The Economic System of Islam — Page 63
63 meagre amounts to other relatives. Islam considers this practice en- tirely wrong and maintains the welfare of the entire society to be the paramount consideration. No matter how high and noble a family might consider itself to be, Islam wants large estates to be divided and further subdivided over generations so that the poor do not have to compete with large capital owners who prevent the poor from making economic progress. Thus, in the first place, Islam curbs the inducements and im- pulses that result in accumulating excessive wealth. Secondly, it for- bids spending of money on fulfilling one’s vain desires and other wasteful pursuits. Thirdly, it disallows all such avenues of generat- ing wealth that provide guaranteed profit. Fourthly, it stipulates the payment of zakat and voluntary charity. If despite all these mecha- nisms, someone is able to accumulate excessive wealth due to his wit and astuteness, and there is a danger that his wealth might hinder the progress of the underprivileged, Islam stipulates that his wealth be distributed among the heirs immediately after his demise. Thus if a person has ten million rupees and has ten sons, his wealth would be equally divided into one million for each son and then if they each have ten sons the wealth would get further divided into one hundred thousand rupees in the following generation. By the time of the third generation, only ten thousand rupees would be left for a family. This way, even a large estate would get greatly di- minished within three or four generations and it would not become a hurdle in the progress of the poor. The disposition of wealth after one’s demise can only be prevented for that part of the property that is given away for the good of the public to a non-profit organi- zation. Obviously, anyone who accumulates capital with a view to