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Did Muslim Scholars
Recognize the Problem of Scarcity ?
by Rafiq Younis Al-Misrii
Limited and Unlimited Resources
Resources are of two types :
a. Unlimited resources like air and the rays of
the sun, of which we can obtain sufficient for our needs without paying a price.
They are part of God's mercies upon his servants. However, you cannot live on
them alone, in spite of their basic and critical importance in our lives.
b. Limited resources (scarce, economic), like
wheat, cotton, iron, foodstuffs, and textile, chemical, medical, cosmetic and
capital products etc. The scarcity of these resources is clearer on the
national, family, and individual level than on the world level, as a result of
greed, monopolization, injustice, maldistribution, and disasters.
Ideally, and on the world level, resources may not
be limited, but on a national (familial and individual) and realistic level, it
is impossible to deny the evidence that these resources are limited, and the
fact that people are busy dealing with this scarcity.
As long as these resources are limited, they must
be well-administered (especially that people are in fierce competition for them),
either for the resources themselves (in terms of quantity or quality) or for the
use of these resources.
However, some Muslim economists believe that there
would be no problem of scarcity if Islamic economics were applied. This is wrong
because :
1. As we have explained, resources are limited and
as we are about to explain, while needs are unlimited, so the problem of
scarcity is a real one.
2. Islamic economics has never been applied, and
it is impossible to imagine it being applied, all over the world without
practical mistakes such as inequality, injustice or maldistribution. This is due
to the fact that deviation in the application of any theory is always a common
practice witnessed, in different degrees, everytime and in all places.
Are Human Needs Limited or Unlimited ?
1. Some claim that human needs are limited. Man's
need of food and drink is limited to a specific amount which cannot be exceeded
if he is not to be harmed or become ill.
The same is true of man's need for clothing. He
needs raiment suitable for each season of the year, particularly the hot and
cold seasons. He might need two sets of clothes for each season, one to wear and
the other to wash and clean.
The same is true of man's need for a place to
live. He needs a house to shelter him from the sun, the cold, the rain and
people's eyes.
2. This is true if by man's needs one means the
necessities of life only. However, men aspire for necessities as well as
luxuries. They may not be extravagant and wasteful, because extravagance and
waste are relative, depending on man's resources.
But some people may be extravagant and wasteful,
thus they satisfy their needs, lusts and instincts that are considered in excess
of what is permitted. Excess can be either within the limits of what is
permitted or falling into what is forbidden, the first is quantitative, the
second is qualitative.
3. It is to be noted here that needs in the
objective economic sense include all these categories. That is, they include the
necessities of life, everyday items and luxuries, as well as what is extravagant
or wasteful. This is where the problem of scarcity arises with increasing
severity. Resources, or at least some of them, are limited, but needs are
unlimited. If the unlimited competes for the limited, then priorities must be
set. Needs are thus set and satisfied within the limits of the resources
available.
4. Again, it is not true that men content
themselves with what is limited or necessary when selecting their food, medicine,
drink, clothing or accommodation. They yearn to hoard and possess unlimited
quantities of assets, either financial and liquid, or non-liquid like buildings,
cars, boats, aeroplanes, appliances, machines and companies. Equally, women are
hardly pleased with a small amount of clothing, jewellery or possessions. Even
if the son of Adam had a valley of gold, he would long to have a second and a
third and so on indefinitely.
Did Our Forebears Recognize the Problem of
Scarcity ?
1. For economists, the problem of scarcity occurs,
as we have said, when limited resources are competed for by unlimited needs.
2. I tell you that the problem of scarcity in this
sense was recognized by Muslim scholars, in terms of its essence, its
manifestation, and its solution. Here is the evidence.
The Essence of the Problem of Scarcity for Muslim
Scholars
1. If you take any old or modern book on Islamic
jurisprudence, you will find in the chapters on analogy and public interest, and
the problems they give rise to, the following saying : "Legal texts are limited,
but the occurrences of life are unlimited."
3. Texts here are like resources, and occurrences
are like needs. Mujtahids have to make the texts grow (by generating meanings
from obsolete texts) and by using analogy and other tools of ijtihad, in order
to face the numerous, various and increasing occurrences of life, and find
solutions for them.
Manifestations of the Problem of Scarcity as
Described by Muslim Scholars
Muslim scholars raised the problem of scarcity in
many jurisprudential situations :
1. Al-'Izz bin 'Abdul-Salam (d. 660 A.H), the
brilliant Shafici jurisprudent demonstrated this problem when he said : "If two
poor people meet and there is not enough to meet both their needs" (Qawa'id
al-Ahkam 1 : 69). In this case there are two needy people whose needs are
greater than the resources available to a person who wants to help them both.
The same jurisprudent demonstrated the same problem when he said : "If someone
had two sons and was only able to support one of them" (ibid).
2. Al-Mawardi (d. 450 A.H), another of the great
Shafici jurisprudents, demonstrated the problem when he said : "If two demands
are made on the treasury, of which it is only able to meet one" (Al-Ahkam
al-Sultaniya, 215).
3. Our scholars also demonstrated this problem
when they spoke about inheritance, especially when dealing with the subject of
the rightful shares due to family members and referring to the problem of awl.
Linguistically, the awl is the excess, and, as an expression, it is the excess
in the lawful shares of an inheritance. The most simple example of this is as
follows. Assume we have three people inheriting, a husband and two sisters (whether
full sisters or sisters from the same father). According to the Sura of The
Women (vv 12 and 176), the husband receives half and the sisters receive two
thirds, one third each.
If we add the sum of the shares due to the family
members, it comes to more than one. (1/2 + 1/3 + 1/3 = 3/6 + 4/6 = 7/6. The
total is 7/6 (i.e. more than one), whereas the total inheritance is one (which
equals 6/6).
In ascertaining the shares, the problem of excess
is solved by dividing the deficit proportionally among the inheritors, that is
in proportion to their shares. The estate is divided equally into the number of
shares required, i.e. in this case seven. The husband is given 3/7 and the
sisters 2/7 each. The overall total would then be 3/7 + 2/7 + 2/7 = 7/7.
In fact, all inheritance is based on the fact that
there is a limited resource, the total of the estate, and relations have
competing claims on it. The estate is distributed among them on the basis of
inheritance laws, depending on the closeness of the relationship existing, the
points of competition, priority (of two types : precedence, where one potential
inheritor has a closer relationship to the deceased than another potential
inheritor; and lack, where the inheritance is too small to be divided),
disinheritance, burden of expenditure (between male and female), and the
difference of shares.
(For more information on this subject, and for a
clear, documented, reasoned and critical study of the science of inheritance,
see my books Mabadi' 'Ilm al-Mirath, and 'Ilm al-Fara'id wa l-Mawarith : An
Analytical Introduction.)
4. You find the problem of scarcity demonstrated
by our scholars when they speak about the subject of competing bequests. If
someone made bequests to two people, to one a quarter of the estate, and to the
other a third, a third of the estate is divided between them proportionately
according to the size of their bequests. This is because total bequests should
not exceed one third of the estate, unless the inheritors are willing to allow
this provision to be waived. The solution for bequests here resembles that for
the shares of family members. The same applies if bequests are made to one, or
more than one, person, of sums which total more than a third, in cases where the
inheritors do not allow the excess, or, where the inheritors do allow the excess,
but total bequests amount to more than the total estate.
5. Scholars take a similar position when they
speak about debts in the chapter on inheritance and bankruptcy (compiling debts).
Debts have priority over inheritance concerning the estate. If the sum of the
debts exceeds that of the total estate, the estate is divided proportionally
between the creditors according to the value of the monies owed to each. The
same applies if a man goes bankrupt, and the net value of his wealth is less
than the value of the monies he owes. His wealth will be divided between his
creditors according to the value of the monies owed to each one.
The Solution for the Problem of Scarcity Given
by Muslim Scholars
When needs compete for resources, or lawful shares
for the estate, or bequests or debts compete for the wealth of the person being
inherited from or the bankrupt, scholars, we have seen, treated the problem by
giving proportions, or by observing priority, deservedness, or sufficiency, or
by lot (regarded as the last resort when demands are equal, or when the
inheritance is too small to be divided, or when it is impossible to divide it
for some other reason).
Al-'Izz bin cAbdul-Salam says : "The imam must
give preference to necessities over needs when dealing with people's rights, and
treat them equitably by giving the poorer preference over the less poor, and the
urgent need preference over the lesser need." (Qawa'id al-Ahkam 2 : 33-34). This
shows how needs are arranged as they compete for resources, and how they are
given priority according to importance and urgency.
He also says : "If someone has two sons and he can
only support one of them, then he should divide what he has equally between them.
If half a loaf satisfies one, and meets half the hunger of the other, how should
he settle the matter ? I say : He settles it in such a way as to satisfy each
one's hunger to the same degree, for the main purpose of food is to provide
enough for the stomach." (Qawa'id al-Ahkam 1 : 69). This indicates that he
satisfies a proportion of each one's need.
He also said : "If one of them is more worthy,
such as a father or a mother, or a relative or a wife, or a saint, or a fair
judge or a just ruler, the more deserving should have priority over the lesser."
(Qawa'id al-Ahkam 1 : 69).
See also how in Al-Ahkam al-Sultaniya Mawardi
treated the problem that occurs when the expenses of the state treasury exceed
resources (pp. 214-215). Sometimes debts can be rescheduled, and sometimes they
resort to borrowing.
I did not mention Al-Mawardi's text here because
it deals with the matter on a more advanced and complex level. If someone wants
more details or in-depth treatment, he should refer to the afore-mentioned pages
of Al-Mawardi's book.
The Problem of Scarcity is Raised even in the
Hadith of the Prophet
A man came to the Prophet (PBUH) and said, "I have
a dinar." He said, "Spend it on yourself." The man said, "I have another." He
said, "Spend it on your child." The man said, "I have another." He said, "Spend
it on your family." The man said, "I have another." He said, "Spend it on your
servant." The man said, "I have another." He said, "You know best how to spend
it." (Abu Da'oud 2 : 178; Al-Nisa'i 5 : 62)
In another hadith, he says, "Begin with yourself
..., and if anything is left over, use it for your family, and if anything else
is left use it for your relatives, and so on." (Sahih Muslim with a commentary
by Al-Nawawi 3 : 35)
The point of these hadiths is that people's
resources are limited, and their needs are unlimited, so they have to be
arranged according to their importance and the benefit they give. Perhaps this
hadith could also be used as a basis for research into consumer balancing in
modern economics.
Conclusion
Yes, our scholarly forebears have indeed
recognized the problem of scarcity in particular instances, as a general
phenomenon and as a problem for solution. They did this when they treated
questions of expenditure (on children), or charity to the poor, or dealing with
competing demands on the state treasury, legal shares in inheritance, debts or
bequests. After this exposition by our scholarly forebears of the problem of
scarcity :
1. Can any Muslim economist doubt that there is a
problem of scarcity ?
2. Can any positive economist deny the problem of
scarcity unless he is a charlatan or a utopian ?
3. If it were not for the problem of scarcity,
Islam would not have commanded moderation, and forbidden extravagance and waste.
Indeed, Islam teaches economy in the use of unlimited resources (e.g. when
performing ablutions in a flowing river) in order that we might learn to
economize with scarce resources (e.g. when performing our ablutions with water
that we have to pay for).
4. Do any of these people know that if there were
no limited resources, if all needs were limited, if competition for an ever
higher standard of living between countries, families, and individuals was
imaginary, and if the problem of scarcity was non-existent, then the need for
economics would disappear, and this subject could be dropped from the curriculum
?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
* Sahih Muslim - with a Commentary by Al-Nawawi,
Al-Shaab Printers, Cairo (undated).
* Sunan Abi Da'oud, edited by Muhammad Muhyi
al-Din Abdul-Hamid, Dar Ihya' al-Sunna l-Nabawiya, Cairo (undated).
* Sunan Al-Nisa'i, edited by Abdul-Fattah Abu
Ghudda (2nd ed.), Maktab al-Matbuaat al-Islamiya, Aleppo, 1986.
* Qawa'id al-Ahkam fi Masalih al-'Anam, 'Izz bin
Abdul-Salam, edited by Taha Abdul-Ra'ouf Sacad, Dar al-Jil, Beirut, 1980.
* Mawardi's Al-Ahkam al-Sultaniya, Dar al-Kutub
al-cIlmiya, Beirut, 1978.
* Mabadi' 'Ilm al-Mirath : Ard Jadid Mu'ayyad
bil-Adilla wal-Barahin wal-Masadir, Rafiq Younis Al-Misri, Dar al-Manara, Jeddah,
1994.
* 'Ilm al-Fara'id wal-Mawarith : Madkhal Tahlili,
Rafiq Younis al-Misri, Dar al-Qalam, Damascus; Al-Dar al-Shamiya, Beirut; Dar
al-Bashir, Jeddah, 1994/1415H.
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