The Economic System of Islam — Page 85
85 then given assurance that no one else would be allowed to deny his fatherhood. If a child is not taught the alphabet or history, he is bound to remain ignorant, similarly for religious education. As stated earlier, religion has a positive message to impart, but nonbelievers are just deniers. By not allowing religious education, the deniers are the ones who achieve their goal. Thus, while Communism claims to be impartial on religion, it is only committing treachery. This is not impartiality or equality in treatment, but fraud and deception. The Holy Quran plainly proclaims ‘Teach man what he did not know. ’ As soon as you have ruled out the possibility of teaching, you put those so deprived at a disadvantage, and place them in a position of pre-Islamic days of ignorance, and prevent Muslims from carrying out their duty. There are some other points that arise in this con- nection, but as I am not addressing aspects of Communism that are not related to economics, I shall not go into them here. Apart from the harm flowing from its opposition to religion, Communism is defective when judged on the basis of reason and common sense as well. It is not in human power to establish complete equality for all, covering all aspects of life. Happiness does not depend on money alone, nor do contentment, solace and the peace of mind spring only from the satisfaction of material wants. Besides, given the same standards of living, the amount of pleasure derived must differ greatly from individual to individual. Given the same quality of meal, some people eat it with greater relish than others at the same table. The sense of taste, smell, eyesight, or general health varies among people. Intellectual and physical capabilities are a great source of self-confidence and consequent happiness, but no State