A Qur'anic Model for a Universal Economic Theory

24 Mohammad E. Biraima
with which he sees, his hearing with which he hears, his feet with which he walks, his
hands with which he acts ... etc. This state is also consistent with the tradition that is
related to the Prophet in which he says, "Seek the advice of your heart even if you have
been advised and advised". According to AI-Ghazali this second approach is extremely
difficult and available only for the elect, who are few. Thus, there remains only the way
of deep learning of the Islamic shari'ah (law) for the majority of muslims.
A bounty means anything that gives utility or happiness to man. The true bounty is
the happiness obtained in the Hereafter. This is due to four reasons: it is eternal, it is
pure happiness, it involves knowledge without ignorance, and it involves richness
without poverty. Thus the extension of the meaning of bounty to anything in this world
is either because such things are means to the ultimate bounty in the Hereafter, or it is a
misuse of the word. This is due to the fact that all things in this world, in relation to
man, fall in four classes:
(1) Those which are useful in this world and in the Hereafter;
(2) Those which are harmful in this world and in the Hereafter;
(3) Those which are painful in this world but useful in the Hereafter;
(4) Those which are useful in this world but harmful in the Hereafter.
Those things in the first category are true bounty, e.g., knowledge about the divine
and the actions according to such knowledge. Those in the second category are pure
disaster, e.g., ignorance of the divine and the actions resulting from such ignorance. The
things in the third category are a definite bounty for those who have wisdom, but pure
pain for the ignorant, e.g., restraining desires and disobeying one's self when it is not in
line with God's injunctions. The things in the last category are pure disaster for the
learned and wise, but are bounties for the ignorant. Thus if we go back to the MPC we
find that the two inputs that define "what is on earth" i.e., wealth and children can be
called bounties if and only if they become a means to the ultimate bounty which is
happiness in the Hereafter, but a definite disaster if used otherwise. The former
approach requires the maximization of the iman or hasanat function, while the latter the
maximization of the pleasure function.
Stage (6): The MPC at Work
In this stage we want to see how the MPC actually functions, For this purpose we
will group the relevant sample of verses into five main categories, namely:
a - The attributes of the human self necessary for the MPC's test;
b The normative ought-to-do that tell man what economic actions are expected of
him that satisfy the conditions for thankfulness, and the rewards that follow from
conformity to such actions;
c - The normative ought-not-to-do with respect to the economic bounties and the
sanctions associated with such actions;
d - Positive good deeds that are consistent with the normative ought-to-do;
e - Positive bad deeds that are consistent with the normative ought-not-to-do.