Balance in wealth distribution is defined as: "The
processes of redistribution from those who have much to those who have
little."
Taxes,
philanthropy, social welfare, public services, land reform, fiscal policies,
and expropriation are among the mechanisms used to redistribute income and
wealth, either across the economy as a whole or among selected individuals.
However, redistributive taxation should not be confused with pre-distributive
policies, which stipulate that the state should try to prevent inequalities
from occurring in the first place rather than attempting to address them
through taxation after they have occurred. For example, requiring employers to
pay all their employees a living wage, not a minimum wage, as a progressive
response to income inequality or high poverty rates. Income and wealth redistribution
policies must be impartial, aiming to reduce social disparities and maximize
social welfare.
It is
natural for people to vary in income and wealth due to differences in their
talents and abilities. This variation is related to divine decree and the
extent of people's efforts to earn a living. From an Islamic perspective, this
disparity is necessary to create incentives and foster cooperation and
integration at both the local and international levels. But Islam strongly
rejects the egregious inequality in the distribution of income and wealth, as
in the words of God Almighty: “What Allah gave as booty (Fai') to His Messenger (Muhammad SAW) from the
people of the townships—it is for Allah, His Messenger (Muhammad SAW), the
kindred (of Messenger Muhammad SAW), the orphans, Al-Masakin (the poor), and
the wayfarer, in order that it may not become a fortune used by the rich among
you. And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad SAW) gives you, take it, and
whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it), and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is
severe in punishment" (Surat
Al-Hashr: 7); meaning, so that one group does not monopolize wealth to the
exclusion of others, whether at the level of individuals in a local community
or between countries. This illustrates the sublimity of Islamic economic
legislation in achieving social justice by controlling the extreme disparity in
the distribution of income and wealth.
Because of
the importance of Zakat and Sadaqah in Islam for the distribution of wealth,
the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged Muslims to perform
them in the noble Prophetic traditions and urged every Muslim man and woman to
do so. A person's Islam is not complete except by paying Zakat if they possess
wealth that is subject to Zakat. Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam,
which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) specified in his
saying: "Islam is built upon five pillars: testifying that there is no god
but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing prayer,
paying Zakat, performing Hajj, and fasting Ramadan." (Narrated by Abdullah
bin Umar; Source: Sahih al-Bukhari). Likewise, the Prophet, may God bless him
and grant him peace, linked faith with zakat in his saying: “Five things:
whoever brings them with faith will enter Paradise: whoever maintains the five
daily prayers with their ablution, bowing, prostration, and timings; fasts
Ramadan; performs Hajj to the House if he is able to do so; gives zakat
willingly; and fulfills his trust.” They said, "O Abu Darda, what is
fulfilling the trust?" He said, “The ritual bath after sexual impurity”
(Narrated by Abu al-Darda; Source: Takhrij Sunan Abi Dawud); and that whoever
performs zakat along with faith will enter Paradise, as the Prophet, peace and
blessings be upon him, said in what was narrated on the authority of Mu’adh ibn
Jabal, may God be pleased with him, who said, “I was with the Prophet, peace
and blessings be upon him, on a journey, and one day I was close to him as we
were walking, and I said, ‘O Messenger of God, tell me of a deed that will
admit me to Paradise and distance me from Hellfire.’ He said, ‘You have asked
me about something great, and it is easy for whomever God makes it easy for.
You worship God and do not associate anything with Him, you establish prayer,
you pay zakat, you fast Ramadan, and you perform Hajj to the House.’ Then he
said, “Shall I not guide you to…” The doors of goodness: Fasting is a shield,
and charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire, and a man’s prayer in
the depths of the night. He said, then he recited, “Their sides forsake their
beds as they call upon their Lord,” until he reached: “They do,” then he said:
Shall I not tell you about the head of the whole matter, its pillar, and its
highest point? I said, "Yes, O Messenger of God." He said, "The
head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is prayer, and its highest point is
jihad." Then he said, "Shall I not tell you about the essence of all
that?" I said, “Yes, O Messenger of Allah.” He then took hold of his
tongue and said, “Restrain this.” I said, “O Prophet of Allah, will we be held
accountable for what we say?” He said, “May your mother be bereaved of you, O
Mu’adh! Is there anything that throws people into Hellfire on their faces or on
their noses except the harvest of their tongues?” (Narrated by Mu’adh ibn
Jabal; Source: Sahih al-Tirmidhi). Likewise, the Prophet clarified that charity
is a purification for the fasting person in his statement, may Allah be pleased
with him, saying, “The Messenger of Allah prescribed the charity of breaking
the fast as a purification for the fasting person from idle talk and obscenity,
and as food for the poor. Whoever pays it before the prayer…” It is an accepted
zakat, and whoever pays it after the prayer It is a form of charity” (Narrated
by Abdullah ibn Abbas; Source: Sahih al-Targhib); and he urged the Muslim to
hasten to give charity in his saying: “I heard the Prophet, peace and blessings
be upon him, say: ‘Give charity, for a time will come upon you when a man will
walk with his charity, and another man will say: If you had brought it
yesterday, I would have accepted it from you, but today I have no need of it’”
(Narrated by Haritha ibn Wahb al-Khuza’i; Source: Sahih al-Bukhari); as he
informed the Muslims that God is the One who accepts charity and takes it in
His right hand in his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “Indeed, God
accepts charity and takes it in His right hand, and He increases it for one of
you as He has given it to you.” One of you raises his horse until a morsel
becomes as large as Mount Uhud, and the proof of this is in the Book of God,
the Exalted and Glorified: {Do they not know that it is God who accepts
repentance from His servants and receives charities?} and {God destroys usury
and gives increase for charities} (Narrated by Abu Hurairah; Source: 'Aridat
al-Ahwadhi). The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, depicted the state
of the one who gives charity whenever he gives and the state of the miser
whenever he withholds with the utmost precision in his saying, as narrated by
Abu Hurairah: “The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, gave the
example of the miser and the one who gives charity, like two men upon whom is a
burden.” Two iron chainmails, whose hands were forced to their breasts and
collarbones. The generous person, whenever he gave charity, it expanded from
him until it covered his fingertips and concealed his trace. The miser,
whenever he intended to give charity, shrank, and each ring took its place. He
said, “I saw the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace,
saying, with his finger in his pocket, ‘If you had seen him, he would have been
widening it, but it would not have widened.’” (Narrated by Abu Hurairah;
Source: Sahih Muslim).
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