The distribution of wealth is one of the most important and controversial subjects concerning the economic life of man, which has given birth to global revolutions in today’s world and has affected every sphere of human activity, from international politics down to the private life of the individual. For many a century now, the question has been the center not only of fervent debates, oral and written but even of armed conflicts. However, whatever has been said on the subject without seeking guidance from Divine Revelation and relying merely on human reason has had the sole and inevitable result of making the confusion worse.
The present booklet proposes to state as clearly as possible the point of view of Islam in this matter, such as we have been able to deduce from the Holy Qur’an, the Sunnah, and the writings of the “Thinkers” (to use a current idiom) in the Islamic tradition. These scanty observations must have clarified how the Islamic economy differs from capitalism and socialism and its fundamental characteristics.
