Islam Solves World Poverty and Hunger

Introduction:

Islam is the religion and way of life that was revealed to humanity by our creator, Allah (swt) (click for definition). Since Allah ( humanityswt) is the one who created the heavens and the earth, and out of His unlimited mercy to mankind, He also revealed to us a way of life and a religion, Islam, that give us peace and happiness in our lives here on earth and in the afterlife. Islam was revealed as a practical religion that covers all aspects of our lives, and it is intended to be implemented in our lives. It brings peace and justice to earth, after all, who is more just and wise than Allah (swt), the creator of the heavens and the earth, the most knowledgeable?

As such, when implemented honestly and correctly, Islam provides solutions to all problems that are faced by humanity. One of the most widespread and dangerous problems faced by humanity is that of poverty, hunger and starvation. There is nothing more horrifying than the realization that as we live our happy lives here, millions of our fellow human beings live in hunger and face starvation. The majority of the world population today lives in poverty. It is clear that the world system we have set up today is unjust and inhumane. Otherwise, how can we allow this situation to continue with less than 10% of the world population controlling over 90% of the wealth and resources on this earth?

Islam, revealed to humanity over 1400 years ago, came with the most just and easy solution to the problem of poverty, hunger and starvation in this world. If Islam is implemented in the world today, the problem of poverty, hunger and starvation would be completely eliminated within a year. Islam, revealed to us by Allah (swt), the most knowledgeable, wise and just, solves the problem of poverty and hunger through several methods:

The Obligatory Zakat:

Islam makes it obligatory on every Muslim to pay a certain "tax", called Zakat, on their accumulated wealth. The money collected from this Zakat is to be distributed among the poor and needy.

The Arabic word "Zakat" means both 'purification' and 'growth'. One of the most important principles of Islam is that all things belong to Allah (swt), and that wealth is therefore held by human beings in trust. Our wealth is purified by setting aside a proportion for those in need, and, like the pruning of plants, this cutting back balances and encourages new growth in our wealth.

Zakat is due on accumulated wealth that has been in the possession of a person for at least one year. There are rules on how to pay Zakat on each type of possessions, such as gold, animals, crops, shares and so on. A certain percentage of each type of these possessions is to be paid as Zakat. Note that the Zakat is taken from excess wealth that a person is accumulating and has had in their possession for over a year. It is not paid on income. Therefore, people whose save nothing after covering their expenses with their income do not pay Zakat, and in fact may be eligible to receive Zakat money from others if their income does not cover all their needs.

The Zakat is to be distributed among people of the following categories, depending on need:

1) The Destitute: Those who don't have material possessions nor nor means of livelihood.
2) The Poor: Those with insufficient means of livelihood to meet basic needs.
3) The Indebted: Those who are in debt and have difficulty repaying it.
4) Stranded Traveller: The traveller who does not have enough money to complete their journey.
5) To Free Slaves: Zakat money is to be used to purchase slaves and free them. 6) New Muslims: Those who are new to Islam and require help to integrate themselves into the Muslims community.
7) In the Path of Allah: Zakat money can also be spent in the path of Allah. This can include many things, basically any project that helps Muslims or Islamic causes.
8) Zakat Workers: Those whose job it is to collect and re-distribute Zakat money get their salary from the Zakat money.

How Can Zakat Eliminate Poverty and Starvation?

If Islam was implemented in the world today, starvation would be eliminated from the planet within the first year. The Zakat due on agricultural products ranges from 5% to 10% of the produce. There is also Zakat due on various types of animals such as sheep, cows and camels. Imagine if 5%-10% of all agricultural production in the world, plus the required amounts on animals are distributed among the hungry and starving people of this world. The problem would be solved immedeatly. In the system we have today, some nations intentionally spoil a part of their agricultural production in order to maintain high prices for their produce. Can you see the difference between the system driven by human greed and the Islam which was imposed by Allah (swt), the most gracious and most merciful?

In addition, Islam can solve the problem of poverty. Consider the Zakat due on money. Zakat is due at 2.5% on money that has been in one's possession for over a year. Now consider this simple fact: Forbes Magazine reported that in 2004 there were 587 billionaires worldwide, with a combined net worth of $1.9 trillion dollars. If in 2004 these 587 richest people in the world paid zakat, we would have had $47.5 billion dollars distributed among the poor.

This calculation has just considered less than 600 individuals on this earth. What about if everyone contributed to a global Zakat fund in the same way? The total world GDP (summation of gross domestic product of all countries in the world) was estimated in 1999 to be $27,357.9 billion dollars. The 2.5% Zakat on this would amount to $683.95 billion dollars annually. These are just ball park figures to give the reader an idea of how much money Zakat can generate.

This Zakat money should not only be distributed for immedeate relief to the poor. It can also be given in the form of small business loans. For example, poor farmers can be given loans or even grants from this Zakat money to enable them to purchase the equipment and materials they need to lift them out of poverty. The same can be done for small business owners, or for the poor to set up small workshops or factories to lift them out of poverty once and for all. Within a few years, poverty would be eliminated or at least greatly reduced.

Optional Charity:

As discussed earlier, the obligatory Zakat imposed by Islam can easily solve the problems of poverty and starvation in the world. However, in addition to that, Islam greatly encourages Muslims to give extra charity. For example, the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) once said that the person who sleeps full while his neighbour sleeps hungry is not a true believer. Islam also always encourages charity in all situations. For example, for the persons who are not able to fast in Ramadan, they are required to feed some poor people for each day they do not fast. And there are many such examples.

Examples of Charity in the holy Qur'an and the Sunnah:

Allah (swt) said: "And be steadfast in prayer and regular in charity" (Holy Qur'an, Chapter 2, verse 110).

Allah (swt) said addressing the messenger of Allah, Mohammad (pbuh): "Of their goods take alms (charity), so that you might purify and sanctify them, and pray on their behalf" (Holy Qur'an, Chapter 9, verse 103).

When the messenger of Allah, Mohammad (pbuh), sent one of his companions to call the people of Yemen to Islam, he asked him to tell them the basics of Islam, among which was: "... and tell them that Allah has made obligatory on them a charity that is taken from their rich and given to their poor..." (Reported by Bukhari and Muslim).

Allah (swt) said: "So he who gives (in charity) and fears (Allah), and (in all sincerity) testifies to the Best, We will indeed make smooth for him the path to Bliss. But he who is a greedy miser and thinks himself self-sufficient, And gives the lie to the Best, We will indeed make smooth for him the Path to Misery; Nor will his wealth profit him when he falls headlong (into the hell fire)." (Holy Qur'an, Chapter 92, verses 5-11).

Allah (swt) said: "By no means shall you attain righteousness unless ye give (freely) of that which you love; and whatever you give, Allah knows it well." (Holy Qur'an, Chapter 3, verse 92).

Allah (swt) said: "O ye who believe! Cancel not your charity by reminders of your generosity or by injury, like those who spend their substance to be seen of men, but believe neither in Allah nor in the Last Day. They are in Parable like a hard barren rock, on which is a little soil; on it falls heavy rain, which leaves it (just) a bare stone. They will be able to do nothing with aught they have earned. And Allah guideth not those who reject Faith." (Holy Qur'an, Chapter 2, verse 264).

Way to the Quran

The New world that Awaits You

As you come to the Qur'an, you come to a new world. No other
venture in your life can be so momentous and crucial,so blissful
and rewarding, as your journey to and through the Qur'an. It is
a journey that will take you through the endless joys and riches
of the words that your Creator and Lord has sent to you and all
mankind. Here you will find a world of untold treasures of
knowledge and wisdom to guide you on the pathways of life, to
mould your thoughts and actions.In it you will find deep
insights to enrichyou and steer you along the right course.From
it you will receive a radiant light to illumine the deeper
reaches of your soul.Here you will encounter profound emotions,a
warmth to melt your heart and bring tears running down your
cheeks. It is crucial for you because, as you travel through the
Qur'an,at every step you will summoned to choose,and to commit
to Allah.To read the Qur'an is nothing less than to live the
Qur'an willingly,sincerely,devotedly,and totally.The outcome of
your entire life depends on how you heed the call given by
Allah.The journey is therefore decisive for your existence,for
mankind,for the future of human civilization. A hundred new
worlds lie in its verses. Whole centuries are invlved in its
moments. Know ,then,that it is the Qur'an,and only the
Qur'an,whichcan lead you on and on to success and glory in this
world and in the world to come.

What is the Qur'an?

 It is beyond man's power to comprehend,or to dscribe, the
 greateness and importance of what the Qur'an holds for
him.Yet,to begin with, you must have some idea of what it is and
what it means to you ,and such that you are inspired to immerse
the whole of yourself in the Qur'an,in total commitment,complete
dedication and ceaseless pursuit,as it demands.  The Qur'an is
Allah's greatst blessing or you .It is the fulfilment of His
promise to Adam and his descendants:'there shall come to you
guidance from Me, and whatsoever follows My Guidance no fear
shall e on them, neither shall they sorrow'(al Baqarah 2:38).It
is the only weapon your frail existence as you struggle against
the forces of evil and and temptation in this world.It is the
only means to overpower your fer and anxiety.It is the only
'light' (nur) ,as you grope in the drkness,with which to find
your way to success and salvation.It is the only healing(shifa)
for your inner sickness, as well as the social ills that may
surround you .It is the constant reminder(dhikr) of your true
nature and destiny, of your station,your duties,your rew It was
brought down by one who is powerful and trustworthy in the
heavens- the heart of the Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace
be on him. to your Creator.It tells you of Him,of His
attributes, of how He rules o to you ,and how you should relate
to Him,to yourself ,to your fellow meny other existence.The
rewards that await you here are surely many,incrng manifold and
the hereafter,but what awaits you at the end of the road
promises allah in the Hadith qudsi,'the eye has seen not,nor the
ear heard,nor the heart of man ever conceived'.and, adds Abu
Hurayra'no human being can imagine what joys are being kept
hidden for them in d or all that they did'(Bukhari,Muslim)

Qur'an As Living Constitution

Can the Qur'an again, be living, relevant force, as powerful for
us now 1400 years away, as it was then? This is the most crucial
question that we must answer if we wish to shape our destiny
afresh under the guidance of the Qur'an.

There appear, however, to be some difficulties. Not least of
which has to do with the fact that Qur'an was revealed at a
certain point in time.  Since then we have traveled a long way,
made gigantic leaps in technological know-how, and seen
considerable social changes take place in human society.
Moreover, most of the followers of the Qur'an today do not know
Arabic, and many who do have little idea of the 'living'
language of the Qur'an.

They cannot be expected to absorbs its idioms and metaphor, so
essential to exploring and absorbing the depths of the Qur'anic
meaning. Yet its guidance, by its own claim, has an eternal
relevance for all people, being the word of the Eternal God. For
the truth of its claim, it seems to me, it must be possible for
us to receive, experience, and understand the Qur'an as it's
first recipients did, at least in some measure and to some
degree. We seem to almost have a right to this possibility of
receiving God's guidance in its fullnes and with all its riches
and joys. In other words despite historical incidence of the
revelation in a particular language at that particular time and
place, we should be capable of receiving the Qur'an now (because
its message is eternal), capable of making its message as much a
real part of our lives as it was for the first believers and
with the same urgent and profound relevance for all our present
concerns and experiences.

But how do we do this? To put it very forthrightly, only by
entering the world of the Qur'an as if Allah were speaking to us
through it now and today, and by fullfilling the necessary
conditions for such an encounter. Firstly, then, we must realize
what Qur'an as the word of God is and means to us, and bring all
the reverence, love, longing and will to act that this
realization demands. Secondly, we must read it as it asks to be
read, as Allah's Messenger instructed us, as his Companions read
it. Thirdly, we must bring each word of the Qur'an to bear upon
our own realities and concerns by transcending the barriers of
time, culture and change.

For the first addressees, the Qur'an was a contemporary event.
Its language and style, its eloquence anda rationale, its idiom
and metaphor, its symbols and parables,its moments and events
were all rooted in their own setting. These people were both
witnesses to and in a sense, paticipants in the whole act of
revelation as it unfolded over a period of their own time. We do
not have the same privilege; yet, in some measures, the same
ought to be true for us. By understanding and obeying the Qur'an
in our own setting, we will find it, as far as possible, as much
a contemporary event for ourselves as it was then. For the
essense of man has not chnaged; it is immutable. Only man's
externalities- the forms, the modes, the technologies - have
changed.  The pagans of Makka may be no more, nor the Jews of
Yathrib, nor the Christians of Najran, nor even the
'faithful'and the 'unfaithful' of the community of Madina; but
the same characters exist all around us. We are humans being
exactly as the first recipents were, even though may find it
extremely difficult to grapple with the deep implications of
this very simple truth. Once you realize the truths and follow
them, once you come to the Qur'an as first believers did, it may
reveal to you as it did to them, make partners of you as it did
of them. And only then, instead of being a mere revered book, a
sacred fossil, or a source of magic-like blessing, it will
change into a mighty force, impinging, stirring, moving and
guiding us deeper and higher achievements, just as it did
before.