Need for Economic Equity and Eradicating Poverty

While addressing the 7th Annual Peace Symposium on March 20th, 2010, His Holiness Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad ^{(may Allah be his helper)}, the fifth Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, explained that fixing the world’s economic problems requires following a directive of Prophet Muhammad ^{(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)}, “None of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself” (Tirmidhi).

Based on the Holy Qur’an (2:189, 4:59, 15:89, 20:132, 83:2-4), His Holiness advised majors powers to craft equitable business dealings with weaker nations, to not covet weaker nations resources and to fairly compete for such resources. The world benefits if the richer nations secure a fair amount in return for their services and educate the people of these nations so they avoid the resource-curse and diversify their economy. Otherwise, resource exploitation and support of corrupt governments will stunt growth and foment unrest, which extremists can exploit. To curb the influence of corrupt leadership, His Holiness advised major powers to provide aid contingent on proper resource allocation and the enforcement of other pertinent civic demands. Economic experts agree that capitalism itself needs to change from being profit-driven to value-driven.

His Holiness explained that if a child is worried about his next meal, how will time ever be found for an education? With today’s technology, the child will see what the developed world enjoys despite not having it himself – laying the seed for resentment. Since the masses are illiterate or uneducated, extremists can exploit this anger as governments are often responsible for a widening economic gap and injustice. Compounding this effect, extremists promise the child’s family money in exchange for the child. Thus, His Holiness said, “Poor nations must not be looked down upon, rather we should consider them as part of our family – our brothers and sisters.”

As a practical example of the benefit of paying heed to the Holy Qur’an’s instructions, His Holiness noted that early Muslims were exemplary in their diplomatic and financial dealings. During the caliphate of Hadhrat Umar ^{(may Allah be pleased with him)}, the second caliph of Prophet Muhammad ^{(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)}, Muslims ruled over Syria. During this time, a tax was levied to exempt Syrian Christians from military conscription; also, no tax was levied on the poor. But when it became uncertain if the Muslims could defend Syria against Rome, the Muslims returned all the tax money to the Christians, explaining that they could not take this money if they could not defend Syria’s inhabitants. The gesture moved the Christians to pray for a Muslim victory. The example not only demonstrates Islam’s commitment to justice, but also proves that it is wrong to claim that religion and peace are incompatible.

His Holiness noted how, as head of state, far from exploiting his subjects, Prophet Muhammad ^{(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)} established the first civilized society the Arabs had ever known. A people barely acquainted with literacy were instructed to teach the illiterate, including slaves and orphans. Literate prisoners of war were released if they taught illiterate people how to read and write; this also serves as a successful model for prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration. Arabs were constantly instructed to free slaves (Holy Qur’an 90:14-17), and while under one’s care, a Muslim was to feed and clothe the slave with the same food and clothing he used himself. Sadly, more people are slaves today than at any time in history. His Holiness also noted that others become slaves of a parasitic financial system, which, through usurious lending practices, burdens borrowers with debt that can pass on to future generations.

In contrast, Medina saw the creation of a taxation system to help the poor and avoid hoarding of wealth, as was a code of business and financial ethics to ensure fair and honest trade. Public sanitation and a city cleaning programme were implemented, citizens taught the importance of hygiene and physical health. Roads were expanded and improved. A census was conducted to identify citizens’ needs. Women, whom Arabs treated worse than animals, were given inheritance and divorce rights and became a source of honor for the family, as Prophet Muhammad ^{(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)} declared that any individual who lovingly raised two daughters would earn salvation (Mufrad). When a Muslim expressed a desire to participate in armed jihad, Prophet Muhammad ^{(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)} instructed him to care for his mother as “Paradise is beneath her feet” (Nasa’i). This, all despite Muslims being immigrants to Medina – fully integrated into the local society and contributing to its development.

Today, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community emulates Prophet Muhammad’s ^{(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)} example through its philanthropy. His Holiness also noted that Ahmadi Muslim girls across the world are doctors, teachers and architects and Ahmadi Muslim girls literacy rate in the developing world is “at least 99%.”

If this sage advice is ignored, no major power should feel secure as experts believe a potential China-American cold war would be more harmful than the original Cold War. Even if de-globalization were to not result, a division of economy could emerge with “two incompatible blocs.” Additionally, some years ago, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg commented that the global economic climate was the same as that prior to WWI, that climate itself being a major cause of the war. His Holiness felt the environment also bears an alarming resemblance to that prior to WWII.

“It is my heartfelt prayer,” he said “that mankind comes to recognise its Creator and turns towards Him, rather than continuing to view this material world and its attractions and comforts as the ultimate form of existence … May Allah the Almighty enable humanity to save itself from impending disaster by turning towards Him before it is too late.”