an directs only obedience "in any just matter" (see, e.g., 60:12) and in it God warned the Prophet "nor art thou set over them to dispose of their affairs" (39:41). No human being after the Prophet could ask for more allegiance than that due to the Prophet himself. The early caliphs did not do so. Abu Bakr's inaugural address reflects an attitude in sharp contrast to that of political leaders before him: "Now it is beyond doubt that I have been elected your Amir, although I am not better than you. Help me, if I am right; set me right if I am in the wrong; truth is a trust; falsehood a treason.... Obey me as long as I obey Allah and His Prophet; when I disobey Allah and His Prophet, then obey me not." (Siddiqi, pp. 46-47).
The Qur'an recognizes man as a being at once rational, volitional, acquisitive, and ethical. Being primarily a book of moral guidance, the Qur'an advises man that it is in his best interest to pursue a moderate course. That is, man should act to provide for existence on this material plane without sacrificing his moral sensibilities. The Qur'an insists on the harmony of man's spiritual and material interests. It is guidance on how to achieve success "in this life and the next." The Qur'an maintains that its dos and don'ts are not aimed at putting man through a period of earthly misery before he reaps heavenly salvation, but that they are rather the tonic for earthly trials, with some earthly rewards and unlimited heavenly ones as well.
The economic perspective found in the Qur'an has been summarized in a number of places (e.g., Mannan 1970 and Ahmad 1986). The key element of the Qur'an from the economic point of view is its stress on moderation (see, e.g., verses 7:31-32, 18:46 and 17:29). Consumption is permitted ("O ye people! eat of what is on earth lawful and good...." 2:168) while niggardliness (35:29), wastefulness (6:141) and extravagance (17:27) are condemned. The desire for a livelihood (4:5), for comfort (42:36), even for ornament and adornment (18:46) or protection from future uncertainty (4:9) in this world is never called evil. Instead the Qur'an insists that its precepts are the means for achieving success in these things without trading it in for failure in the life to come. The Qur'an "not only permits the Muslims to disperse in the earth and earn their livelihood after Friday prayers (62:10) but also advises the holy Prophet to cut short the morning prayers in order that economic activity is also not hampered (73:20). It also allows its followers to continue their trade during their journey for Hajj (2:198). Along with these incentives to earn, it repeatedly asks man to satisfy his wants and demonstrate his prosperity (4:37, 82:20), without going to the extent of ostentatious extravagance" (uz-Zaman 1981). The only line drawn is overspending (isrâf) which is prohibited even in charity (17:29).
The Qur'an deals with a number of specific economic issues. Private property is protected (2:188). The fulfillment of obligations is commanded (2:177;5:1) and is accompanied by details of contract law (e.g., 2:282-283). There is a prohibition of fraud (26:181) and a call for the establishment of clear standards of weights and measures (55:9).
The Qur'an upholds the principle and sanctity of private property in general--modifying it only in certain details. The modifications to which I refer include such things as establishing women's full rights to private property and the abolition of primogeniture (granting to relatives other than the eldest son, including women a share in the inheritance), obligating Muslims to grant to the poor and needy a share in their wealth, etc. Any Muslim who followed the explicit rules of the Qur'an could not be denied his property without his consent. The Prophet said so explicitly in his farewell pilgrimage: "Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly" (Haykal 1976, p. 487).
We shall now discuss how these principles apply to particular issues of primary importance in guiding economy policies of Muslim economies in the modern world: decentralization and preference for private property; requirement of a hard currency monetary policy; limits on taxation; and limits on the domain of the public sector. I shall state the specific policy recommendations for optimal development that follow from the analysis in each of these areas.
An Islamic Perspective on the Wealth of Nations (2)
By: Imad A. Ahmad.
Minaret of Freedom Institute, 4323 Rosedale Avenue
Bethesda, Maryland 20814, (301) 656-4717
1. DECENTRALIZATION AND THE PREFERENCE FOR PRIVATE PROPERTY
My research (Ahmad 1993a, 1994) established that Abu Bakr followed the Prophet's sunnah to the letter. In the Prophet's time three methods of land title were known: individual ownership, communal ownership, and state ownership. The Qur'an neither advocated nor rejected any of these. The Prophet made use of, and thus legitimized, all three of these. However, he showed a preference for decentralization. In Medina he not only confirmed the existing individual ownership, but granted allotments for residences and farms to those who could make use of them. The state held only those lands needed for state purposes, and any property taken for state use was paid for. Communal usage was also defended, as in the prohibition of burning bushes within 12 miles or hunting within 4 miles of Medina, evidently aimed at protecting communal grazing. The Prophet limited "communal" property to three cases: water, grazing, and fire.
As the Muslim community came into possession of a dazzling quantity of lands under Umar, new challenges were confronted. Umar disliked the prospect of taking away these enormous tracts from the conquered people and giving them to the relatively few Muslim soldiers. While such an action might appear, on the surface, to follow the practice of the Prophet, it would violate the spirit of decentralization that had been its foundation. When the victorious soldiers demanded that Umar distribute the conquered lands among them, Umar met with his cabinet and devised the following solution: Noting that the previous owners of the land had paid a land-tax to their Persian overlords, he decreed the following resolution:
1) land covered by peace treaties belonged outright to the former owners, with no taxes except as specified in the treaties;
2) privately-owned land conquered by force would be turned over to the former owners with their property rights restored, provided they agreed to pay a vastly reduced (typically by two-thirds) land-tax, called kharâj, to the Muslim state;
3) unoccupied lands, wasteland, and Sasanian crown lands (as well as lands abandoned by the aristocracy) became the property of the state; part of these became the Muslim equivalent of crown lands, with sale prohibited (fay'), while another part was made available for homesteading on a usufruct basis, that is, in exchange for kharâj payment, provided the land was put to use within three years.
What are the implications of Umar's decree for Islamic economic policy? In particular, what was the purpose of the immobilization of the Sawad lands?
Some scholars (e.g., uz-Zuman 1981) seem to be under the impression that Umar denied right of sale of any lands on which kharâj was paid (which would in effect make them state property rented to the tenants), supposedly to prevent the wealthy conquerors from buying out the property rights of the native people and instituting a feudal society. This view has been refuted by those (e.g., Morony 1981, in Udovitch 1981) who have shown that such acts actually seem to have arisen in the Umayyad period. Their attribution to Umar was an invention that served to justify that dynasty's departure from the sunnah of Muhammad and Abu Bakr. In fact, the prohibition of sale of kharâj-land to Muslims only emerged after 100/718-19 (Lambton 1953, p. 53). The evident purpose "was to maintain the kharâj status of the land through the fiction of communal or state ownership. Islamic legal scholars like Mâwardî ultimately reached a position that while the property in the Sawad could not be sold, the enjoyment of such property could be sold," according to Morony (1981), who further claims Umar II's policy was a special policy not intended to be applied outside Sawad. Thus, the implication that Umar deviated from the sunnah seem unjustified, and the innovations attributed to him were probably introduced by the Umayyads.
Only through zealous protection of the property rights of the people (both their private property and the environment) can society spontaneously develop the optimal division of labor that characterizes productive economies. While earlier Islamic scholars, like Ibn Taymiyah, took the legitimacy of property for granted, Ibn Khaldun pointed out its scientific necessity for a prosperous society. He quotes from Al-Mas`udi report of Môbedhân's speech before Bahrâm: "Men persist only with the help of property. The only way to property is through cultivation [lit. `imârah]. The only way to cultivation is through justice" (Ibn Khaldun 1967, v. I, p. 64). Wehr (1976) translates `imârah as "building, edifice, structure" or "real estate, tract lot." From the context it seems we should take cultivation as development in its widest sense, not restricted to agricultural activity. This fits in with Ibn Khaldun's (1967, v. I, p. 80) assertion that four things make man unique: crafts and science; the need for "restraining influence and authority"; earning a living; and civilization. He emphasizes the need for human cooperation and social organization, for without it, "God's desire to settle the world with human beings and to leave them as His representatives on earth would not materialize" (Ibid., p. 91).
The idea that property is a consequence of development does not differ from--and anticipates--Locke's notion that use establishes the right of property. We find in Ibn Khaldun the economic concepts which appear in a rudimentary form in earlier Muslim writers have acquired a sharp definition. His analysis of the issue of the need for social cooperation stands up to Adam Smith's discussion three centuries later:
[T]he individual human being cannot by himself obtain all the necessities of life. All human beings must cooperate to that end in their civilization. But what is obtained through the cooperation of a group of human beings satisfies the need of a number many times greater (than themselves). For instance, no one by himself, can obtain the share of wheat he needs for food. But when six or ten persons, including a smith and a carpenter to make the tools, and others who are in charge of the oxen, the plowing of the soil, the harvesting of the ripe grain, and all other agricultural activities, undertake to obtain their food and work toward that purpose either separately or collectively and thus obtain through their labor a certain amount of food, (that amount) will be food for a number of people many times their own. The combined labor produces more than the needs and necessities of the workers. (Ibid., p. 272).
The function of political authority is to defend the stability of the social organization against aggression and injustice for "when civilization has thus become a fact, people need someone to exercise a restraining influence and keep then apart, for aggressiveness and injustice are in the animal nature of man" (Ibid.). It is only for this reason that someone must have authority over others, "so that no one of them will be able to attack another. This is the meaning of royal authority" (Ibid., p. 92). Ibn Khaldun ridiculed the claim of the philosophers that the ruler is necessarily one endowed by divine guidance for the exercise of the restraining influence of the religious law by noting that the majority of people have political communities without revealed guidance (Ibid., p. 93).
According to Ibn Khaldun there is only one effective method for government to increase its revenues, and that is "through the equitable treatment of people and property and regard for them" so that "they have the incentive to make their capital bear fruit and grow." His bottom line is found in the section title "Injustice brings about the ruin of civilization" (Ibn Khaldun 1967, v. II, p. 103):
It should be known that attacks on people's property remove the incentive to acquire and gain property. People then become of the opinion that the purpose and ultimate destiny of (acquiring property) is to have it taken away from them. When the incentive to acquire and obtain property is gone, people no longer make efforts to acquire any. The extent and degree to which property rights are infringed upon determines the extent and degree to which the efforts of the subjects to acquire property slacken.... Civilization and its well-being depend on productivity and people's efforts in all directions in their own interests and profit. (Ibid., p. 104)
Once a government has lost popular support, it is sustained by force.
Even though coercion makes its appearance at that time [the later years of a dynasty] and the revenues decrease, the destructive influences of this situation will become noticeable only after some time, because things in nature all have a gradual development.
In the later (years) of dynasties, famines and pestilences become numerous. As far as famines are concerned, the reason is that most people at that time refrain from cultivating the soil. For, in the later (years) of dynasties, there occur attacks on property and tax revenue and, through customs duties, on trading. (Ibid., pp. 135-136)
Ibn Khaldun leaves no room for uncertainty as to his definition of injustice:
Whoever takes someone's property, or uses him for forced labor, or presses an unjustified claim against him, or imposes upon him a duty not required by the religious law, does an injustice to that particular person. People who collect unjustified taxes commit an injustice. Those who infringe upon property rights commit an injustice.... (ibid., p. 107)
Muhammad (peace be upon him) forbade injustice because the purpose of the law is the preservation of civilization, that is, "(1) of the religion, (2) the soul (life), (3) the intellect, (4) progeny, and (5) property (Ibid., p. 107)." Decentralization of ownership of the resources down to the level of the individual, protected by a system of well-defined private property rights including the internalization of costs incurred by environmental impact must then be the first concern of any Islamic government towards the end of an economically successful society.
Minaret of Freedom Institute, 4323 Rosedale Avenue
Bethesda, Maryland 20814, (301) 656-4717
1. DECENTRALIZATION AND THE PREFERENCE FOR PRIVATE PROPERTY
My research (Ahmad 1993a, 1994) established that Abu Bakr followed the Prophet's sunnah to the letter. In the Prophet's time three methods of land title were known: individual ownership, communal ownership, and state ownership. The Qur'an neither advocated nor rejected any of these. The Prophet made use of, and thus legitimized, all three of these. However, he showed a preference for decentralization. In Medina he not only confirmed the existing individual ownership, but granted allotments for residences and farms to those who could make use of them. The state held only those lands needed for state purposes, and any property taken for state use was paid for. Communal usage was also defended, as in the prohibition of burning bushes within 12 miles or hunting within 4 miles of Medina, evidently aimed at protecting communal grazing. The Prophet limited "communal" property to three cases: water, grazing, and fire.
As the Muslim community came into possession of a dazzling quantity of lands under Umar, new challenges were confronted. Umar disliked the prospect of taking away these enormous tracts from the conquered people and giving them to the relatively few Muslim soldiers. While such an action might appear, on the surface, to follow the practice of the Prophet, it would violate the spirit of decentralization that had been its foundation. When the victorious soldiers demanded that Umar distribute the conquered lands among them, Umar met with his cabinet and devised the following solution: Noting that the previous owners of the land had paid a land-tax to their Persian overlords, he decreed the following resolution:
1) land covered by peace treaties belonged outright to the former owners, with no taxes except as specified in the treaties;
2) privately-owned land conquered by force would be turned over to the former owners with their property rights restored, provided they agreed to pay a vastly reduced (typically by two-thirds) land-tax, called kharâj, to the Muslim state;
3) unoccupied lands, wasteland, and Sasanian crown lands (as well as lands abandoned by the aristocracy) became the property of the state; part of these became the Muslim equivalent of crown lands, with sale prohibited (fay'), while another part was made available for homesteading on a usufruct basis, that is, in exchange for kharâj payment, provided the land was put to use within three years.
What are the implications of Umar's decree for Islamic economic policy? In particular, what was the purpose of the immobilization of the Sawad lands?
Some scholars (e.g., uz-Zuman 1981) seem to be under the impression that Umar denied right of sale of any lands on which kharâj was paid (which would in effect make them state property rented to the tenants), supposedly to prevent the wealthy conquerors from buying out the property rights of the native people and instituting a feudal society. This view has been refuted by those (e.g., Morony 1981, in Udovitch 1981) who have shown that such acts actually seem to have arisen in the Umayyad period. Their attribution to Umar was an invention that served to justify that dynasty's departure from the sunnah of Muhammad and Abu Bakr. In fact, the prohibition of sale of kharâj-land to Muslims only emerged after 100/718-19 (Lambton 1953, p. 53). The evident purpose "was to maintain the kharâj status of the land through the fiction of communal or state ownership. Islamic legal scholars like Mâwardî ultimately reached a position that while the property in the Sawad could not be sold, the enjoyment of such property could be sold," according to Morony (1981), who further claims Umar II's policy was a special policy not intended to be applied outside Sawad. Thus, the implication that Umar deviated from the sunnah seem unjustified, and the innovations attributed to him were probably introduced by the Umayyads.
Only through zealous protection of the property rights of the people (both their private property and the environment) can society spontaneously develop the optimal division of labor that characterizes productive economies. While earlier Islamic scholars, like Ibn Taymiyah, took the legitimacy of property for granted, Ibn Khaldun pointed out its scientific necessity for a prosperous society. He quotes from Al-Mas`udi report of Môbedhân's speech before Bahrâm: "Men persist only with the help of property. The only way to property is through cultivation [lit. `imârah]. The only way to cultivation is through justice" (Ibn Khaldun 1967, v. I, p. 64). Wehr (1976) translates `imârah as "building, edifice, structure" or "real estate, tract lot." From the context it seems we should take cultivation as development in its widest sense, not restricted to agricultural activity. This fits in with Ibn Khaldun's (1967, v. I, p. 80) assertion that four things make man unique: crafts and science; the need for "restraining influence and authority"; earning a living; and civilization. He emphasizes the need for human cooperation and social organization, for without it, "God's desire to settle the world with human beings and to leave them as His representatives on earth would not materialize" (Ibid., p. 91).
The idea that property is a consequence of development does not differ from--and anticipates--Locke's notion that use establishes the right of property. We find in Ibn Khaldun the economic concepts which appear in a rudimentary form in earlier Muslim writers have acquired a sharp definition. His analysis of the issue of the need for social cooperation stands up to Adam Smith's discussion three centuries later:
[T]he individual human being cannot by himself obtain all the necessities of life. All human beings must cooperate to that end in their civilization. But what is obtained through the cooperation of a group of human beings satisfies the need of a number many times greater (than themselves). For instance, no one by himself, can obtain the share of wheat he needs for food. But when six or ten persons, including a smith and a carpenter to make the tools, and others who are in charge of the oxen, the plowing of the soil, the harvesting of the ripe grain, and all other agricultural activities, undertake to obtain their food and work toward that purpose either separately or collectively and thus obtain through their labor a certain amount of food, (that amount) will be food for a number of people many times their own. The combined labor produces more than the needs and necessities of the workers. (Ibid., p. 272).
The function of political authority is to defend the stability of the social organization against aggression and injustice for "when civilization has thus become a fact, people need someone to exercise a restraining influence and keep then apart, for aggressiveness and injustice are in the animal nature of man" (Ibid.). It is only for this reason that someone must have authority over others, "so that no one of them will be able to attack another. This is the meaning of royal authority" (Ibid., p. 92). Ibn Khaldun ridiculed the claim of the philosophers that the ruler is necessarily one endowed by divine guidance for the exercise of the restraining influence of the religious law by noting that the majority of people have political communities without revealed guidance (Ibid., p. 93).
According to Ibn Khaldun there is only one effective method for government to increase its revenues, and that is "through the equitable treatment of people and property and regard for them" so that "they have the incentive to make their capital bear fruit and grow." His bottom line is found in the section title "Injustice brings about the ruin of civilization" (Ibn Khaldun 1967, v. II, p. 103):
It should be known that attacks on people's property remove the incentive to acquire and gain property. People then become of the opinion that the purpose and ultimate destiny of (acquiring property) is to have it taken away from them. When the incentive to acquire and obtain property is gone, people no longer make efforts to acquire any. The extent and degree to which property rights are infringed upon determines the extent and degree to which the efforts of the subjects to acquire property slacken.... Civilization and its well-being depend on productivity and people's efforts in all directions in their own interests and profit. (Ibid., p. 104)
Once a government has lost popular support, it is sustained by force.
Even though coercion makes its appearance at that time [the later years of a dynasty] and the revenues decrease, the destructive influences of this situation will become noticeable only after some time, because things in nature all have a gradual development.
In the later (years) of dynasties, famines and pestilences become numerous. As far as famines are concerned, the reason is that most people at that time refrain from cultivating the soil. For, in the later (years) of dynasties, there occur attacks on property and tax revenue and, through customs duties, on trading. (Ibid., pp. 135-136)
Ibn Khaldun leaves no room for uncertainty as to his definition of injustice:
Whoever takes someone's property, or uses him for forced labor, or presses an unjustified claim against him, or imposes upon him a duty not required by the religious law, does an injustice to that particular person. People who collect unjustified taxes commit an injustice. Those who infringe upon property rights commit an injustice.... (ibid., p. 107)
Muhammad (peace be upon him) forbade injustice because the purpose of the law is the preservation of civilization, that is, "(1) of the religion, (2) the soul (life), (3) the intellect, (4) progeny, and (5) property (Ibid., p. 107)." Decentralization of ownership of the resources down to the level of the individual, protected by a system of well-defined private property rights including the internalization of costs incurred by environmental impact must then be the first concern of any Islamic government towards the end of an economically successful society.
An Islamic Perspective on the Wealth of Nations (3)
By: Imad A. Ahmad.
Minaret of Freedom Institute, 4323 Rosedale Avenue
Bethesda, Maryland 20814, (301) 656-4717
2. REQUIREMENT OF A HARD CURRENCY MONETARY POLICY
The oft-debated question of interest is only sub-issue of the more general matter of monetary policy. It is disturbing that modern Muslim economists have overlooked the fact that a sound money is an indispensable pre-requisite for a sound economy. Although Umar found the issue of ribâ problematical, the necessity of sound money was universally accepted not only by the Prophet and the righteous caliphs, but by every Muslim government in the early centuries of Islamic civilization. The example of the Prophet himself, who never resorted to clipping, debasing, or the issuance of unbacked paper currency, was generally followed by the Islamic society until about the year 1000. Like the Prophet, the society favored the three monetary commodities most appropriate for use as hard currency in Arabia at that time: gold, silver, and hard wheat. The righteous caliphs followed this principle without exception, and it remained the general rule until the Islamic civilization began to unravel at the turn of the millennium.
Significant departures from this principle began to appear only after the tenth century (Cahen 1981, p. 318). In 1294, the vizier of the Ilkhan Gaikhatu sought to deal with the deficit spending of his day by issuing "paper money, modeled on the Chinese paper currency. The experiment was a complete failure, as the people refused to accept the banknotes. Economic activities came to a standstill, and the Persian historian Rashid ud-din speaks even of 'the ruin of Basra' which ensued upon the emission of the new money" (Ashtor 1976, p. 257).
The door to debasement opened in the next century when the silver to gold exchange rate suffered its first serious change since the rise of Islam. In the early centuries of Islam the rate had always been around 20:1. In the thirteenth century changes in the market led scholars to speculate that the rate had changed to 10:1, but the official rate remained fixed at 20:1. "The stocks of silver in the mints decreased progressively from about 1380.... Whereas the exchange rate of the dirham had for 130 years been 1/20 dinar, that of the debased dirham was 1/25 and later 1/30 dinar" (Ashtor 1976, p. 305). The "main reason was the increased demand in Italy, where the value of silver had risen considerably at the end of the fourteenth century.... At the beginning of the fifteenth century the striking of silver dirhams was discontinued altogether" (Ibid.) Al-Mikrizi blames a high court dignitary who tried to "enrich himself by the striking of copper coins" (Ibid.). The monetary crisis was accompanied by famine and a lengthy civil war. High taxes were levied to equip the armies against repeated revolts.
Interest rates rose from 4-8% during the crusades to 18-25% in the fifteenth century (Ibid., p. 324). Although "the supply of gold from the Western Sudan was never interrupted," Sultan Barsbay in 1425 devalued the dinar "for the first time in the history of the Muslim Near East" (Ibid.). Until then the dinar had always been a gold coin of approximately 4.25 grams. With the devaluation a 3.45 gram dinar called al-Ashrafi "remained the gold coin of Egypt until the end of Mamluk rule" (Ibid.). This was the weight of the European ducat, evidence for the swing in monetary standards away from the Muslim world to the rising Christian West.
A discussion of ribâ and interest can only be meaningful within the framework of the more general issue of monetary policy (see Appendix). The main component of the nominal as opposed to real) rate of interest in modern economies is the anticipated rate of inflation and that, in economies using paper currency, this rate is dominated by government's tendency to debase the money supply. Most of the nominal interest could be eliminated by using sound currency, and a study of the legality of interest can center around any residual. Such an analysis, given in a paper before the American Muslim Social Scientists, is presented in Appendix to this paper. Its principle policy conclusion is that a prohibition on all interest may come at the expense of a decrease in the most revolutionary forms of development. This is because profit sharing cannot induce anyone to invest in an enterprise so radically innovative that only its originator can see foresee its impact and profitability. Nevertheless, most capital investment needs can be met by profit-sharing mechanisms. In any case sound monetary policy is a pre-requisite for sustainable comprehensive development. Hard money is the sunnah method for establishing sound money through the natural process of the market.
Minaret of Freedom Institute, 4323 Rosedale Avenue
Bethesda, Maryland 20814, (301) 656-4717
2. REQUIREMENT OF A HARD CURRENCY MONETARY POLICY
The oft-debated question of interest is only sub-issue of the more general matter of monetary policy. It is disturbing that modern Muslim economists have overlooked the fact that a sound money is an indispensable pre-requisite for a sound economy. Although Umar found the issue of ribâ problematical, the necessity of sound money was universally accepted not only by the Prophet and the righteous caliphs, but by every Muslim government in the early centuries of Islamic civilization. The example of the Prophet himself, who never resorted to clipping, debasing, or the issuance of unbacked paper currency, was generally followed by the Islamic society until about the year 1000. Like the Prophet, the society favored the three monetary commodities most appropriate for use as hard currency in Arabia at that time: gold, silver, and hard wheat. The righteous caliphs followed this principle without exception, and it remained the general rule until the Islamic civilization began to unravel at the turn of the millennium.
Significant departures from this principle began to appear only after the tenth century (Cahen 1981, p. 318). In 1294, the vizier of the Ilkhan Gaikhatu sought to deal with the deficit spending of his day by issuing "paper money, modeled on the Chinese paper currency. The experiment was a complete failure, as the people refused to accept the banknotes. Economic activities came to a standstill, and the Persian historian Rashid ud-din speaks even of 'the ruin of Basra' which ensued upon the emission of the new money" (Ashtor 1976, p. 257).
The door to debasement opened in the next century when the silver to gold exchange rate suffered its first serious change since the rise of Islam. In the early centuries of Islam the rate had always been around 20:1. In the thirteenth century changes in the market led scholars to speculate that the rate had changed to 10:1, but the official rate remained fixed at 20:1. "The stocks of silver in the mints decreased progressively from about 1380.... Whereas the exchange rate of the dirham had for 130 years been 1/20 dinar, that of the debased dirham was 1/25 and later 1/30 dinar" (Ashtor 1976, p. 305). The "main reason was the increased demand in Italy, where the value of silver had risen considerably at the end of the fourteenth century.... At the beginning of the fifteenth century the striking of silver dirhams was discontinued altogether" (Ibid.) Al-Mikrizi blames a high court dignitary who tried to "enrich himself by the striking of copper coins" (Ibid.). The monetary crisis was accompanied by famine and a lengthy civil war. High taxes were levied to equip the armies against repeated revolts.
Interest rates rose from 4-8% during the crusades to 18-25% in the fifteenth century (Ibid., p. 324). Although "the supply of gold from the Western Sudan was never interrupted," Sultan Barsbay in 1425 devalued the dinar "for the first time in the history of the Muslim Near East" (Ibid.). Until then the dinar had always been a gold coin of approximately 4.25 grams. With the devaluation a 3.45 gram dinar called al-Ashrafi "remained the gold coin of Egypt until the end of Mamluk rule" (Ibid.). This was the weight of the European ducat, evidence for the swing in monetary standards away from the Muslim world to the rising Christian West.
A discussion of ribâ and interest can only be meaningful within the framework of the more general issue of monetary policy (see Appendix). The main component of the nominal as opposed to real) rate of interest in modern economies is the anticipated rate of inflation and that, in economies using paper currency, this rate is dominated by government's tendency to debase the money supply. Most of the nominal interest could be eliminated by using sound currency, and a study of the legality of interest can center around any residual. Such an analysis, given in a paper before the American Muslim Social Scientists, is presented in Appendix to this paper. Its principle policy conclusion is that a prohibition on all interest may come at the expense of a decrease in the most revolutionary forms of development. This is because profit sharing cannot induce anyone to invest in an enterprise so radically innovative that only its originator can see foresee its impact and profitability. Nevertheless, most capital investment needs can be met by profit-sharing mechanisms. In any case sound monetary policy is a pre-requisite for sustainable comprehensive development. Hard money is the sunnah method for establishing sound money through the natural process of the market.
An Islamic Perspective on the Wealth of Nations (4)
By: Imad A. Ahmad
Minaret of Freedom Institute, 4323 Rosedale Avenue
Bethesda, Maryland 20814, (301) 656-4717
3. LIMITS ON TAXATION
Taxation is the most direct means of government intervention into the economy, and usually the first resorted to. The Qur'an names only four sources of public revenues: zakât, sadaqa, jizyah, and khums. The first is an obligation of Muslims only. It is actually a religious obligation rather than an ordinary tax. Sadaqa is purely voluntary and thus is not a tax at all in the usual sense of the term. Jizya is levied on non-Muslims only in lieu of military service and may be set by treaty. The practice of the early Muslims make it clear that it was a fee for protection of the minorities, reimbursable when the protection could not be rendered, and thus it falls in that category of taxes called user fees. Only the khums is taken purely by force, but as it is taken from the enemy in battle, it is not a tax on the citizens, but a share of the spoils of war. In the Prophet's time the khums was given to the Prophet for use at his discretion both for his personal and family needs as well as for disbursements to the poor and needy and public works. One can interpret this as state property out of which the ruler may take a share or as private property of the commander-in-chief out of which he is expected to give sadaqa. In the former case it is a tax on booty rather than on persons. In the latter case, the required public expenditures constitute a tax on the commander-in-chief and not on the general public.
On this account, it appears that taxation authorized by the Qur'an is strictly limited. This is as we should expect, based on the Prophet's hadith that one should not take the property of another Muslim without his consent. The sunnah supports this view. In the time of Muhammad and Abu Bakr, there was no other source of public revenue beyond those authorized by the Qur'an. An alleged exception is found in the claim that the Prophet collected kharâj from the Jews of Khaybar. Siddiqi (1970, p. 17) writes:
When Khaybar was conquered by the Prophet, ... the Jews recognizing the conquerors as the owners of the entire conquered land (after the custom of the day), offered to cultivate the lands as the tenants of the State and paid a part of the produce. The Prophet granted them their request and fixed the Kharaj at half of the produce.
There are two ways to interpret this. Taken at face value the Jews were recognizing the lands as state lands (fay'). In this case the payments constituted rent and not a tax. If, however, the payments were a land-tax, then the rate having been set by treaty constitutes a negotiated jizyah and is still not outside the authorization of the Qur'an.
Thus it is clear that the Prophet never assessed any taxes beyond those specified in the Qur'an except as a user fee. The same is true of Abu Bakr. The general practice of the righteous caliphs supports this analysis. Thus Abû `Abdullâh Mu`âwiya ibn `Ubayd Allâh wrote in a treatise on taxation for the caliph al-Mahdî (Lapidus, 1981):
"all the expenses of digging, including supporting poles, the construction of vaulted passages and bridges, the cleaning up of rivers and the maintenance of post-stations and dams on the great rivers are to be borne by the treasury." Otherwise, however, irrigation canals are evidently considered part of the private domain, and lawyers discuss the questions of water rights and the distribution of irrigation expenses among private persons. They leave the impression that the responsibility of the state was rather limited.
Umar, however, did introduce two new taxes: he imposed tariffs and he expanded the kharâj to cases other than a modified jizyah. Tariffs had been unknown in Arabia. We can imagine Umar's distaste at finding the nations of the world engaged in this form of highway robbery against the merchant who crossed their borders. As the Qur'an authorizes like-kind retaliation against aggression (2:194), he imposed a policy of reciprocity. In an economically savvy effort to minimize the burden of the retaliatory tariffs on Muslims and the dhimmis under their protection, however, he gave a 50% discount to dhimmis and a 75% discount to Muslims.. Further, he counted as a dhimmi for this purpose any non-Muslim whose stay in Muslim lands exceeded one year. It is ironic that Umar's strategic actions to fight against tariffs have been misinterpreted by some modern Muslim economists as an indication that Umar believed that the state can impose any kind of taxes it wants. It has also been disastrous for the freedom and prosperity of the Muslim ummah.
We have already discussed Umar's use of kharâj in the section on the land issue. We may presume that he saw a similarity between the Persian land tax and the usufruct form of jizyah which the Prophet accepted in the case of the Jews. Since the tax that he levied was so much lower than that assessed by the Persians, we may also presume that both he and his new subjects looked upon the terms as agreeable ones, comparable to terms fixed by treaty. Unfortunately, the kharâj here resembles the Persian land tax (which was called kharâg and from which the term kharâj may stem) more than jizyah precisely because it is not fixed by treaty, but may be altered by the state at its discretion. Umar was concerned about this and is reported to have repeatedly warned his governors not to set the rates oppressively high. He interrogated the assessors of Sawâd: "Perhaps you assessed the land at a rate which it cannot stand," and they replied, "No, on the contrary, we have assessed it at a rate which it can stand, although if we had assessed a higher rate the land could still stand it" (Ra`ana 1977, p. 93).
When the Umayyads took power the governors repeatedly raised the kharâj until revenues plummeted under the Hajjaj--legendary for his oppressive tax policies. Subsequently the pious Umar II attempted a return to Umar I's tax policies. "The spirit of economic laws is justice (`adl) and generosity (ihsâ)," he declared (uz-Zaman 1981, p. 75). Revenues rebounded. Unfortunately, his successors strayed from his policies. As the Umayyad dynasty came to a close its ruler confessed: "We committed injustice to our subjects and they became disappointed with our justice. They wished to get rid of us. Our tax-payers were overburdened so they deserted us, destroyed our estates, and emptied our treasuries" (Ibid., pp. 75-76). Yazîd III responded to the outcry against public spending by pledging spending and taxing limitations, but it was too late (Ibid., p. 101).
Throughout Islamic history tax policies seesawed as dynasties rose and fell. Studying them, Ibn Khaldun came to his famous conclusion (recently reincarnated as the "Laffer curve") that dynasties obtain large revenues from low tax rates at their beginnings and small revenues from high tax rates at their ends (Ibn Khaldun 1967, v. II, p. 89).
In the twelfth century, the Seldjukids sought to compensate for the loss of revenue from the land-tax by increasing other taxes or imposing new ones. There were a long series of farcical repeals and reimpositions of taxes (uz-Zaman 1981, p. 217). In at least one cases the demand for repeal came from the minbar. As Iraq became increasingly burdened by the taxes--and by government attempts to monopolize important industries, like silk (Ashtor 1976, p. 214)--Iraq lost its capacity for technological innovation. Thus, the chronicles of Ibn al-Djauzi speak "of mills which were turning and grinding grain on the earth without anyone knowing how they were operated," Ibid., p. 219). The infrastructure crumbled throughout the twelfth century and engineers failed in massive projects. A "contemporary Arab chronicler says explicitly that the government services were incapable of repairing the breaches" in dams in Iraq (Ibid., p. 245).
This stagnation took place as European technology was beginning to blossom. "The great industrial enterprises" could no longer "afford experiments which resulted in technological innovations" once the Seldjukids and Ayyubid "princes curtailed freedom of enterprise, established monopolies and imposed heavy taxes on the workshops. This brought about a slow decline of private industry" (Ibid., p. 247).
The Mongols (Ilkhanids) imposed numerous and arbitrary taxes. Ghazan (1295-1304) attempted some reforms like a fixed tax on land, the abolition of "the quartering of soldiers and officials in private houses and he forbade the use of violence in the collection of taxes" (Ibid., p. 250) and also made feudal fiefs hereditary. Any positive effect of these reforms was washed out by the expansion of the feudal system in other respects. Not only prisoners of war, but even clients and retainers were treated as slaves. "According to the law of Ghazan a peasant who had run away from a feudal estate even thirty years earlier was caught and sent back" (Ibid., p. 258). Under these circumstances, Ghazan's policy of offering state lands to those who would cultivate them with grants of tax reductions as incentives, a policy followed by his successors, met with "only partial success" (Ibid.) and after Ghazan a "new downward trend in agricultural production began" (Ibid.).
Mongols increased state lands including confiscation of waqf property. But later, as early as the 1280s, the government initiated land sales. The increasing private estates "took the lead in Irak's agriculture, as to both output and means of cultivation" (Ibid., p. 261). They responded to the drop in grain demand due to depopulation by switching to other crops, notably cotton and fruit trees. After the death of Abu Said (1316-35) civil war ensued. In subsequent dynasties the merciless misgovernment continued.
The Djalairid dynasty was overthrown in 1410 by Kara Yusuf, chieftain of a federation of Turcomen tribes called the Kara Koyunlu. Their dynasty, by contemporary accounts, brought about the most wretched conditions in the history of Iraq (Ibid., p. 268). Uzun Hasan, prince of the Ak Koyunlu conquered Baghdad in 1469, and then most of Persia. Uzun Hasan codified tax practices with the aim of removing their arbitrary nature and also reduced the land tax (Ibid., p. 272). Taxation was still oppressive however. While peasants of Diyar Bakr province were subject to a 20% tax on crops, they were also subject to forced labor and "many other taxes" besides (Ibid., p. 273).
The Turcomans perfected the feudal land system in Iraq. Fiefholders received a perpetual hereditary grant and "administrative and judicial immunity" (Ibid.). Uzun and his successors granted fiefs to the clergy to win their support. When the Ak Koyunlu realized that they were headed down the road of disintegration they tried to take back many of the fiefs and waqf land but were opposed by both the lords and the theologians.
The domestic and foreign trade of Iraq was seriously set back under the Djalairids and the Turcomans and the economy sank into barter (Ibid., p. 274) . Rather than undo the measures driving down so many areas of domestic and foreign trade, the Turcomens increased taxes on trade. The tamgha, for example, which the scholar Nasir ad-Din Tusi advised should be set at 1/240, was levied in Tabriz at 5% in the early 14th century. Uzun Hasan's advisors dissuaded him from abolishing it. Of course, governors and feudal lords were exempt from the taxes (Ibid., p. 275).
Unsurprisingly, the trade route shifted from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean (Ibid., p. 277). In addition to the factors discussed above, changing political conditions at the end of the 15th century (deteriorating conditions in Persia, Genoese victories adversely affecting the Venetians, and Mamluk and Mongol conquests all favoring a resurgence of Red Sea trade) forced Venetians to return to trade through Alexandria and Beirut (Ibid., p. 326).
The history of Muslim tax policies demonstrates the validity of Ibn Khaldun's thesis on the rise and fall of dynasties. At the beginning of their power new dynasties are led by men of bedouin inclinations with no taste for luxury. Their spartan existence makes small demands on the body politic and they devote themselves to the proper purpose of government. The success of their rule leads to a thriving urban civilization. The high prosperity for a while permits government diversion of profits into luxuries. By the time the adverse effects (due to hidden costs) of the expansion of government activity into luxury areas is noticeable, it is too late to change for the generation raised in luxury have lost the meritorious attitudes of their ancestors that made effective minimalist government possible. As the dynasty grows old, the beneficiaries of urban civilization and of government largess
have become used to laziness and ease. They are sunk in well-being and luxury. They have entrusted defense of their property and their lives to the governor and ruler who rules them, and to the militia which has the task of guarding them. They find full assurance of safety in the walls that surround them, and the fortifications that protect them. Thy are carefree and trusting, and have ceased to carry weapons. Successive generations have grown up in this way of life. They have become like women and children, who depend upon the master of the house. (Ibid., p. 257)
The dynasty expands its authorities in various ways to try to maintain its luxuriant expenditure policies. In addition to tampering with the currency, there is, of course, taxation. Initially increasing tax rates serves the purpose, but eventually high tax rates have a deleterious effect on productivity. "It should be known that at the beginning of the dynasty, taxation yields a large revenue from small assessments. At the end of a dynasty, taxation yields a small revenue from large assessments" (Ibid., p. 89).
Among the reasons that no capitalist will be able to accumulate limitless wealth is the envy of the government (Ibid.):
... a sedentary person who has a great deal of capital and has acquired a great number of estates and farms and become one of the wealthiest inhabitants of a particular city, who is looked upon as such and lives in great luxury ... competes in this respect with amirs and rulers. The latter become jealous of him. The aggressiveness that is natural to human beings makes them cast their eyes on his possessions. They envy him and try every possible trick to catch him in the net of a government decision to confiscate his property. Government decisions are as a rule unjust, because pure justice is found only in the legal caliphate that lasted only a short while. Muhammad said: "The caliphate after me will last thirty years; then, it will revert to being tyrannic royal authority."
If Muslim states wish to see prospering economies they should reduce the variety and size of taxes. Ideally they should impose only those taxes authorized by the Qur'an and at those rates practiced by the righteous caliphs: zakât on Muslims), jizyah from non-Muslims which may include kharâj. In addition voluntary sadaqah may be accepted for worthwhile purposes and user fees (including kharâj and ushr) assessed for payment for services desired by the public and provided by the state for reasons of expedience. This interpretation of kharâj is supported by the use of the term in the Qur'an (23:72, for example). Also the state would remain entitled to the khums from the spoils of war. All protective tariffs should be dropped except for reciprocal tariffs, and even they should be subject to discounts of 75% for Muslims and 50% for dhimmis. The degree to which states exceed these taxes is at once the degree to which they transgress beyond the sharî`ah and the measure by which they detract from the welfare of the society as a whole by diverting wealth needed for investment into less productive, or destructive pursuits.
Minaret of Freedom Institute, 4323 Rosedale Avenue
Bethesda, Maryland 20814, (301) 656-4717
3. LIMITS ON TAXATION
Taxation is the most direct means of government intervention into the economy, and usually the first resorted to. The Qur'an names only four sources of public revenues: zakât, sadaqa, jizyah, and khums. The first is an obligation of Muslims only. It is actually a religious obligation rather than an ordinary tax. Sadaqa is purely voluntary and thus is not a tax at all in the usual sense of the term. Jizya is levied on non-Muslims only in lieu of military service and may be set by treaty. The practice of the early Muslims make it clear that it was a fee for protection of the minorities, reimbursable when the protection could not be rendered, and thus it falls in that category of taxes called user fees. Only the khums is taken purely by force, but as it is taken from the enemy in battle, it is not a tax on the citizens, but a share of the spoils of war. In the Prophet's time the khums was given to the Prophet for use at his discretion both for his personal and family needs as well as for disbursements to the poor and needy and public works. One can interpret this as state property out of which the ruler may take a share or as private property of the commander-in-chief out of which he is expected to give sadaqa. In the former case it is a tax on booty rather than on persons. In the latter case, the required public expenditures constitute a tax on the commander-in-chief and not on the general public.
On this account, it appears that taxation authorized by the Qur'an is strictly limited. This is as we should expect, based on the Prophet's hadith that one should not take the property of another Muslim without his consent. The sunnah supports this view. In the time of Muhammad and Abu Bakr, there was no other source of public revenue beyond those authorized by the Qur'an. An alleged exception is found in the claim that the Prophet collected kharâj from the Jews of Khaybar. Siddiqi (1970, p. 17) writes:
When Khaybar was conquered by the Prophet, ... the Jews recognizing the conquerors as the owners of the entire conquered land (after the custom of the day), offered to cultivate the lands as the tenants of the State and paid a part of the produce. The Prophet granted them their request and fixed the Kharaj at half of the produce.
There are two ways to interpret this. Taken at face value the Jews were recognizing the lands as state lands (fay'). In this case the payments constituted rent and not a tax. If, however, the payments were a land-tax, then the rate having been set by treaty constitutes a negotiated jizyah and is still not outside the authorization of the Qur'an.
Thus it is clear that the Prophet never assessed any taxes beyond those specified in the Qur'an except as a user fee. The same is true of Abu Bakr. The general practice of the righteous caliphs supports this analysis. Thus Abû `Abdullâh Mu`âwiya ibn `Ubayd Allâh wrote in a treatise on taxation for the caliph al-Mahdî (Lapidus, 1981):
"all the expenses of digging, including supporting poles, the construction of vaulted passages and bridges, the cleaning up of rivers and the maintenance of post-stations and dams on the great rivers are to be borne by the treasury." Otherwise, however, irrigation canals are evidently considered part of the private domain, and lawyers discuss the questions of water rights and the distribution of irrigation expenses among private persons. They leave the impression that the responsibility of the state was rather limited.
Umar, however, did introduce two new taxes: he imposed tariffs and he expanded the kharâj to cases other than a modified jizyah. Tariffs had been unknown in Arabia. We can imagine Umar's distaste at finding the nations of the world engaged in this form of highway robbery against the merchant who crossed their borders. As the Qur'an authorizes like-kind retaliation against aggression (2:194), he imposed a policy of reciprocity. In an economically savvy effort to minimize the burden of the retaliatory tariffs on Muslims and the dhimmis under their protection, however, he gave a 50% discount to dhimmis and a 75% discount to Muslims.. Further, he counted as a dhimmi for this purpose any non-Muslim whose stay in Muslim lands exceeded one year. It is ironic that Umar's strategic actions to fight against tariffs have been misinterpreted by some modern Muslim economists as an indication that Umar believed that the state can impose any kind of taxes it wants. It has also been disastrous for the freedom and prosperity of the Muslim ummah.
We have already discussed Umar's use of kharâj in the section on the land issue. We may presume that he saw a similarity between the Persian land tax and the usufruct form of jizyah which the Prophet accepted in the case of the Jews. Since the tax that he levied was so much lower than that assessed by the Persians, we may also presume that both he and his new subjects looked upon the terms as agreeable ones, comparable to terms fixed by treaty. Unfortunately, the kharâj here resembles the Persian land tax (which was called kharâg and from which the term kharâj may stem) more than jizyah precisely because it is not fixed by treaty, but may be altered by the state at its discretion. Umar was concerned about this and is reported to have repeatedly warned his governors not to set the rates oppressively high. He interrogated the assessors of Sawâd: "Perhaps you assessed the land at a rate which it cannot stand," and they replied, "No, on the contrary, we have assessed it at a rate which it can stand, although if we had assessed a higher rate the land could still stand it" (Ra`ana 1977, p. 93).
When the Umayyads took power the governors repeatedly raised the kharâj until revenues plummeted under the Hajjaj--legendary for his oppressive tax policies. Subsequently the pious Umar II attempted a return to Umar I's tax policies. "The spirit of economic laws is justice (`adl) and generosity (ihsâ)," he declared (uz-Zaman 1981, p. 75). Revenues rebounded. Unfortunately, his successors strayed from his policies. As the Umayyad dynasty came to a close its ruler confessed: "We committed injustice to our subjects and they became disappointed with our justice. They wished to get rid of us. Our tax-payers were overburdened so they deserted us, destroyed our estates, and emptied our treasuries" (Ibid., pp. 75-76). Yazîd III responded to the outcry against public spending by pledging spending and taxing limitations, but it was too late (Ibid., p. 101).
Throughout Islamic history tax policies seesawed as dynasties rose and fell. Studying them, Ibn Khaldun came to his famous conclusion (recently reincarnated as the "Laffer curve") that dynasties obtain large revenues from low tax rates at their beginnings and small revenues from high tax rates at their ends (Ibn Khaldun 1967, v. II, p. 89).
In the twelfth century, the Seldjukids sought to compensate for the loss of revenue from the land-tax by increasing other taxes or imposing new ones. There were a long series of farcical repeals and reimpositions of taxes (uz-Zaman 1981, p. 217). In at least one cases the demand for repeal came from the minbar. As Iraq became increasingly burdened by the taxes--and by government attempts to monopolize important industries, like silk (Ashtor 1976, p. 214)--Iraq lost its capacity for technological innovation. Thus, the chronicles of Ibn al-Djauzi speak "of mills which were turning and grinding grain on the earth without anyone knowing how they were operated," Ibid., p. 219). The infrastructure crumbled throughout the twelfth century and engineers failed in massive projects. A "contemporary Arab chronicler says explicitly that the government services were incapable of repairing the breaches" in dams in Iraq (Ibid., p. 245).
This stagnation took place as European technology was beginning to blossom. "The great industrial enterprises" could no longer "afford experiments which resulted in technological innovations" once the Seldjukids and Ayyubid "princes curtailed freedom of enterprise, established monopolies and imposed heavy taxes on the workshops. This brought about a slow decline of private industry" (Ibid., p. 247).
The Mongols (Ilkhanids) imposed numerous and arbitrary taxes. Ghazan (1295-1304) attempted some reforms like a fixed tax on land, the abolition of "the quartering of soldiers and officials in private houses and he forbade the use of violence in the collection of taxes" (Ibid., p. 250) and also made feudal fiefs hereditary. Any positive effect of these reforms was washed out by the expansion of the feudal system in other respects. Not only prisoners of war, but even clients and retainers were treated as slaves. "According to the law of Ghazan a peasant who had run away from a feudal estate even thirty years earlier was caught and sent back" (Ibid., p. 258). Under these circumstances, Ghazan's policy of offering state lands to those who would cultivate them with grants of tax reductions as incentives, a policy followed by his successors, met with "only partial success" (Ibid.) and after Ghazan a "new downward trend in agricultural production began" (Ibid.).
Mongols increased state lands including confiscation of waqf property. But later, as early as the 1280s, the government initiated land sales. The increasing private estates "took the lead in Irak's agriculture, as to both output and means of cultivation" (Ibid., p. 261). They responded to the drop in grain demand due to depopulation by switching to other crops, notably cotton and fruit trees. After the death of Abu Said (1316-35) civil war ensued. In subsequent dynasties the merciless misgovernment continued.
The Djalairid dynasty was overthrown in 1410 by Kara Yusuf, chieftain of a federation of Turcomen tribes called the Kara Koyunlu. Their dynasty, by contemporary accounts, brought about the most wretched conditions in the history of Iraq (Ibid., p. 268). Uzun Hasan, prince of the Ak Koyunlu conquered Baghdad in 1469, and then most of Persia. Uzun Hasan codified tax practices with the aim of removing their arbitrary nature and also reduced the land tax (Ibid., p. 272). Taxation was still oppressive however. While peasants of Diyar Bakr province were subject to a 20% tax on crops, they were also subject to forced labor and "many other taxes" besides (Ibid., p. 273).
The Turcomans perfected the feudal land system in Iraq. Fiefholders received a perpetual hereditary grant and "administrative and judicial immunity" (Ibid.). Uzun and his successors granted fiefs to the clergy to win their support. When the Ak Koyunlu realized that they were headed down the road of disintegration they tried to take back many of the fiefs and waqf land but were opposed by both the lords and the theologians.
The domestic and foreign trade of Iraq was seriously set back under the Djalairids and the Turcomans and the economy sank into barter (Ibid., p. 274) . Rather than undo the measures driving down so many areas of domestic and foreign trade, the Turcomens increased taxes on trade. The tamgha, for example, which the scholar Nasir ad-Din Tusi advised should be set at 1/240, was levied in Tabriz at 5% in the early 14th century. Uzun Hasan's advisors dissuaded him from abolishing it. Of course, governors and feudal lords were exempt from the taxes (Ibid., p. 275).
Unsurprisingly, the trade route shifted from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean (Ibid., p. 277). In addition to the factors discussed above, changing political conditions at the end of the 15th century (deteriorating conditions in Persia, Genoese victories adversely affecting the Venetians, and Mamluk and Mongol conquests all favoring a resurgence of Red Sea trade) forced Venetians to return to trade through Alexandria and Beirut (Ibid., p. 326).
The history of Muslim tax policies demonstrates the validity of Ibn Khaldun's thesis on the rise and fall of dynasties. At the beginning of their power new dynasties are led by men of bedouin inclinations with no taste for luxury. Their spartan existence makes small demands on the body politic and they devote themselves to the proper purpose of government. The success of their rule leads to a thriving urban civilization. The high prosperity for a while permits government diversion of profits into luxuries. By the time the adverse effects (due to hidden costs) of the expansion of government activity into luxury areas is noticeable, it is too late to change for the generation raised in luxury have lost the meritorious attitudes of their ancestors that made effective minimalist government possible. As the dynasty grows old, the beneficiaries of urban civilization and of government largess
have become used to laziness and ease. They are sunk in well-being and luxury. They have entrusted defense of their property and their lives to the governor and ruler who rules them, and to the militia which has the task of guarding them. They find full assurance of safety in the walls that surround them, and the fortifications that protect them. Thy are carefree and trusting, and have ceased to carry weapons. Successive generations have grown up in this way of life. They have become like women and children, who depend upon the master of the house. (Ibid., p. 257)
The dynasty expands its authorities in various ways to try to maintain its luxuriant expenditure policies. In addition to tampering with the currency, there is, of course, taxation. Initially increasing tax rates serves the purpose, but eventually high tax rates have a deleterious effect on productivity. "It should be known that at the beginning of the dynasty, taxation yields a large revenue from small assessments. At the end of a dynasty, taxation yields a small revenue from large assessments" (Ibid., p. 89).
Among the reasons that no capitalist will be able to accumulate limitless wealth is the envy of the government (Ibid.):
... a sedentary person who has a great deal of capital and has acquired a great number of estates and farms and become one of the wealthiest inhabitants of a particular city, who is looked upon as such and lives in great luxury ... competes in this respect with amirs and rulers. The latter become jealous of him. The aggressiveness that is natural to human beings makes them cast their eyes on his possessions. They envy him and try every possible trick to catch him in the net of a government decision to confiscate his property. Government decisions are as a rule unjust, because pure justice is found only in the legal caliphate that lasted only a short while. Muhammad said: "The caliphate after me will last thirty years; then, it will revert to being tyrannic royal authority."
If Muslim states wish to see prospering economies they should reduce the variety and size of taxes. Ideally they should impose only those taxes authorized by the Qur'an and at those rates practiced by the righteous caliphs: zakât on Muslims), jizyah from non-Muslims which may include kharâj. In addition voluntary sadaqah may be accepted for worthwhile purposes and user fees (including kharâj and ushr) assessed for payment for services desired by the public and provided by the state for reasons of expedience. This interpretation of kharâj is supported by the use of the term in the Qur'an (23:72, for example). Also the state would remain entitled to the khums from the spoils of war. All protective tariffs should be dropped except for reciprocal tariffs, and even they should be subject to discounts of 75% for Muslims and 50% for dhimmis. The degree to which states exceed these taxes is at once the degree to which they transgress beyond the sharî`ah and the measure by which they detract from the welfare of the society as a whole by diverting wealth needed for investment into less productive, or destructive pursuits.
An Islamic Perspective on the Wealth of Nations (5)
By: Imad A. Ahmad.
Minaret of Freedom Institute, 4323 Rosedale Avenue
Bethesda, Maryland 20814, (301) 656-4717
4. LIMITS ON THE DOMAIN OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR
The Islamic societies' experiments with government involvement in economic activity track with its gradual downfall. In the time of Umar the state contented itself with matters of defense, the judicial system, weights and measures, and such major public works as irrigation canals which were paid for by the kharâj and `ushr user fees. None of the righteous caliphs sought to engage the state in competition with the private sector, let alone to monopolize any part of it. Umar's involvement in land distribution was aimed at decentralization and the prevention of the rise of a feudalistic system. Even charges that Uthman's administration favored certain groups and individuals comes under the category of corruption rather than monopoly. State intervention in the economy became an increasing problem as the centuries rolled on, however.
In the Umayyad dynasty, Umar II felt that state participation in commerce is a form of unintended abuse of trust: "I am of the view that the ruler should not trade. It is (also) not lawful for the officer to trade in the area of his office (fî sultanihî...), because when he involves himself in trade he inadvertently misuses his office in his interest and to the detriment of others, even if he does not like to do so" (Uz-Zaman 1981, p. 94). He did, however, intervene in cases where the costs of risks were falling to the state: "As I considered over it I found that gain in mining was but particular (khâs) but its harm was general (`âm) so stop people from working in mines" (Ibid.)
After the fall of the Abbasids, the government was not so scrupulous. The devastating effects of the government's intervention into the Egyptian sugar industry has been well-documented by Ashtor (1976, 1981). The rise of the hitherto unknown sugar industry in the Middle East is a testimony to the economic dynamism of Islam and its openness to technical innovation both from the scientific and economic side. The Egyptian sugar industry began its boom in the 11th century:
The sugar industry in Egypt and Syria under the Fatimids had a capitalistic character. The complicated methods of refining the juice of the sugar cane could only be employed in big factories. ... Rich and enterprising industrialists had to make costly efforts to improve methods, the expected profits being the stimulus. Sugar production also enjoyed freedom of enterprise. The attempt to monopolize it made by the odd and whimsical al-Hakim was not repeated" (Ashtor 1976, pp. 199-200).
In the second half of the thirteenth century the number of Egyptian sugar factories boomed as the Mamluk amirs, lured by the demonstrated high profitability, broke with earlier Muslim law and practice to compete against the private entrepreneurs (Ashtor 1981, p. 99ff). In our summary of Ashtor's analysis (Ahmad 1993 a,b) we have shown in sufficient detail how such expansion of the public sector into the sugar industry led to its downfall, to be replaced by Western producers.
The declining economies caused declining demand. The shift in sources of sugar for Italy can be seen in the tariff records. Early fifteenth century Venetian documents show a shift in the point of origin of molasses for Italy from Egypt to Palermo (Ibid., p. 113). Although the relative abundance of water power for mills in Europe played a factor, the role of government is more significant:
The system of government as it had been developed in the Middle East created conditions that were unfavorable to technological innovations. The feudal lords did not retain their fiefs in perpetuity; since changes were frequently made, they had little interest in building new factories. The musâdara system was a sword of Damocles poised over the heads of all the rich or near rich. The mukûs, commercial taxes, were another check to technological development.... Technological progress also depended, to a certain degree, on the structure of industry. Owing to the large share of government in the sugar industry, there was a lack of competition, a tendency towards corruption in the monopolized industries, and a lack of incentive for innovations. (Ibid., p. 119)
Ashtor implicates demographic trends in the downfall of the Egyptian sugar industry (Ibid., p. 120), but governmental policies also affect demographic trends. The increasingly feudalistic land tenure structures had an adverse affect on population patterns. Nizam al-Mulk, in the Book of Politics states that "the peasants, having been impoverished by heavy taxation and extortion, are ruined and dispersed." (See Ashtor 1976).
At the beginning of the fifteenth century most of the monopolized industries (sugar, soap, paper, silk and other fabrics, glass) collapsed. "[A]l-Makrizi writes that after 1404 people were compelled to dress themselves in the woolen stuffs imported by European merchants" (Ibid., p. 307). The role of government factories in the technological decline of Near Eastern industry is unmistakable. With cheaper sources for raw materials (in part produced on the royal estates), the "sultans and amirs used their power to curtail the activities of their competitors by taxation or by the establishment of monopolies. ... The royal factories themselves were ruined by corrupt managers whose maladministration induced the sultans in the course of time to abolish the tiraz system altogether. Industrial production sank to the level of small workshops which could not afford long and costly experiments" (Ibid., p. 308-309).
According to Ibn Khaldun, shipbuilding skills had declined to the point that "in case of need the governments must have recourse to foreign help" (Ibid.). As Muslim skills in, for example, silver inlay vanished, Venetians picked it up from Syrian Jews.
The decline of wheat was a landmark. It had been the staple, but with the arrival of the last decade of the fifteenth century, millet and dhura bread were being consumed in Cairo and barley in Damascus--even by the governor and the princes (Ibid.). With the breakdown and flight to the cities there came thousands of unemployed paupers, victimized by diseases--chronic and epidemic. Desperate, they provided a recruitment pool for warring factions and rebels. "The lowest stratum of this class were the so-called harafish, beggars who were to be found near the mosques and elsewhere and who were allied to certain groups of dervishes" (Ibid., p. 320). Skilled workers were in better shape only because there was such a shortage of them. The petty bourgeois, however, "were impoverished by the fiscal policy of the Mamluk government" (Ibid.).
In addition to the burdens of trade taxes there were numerous other extortions. We have already mentioned the tarh, which compelled merchants to buy overpriced products from their government competitors. Such measures were periodically abolished and then resurrected. Muslim jurisprudence did not allow for price-fixing outside times of emergency, but the Mamluks fixed prices when it suited their interests (Ibid.).
At the same time land-tenure changes gave rise to a feudalist system placing the bourgeois in an inferior position. The legal scholars were also made subservienbt to the state through government appointments to judgeships or teaching positions at schools endowed by the Mamluks, inducing collaboration (Ibid., p. 284). Using a practice resurrected in current-day Egypt, the government avoided responding to the theologians' protests against the governmental extortions, by instead wooing them by such measures as "promulgating decrees against the Christians and Jews" (Ibid., p. 285) Thus an intellectual aristocracy of judges and professors appointed by the government arose. The disfavored classes engaged in mob riots, but no organized revolutionary movement. "[A]ll classes of society were imbued with a spirit of rigid orthodoxy which made a social revolution allied to sectarian tendencies unthinkable" (Ibid., p. 322). Yet, the co-option of the religious scholars pre-empted any jihâd against the oppressive regime.
Despite the consequent favorable balance of payments due to the change of trade routes discussed in the preceding section, and continuing supply of Sudanese gold, "the economy of the Mamluk kingdom crumbled in the second half of the fifteenth century" (Ibid,, p.327). "The flourishing economy of the Near East had been ruined by the rapacious military, and its great civilizing achievements had been destroyed through inability to adopt new methods of production and new ways of life" (Ibid,, p. 331). The economic breakdown led to the political and military collapse. Reasons for breakdown: decay of Egyptian industry; extravagant luxury of the ruling class; hoarding of money (a consequence of musâdara?); and military spending. At the same time Portuguese were expanding and in the second half of the 15th c. Their seizure of "great quantities of Sudanese gold" was felt in Cairo (Ibid., p. 329-330).
Ibn Khaldun analyzed and denounced government competition with the private sector as a means of revenue enhancement. He titles a section of the Muqaddimah "Commercial activity on the part of the ruler is harmful to his subjects and to the tax revenue" (Ibid., p. 93). He elaborates that the ruler has an unfair advantages in (1) using state wealth in competition with private resources; (2) having taxing authority; (3) having ability to force purchases at above market prices; (4) intimidating competition and suppliers to force selling below market (Ibid., p. 94). The consequent "financial difficulties and loss of profit ... takes away all incentive to effort, thus ruining the fiscal (structure)" (Ibid., p. 95). With the merchants and farmers driven out of business, tax revenues dry up and the government has undermined its best source of revenue.
Furthermore, (the trading of the ruler) may cause the destruction of civilization and, through [it] the destruction of the dynasty. When the subjects can no longer make their capital larger through agriculture and commerce, it will decrease and disappear as a result of expenditures. This will ruin their situation. This should be understood. (Ibid., p. 95)
Muslim states which wish to see an industrial revolution should pursue a policy that permits the private sector to engage in any and all halâl pursuits. The primary role the Muslim state is the establishment of justice. Arbitration is better suited to this goal that regulation and licensing. While there are some infrastructure tasks that can be expeditiously handled by the state without jeopardizing or contradicting its primary task, they are few in number and increasing them constitutes a slippery slope to economic failure.
Minaret of Freedom Institute, 4323 Rosedale Avenue
Bethesda, Maryland 20814, (301) 656-4717
4. LIMITS ON THE DOMAIN OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR
The Islamic societies' experiments with government involvement in economic activity track with its gradual downfall. In the time of Umar the state contented itself with matters of defense, the judicial system, weights and measures, and such major public works as irrigation canals which were paid for by the kharâj and `ushr user fees. None of the righteous caliphs sought to engage the state in competition with the private sector, let alone to monopolize any part of it. Umar's involvement in land distribution was aimed at decentralization and the prevention of the rise of a feudalistic system. Even charges that Uthman's administration favored certain groups and individuals comes under the category of corruption rather than monopoly. State intervention in the economy became an increasing problem as the centuries rolled on, however.
In the Umayyad dynasty, Umar II felt that state participation in commerce is a form of unintended abuse of trust: "I am of the view that the ruler should not trade. It is (also) not lawful for the officer to trade in the area of his office (fî sultanihî...), because when he involves himself in trade he inadvertently misuses his office in his interest and to the detriment of others, even if he does not like to do so" (Uz-Zaman 1981, p. 94). He did, however, intervene in cases where the costs of risks were falling to the state: "As I considered over it I found that gain in mining was but particular (khâs) but its harm was general (`âm) so stop people from working in mines" (Ibid.)
After the fall of the Abbasids, the government was not so scrupulous. The devastating effects of the government's intervention into the Egyptian sugar industry has been well-documented by Ashtor (1976, 1981). The rise of the hitherto unknown sugar industry in the Middle East is a testimony to the economic dynamism of Islam and its openness to technical innovation both from the scientific and economic side. The Egyptian sugar industry began its boom in the 11th century:
The sugar industry in Egypt and Syria under the Fatimids had a capitalistic character. The complicated methods of refining the juice of the sugar cane could only be employed in big factories. ... Rich and enterprising industrialists had to make costly efforts to improve methods, the expected profits being the stimulus. Sugar production also enjoyed freedom of enterprise. The attempt to monopolize it made by the odd and whimsical al-Hakim was not repeated" (Ashtor 1976, pp. 199-200).
In the second half of the thirteenth century the number of Egyptian sugar factories boomed as the Mamluk amirs, lured by the demonstrated high profitability, broke with earlier Muslim law and practice to compete against the private entrepreneurs (Ashtor 1981, p. 99ff). In our summary of Ashtor's analysis (Ahmad 1993 a,b) we have shown in sufficient detail how such expansion of the public sector into the sugar industry led to its downfall, to be replaced by Western producers.
The declining economies caused declining demand. The shift in sources of sugar for Italy can be seen in the tariff records. Early fifteenth century Venetian documents show a shift in the point of origin of molasses for Italy from Egypt to Palermo (Ibid., p. 113). Although the relative abundance of water power for mills in Europe played a factor, the role of government is more significant:
The system of government as it had been developed in the Middle East created conditions that were unfavorable to technological innovations. The feudal lords did not retain their fiefs in perpetuity; since changes were frequently made, they had little interest in building new factories. The musâdara system was a sword of Damocles poised over the heads of all the rich or near rich. The mukûs, commercial taxes, were another check to technological development.... Technological progress also depended, to a certain degree, on the structure of industry. Owing to the large share of government in the sugar industry, there was a lack of competition, a tendency towards corruption in the monopolized industries, and a lack of incentive for innovations. (Ibid., p. 119)
Ashtor implicates demographic trends in the downfall of the Egyptian sugar industry (Ibid., p. 120), but governmental policies also affect demographic trends. The increasingly feudalistic land tenure structures had an adverse affect on population patterns. Nizam al-Mulk, in the Book of Politics states that "the peasants, having been impoverished by heavy taxation and extortion, are ruined and dispersed." (See Ashtor 1976).
At the beginning of the fifteenth century most of the monopolized industries (sugar, soap, paper, silk and other fabrics, glass) collapsed. "[A]l-Makrizi writes that after 1404 people were compelled to dress themselves in the woolen stuffs imported by European merchants" (Ibid., p. 307). The role of government factories in the technological decline of Near Eastern industry is unmistakable. With cheaper sources for raw materials (in part produced on the royal estates), the "sultans and amirs used their power to curtail the activities of their competitors by taxation or by the establishment of monopolies. ... The royal factories themselves were ruined by corrupt managers whose maladministration induced the sultans in the course of time to abolish the tiraz system altogether. Industrial production sank to the level of small workshops which could not afford long and costly experiments" (Ibid., p. 308-309).
According to Ibn Khaldun, shipbuilding skills had declined to the point that "in case of need the governments must have recourse to foreign help" (Ibid.). As Muslim skills in, for example, silver inlay vanished, Venetians picked it up from Syrian Jews.
The decline of wheat was a landmark. It had been the staple, but with the arrival of the last decade of the fifteenth century, millet and dhura bread were being consumed in Cairo and barley in Damascus--even by the governor and the princes (Ibid.). With the breakdown and flight to the cities there came thousands of unemployed paupers, victimized by diseases--chronic and epidemic. Desperate, they provided a recruitment pool for warring factions and rebels. "The lowest stratum of this class were the so-called harafish, beggars who were to be found near the mosques and elsewhere and who were allied to certain groups of dervishes" (Ibid., p. 320). Skilled workers were in better shape only because there was such a shortage of them. The petty bourgeois, however, "were impoverished by the fiscal policy of the Mamluk government" (Ibid.).
In addition to the burdens of trade taxes there were numerous other extortions. We have already mentioned the tarh, which compelled merchants to buy overpriced products from their government competitors. Such measures were periodically abolished and then resurrected. Muslim jurisprudence did not allow for price-fixing outside times of emergency, but the Mamluks fixed prices when it suited their interests (Ibid.).
At the same time land-tenure changes gave rise to a feudalist system placing the bourgeois in an inferior position. The legal scholars were also made subservienbt to the state through government appointments to judgeships or teaching positions at schools endowed by the Mamluks, inducing collaboration (Ibid., p. 284). Using a practice resurrected in current-day Egypt, the government avoided responding to the theologians' protests against the governmental extortions, by instead wooing them by such measures as "promulgating decrees against the Christians and Jews" (Ibid., p. 285) Thus an intellectual aristocracy of judges and professors appointed by the government arose. The disfavored classes engaged in mob riots, but no organized revolutionary movement. "[A]ll classes of society were imbued with a spirit of rigid orthodoxy which made a social revolution allied to sectarian tendencies unthinkable" (Ibid., p. 322). Yet, the co-option of the religious scholars pre-empted any jihâd against the oppressive regime.
Despite the consequent favorable balance of payments due to the change of trade routes discussed in the preceding section, and continuing supply of Sudanese gold, "the economy of the Mamluk kingdom crumbled in the second half of the fifteenth century" (Ibid,, p.327). "The flourishing economy of the Near East had been ruined by the rapacious military, and its great civilizing achievements had been destroyed through inability to adopt new methods of production and new ways of life" (Ibid,, p. 331). The economic breakdown led to the political and military collapse. Reasons for breakdown: decay of Egyptian industry; extravagant luxury of the ruling class; hoarding of money (a consequence of musâdara?); and military spending. At the same time Portuguese were expanding and in the second half of the 15th c. Their seizure of "great quantities of Sudanese gold" was felt in Cairo (Ibid., p. 329-330).
Ibn Khaldun analyzed and denounced government competition with the private sector as a means of revenue enhancement. He titles a section of the Muqaddimah "Commercial activity on the part of the ruler is harmful to his subjects and to the tax revenue" (Ibid., p. 93). He elaborates that the ruler has an unfair advantages in (1) using state wealth in competition with private resources; (2) having taxing authority; (3) having ability to force purchases at above market prices; (4) intimidating competition and suppliers to force selling below market (Ibid., p. 94). The consequent "financial difficulties and loss of profit ... takes away all incentive to effort, thus ruining the fiscal (structure)" (Ibid., p. 95). With the merchants and farmers driven out of business, tax revenues dry up and the government has undermined its best source of revenue.
Furthermore, (the trading of the ruler) may cause the destruction of civilization and, through [it] the destruction of the dynasty. When the subjects can no longer make their capital larger through agriculture and commerce, it will decrease and disappear as a result of expenditures. This will ruin their situation. This should be understood. (Ibid., p. 95)
Muslim states which wish to see an industrial revolution should pursue a policy that permits the private sector to engage in any and all halâl pursuits. The primary role the Muslim state is the establishment of justice. Arbitration is better suited to this goal that regulation and licensing. While there are some infrastructure tasks that can be expeditiously handled by the state without jeopardizing or contradicting its primary task, they are few in number and increasing them constitutes a slippery slope to economic failure.
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