Islamic socialism
Islamic socialists believe that the teachings of the Qur'an and Muhammad, citing aspects of the religion like zakat, are not only compatible with principles of socialism, but also very supportive of them.
[1] Muslim socialist leaders believe in the derivation of political legitimacy from the public, and wish to implement a government based on social welfare and the concept of zakat.
For instance, in Pakistan, the verses "Man is entitled only to what is due to his effort" and "the land belongs to God" have been used to argue in favor of Islamic socialism, and as an argument against the accretion of wealth through the manipulation of capital.
[9] According to Sami A. Hanna and Hanif Ramay, one of the first expressions of Islamic socialism was the Wäisi movement in Tatarstan, Russia, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
It was this understanding which prompted the Russian representation at the Baku Congress in September 1920 to reject the arguments of the national communists as impractical and counterproductive to the revolution in general, without elaborating their fear that the safety of Russia lay in the balance.
Alongside Sindhi, during the 1920s and the 1930s another lesser known scholar, Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, also found Islam and Marxism to be compatible, with multiple common ideas about social structure and economics.
Although he was criticised by more conservative scholars, he became aligned with Jinnah and Muhammad Iqbal, the former of whom appointed him as the editor of the magazine Talu-e-Islam, where he wrote and published articles espousing a socialistic interpretation of the Qur'an, arguing that "socialism best enforces Qur'anic dictums on property, justice and distribution of wealth", and advocating a progressive, non-theocratic government and the application of science and agrarian reform to further economic development.
[10] Perwez, as a part of his application of qur'anic thought to political ideology, stated that hell was a "... society in which men, dominated by its evil socio-economic system, struggle to accumulate wealth.
"[21] During the presidency of Muhammad Ayub Khan in Pakistan in the 1960s, Hanif Ramay led a group of intellectuals in Lahore in developing Islamic socialist ideas, drawing on the thought of Perwez and Khalifa Abdul Hakim, along with Ba'athist thinkers such as Michel Aflaq.
Ramay outlined the priorities for the PPP's brand of Islamic socialism as including elimination of feudalism and uncontrolled capitalism, greater state regulation of the economy, nationalisation of major banks, industries and schools, encouraging participatory management in factories and building democratic institutions.
They contextualised these policies as a modern extension of principles of equality and justice contained in the Qur'an and practiced under the authority of Muhammad in Medina and Mecca.
However, during Bhutto's time in power during the 1970s, he scaled back his reform programme and deepened Pakistan's ties with the conservative, oil-rich Gulf monarchies following the 1973 oil crisis, and purged the PPP's radical left and made concessions to Islamist parties in an effort to appease them.
"[22] Although it was Marxist, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (which took power after the country's Saur Revolution) started utilising rhetoric stressing similarities between socialism and Islam after its reforms provoked opposition from religious conservatives and landowners.
[10] Nur Muhammad Taraki's, first president of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, most acute dilemma was establishing a party line on Islam, balancing respect for its principles with Marxist-Leninist ideals.
Despite leading Ramadan prayers and making conciliatory speeches, Article I of a secret PDPA constitution affirmed the party's belief in Marxist-Leninist ideals.
Right-wing socialists (Mohammed Iqbal, Agus Salim, Jamal ad-Din Asad-Abadi, Musa al-Sadr, and Mahmud Shaltut) are ideologically closer to third positionism, supporting not just social justice, egalitarian society and universal equality, but also Islamic revivalism and implementation of Sharia.
[citation needed] One of the Five Pillars of Islam, zakāt is the practice of almsgiving based on accumulated wealth (approximately 2.5% of all financial assets owned over the course of one lunar year).
[39] Fi Sabillillah is the most prominent asnaf in Southeast Asian Muslim societies, where it broadly construed to include funding missionary work, Qur'anic schools, and anything else that serves the community in general.
Umar himself lived "a simple life and detached himself from any of the worldly luxuries," like how he often wore "worn-out shoes and was usually clad in patched-up garments," or how he would sleep "on the bare floor of the mosque."
Umar also made sure that the public treasury was not wasted on "unnecessary luxuries" as he believed that "the money would be better spent if it went towards the welfare of the people rather than towards lifeless bricks.
In the Rashidun Caliphate, whenever citizens were injured or lost their ability to work, it became the state's responsibility to make sure that their minimum needs were met, with the unemployed and their families receiving an allowance from the public treasury.
"[47] During the great famine of 18 AH (638 CE), Umar introduced further reforms such as the introduction of food rationing using coupons, which were given to those in need and could be exchanged for wheat and flour.
Caliph Al-Walid I assigned payments and services to the needy, which included money for the poor, guides for the blind, servants for the crippled, and pensions for all disabled people so that they would never need to beg.
[49] When communities were stricken by famine, rulers would often support them though measures such as the remission of taxes, importation of food and charitable payments, ensuring that everyone had enough to eat.
[51] Niqula Haddad, brother in law to Farah Antun, was a Syrian writer from an Orthodox Christian family who arguably wrote the first book on socialism in Arabic, entitled al-Ishtirakiyah.
[54][55] The Green Book was heavily influenced by the pan-Arab, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser and served as the basis for the Islamic Legion.
[59] In practical terms, although Gaddafi opposed Islamist movements, he pursued socially conservative policies such as banning the sale and consumption of alcohol, closing nightclubs and suppressing Marxist activity in universities and colleges.
[64][65] In time, as Ethem's Islamic Socialist views grew more prevalent, it distanced itself from Kemal Atatürk's Turkish National movement and eventually opposed it.
Wäisi followers supported the Soviet government in the aftermath of the October Revolution of 1917 and organized a regiment in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.
Members of the movement distanced themselves from the Russian Bolsheviks and founded the autonomous commune of Yaña Bolğar in Christopol during the 1920s, but were persecuted and disbanded during the Great Purge of the 1930s.
