Islam's response to contemporary world problems (47)

ECONOMIC PEACE. 

We continue to develop the theme of "Economic Peace", linking to the 46th installment. 

(The Holy Quran references can be found at https://www.ahmadiyya-islam.org/es/coran/.) 

In discussing the alternative mode of action to be taken during periods of natural disasters or great calamities afflicting mankind (see the basic needs mentioned above), The Holy Quran describes the appropriate choice as follows: 

"It is the freeing of a slave, or the feeding in a day of famine of an orphan relative, or a poor man reduced to misery." (90:14-17) 

In other words, the correct choices are: 

First, genuine and true service to humanity accepted by God is described. Among the needy, it is paramount that human beings help those who are subjugated by slavery or other bondage. Any service contrary to this concept is useless in the sight of God. Therefore, the modern system of providing financial aid to underdeveloped countries with preconditions and chains attached to this aid is categorically rejected. 

The next choice is to feed an orphan, even if he or she has a guardian to support them. 

The final choice is to feed a destitute person, so helpless that he or she appears reduced to destitution. 

Although spoken in the singular, verse (15) evidently describes a crisis on a grand scale. The connotation of the word Yaum (day) and the general style of the expression make this obvious. 

Consideration shows how the implications of this verse present a very clear picture of how the large, rich and powerful nations treat the poorer ones, who are in dire need in times of extreme incapacity. Help is given to them, but coupled with various conditions. In this way the purpose and spirit of helping others is destroyed. They are ostensibly released from one misery only to be misled into another. The whole of today's international system of conditional aid has been harshly described here in these few words. Believers are warned not to take undue advantage of helpless people by alleviating the suffering of poor individuals or nations and at the same time depriving them of their freedom. 

The word orphan is used in a broader sense, as it applies to dependent individuals as well as dependent nations. These nations, which are like orphans with rich relatives who have been abandoned by their families and friends, should not be left unattended by the fact that others are responsible for them in the first instance. 

The case of the oil-rich countries is an apt example. If only a few Gulf States would join hands to alleviate the immense sufferings of humanity at large, they would have solved the problem of hunger and thirst in Africa without hardly noticing it. They have mountains of money in bank deposits and funds in Western countries, which in turn generate enough interest and income on their own to alleviate Africa's misery and suffering. In any case, Islam forbids them to spend that interest for their own use. 

The case of the vast ocean of hunger, misery and want arising from the numerous calamities in Bangladesh is another case that deserves to be studied in this context. They have been abandoned by the rest of the world to their own fate. Aid, if any, drip by drip, is really ineffective in alleviating their misery. 

These nations must be considered orphan nations, according to the broadest definition of the term. When these orphan nations are abandoned by their own kith and kin, a serious crime is committed in the eyes of God. 

People show a very naïve and even twisted attitude towards God and towards the nature of the suffering of the poorer nations, when, in truth, it is man himself who is to be blamed for their utter insensitivity and neglect. If we filled the hearts of human beings with this special quality and were able to suffer for others, even today the world could be transformed into a paradise. 

If millions of Muslims in Sudan are starving, their condition should not be ignored on the pretext that, since rich nations like Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich states are virtually their kith and kin, they have the ultimate responsibility to feed them. This is the true meaning of the Arabic expression "Yatiman Za Maqrabate" (lit., an orphan, close to the family). 

Once again it is emphasised in this verse that individuals or nations suffering from individual or national economic crises must be helped to stand on their own feet. This scenario applies to most Third World countries, whose economies are rapidly unravelling in the absence of large-scale aid on a regular basis. 

The third choice is "Au Miskinan Za Martabate", which applies to those economies that have been reduced to misery and whose national economic system has collapsed. According to The Holy Quran, feeding the people of these nations is not enough. It is man's responsibility to take steps to restore and rehabilitate their economies. 

Unfortunately, trade relations in the present age represent just the opposite. The flow of wealth is always directed towards the richer and more advanced nations, while the economies of the poorer countries sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire. 

I am not an economist, but I understand, at least, that it is impossible for Third World countries to maintain bilateral trade relations with advanced countries and at the same time prevent the flow of wealth from their countries to the richer ones, ensuring that export earnings equal import bills. 

Another important factor to bear in mind is that in all economically advanced nations, there is a constant demand for improved living standards. Poorer nations are encouraged to borrow to match the standard of living of the developed world. Push-button technology leads to an easier and more comfortable life, even if these additions to modern amenities ultimately adversely influence the resilience of human character. If the people of the advanced countries want to regenerate their own blood and improve their own physical health, how can the richer nations be expected to relieve the poorer nations of their state of terminal pernicious anaemia when their own thirst for more blood knows no bounds, when their standard of living must continue to rise, and whatever money can buy must be constantly transferred into their own economies? 

This mad rush to raise living standards indiscriminately is not only robbing the poorer nations of their chance of survival, but is also robbing the advanced nations of their peace of conscience and peace of heart. The whole society is tormented in the pursuit of artificially created needs, so that everyone lives in a constant state of desire to be on a par with his neighbour. This, again, is a situation that can potentially lead to war. 

This tendency is strongly discouraged in Islam. Islam presents the image of a society in which people live within their means, and there is always something saved for a bad day, not only at the individual and family level, but also at the national level. 

For poorer countries, this situation is fraught with danger, because when advanced nations suffer new competitive challenges from other emerging economies, and their own economies begin to stagnate, they become more ruthless in their relations with Third World and poorer countries. This is inevitable because, in one way or another, governments in richer countries have to maintain a "reasonable" standard of living for people who have become addicted to that standard of living. 

Ultimately, these situations escalate and culminate in factors that create wars. It is these wars that Islam seeks to prevent. 

(lpbD) - Peace and blessings of God be upon him. 

(With this installment we conclude the section on "Economic Peace", continuing in installment 48 with "Political Peace").