48 AN INTRODUCTION TO ISLAMIC FINANCE
heavy odds in the path of honesty and virtue; and like the truthful because
both are steadfast in their resolves. Islam asks participants to go beyond the
rules of the Shari’ah and extend benefi cence to one another as a safeguard
against injustice. Benefi cence implies helping others in ways not required by
justice. It is thus different from justice, which prescribes just limits to selfi sh-
ness. While justice regulates and limits selfi shness, benefi cence rises above it.
Moreover, participants in the market are not only responsible for their own
just behavior, but because of the obligation of “enjoining the good and for-
bidding the evil” they are also made responsible for the behavior of their
fellow participants. Islam maintains that when a man sees another commit-
ting an injustice toward a third and fails to attempt to remove that injustice,
he becomes a party to that injustice. If the person failing to help is himself a
benefi ciary of this injustice, then his failure is considered tantamount to sup-
porting it. Although provisions are made for coercive and corrective action
by legitimate authorities, the clear preference is for self-management of the
market. Any interference in the operations of such a market—through price
controls, for example—is considered unjust, a transgression and a sin.
It was in response to the rules of market behavior imposed by the
Shari’ah that led the Muslims early in their history to structure their markets
in the form of bazaars, which looked almost the same all over the Muslim
world and possessed characteristics that promoted compliance with the
rules. Physically, bazaars were structured to guarantee maximum compliance
with these rules. Each physical segment of the market was specialized with
respect to specifi c products and the prices showed little variation from one
part of the market to the next. The institution of guilds made self-regulation
of each profession and trade possible. Additionally, markets were inspected
for compliance by a market supervisor (muhtasib) who was appointed
by local judges. Unfortunately, the institution of bazaars did not have the
opportunity to evolve to meet the requirements of an expanding economy
or the growing complexity in economic relations. The bazaars that still exist
in many parts of the Muslim world, while maintaining their underdeveloped
physical and infrastructural nature—most are centuries old and have not
been expanded—lack many of the Islamic characteristics and requirements
in their operations.
The last component of Islamic economic justice, distributive justice,
is the mechanism by which equal liberty and equity are reconciled with-
out the least possible infringement of either. Insofar as the distribution of
resources—the just and equal access to these resources, as well as equal
opportunity in their use—is guaranteed, the claim to equity on the basis of
reward and effort is just. The moral basis of property is the primacy given to
equity and it is derived directly from human efforts and achievements. The
bases of private property in Islam are: (i) property which is derived from
personal ability and effort, including material property made or obtained
from natural resources by combining them with personal skills, ability, and
technology, income from self-made capital, assets acquired in exchange for
the product of the owner’s labor; (ii) property acquired by transfers from the