economic thought in the qur"àn and sunnah 63Factors of production
While these are four factors of production in the Western economic
theory: land, labour, capital and organisation, they may be viewed
in Islamic economics as six: the environment, natural resources, the
human factor which embraces labour and management, capital, soci-
ety and divine guidance and blessing. It is not necessary to consider
the factors of production in Western economics in this study given
its focus, and these are in any case well known, but a recap might
be useful in the case of Islamic economics.
The environment is the first factor determining production to be
considered since man is ordained to make use of and preserve the
environment as one of God’s creation. The environment is the habitat
of all God’s creatures, which He made suitable for all to live in and
grow in the balance, He maintains in the built-in mechanism of the
structure of the environment itself. Man can make use of this
environment in the process of production, but should not violate this
balance. Destroying rain forests, for example, under the premise of
increasing mass production, distorts the environmental balance and
is not in line with the divine purpose of its creation. As this may hin-
der the process of economic development and adversely affect the
quality of life in the long run, it cannot be permissible in the short run.
The second factor of production is natural resources. Man is
allowed, and indeed ordained, to utilise the natural resources bestowed
upon him by God in the process of economic development as God
has made them available for that reason. The line between this fac-
tor and the previous one, the environment, may seem very fine but
the difference between the two is that while natural resources are
meant to be used up in the process of economic development, the
environment, though is meant to be made use of, should be pre-
served in a manner suitable to all. To put it another way, natural
resources are meant to be used, but need not be sustained if their
use facilitates investment in diverse activities that may ultimately be
more sustainable. Some natural resources are sustainable however,
as although this may not be the case with mineral resources, other
resources such as the soil, water, and the use of animals and birds
should be sustainable.
The third factor is the human factor. This factor has been empha-
sised in the Qur"àn and Sunnah and discussed above with no need
for repetition. What can be added perhaps is that in addition to