The Economic System of Islam — Page 42
42 society as wealthy. I have observed that this obsession has so advanced in our country that people even take pride in acknowledging their subservience to those in power. For example, they would boast that, ‘I pay such a huge amount in tax to the British government’. Thus, instead of feeling ashamed of being the subjects of a foreign power, they boast about the amount of tax they pay. Some happily boast: ‘I am an orderly of such and such Bara Sahib (important person). ’ 5. Fifth motive is the mere addiction to accumulating wealth, i. e. , when individuals start to compete with each other in accumulating greater wealth. If their neighbour has one million, they want 10 million, and if he has 10 million, they want 20 million. As far as I have studied, these are the motivations for acquiring wealth that the Holy Quran has mentioned. After describing these motivations, the Holy Quran says: 18 The Holy Quran likens the pursuit of wealth to a cloud in the sky that gives a farmer the hope that there would be rainfall, which would turn his fields green with new crops. But when it actually rains, it is either too much or too little. In both cases instead of 18 Ibid. (publishers)