Humans are economic beings. According to Islam, of course, humans also need an economy. This is because humans always need resources and capital to be able to carry out their lives. Without economics, surely humans will not be able to survive because the condition of the body will weaken.
Islam in terms of economy regulates the whole of human life, including in economic terms. Sometimes many people are reluctant to follow the rules of Islam in economic terms because they are considered inappropriate or have negative perceptions of Islamic rules.
If studied more deeply, the Islamic economy has characteristics and characteristics that are sometimes not properly understood. For this reason, the following is about the economy in Islam and its characteristics.
Definition and Basics of Islamic Economics
Economics in Islam is a unity with other Islamic teachings. The economy cannot be separated from the rules of prayer, fasting, marriage, and other rules. If there are Muslims who consider themselves Muslim, then they must not reject Islamic rules with Islamic economic rules. Islam and Economics is a unit that is not separated one by one.
Many think that economics is different from Islam. Islam only regulates worship while not regulating the economy. Of course, this is wrong. Islam is the religion of rahmatan lil alamin which means to regulate the entire humanitarian sector. For that, all human activities lead to the foundation and principles of Islam.
Economics in Islam includes managing things such as:
- How to owe
- Carry out zakat
- Transaction
- Buy currency
- Prohibiting usury
- How to fulfill transactions with accountable, etc
For this reason, economics in Islam is a basic principle while the technical practice depends on the times that develop and the technology used while not violating the basic principles of Islamic economics is certainly not a problem and it is permissible in Islam.
For example, using online to buy and sell. While there is still a contract and the clarity of the goods or services offered and clearly the halal-haram of these items, the scholars allow.
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Principles and Characteristics of Economics in Islam
In Islam, economic problems are clearly regulated. There are some technical things that Islam does not regulate rigidly and humans can develop the economy in accordance with technological developments. However, there are a number of things that are the economic principles of Islam and this cannot change.
The economic principles and characteristics of Islam throughout the ages and the development of the times will not change and must be followed. This is not limiting humans, but maintaining economic law and these transactions can be mutually beneficial and get justice from them.
Here are the principles and characteristics of Islamic economics that we can understand and also apply in our daily lives or business.
- Justice and Balance
“And do not approach the orphan’s property, except in a more beneficial way, until he is an adult. And complete the measure and scales fairly. We do not burden someone but their ability. And when you say, then you should be just, even though he is a relative (you), and fulfill God’s promise. That is what Allah has commanded you to remember.” (QS Al-An’am: 152)
In the above verse, it is explained that economic principles in Islam must perfect the measure and scale. That is, in the economic process, there must be measuring and standard tools so that economic processes can be carried out in a balanced manner.
For example, when people will buy fruit, there must be a scale that will measure how many fruits are obtained and what price to pay according to the value of the fruit. Or if there are people who want to exchange currencies, then there must be an agreed upon and the fair exchange rate between the two parties.
- Equally Profitable
Islamic economics puts forward the principle of mutual benefit. In economic transactions, no one can lose or lose one of them. For this reason, economic transactions in Islam are regulated so that there is an agreement in advance so that no one feels aggrieved afterward.
Do not let a new transaction be realized to be harmful after seeing the item, after being used, or feeling wronged afterward. That is the importance of buying and selling contracts, choosing goods, and agreeing on prices first. For this reason, Islam regulates it so that humans transact equally profitably.
- Not Strangling the Poor or Unable People
The next economic principle is not to let our economic transactions strangle the poor. The people who have the assets and the excess economy should not make the poor and the needy people increasingly difficult and unable to pay for their lives.
This is as stated in Letter Al-An’am above. Often there are people who transact economically and then strangle the poor with debts that contain usury. Of course, the poor people are having difficulty to pay for their necessities, especially having to pay interest on their debt which is very suffocating.
However, Islam regulates the economic relations of people who are capable of not. For this reason, zakat is one way to balance the Islamic economy so that it is balanced between the two.
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- Transparency or Openness
The principle that also must be understood by Muslims in terms of economics is transparency and openness. When buying and selling for example, then be open about the condition of the goods or things being traded. Explain the good and the defects and do not cover up the conditions.
The effect of this openness certainly makes us lose ourselves. Of course, dishonesty makes people reluctant to be able to transact with us again. That is what is called a lack of blessing in the economy.
- Recording Transactions
“O ye who believe, if you do not do it in cash for the specified time, you should write it down. And let an author among you write it correctly. And do not let the writer be reluctant to write it as God taught it, so let him write, and let the debtor imitate (what will be written it), and let him fear Allah God, and do not reduce it at all than the debt.” (QS. Al Baqarah : 282)
In the verse above, it is explained that in making a transaction and carrying out economic transactions, there must be recording and writing. This is so that the economic transactions carried out can be appropriate and not forgotten. Usually, as time goes on the problem of the recorded transaction will be forgotten.
If this recording problem is forgotten, it will result in conflict and become an unresolved problem because there is no clear record. For this reason, the importance of accounting records and knowledge can be used to clarify the problem of economic transactions.
Further reading:
- The Law of Buying Goods with Advances
- The Law of Conducting Worship without Knowledge
- The Law of Telling One’s Own Disgrace and Its Proposition
- The Law of Mutual Funds in Islam and Its Proposition
- The Law of Canceling Proposal According to Islam
Those are the principles and characteristics of the Islamic economy. Of course, the principle of Islamic economics is different from the principle that tends to capitalism, the liberation of capital, which tends not to favor the small people. For this reason, the Islamic economy must be maintained and enforced. Because the economic impact of Islam is not just one party but the entire ummah, rahmatan lil alamin.