PEACE BETWEEN LABOUR AND CAPITAL

A great problem which is seriously undermining the peace of the world is the discontent prevailing in the working class against the capitalists. Islam claiming to bring about harmony and peace among warring interests has not failed to solve this baffling question also. On the one hand it recognises private ownership because there is no spirit of competition and incentive to progress left without the recognition of this fact, because if those who work harder than others or can bring a superior intellect or higher business capacity into the conduct of their affairs are to be deprived of the just rewards of their labour, all this competition and striving after better results would cease and the world would come to a standstill.On the other, Islam recognises in principle the right of the poor in the wealth of the rich. The Holy Qur’an says that in the wealth of the rich,those who can and who cannot ask have a right.

Islam suggests three remedies to remove the vast disparities of wealth and poverty. Firstly, it enjoins the distribution of inheritance.No man has the power to bequeath the whole of his property to one man, so as to promote its accumulation in a few hands.Under the Islamic Law of inheritance and succession, a man’s property must be distributed among his parents, all his children, his widows, brothers, sisters, and nobody can interfere with or divert this mode of distribution.

Secondly, Islam prohibits the giving and taking of interest. The possibility of being able to raise loans on interest enables people with established credit, to enhance it to any extent they please by borrowing. The huge trusts and syndicates which at present monopolise the sources of the national wealth would not be possible without interest, and wealth would be more evenly distributed among the people.

Thirdly is the institution of Zakat.Zakat is a charge of two and a half percent levied by the Government on all capital, money, precious metals, and merchandise, etc.,which a person has been in possession of for one year or over. It is not a tax on income, but is a tax on capital. The proceeds of this tax may be provided to those who possess the necessary business capacity, but who are unable to make a start owing to want of funds.

By this institution of Zakat, Islam provides for the discharge of all those rights that the poor have in the wealth of the rich, and thus brings about reconciliation between the haves and the have-nots.