Article 123: The management of the economy is to take in consideration the viewpoint about the targeted society when considering the fulfilment of the needs. So what the society ought to be should be made the basis for the fulfilment of the needs.
This article is deduced from several evidences and the Shari’ah rule can be deduced from single or multiple evidences. It has been deduced from the limitation of the ownership of things by a specific method, and the limitation of the causes of ownership to particular causes, and the limitation of how wealth can be invested according to a particular method, and from the prohibition of certain things and actions, and so the management of the economy has been deduced from the evidences for these four issues.
The management of the economy which has been deduced from these evidences is that it is obligatory that the view regarding wealth, from the angle that it fulfils the needs must be connected to the Shari’ah rule regarding that wealth, and built upon it. Wheat and honey are considered to be from the wealth, because Allah (swt) made the two of them permitted. Whereas cannabis and alcohol are not considered to be from the wealth, since Allah (swt) made the two of them forbidden. The money which is used to purchase, and that which is paid as a salary, is from the wealth since the Shari’ah permitted earning money in these two situations, whereas stolen money and money earned through a void contract is not considered to be from the wealth because the Shari’ah forbade them both. So the Shari’ah rule must be examined when considering how to fulfil the needs, and it is obligatory that it is the basis for the consideration of the reality of the wealth fulfilling a need, or in other words, the basis upon which the wealth is produced and consumed. This is the meaning of the article when it says that the management of the economy is the view towards how the society should fulfil the needs, since what the society should be upon, in other words, what the relationships between the people should be based upon, is that these relationships should be restricted by and proceed according to the Shari’ah rules. Therefore, it is obligatory that the consideration of what the society should be upon, in other words, it being restricted by the Shari’ah rules, is present when considering how to fulfil the needs, and it should be connected to the Shari’ah rules and based upon them, irrespective of whether that is regarding the production of the wealth or its consumption.
Accordingly, the origin of wealth in the system of Islam is that in order for it to be considered an economic matter permitted to be produced and consumed, depends on what the society should be, in other words, the restriction of the relationships between people by the Shari’a rule. And based upon this the wealth is examined from the angle of it fulfilling the need of human beings, the individual or the society, and upon this basis production and consumption occurs.
Though the restriction to the Shari’ah rule is the basis, which is general with regards to the obligation of making the Shari’ah rule decide every action of the Muslim, the Shari’ah did not leave the management of the economy general based upon general evidences such as the words of Allah (swt):
(( وَمَا آَتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا))
“And whatever the Messenger has given you - take; and what he has forbidden you - refrain from.” (TMQ 59:7). Rather it came with detailed evidences specific to the distribution of wealth and how to fulfil the needs with it, which are the evidences which limit the method of ownership, its causes, and investment, and prohibition of certain things and actions. Therefore, the management of the economy in Islam is not the consideration of wealth from the angle of how it can fulfil the need alone, but rather it also looks at whether it is permitted, and whether the need which it fulfils is permitted; in other words, it is based upon the consideration of the wealth from the angle of the relationships between people restricted by the Shari’ah rules.