Poverty in South Africa and in Malaysia

The South Africans were abjectly poor when the whites were in power. Now, when the blacks are in power, more South African whites are getting poorer. The underlying cause of poverty is opportunity.

Islam's cure for overcoming poverty is providing opportunity for all. Nabi Muhammad s.a.w said that 9/10 wealth is in business. To ensure that everyone has an opportunity to do business, Islam forbids all sorts/forms of monopoly. Sadly, when Tanah Melayu/Malaya/ Malaysia was given independence, we inherited the business practice of the British colonialist . Instead of the British monopolizing business, after Merdeka, the Chinese took over from the British monopolizing business in Malaysia. Hence the continuing prevailing poverty among the Malays. And also among segments of the other races, leading to widening gap between the poor and the rich. And we are continuing this practice of monopoly which favors the rich.

We are proud to say that Malaysia is an Islamic state. But do we know what is an Islamic state in economic terms ?

"The right of every individual to basic needs is the distinctive feature of Islamic state. It is the primary duty and responsibility of this state to see that every citizen, irrespective of caste, color, or creed, gets his basic needs according to the principle of 'right to livelihood.' In fact , every citizen of the state is guaranteed his basic needs and none will be found without means of livelihood in such society.

The Holy Prophet s.a.w defined the barest necessities of life in these words:

"The son of man has no better right than that he would have a house wherein he may live, and a piece of cloth where by he may hide his nakedness, and a piece of bread and some water." (HR Tirmizi)......

Obviously, it is the duty of the Islamic state to provide means of sustenance to every individual living within its boundaries; a state which does not fulfill this intention of the Creator is not really and Islamic state." ( Afzal-ur-Rahman "Economic Doctrines of Islam " Islamic Publication Limited, Lahore October 1974 pg 91-92)

So, any country that wants to overcome poverty must implement Islamic economic doctrines fully.