Al-Mal fi al-Quran al-Karim
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Al-Mal fi al-Quran al-Karim (Wealth in the Noble Quran, also titled Al-Mal fi al-Quran) is a treatise by the al-Azhar scholar Mahmud Muhammad Gharib, examining the economic concepts, ethical dimensions, and social regulations of property and wealth in the Quran.
Publication and Purpose
The work was authored by Mahmud Muhammad Gharib while serving as an al-Azhar scholar and religious counselor to the youth of Cairo University. Approved for publication by the Iraqi Ministry of Information in 1976 (approval no. 218/1976), the first edition was published in one volume in Baghdad in 1396 AH / 1976 CE.
Gharib presents the Islamic economic worldview as distinct from earlier religious traditions, contrasting what he describes as material predominance in Jewish thought and monastic detachment from worldly governance in Christian thought with Islam's balanced approach to material resources.
Core Principles
The author articulates four foundational tenets regarding wealth in the Quran:
- Divine Ownership: Absolute ownership of all wealth belongs solely to God, citing the verse وَآتُوهُمْ مِنْ مَالِ اللَّهِ الَّذِي آتَاكُمْ ("And give them from the wealth of God which He has given you" [Al-Nur 24:33]).
- Human Trusteeship: Humanity acts only as stewards and trustees (mustakhlafun) over wealth, referencing وَأَنْفِقُوا مِمَّا جَعَلَكُمْ مُسْتَخْلَفِينَ فِيهِ ("And spend out of that in which He has made you trustees" [Al-Hadid 57:7]).
- Restricted Freedom of Investment: Individuals possess freedom to grow and invest their property on the strict condition that it does not harm society, which retains a designated right over that wealth.
- Wealth as a Means, Not an End: Wealth is not an ultimate goal in itself; rather, it is praised in the Quran as good (khayr) when derived from pure sources and spent virtuously to secure dignity in this world and reward in the hereafter.
Contents and Subjects
The book addresses several socioeconomic issues through Quranic exegesis:
- Zakat and the Dignity of the Poor: Gharib argues that zakat creates no personal dependency or humiliation for recipients, because it constitutes an established, divine right (haqq ma'lum) rather than a personal favor from the wealthy. He emphasizes Quranic etiquette: concealing individual charity to preserve the poor person's dignity while allowing public contributions for communal projects, prohibiting reminders of generosity (al-mann wa-l-adha), and giving high-quality goods rather than defective surplus.
- Rights of Society and Market Ethics: The book explores market regulations, including the prohibition of monopoly (ihtikar), fraud, under-measuring, and hoarding, advocating for the circulation and liquidity of wealth over stagnation.
- Earning, Labor, and Usury: Gharib distinguishes between honorable poverty and passive fatalism (tawakul), addresses the prohibition of usury (riba) as contrary to human nature, and promotes benevolent lending (qard hasan). He frames men's work as honor, women's work as necessity, and collective productivity as the lifeblood of nations.
- Legal and Distributive Systems: The text discusses the debt verse, women's testimony in financial transactions, and Islamic inheritance laws, analyzing how estate division prevents wealth concentration and ensures equity for female heirs.
- Social Solidarity in Governance: Gharib examines the administration of public funds (bayt al-mal) under the early Caliphs, noting the equal distribution policies adopted by Abu Bakr and Ali ibn Abi Talib, while highlighting Islam's encouragement of individual enterprise to ensure financial self-sufficiency for future generations.
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