This short book discusses an important issue of ownership in Zakat transfer. In traditional scholarship, it is considered a necessary condition that ownership per se must be transferred from the Zakat payer to the Zakat receiver for Zakat to be considered as paid. The argument for this viewpoint is that alphabet ‘Laam’ comes before the name of the recipient and one implication of this use of ‘Laam’ is ownership.
Climate change and environmental degradation is a slow and cumulative process. To protect environment, the efforts also need to be cumulative and consistent. A self-centric secular worldview encourages the self-centric use of private property resources. However, even small things done collectively and consistently can have a larger effect. The two-worldly view of life in Islam encourages socially responsible behaviour as one of the prime determinants of salvage in the life hereafter. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “If the Resurrection were established upon one of you while he has in his hand a sapling, then let him plant it.” (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 12491).
This study provides insights to the stakeholders of a Cash Waqf infrastructure to continue strengthening their role by understanding the embedded physical and spiritual values and benefits of their acts. It is pertinent for regulators to further encourage VBI among Islamic financial institutions, towards attaining the pure philosophical foundations of Islamic banking and finance; i.e., the principles of socio-economic justice and brotherhood.
Prepare to Meet the One, the Only One We will return to the One, to the Only One. Every moment, we come close to death and to meet the One, the Only […]
Divine Economics framework provides an empirical basis of behavioural comparison between religious and non-religious agents with regards to their economic and non-economic choices. It incorporates the methodological framework of mainstream economics for the study of religion and economics in each other’s perspective. It looks at religious behaviour from the lens of ‘economic good’ and ‘economic behaviour’ in markets where the choice has economic considerations, such as relative prices, opportunity cost of time, income effect and substitution effect. However, reliance on stated preferences, overlap between religious and non-religious activities, inability to observe the motivation and intention behind choices and to judge the quality of religious activities are some of the challenges in this research framework.
Corona Virus has affected millions of people and killed hundreds and thousands of people already in more than 200 countries and territories of the world. Almost all routines of life have been affected. Our tremendous journey in scientific, technological, industrial and economic advances has come to a pause for a while in the last few months. As we ponder over origin of Corona Virus, it is high time to also reflect and think over origin of everything. This short book engages and invites readers to together seek answers from science, philosophy, and spirituality.
In the Godless worldview, the battle of survival ends with destruction eventually for Corona Virus, bacteria, unicellular organisms, animals and humans the same way. Humans having consciousness and conscience may define their personal meaning of life by themselves as to how best to spend few million breaths under the sun in maximizing self-pleasure. But, the life ends without due justice for many people who are killed, robbed and discriminated against and it ends without due punishment for many people who cause these crimes. Some are lucky and some are unlucky in the mortal game of survival of the fittest.
A reflective human mind would look at the pandemic and will be reminded that this life will end one day for him from one or the other material cause. A reflective mind will keep in mind the scientific and historical evidence that death is as much a fact as is life.
The doctors and nurses who have risked their lives to treat patients have defied these explanations and proved that altruism can be genuine. The idea of selfish self-interest needs revision. John Nash gave the idea that everybody does what’s best for him and the group. Referring to humans as a group, Dawkins think that Selfish Gene has no inherent morals and only has survival instincts. Morality is then just an instrument to achieve survival of the fittest.
Islamic Economics Project 