214 chapter five
and services will, therefore, decrease. Prices may come down as a
result of the decrease in both aggregate demand and aggregate sup-
ply, but that would be a case of low prices in an economy of poverty.
Third, if the society is limiting its earning capacity to the level
that is merely sufficient to keep soul and body together, as most
flùfìs advocate, the level of production will be lowered further, leav-
ing very little room for economic development, let alone growth.
Fourth, with very little revenue, if at all, to the Treasury, as a
result of the Zakàh base being almost non-existent, the Islamic state
will not have sufficient funds to spend on education, health and other
public services and infrastructure that are deemed necessary to the
survival of society. Defense will be almost non-existent, as a result
of a zero, or meager, defense budget; which will make the Islamic
state vulnerable to any take over attempt by neighboring non-Islamic,
or non-flùfìIslamic, states.
Fifth, even from a religious point of view, not having enough to
spend on one’s food and basic needs would make one vulnerable to
illness and weakness that may prevent one from exercising the love
of worshiping God fully.
Sixth, in brief, flùfìsm cannot stand on its own as an economic
model. If flùfìsm is advocated as an esoteric way of life, it is only
suitable as a sect within other sects of a more worldly outlook to
life so as the rest of society can provide for the needs of society,
including those of the flùfìs.
It is not surprising therefore to find someone like al-Shaibànì
(750–804), as we saw earlier, criticizing the flùfìs’ views on con-
sumption and earnings. Nor should it be surprising to see al-Muœàsibì,
the renowned flùfì, adopting a different view from that of the flùfìs
in his Earnings and Asceticism as we see below.
Abdullah al-Œarith bin Asad al-Muœasibì, (d. 243 A.H., 857 A.C.)
Kitàb Risalat al-Iktisàb wa al Wara",
Treatise on Earning and Asceticism
The author
Abdullah al-Œàrith bin Asad al-Muœàsibìwas a flùfìby choice, not
by necessity. He was born to a wealthy father with a considerable
fortune that provided the family with an affluent life style that was