<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">The Arabic word Zakah, with its root (Z-K-W) means growth and development.&nbsp; A tree is nourished and grows in the presence of Allah-owned resources such as the soil, the rain, the sun, and the air </span><b style="font-size: 1rem;">(56:63-72; 80:24-31).&nbsp;&nbsp;</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Any interference in the flow of any of these resources will retard the growth and development of the tree.&nbsp; Similarly, any individual, group, government, or system which disrupts the natural flow of Allah-owned resources on the planet to all human beings creates an imbalance in society: the rich/poor, the master/slave, owner/worker, etc.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the West, this awareness is dawning in respect to plants, animal and insect species which are becoming extinct due to this imbalance in nature caused by the actions of human beings.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">However, the global economic imbalance continues to grow unchecked because human beings have refused, in their greed, to believe in the basic economic principle of Zakah: unrestricted flow of resources to all human beings <b>(41:10, 50:11, 55:10, 56:73, 79:33, and 80:32).</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The capitalist New World Order of the West actively seeks to control the natural resources of weaker nations under the guise of “globalization.”&nbsp; Using the United Nations as a tool, the weak are intimidated into submission either through economic sanctions or military force.&nbsp; Allama Iqbal beautifully captured this mentality of the powerful when he said: “Hai wo sultan ghair ki kheti pe ho jiski nazar.” (The master is one who always has an eye on others’ lands.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Muslims, too, have abandoned the Quranic Zakah, which is Allah’s assured challenge to this naked exploitation of the weak by the strong.&nbsp; Unlike other religions, Islam is a Deen, a system of life, a constitutionally-run, collective life that encompasses the social, economic, political, judicial, and military aspects of a community.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The leaders of this community are not priests, or scholars, or the rich, or the strong: they are the most upright who commit to upholding the laws of Allah in the land, “Amr bil ma’aroof” (enjoining what is right) and “Nahya ‘anil munkar” (forbidding what is wrong).&nbsp; They make sure the Quran, the Constitution of Allah, is enforced in society, i.e., put into action.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What then, is the position of the Quran on the Economic World Order that should prevail?&nbsp; The Quran emphasizes the importance of economics in human life.&nbsp; While describing the life of Heaven, the Quran says there will be no hunger and no misery there.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"<b>There is therein (enough provision) for thee not to go hungry nor to go naked.” [Yusuf Ali (20:118)]</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Too, the Quran teaches us to work for the good of this life, as well as the hereafter (2:201, 7:156), in contrast to the mindset of those who consider economic prosperity in this life to be an end in itself.&nbsp; According to the Quran, such people live at the animal level:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Verily Allah will admit those who believe and do righteous deeds, to Gardens beneath which rivers flow; while those who reject Allah will enjoy (this world) and eat as cattle eat; and the Fire will be their abode.” [Yusuf Ali (47:12)]</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Taqwaa (righteous works) includes the use of economic prosperity to achieve a higher and nobler goal (10:63-64, 16:30).&nbsp; Economic prosperity is a means, not an end; it is a source for life, not the end of life; it is a prerequisite for growth and development in life, not the final goal of life.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since economic prosperity is so essential to human growth and development, Allah has addressed the issue of Zakah in great depth in the Quran. IC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>