The Economic System of Islam — Page 59
59 earlier wheat price control order was meant to safeguard farmers’ interests, but in reality the farmers lost heavily while the traders netted large profits. In short, the Holy Prophet sa prohibited only improper inter- ference with price levels or unnecessary disruption in the normal operation of supply and demand. He did not forbid regulation to check abnormal price movements whether prices are driven artifi- cially high or artificially low. The prohibition of i h tik a r , which is firmly established according to the sayings of the Holy Prophet sa , also bears this out, because i h tik a r only means that artificial in- creases in prices be checked. Therefore, Hadrat Umar’s ra action, although an interference in the market, was a necessary regulation; it was consistent with shariah and demonstrated a sound principle of Islamic teachings. The aforementioned are the three sources of unlawful wealth accumulation that Islam has prohibited. In this manner, Islam blocks all channels that lead to the unlawful and excessive accumu- lation of wealth. Since clever and shrewd people might still find ways to accumu- late excessive wealth, to the detriment of the less fortunate, Islam has adopted the following means to address this problem.