Issue No: 257
29th January 2016
18th Rabial Thani 1437 A.H.
Salamun alaykum,
Meeting point: Davos city:
This week from 20th – 23rd January, 2016, a record 2500 delegates drawn from business, politics, civil society, science and culture sectors descended in the picturesque ski-resort city of Davos, Switzerland. The record turnout at this five day show piece assembly included 2,500 top business leaders from over 140 countries and more than 40 heads of state /government to attend the 46th edition of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual meeting. The WEF is a non-profit organization, founded in 1971, to unite international political leaders, business leaders and journalists from across the globe to discuss and shape global, regional and industrial agendas with regards to economics, health and the environment.
Owning more wealth:
Ahead of this week’s meeting of the billionaires and politicians a research report titled ‘An Economy for the 1%’ was released by Oxfam; the anti-poverty charity. The study found that 62 people own the same wealth as half of the world’s population(3.6 billion). It also reveals a startling fact that we are living in a world where 1% of the people own more wealth than the other 99% combined. This implies that wealth is concentrated among less than 1% of the people living on earth.
Elsewhere the Equality Trust, which campaigns to reduce inequality in the UK, reported that Britain’s current richest 100 had the same wealth as 30% of UK households.
Obviously this rising inequality in wealth ownership is dangerous and definitely has ramifications on numerous agendas affecting man including peace, governance, happiness and living standards of the global citizen.
Wealth in Islam:
Wealth in Islam is considered as n’imah-gift- from Allah SWT where man as the khalif- steward- of Allah SWT is a trustee of this gift and other numerous Divine gifts. Islam neither opposes material pursuit nor does it promote obsessive accumulation of wealth. The doctrines of Islam have set into place a check whereby the material development of human being does not eclipse the spiritual development. Further in order to mitigate the effects due to inequality prevailing in the society it rewards in abundance the spending of wealth on individual, family and the society.
A cause of poverty:
A tradition from the 6th Imam J’afar As Saadiq a.s. reports that a cause of the people falling into poverty, becoming needy, hungry and naked is due to the wrong doing of the persons having wealth.
This indicates that a cause for the state of poverty and inequality in wealth is a consequence of concentration of wealth without due attention to responsibility towards its ownership.
Reflect:
- How covetous are you in pursuit of accumulating wealth?
- As the steward of Allah for the n’ima of wealth are you discharging your responsibility towards your family, community, society, the nation and the world?
- What needs to be done to tackle the causes of poverty and concentration of wealth in a tiny minority?
Wa ma tawfiqi illa billah
Fazle Abbas Datoo
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Resident Alim
Wessex Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat