This is a book review of Shahid Baqer As-Sadr’s famous work “Iqtisaduna”. In Muslim world, Baqer As-sadr is considered as the Father of modern Islamic Economics and this book is the mother of all Islamic economic books. This book is divided into 2 volumes. In this course work, I am doing a review of Volume 1 part 2. In part 2, Baqer As-Sadr discussed about Capitalism and I am doing some critical discussion on that issue in this presentation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Bismillahir rahmanir rahim.

Our most learned professor Dr. Zahediwafa gave me the opportunity to present Shahid Baqer As-Sadrs Iqtisaduna in our class presentation and asked me to do an assignment on the same issue. I thank my Professor Dr. Zahediwafa for giving me this assignment and introducing me this masterwork by the martyred Baqer As-Sadr. My part of presentation and discussion in this assignment is the part two of the first volume. This part 2 of volume 1 has two chapters. The first one is on the discussion and criticism about capitalism and the second one is our economy: its main signposts. Here I will present the first chapter that is on capitalism.I have copied some important explanation from some online sources and presented it here to give our reader a clearer idea.

INTRODUCTION

Although Ibne khaldun is considered as the father of modern economics in contrary with Adam smith, Scholars like, Ibne khaldun had classical approach, which fails to determine the modern day complexities of economics that is why we refer to contemporary scholars for our now a day, needs for economic guidance.

We are here to discuss about Shahid Baqer As-Sadrs masterwork about capitalism in his book Iqtisaduna. As we all know, it is nearly impossible to critically discuss about Sadr’s most illuminated piece of work in this limited space and by my limited knowledge. He is the maestro of Islamic economics and we consider this book as our mother book for Islamic economics. Therefore, we have to have a good understanding of this book to have understanding of modern Islamic economics.

Baker As-Sadr is praised and criticized both, by his contemporary scholars and later on economists for his views. Still it has its own merit for introducing a unique method for Islamic economics. Therefore, he is regarded as the father of Modern Islamic economics. I prefer to say Shahid Baker As-Sadr as father of modern Islamic economics but not just Islamic economics as because, all the scholars of Islam agree that the principles, laws and theoretical foundation of Islamic economics are already enshrined in the classical texts and other sources of Islam.

Although Abul Ala Moududi, Dr. Ahmad al Naggar, M N Siddiqi, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad (father of modern Islamic economics. Nizame Nau, 1942) khurshid Ahmad ( Islamic economics and Islamic capitalism). Muhammad al Tahir ibn Ashur etc, These scholars are also considered as the father of Islamic economics from some respective viewpoints of their followers but we will not go on further talk about this as we are here to discuss Baker As-Sadr’s viewpoint , not why some people not consider him as the father of Islamic economics. Whatever the debate is, Iqtisaduna is regarded as one of the igniting factor for introducing the Islamic economics and it is the very first book on Islamic economics written with systemic approach.

The center focus of this book is identifying the architecture of the Islamic economic system and then examining and understanding the behavior of its constituent elements.

Without a doubt, the decline of the Communist system created a visible vacuum, which must, and is able to be filled, by the means of a genuine and strong system. Usually this conception exists that the arena of Capitalism stays empty and Capitalism is presented to the world as a scientific and acceptable system.

We will now look seriously at what is the basic and foundational reasoning of Capitalism. On what foundation in musts and must not’s be built and the systems worthiness? To what extent can the word (Scientific) be compared with this system? Are this system's foundations really impartial to religion, or is an anti religious system like Communism? Finally, to what extent can the word “freedom” be related to this system? We will read the answers, and others, in the first chapter of the second volume of the Iqtisaduna Translation.

In another section of this volume, we will be acquainted with the foundations of the Islamic economy, an economy whose explanation and exposition form the main aim of this book. In this part of the book, debates on principles and its foundations will be sufficient.

The principle of economical difficulties is generally debated in this book and essential Islamic solutions are brought forth. One of this volumes debate are: A principal discussion on how the contradicting and opposing blind knots between social and personal affairs can be solved in economical fields? In there no Solution for the existing contradiction or must this opposition, as always, pull the economical field into ruin? How and in what manner does religion, on this subject, enter the scene? What does it, how to say to unite this blind knot and solve the contradiction?

Sadr sought to depict Islam as a religion committed to social justice, the equitable distribution of wealth, and the cause of the deprived classes," with doctrines "acceptable to Islamic jurists," while refuting existing non-Islamic theories of capitalism and Marxism. This version of Islamic economics allows public ownership of land and of large "industrial enterprises," while private economic activity continued "within reasonable limits.

ISLAM AND ITS REALATIONSHIP WITH CAPITALISM IN BAQER AS-SADRS VIEW: IN HIS BOOK “TOWARDS AN ISLAMIC ECONOMY”

SEEKING AN ISLAMIC ALTERNATIVE TO CAPITALISM-COMMUNISM

After a long experience of living under the colonialistic yoke of capitalism and communism, Muslims have already begun to awaken themselves towards rediscovering Islam. This awakening has not been of the same quality everywhere. Nevertheless, it has been prompted by the increasing sense of inadequacy and disenchantment that all Muslims have felt with regard to the capitalistic and Marxist systems.

Islamic Law (the Shari 'a) is intrinsically and strongly opposed to capitalism and communism that have come to dominate the world today. It is but natural that a Muslim should ask as to whether or not Islam has a socioeconomic system capable of solving his complicated problems. The answer is in the affirmative, since the Islamic Law does contain alternative methods to solve the human problems.

The alternatives offered by Islam include an ideological basis for an appropriate socioeconomic organization. The Islamic ideology is based on the Qur'anic revelations. It encompasses every aspect of human life, so that economic principles, too, can be derived from the same, No wonder, there is wide interest in any viable alternative economy achievable through application of Islamic principles for improving the quality of human living and fulfilling the socioeconomic needs.

In the above context, we may indicate the nature and content of an economy governed by Islamic principles. A prerequisite for understanding "Islamic Economy" is suggested by the need to differentiate between "Socioeconomic Policy" and "Pure Economics". In the Islamic perspective, an economic policy implies a regulatory system capable of progressing a society's economic life in a socially just and equitable manner.

To illustrate the crucial point mentioned above, let us consider an example. Suppose we were to ask a father about any behaviour of his child. We could ask in two ways:

(1) What kind of behaviour would you like for your child?, and

(2) How is the behaviour of your child?

To the first question, the father may reply: "I would like my child to be a good human being, independent, and a believer in God!"; to the second question, his answer would be either positive or negative, depending on his child's actual behaviour.

Similarly, in regard to our socioeconomic life, we may ask “What would be the best way to conduct our economic life?” Alternatively, we may ask "How is our economic life functioning at the moment?" From the viewpoint of Socioeconomic Policy, one may answer the first question by saying: "The best way to conduct our economic life is to so regulate it as to conform to our ideology and values ... ".

On the other hand, the second question can be answered on the basis of pure economics and the economic facts as they exist. Thus, socioeconomic policy ought to take into consideration the quality of economic life, and 'pure economics confines itself to an academic investigation of the actual economic phenomenon and identifies the results in quantitative terms only.

THE NEED OF ECONOMIC THEORY ACCORDING TO BAQER AS-SADR IN HIS BOOK “WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ISLAMIC ECONOMICS?”

Probably the most persistent question which occupies many minds, one which is repeated on every tongue and is recurrent with every problem through which the nation passes as long as it exists, is the question regarding the economic doctrine in Islam; so, is there any economics theory in Islam?
Can we find a solution for this polar contradiction between capitalism and Marxism, which is dominating the world nowadays, through a new substitute derived from Islam and extracted from its method of legislation and organization? What is the extent of the potential of this new Islamic substitute in providing a good standard of living, in carrying out its message to the nation which is suffering nowadays from a severe doctrinal dilemma within the tumultuous torrent of such intense conflict with capitalism and Marxism?
Contemplating on this new substitute, or wondering about its reality and Islamic context, is not an intellectual luxury a Muslim relishes; rather, it is an expression of the disappointment of the Muslim individual with both contesting wrestlers and a manifestation of his own reaction to their failure throughout the various experiences he has lived, the failure of the combating wrestlers, capitalism and Marxism, in filling the Muslim nation's doctrinal and ideological vacuum.

INTRODUCTION TO CAPITALISM

Just as the Marxist economy is divided into science and doctrine in the same vary the capitalist economy is also divisible into two. Thus it has a scientific aspect wherein capitalism tries to explain the course of economic life and its events in an objective way based on stability and analysis. There is also in it the doctrinal aspect the materialisation whereof capitalism calls for and adopts a call therefore.

MAIN FRAME-WORKS

The capitalistic doctrine is based on three main elements which constitute its peculiar organic entity which distinguishes it from other doctrinal entities. These elements are:

Firstly, adherence to the principle of private ownership in an unlimited form. Thus, while the general rule in Marxist doctrine was the collective ownership, not to be forsaken except in an exceptional case, the question is entirely reverse in the Capitalist doctrine. Thus private ownership, under this doctrine, constitutes the general rule extending to all the fields and different fields of wealth, which could not be violated except under exceptional circumstances, obliging, at times, nationalization of this project or that and making it a property of the State. Therefore so long as the collective experiment did not prove the necessity of nationalization of any project, private ownership remained the general rule in force.

On this basis, capitalism believes in the freedom of ownership (possession) and lets private ownership raid all elements of production such as land, tools, buildings, mines and other forms of wealth and the law in the capitalist society guarantees safety of private ownership and preservation thereof by the proprietor.

Secondly, opening the way for every individual to exploit his ownership and possibilities as he likes and to allow him to develop his wealth with different means and methods he can. If he owned, for instance, an agricultural land, he was entitled to exploit it himself in any way of exploitation. He had also the right to hire it out to another person and make such conditions to him as he might deem important. He had similarly the right of having it unexploited.

Thirdly, guaranteeing freedom of consumption in the same way as freedom of exploitation is guaranteed. Thus every individual enjoyed the freedom to spend his money and wealth as he liked, to satisfy his desires and meet his needs. He was free to choose whatever the goods he liked for consumption and he could not be prevented therefrom by the Government banning, at times, the consumption of certain commodities for considerations relating to public interests, such as the consumption of an anaesthetic.

So these are the main signposts of the Capitalist doctrine, which could be summed up in three freedoms:

1. Freedom of ownership.

2. Freedom of exploitation

3. Freedom of consumption.

DOCTRINAL CAPITALISM IS NOT A PRODUCT OF THE SCIENTIFIC LAWS

At the dawn of the scientific history of Economy, when magnates of the classic natural economy were sounding the needs of this science and laying its first foundation, two notions pervaded the economic ideology.

First: The economic life proceeds in accordance with limited natural powers, which dominate all economic entities of the society as do various aspects of the existence in accordance with the different natural powers. The scientific duty vis-à-vis these powers which dominate economic life constitutes in discovering its general laws and fundamental rules which can appropriately explain different economic phenomena and events.

The second one is this that those natural laws, which the science of economy must discover, constitute a guarantee for human happiness if they are enforced in a free atmosphere and when all the members of the society are enabled to enjoy the capitalistic freedoms that is freedoms of ownership, exploitation and consumption.

As for the doctrinal Capitalism, it is not the result of science of economy set up by the Capitalists nor is its destiny linked with the extent of the success of the scientific aspect of capitalism in explaining the objective reality. The doctrinal depends but on moral and certain practical values and ideas, which must alone be regarded the criterion for giving verdict about the capitalist doctrine.

SCIENTIFIC LAWS IN THE CAPITALIST ECONOMY ARE OF DOCTRINAL FRAME-WORK

As we have seen before, the Capitalist doctrine has no scientific character nor does it derive its justifications and exist-ence from scientific laws in economics. Here we want to reach a point deeper in the analysis of the relationship between the doctrinal aspect and the scientific aspect of Capitalism to see how the Capitalist doctrine limits (determines) the scientific laws in the capitalist economy and influences them so far as their direction and course are concerned. This means that the scientific laws in the capitalist economy are scientific laws in the framework of a particular doctrine, and not general laws that might be applicable to every society and at every place and at all times like the natural laws in Physics and Chemistry. Many of those laws are only regarded objective realities in the social conditions controlled by capitalism with its aspects, ideas and meanings and consequently they are not applicable in a society which is not controlled by Capitalism and in which its ideas do not prevail.

Although Islam, being a special religion of life, does not deal with economic events (problems) scientifically, yet it greatly influences these events and their social course. As it deals with the pivot of these events, that is Man with his notions about life, impulses and objectives and fuses him into its peculiar mould and moulds him into its ideological and spiritual framework. In spite of the fact that the experiment Islam made to bring about such a society was short, yet it produced most brilliant results man^'s life had ever witnessed and proved the possibility of man rising to horizons that members of the capitalist society, immersed in the needs of material and its meanings, could not look at. The information that history gives us about the Islamic experiment and its brilliance throws a light on the possibilities of good (potentialities) hidden in the human being and reveals the power of Islam's mission whereby it could mobilize these possibilities and exploit them for the greater human issue.

The history of this golden experiment tells us that once a group of poor people came to the

holy Prophet and said, “O Messenger of Allãh! The rich people have excelled us in earning rewards (of Almighty Allãh) as they say prayers and observe fasting as we do but they also give in charity their extra wealth (which we cannot do)." Therefore the Prophet replied: "Has not God enabled you to give alms? Verily for every tasbi7i (praising Allãh) and every takbir (glorifying Allãh) you would be given reward of charity, similarly the act of your ordering others to do good and forbidding them to do evil deeds would amount to charity on your part." These Muslims who had complained to the Prophet did not want wealth whereby they could have power or enjoyment or satisfaction of their personal desires. What pained them was that the rich people should surpass them in moral measures by way of righteousness and doing good to others and participation in public welfare works in the social field

This reflects the meaning of wealth and nature of a Muslim, under the shadow of a completely Islamic experiment of life.

Relating about the cooperation and reciprocal responsibility that existed in the Islamic society, Muhammad ibn Ziyãd says: "Sometimes it so happened that someone of them had a guest, while the vessel of another was on the fire for cooking some foodstuff. So the host would take away the vessel to serve the food to his guest. When the owner of the vessel found it missing he would ask as to who had taken the vessel and when told by the man, whose guest had arrived, that they had taken it for their guest, he (the owner of the vessel) would remark, ‘May Allãh bless you therein’ ".

Thus we realise the positive effective role of Islam in changing the course of economic life and its natural laws by bringing about a change in his very self and by creating for him new spiritual and ideological conditions.

A STUDY OF DOCTRINAL CAPITALISM AS REGARDS ITS IDEOLOGY AND BASIC VALUES

The basic constituents of the Capitalist doctrine which we have reviewed previously, indicate that the corner stone of the doctrine is the freedom of man in the economic field in its various branches such as ownership, exploitation and consumption. Thus freedom — with its different kinds — is the basis wherefrom spread all the rights and doctrinal values proclaimed by Capitalism. Nay, even the scientific laws of Capitalist economy themselves are but an explanation of the rigid objective reality in the framework of this freedom as we have seen.

Having presented ideological basis of the economic freedom, sadr clarifies them as follow.

A- Freedom is a Means for the Materialisation of Public Interests

B- Freedom Causes Growth of Production

C- Freedom is the Real Expression of Human Dignity

The Capitalist doctrine adopts the social formal freedom, believing that the formal freedom embodies the meaning, of freedom entirely. As for the `essential freedom' — as described by us in the foregoing pages — it means, according to it (Capitalist doctrine), capability to benefit from the freedom and not that it is the freedom itself. That is why it does not concern itself with providing one with the capability and granting him the essential freedom. It simply leaves it to the opportunities and possibilities one happens to succeed with, regarding it enough to provide the formal freedom which allows him to undertake different

CRITICISM

Various scholars for limiting his thoughts into Shia ideology criticize Baqer As-Sadr. Some claims he could have given a universal theory or may be a method common to both Shia and Sunnis but he limited his theory only into a Shia one.

Another criticism of this part of volume one is that, Sadr fails to admit the capitalistic approach of Islamic economy. The fact is that during the glorious period of Islamic history, the economic system followed by Muslims was capitalistic. Neither economic thinking nor historical experience suggest that any other social system could be as beneficial to the masses as capitalism, provided laws are enacted and enforced and ethical standards are followed to ensure fair trading practices to protect the interests of consumers as well as the labor and entrepreneurs.And Islamic jurists took lead in deriving the ethical values and principles to check exploitation by the rich capitalists.

Shahid Sadr have explained capitalism in a holistic view but he focused it as a doctrinal capitalism. As we know doctrinal capitalism explains of authoritarian capitalism and democratic capitalism, sadr criticizes both of them but he mixed them together to build a new type of capitalism which can be labeled as Islamic capitalism. He mixed that idea with socialism and a newer idea of economics has been born.
According to leading economists of the world, it is an economic axiom that the conflict between the principle of capitalism and socialism is irreconcilable, because of opposing approaches to ownership and control. Either the consumers' demand as manifested on the market decides for what purposes and how the factors of production should be employed or the government takes care of these matters. There is nothing that could mitigate the opposition between these two contradictory principles. They preclude each other. At best the Islamic economic system can be considered as application of moral standards of Islam for trade and industry as well as government mainly to capitalism, while government owns most natural resources and large industrial projects such hydro electric dams, railways, airlines etc. and establishes government controlled monopolies in public sector for the prescribed means of production and services.

CONCLUSION

It is a matter of fact that today the world is going through a complex system. Some consider it as anarchy, some considers as progress. Some sees at this as truth, some as myth. Still the system is going on. However, Islamic economy proved itself as a successful alternative to the failed manipulative theories of running this system. Baqer As-Sadr introduced a system that is based on social justice and it creates opportunity to the oppressed. It does not reject individual rights and it does not encourage monopolistic economy. That is why all the successful developments in Islamic economy are based on Sadrs view.