"the surplus" (2:219).
IV. Period of TransitionHowever, the Capitalist system cannot be abolished by the stroke
of a pen. It is firmly established and appears to be essential to
modern society. It will be some time before it is uprooted and
replaced by the Order of Rububiyyah. We must face this fact without
giving way to despair. We should bear in mind that man can make
progress only slowly and gradually. So long as he is moving steadily
in the right direction, he need not get impatient. It is not easy to
attain a high objective. He should work hard and wait patiently but
confidently for ultimate success. The Qur'an advises us to proceed
cautiously in this matter and not to be hasty and rash. It has
proposed diverse measures to guard against the accumulation of
wealth in the hands of the few. Usury, i.e., money earned by capital,
is declared to be unlawful. The law of inheritance is designed to
ensure the equitable distribution of a deceased person's wealth
among all his relatives. Man is enjoined to help his parents, relatives
and all others in need, generously and to make all possible
concessions to those who owe him money. By prohibiting hoarding,
it ensures that money is kept in circulation. In short, the Qur'an has
recommended the steps by which ultimately the Rububiyyah Order
might be inaugurated. All these measures, however, are valid only
during the period of transition. Under the Rububiyyah Order, every
man will willingly make over to his society whatever he does not
need for satisfying his basic wants. The Rasool, being the head of this
Order, was the first to show by practical example how this higher
goal should be achieved. He never hoarded a single penny
throughout his life, nor owned any property. By following his
example we can hope to make progress towards the goal of
perfection. What is needed is the realisation that the Rububiyyah
Order alone can bring peace, prosperity and happiness to mankind,
and can open the way to progress and development of man. When
this realisation has dawned, it will not be a difficult task to transform
modern society into the Rububiyyah Order, Already there are signs
that the process has started:
Verily, the promised revolution is sure to come; there is no doubt about
it; yet most of mankind believe not (40:59).
Islam: A Challenge to Religion 208