Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues — Page 191
Economic Peace 191 and commerce and earnings from employment. Having done that, there is little further interference in the financial affairs of the individual. Broadly speaking, national interest is limited to the income side but what or how an individual spends his earned or hoarded income is no concern of most states. If he so pleases, an individual may flush his income or wealth down the drain. He may acquire a lavish and extravagant lifestyle or, despite his wealth, he may live in hardship if he chooses. It is no business of the state to interfere with how he intends to spend or employ his money. Nevertheless, this is an area where religions do step in and, by way of admonishment or counsel, not only tell an individual how he should earn his daily bread but also guide him as to how he should or should not spend what he has earned. Most injunctions relating to expenditure are primarily moral and spiritual guidelines. For instance, when Islam prohibits expenditure on drinking and gambling and over- indulgence in various pursuits of pleasure, though such injunctions may not directly aim at shaping the expenditure budget, they are a by- product of the moral and spiritual teachings of a religion. In capitalist economies, such injunctions are considered as an invasion of privacy and an interference with the right of an individual to spend as he or she pleases. But this attitude is not new to man. According to the Holy Quran, earlier people and civilizations displayed exactly the same attitude towards religions, which sometimes resulted in a debate as to the justification of religions to interfere with people’s personal affairs. When Shu‘aib as , an ancient Prophet, attempted to educate the people of Midian on how best they should spend their wealth and what they should refrain from, he was rebuked by his people: