economic thought of the rightly guided caliphs 107himself. When Bilàl protested, “How could you take from me what
the Prophet gave me?” Caliph Umar’s counter argument was deci-
sive, “The prophet gave you the land to utilise not to deprive oth-
ers, keep what you can afford to look after and give the rest back
to Muslims” (Al-Màwardì).
It is clear from the above that the second caliph attached a great
importance to natural resources as a means of production and endeav-
oured to maximise the benefits generated from these resources. Umar’s
policies, with regard to ownership of means of production, were nei-
ther capitalistic nor communistic, to use modern economic terms,
but a reflection of Islamic economic teachings. Private ownership, as
stated in the previous chapter, is highly regarded in Islam provided
that it is not abused. If it is abused the state has the right to step
in and rectify the situation. After all, the ownership is ownership by
trusteeship between a man who is delegated to own and God who
owns everything. Nationalisation was not therefore one of the state’s
general policies, it was only a necessary step taken to rectify a situ-
ation and prevent the misuse of economic resources.
The second caliph’s awareness of the need for the full use of eco-
nomic resources did not stop at the level of land as a means of pro-
duction; it went further to reach human resources and capital. Labour,
as previously mentioned, occupies a prominent place in Islamic eco-
nomic teachings (see chapter 2) and Caliph Umar’s policies on labour
emphasised these teachings. He encouraged people to have an occu-
pation, to learn and train, to give up laziness and false religious
devotion, and to strive through work for the sake of God, “To die
while striving in my work hoping for the bounty of God is even bet-
ter to me than being killed in Holy war for the sake of God”, Umar
stated, (Al-Shaibanì).
Also, labour to Umar was not only a duty on the worker to the
state but also a right to the individual by the state. In directing his
deputy Umar is reported to have said, “God has deputised us on
his servants (people) to protect them from hunger, to clothe them,
and to facilitate finding occupations for them” (Al-Ghazàlì).
Furthermore, the second caliph seemed to have realised the rela-
tionship between unemployment and civil unrest as early as the mid
seventh century. In his directions to the same deputy he stressed,
“God has created hands to work, if they cannot find work in obe-
dience they will find plenty in disobedience, so keep them busy in
compliance before they get you busy with defiance” (Al-Ghazàlì).