The Economic System 43
on Allah (swt) and can only receive what is given to him by the Source of his
being. Human rights are a consequence of human obligations and not their
antecedent. Man is charged with certain obligations toward his Creator,
nature, himself, and other humans, all of which are outlined by the Shari’ah.
When these obligations are fulfi lled, certain rights and freedoms, which are
also delineated by the Shari’ah, are gained. Limitations that are imposed by
the Shari’ah on the rights and freedom of the individual are in the direction of
removing negative possibilities from human life. The obligations, rights, and
limitations defi ned by the Shari’ah must be observed if the individual
and the system are to have an Islamic identity.
Within the framework of the Shari’ah, individuals have natural rights
that are guaranteed, among which is the right of individuals to pursue their
economic interests. Islam considers natural rights of the individual as the
same rights granted to him by Allah (swt). Pursuing one’s economic inter-
ests, within the framework of the Shari’ah, is fi rst an obligation and a duty,
then a right that no one can abrogate. What is signifi cant, however, is the
fact that if an individual’s power and ability to pursue economic interests are
lacking, the obligation is no longer incumbent upon the person, while their
rights are still preserved. The right to economic benefi ts is never negated as
a result of a lack of ability to undertake their duty to pursue their economic
interests. The potential right remains even if a person is unable to actualize it.
Conversely, if the person is able but does not perform their obligations, their
rights are also negated.
In Islam, and contrary to popular opinion, self-interest is not negated.
Islam, in fact, considers it a primary factor in its incentive–motivation
system; a necessity in any organized society if the individual is to fi nd
it utility maximizing to follow behavioral rules prescribed by the sys-
tem. Provided that self-interest is defi ned to cover spiritual and tempo-
ral (that is, eternal and temporary) interests, there is not one rule in the
Shari’ah that does not carry with it its own justifi cation for individual
self-interest. It is for his own benefi t, material and spiritual, in this world
and for his ultimate salvation and felicity in the next, that the individual
is invited to follow the rules of the Shari’ah. This is made clear by the
Qur’an, in which all injunctions are generally coupled with the assertion
that compliance with them by the individual is for his own benefi t. Often
the incentives and the rewards for compliance and the retribution for
non-compliance, both here and in the hereafter, are enumerated. It is in
the context of the pursuit of self-interest that individual obligations and
rights, as well as the limits and accountabilities to these rights, are speci-
fi ed by the Shari’ah.
Competition and Cooperation
In the Islamic conception of mankind’s ultimate end, economic life plays
a purely instrumental role. Even in this role, economic affairs are meant
only to provide the institutions and mechanisms needed for satisfying man’s