MAN IS A TRUSTEE OF WEALTHFrom the Islamic perspective, all wealth belongs to God and man is only a trustee. The Quran says, “To Him (God) belongs that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth, and all that is between them, and all that is under the soil.” The Quran further says, “… and give them something out of the wealth that God has bestowed upon you.” (Quran 24:33). This means that it is God who owns the wealth and that wealth has been bestowed by Him. Since God is the absolute owner, man is just a trustee and this is evidenced in the Quranic verse,

“Lo! We offered the trust unto the heavens and the earth and the hills, but they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it. And man assumed it. Lo! he hath proved a tyrant and a fool.” (Quran 33:72)

A contemporary scholar, Sheikh Yusuf AlQaradawi, interpreted the above verses thus, “It is a part of that great trust which Allah offered to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, which they declined but which man accepted. This trust requires man to carry out the duties placed on him by Allah as His vicegerent on earth and to assume accountability concerning them. This responsibility is the basis on which the human individual will be judged by Allah and given his reward or punishment. Because of this trust, Allah gave man intellect, will power, and freedom of choice; because of this, He sent His messenger and revealed His Books.” Therefore, the first right to wealth is God Himself, but God does not need wealth as we perceive it and He has prescribed conditions as to how to use the wealth that he has bestowed on us. Muslims therefore, should follow the guidelines and injunctions of God in their respective professions.

As mentioned above, Islam considers wealth as a trust and thus Muslims would be accountable for the manner it has been created, how it has been amassed and how it has been spent. On this point, Islam prescribes ways to carry out the trust. For example, Islam provides guidelines on how Muslims should spend their wealth while they are alive and how it should be distributed when they pass away. In that sense, wealth would be blessed. A blessed wealth in this context is wealth that brings benefits to oneself and others.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said “the upper hand is better than the lower hand”. The upper hand is the hand that gives benefits to others whereas the lower hand is the hand that receives.

Thus, in Islam, wealth is vital to enhance and to develop the economic system. With wealth, Muslims will able to serve Allah through giving alms (one method of wealth purification).

The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Blessed is the wealth of a Muslim from which he gives to the poor, the orphans and the needy traveler”.

Islam has always emphasised the significance of attaining Allah’s blessings (pleasures) by giving to others.

This will be further explained in the section 1.2.1.2.

1.2.1.1 Man’s Rights as a Trustee ;

Islam considers man as the best of God’s creation and treats him as such. God has granted him certain rights and has prescribed certain responsibilities for him. As mentioned in the previous section, from the Islamic viewpoint, ownership rests with God. However, God has created everything in the universe for the use of mankind. This is evident from the Quranic verse, “He it s Who created for you all that is in the earth. Then turned He to the heaven, and fashioned it as seven heavens. And He is Knower of all things.” (Quran 2:29) . The Quran further says, “And hath made of service unto you whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth; it is all from Him. Lo! herein verily are portents for people who reflect.” (Quran 45:13). Therefore, He has delegated the proprietary rights to mankind under specified terms i.e. trusteeship and man is therefore subject to the terms of that trust and must not forget that the real owner is God and man’s ownership is granted by Him. This Islamic concept of ownership is part of this general view of trusteeship (amanah). In this respect, two kinds of productive assets have been reserved for public ownership. The first is public utilities such as large streams, bridges, land around town left for common use and the banks of a stream. The second are natural resources entrusted to the society at large. Four such resources have been mentioned by the Prophet (pbuh) - water, herbage, fire and salt. However, Islamic jurists have long argued that these things should be considered symbolic. Other things having similar properties are also included by implication. In general, it may be concluded that anything which does not involve much human effort or cost to make it useful should belong to society at large. Similarly properties, the private ownership of which may cause hardships for the general public, should not be given to private ownership. Natural meadows, forests and some minerals are examples of the first kind and rivers, embankments and public paths of the second kind. Other than these two, Islam recognises private ownership, athough it is held in trust for God. Private ownership has two aspects: i) formal ownership title, and ii) exercise of ownership rights. The first relates to the legal aspect, i.e., the one who holds the ownership title, and the second refers to the authority of making decisions. As mentioned before, Allah has bestowed the rights of legal ownership upon individuals in some cases and upon society as a whole in others. Where the rights have been conferred upon the individual, nobody can deprive him of that except in cases where Shariah (and not the state) provides express sanctions for that. The purpose is to fulfill the needs of the poor. Islam achieves this by an array of means and through a graduated methodology to minimise the negative effects on inducements and at the same time protect the individual’s rights. When it comes to ownership rights, God has clearly laid down the terms of the trust. If one violates these terms one is answerable. If the violation is serious, the legal right of ownership is suspended. Within these limits, the owner is given a high degree of freedom to make use of the object of ownership and to claim the benefits resulting from its use. These rights are natural complements to legal ownership. Without them, ownership becomes meaningless. One of the terms of the trust is that man must use the wealth that is bestowed on him prudently. In this respect, the Quran says that, “He it is Who produceth gardens trellised and untrellised, and the date palm, and crops of divers flavour, and the olive and the pomegranate, like and unlike. Eat ye of the fruit thereof when it fruiteth, and pay the due thereof upon the harvest day, and be not prodigal. Lo! Allah loveth not the prodigals.”(Quran 6:141). However, this does not mean that one must be stingy in one’s consumption as the Quran also says, “…And those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor stingy…” (Quran 25:69). A mufassirin (interpreter of the Quran), by the name of Ibn

Kathir commented that, “They are not extravagant, spending more than they need, nor are they miserly towards their families, not spending enough on their needs. But they follow the best and fairest way. The best of matters are those which are moderate, neither one extreme nor the other.”