Islam and Human Rights — Page 63
Economic Values 63 skill and talent were to be removed, not only would initiative and enterprise be adversely affected, but intellectual progress would also be arrested. That is why the theoretical doctrine of equal reward irrespective of the diversity of skill, capacities and talents that have gone into the production of wealth has never been main tained for long, even where it has been proclaimed as State policy, and has had to be modified through recourse to various devices designed to secure diversity in reward. On the other hand, Islam does not leave the principle of com petition and of proportionate rewards to work itself out mechanically; that too would lead to hardship and injustice, and would retard the moral and spiritual development of individuals and of society as a whole. The principal economic obligation is the pavment of the capital levy called Zakat (22:79; 23:5). The word Zakat means “that which purifies” and “that which fosters. ” All original sources of wealth-the sun, the moon, the stars the clouds that bring rain, the winds that drive the clouds and carry the pollen, all phenomena of nature-are the gifts; of God to the whole of mankind. Wealth is produced by the appliction of man’s skill and labour to the re sources which God has provided for man’s subsistence and comfort and over part of which