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231116P - CHALLENGES OF THOUGHT AND RESEARCH ABOUT FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL CONCEPTS FOR THE MODERN AGE

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Presented at the 5th International East African Universities Conference Morogoro Tanzania by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) Chairman of the Research and Human Ethics Committees at the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz University Hospital Riyadh.
 
 
SUMMARY

  • 3 challenges to Muslim Thinkers and researchers
    • Money
    • Psychology
    • The ethical value of respecting life
 
THE CONCEPT OF MONEY AS A CHALLENGE TO MUSLIM ECONOMIC THINKERS
  • The basic economic principles of Islam are clear and would be implementable if we started from a tabula rasa.
  • Unfortunately, we operate in an international economic system that has different principles. We need to critique these principles vis a vis those of Islam.
  • We also need to solve the problems of Muslims as individuals, families, communities, and governments who want to follow Islamic principles in a non-Islamic environment.
  • At the moment we have many questions and few solutions. Muslim economists must undertake research to solve the conceptual/theoretical issues while building practical functioning models.
  • The issue of money is foremost among the problems facing Muslim economists. I will mention some of these problems with the admission that personally I have no ideas about the practical solutions.
 
MONEY AND WEALTH IN THE QUR’AN
  • Money of the people of the cave
  • وَكَذَٰلِكَ بَعَثۡنَٰهُمۡ لِيَتَسَآءَلُواْ بَيۡنَهُمۡۚ قَالَ قَآئِلٞ مِّنۡهُمۡ كَمۡ لَبِثۡتُمۡۖ قَالُواْ لَبِثۡنَا يَوۡمًا أَوۡ بَعۡضَ يَوۡمٖۚ قَالُواْ رَبُّكُمۡ أَعۡلَمُ بِمَا لَبِثۡتُمۡ فَٱبۡعَثُوٓاْ أَحَدَكُم بِوَرِقِكُمۡ هَٰذِهِۦٓ إِلَى ٱلۡمَدِينَةِ فَلۡيَنظُرۡ أَيُّهَآ أَزۡكَىٰ طَعَامٗا فَلۡيَأۡتِكُم بِرِزۡقٖ مِّنۡهُ وَلۡيَتَلَطَّفۡ وَلَا يُشۡعِرَنَّ بِكُمۡ أَحَدًا ﴿الكهف ١٩﴾
  • Dirham as a unit of currency
  • ﴿وَشَرَوْهُ بِثَمَنٍ بَخْسٍ دَرَاهِمَ مَعْدُودَةٍ وَكَانُوا فِيهِ مِنَ الزَّاهِدِينَ﴾ سورة يوسف ٢٠
  • Gold and Silver as wealth
  • زُيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ حُبُّ الشَّهَوَاتِ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ وَالْبَنِينَ وَالْقَنَاطِيرِ الْمُقَنطَرَةِ مِنَ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ وَالْخَيْلِ الْمُسَوَّمَةِ وَالْأَنْعَامِ وَالْحَرْثِ ۗ ذَٰلِكَ مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَاللَّهُعِندَهُ حُسْنُ الْمَآبِ. آل عمران ١٤
  • يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الْأَحْبَارِ وَالرُّهْبَانِ لَيَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَالَ النَّاسِ بِالْبَاطِلِ وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ۗ وَالَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ الذَّهَبَ وَالْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِيسَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ. آلتوبة ٣٤ 
  • Maal as wealth
  • الْمَالُ وَالْبَنُونَ زِينَةُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ خَيْرٌ عِندَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ أَمَلًا. الكهف ٤٦ 
 
THE FUNCTION OF MONEY AS THE DEFINING FACTOR
  • Islamic economics differs from modern economics in treating money as a medium of exchange and not a commodity to be sold or bought.
  • Modern economics has dual functions for money as a ‘medium of exchange’ and as a ‘commodity’ that can be sold, bought, or lent.
  • Money as a commodity with the accompanying riba will lead to the injustice of some people with money getting more money without earning it by selling goods or services.
  • Those who have money to lend with riba become richer while those who borrow become poorer.
  • There are also more complications of money as a commodity in modern economic practice that require the attention of Muslim economists.
 
MONEY AS A MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE AND STORE OF VALUE
  • Money was discovered when early humans realized that the barter exchange of goods and services was inefficient.
  • A farmer may want to barter rice in exchange for a piece of furniture from a carpenter. The carpenter does not agree to the barter transaction because he has no immediate need for rice.
  • If money is used as a medium the transaction may be possible because the carpenter will sell the furniture for a price and keep the money until he needs to buy the rice from this farmer or another farmer.
  • Money is therefore a store of value to enable efficient exchange of goods and services.
 
MONEY AS A COMMODITY TO BE TRADED IS REJECTED BY THE SHARI’AT
  • It is forbidden to barter or exchange money for money because of fear of unfairness.
  • It is forbidden to give or take interest because the borrower is at a disadvantage. This is very obvious today that borrowers have mounting debts they cannot pay whether they are consumers using credit cards or governments borrowing from international banks.
  • Interest is also forbidden because the lender is getting wealth, he did not earn by selling goods or services.
 
THE PROBLEM OF THE FUTURE VALUE OF MONEY NEEDS INNOVATIVE THINKING
  • Going back to the example of the farmer and the carpenter. If the carpenter sells furniture and keeps the money which he tries to use at a future date to buy rice. He will find that the money has less purchasing power and it buys less rice than before because of inflation.
  • Can we develop an economic model that can keep the value of money constant by zero inflation?
  • To avoid losses due to inflation the carpenter may decide to invest his money in a fishing business. If the investment is successful, he will be assured that his money will not lose its purchasing power. If the business loses, he may lose even his capital.
  • The shari’at does not allow investments that guarantee a fixed profit in advance because that is riba.
 
THE PROBLEM OF THE GOVERNMENT BORROWING FROM CITIZENS NEEDS INNOVATIVE THINKING BY MUSLIM ECONOMISTS
  • Governments must spend money on infrastructure projects with long-term economic and social benefits for the country. The taxes collected today are not sufficient. They borrow from citizens in the form of bonds planning to pay them back from future taxes.
  • In this case, the lender is the citizen and the borrower is the government that represents the same citizens.
 
MONEY-LESS ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
  • Virtual Money
  • Digital currency
 
THE DISCIPLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY AS A CHALLENGE TO MUSLIM THINKERS
  • The human duality: nafs + jasad. Nafs is the essence of the human and is permanent while the jasad is temporary. Jasad cannot exist independently of the nafs while the nafs can exist outside the jasad.
  • The nafs manifests in many ways not fully understood by humans: ruh, qalb, fuaad, etc. Scholars have discussed the nature of the nafs and have differences which we will not discuss here. All we need to know is that nafs exists and is the essence of the human.
 
SUBJECT MATTER OF PSYCHOLOGY
  • Psychology is the study of the human mind and human behavior. It is not only a study of the nafs (‘ilm Al nafs).
  • Psychology studies both the nafs and the jasad especially the interaction of the two. We know that the nafs influence the jasad. There is controversy about whether jasad influences the nafs.
  • Qur’an uses the word nafs interchangeably between jasad and nafs.
 
NAFS IS THE ESSENCE OF PERSONHOOD
  • وَاتَّقُوا يَوْمًا لَّا تَجْزِي نَفْسٌ عَن نَّفْسٍ شَيْئًا وَلَا يُقْبَلُ مِنْهَا شَفَاعَةٌ وَلَا يُؤْخَذُ مِنْهَا عَدْلٌ وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ. البقرة ٤٨ 
  • كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ ۗ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ۖ فَمَن زُحْزِحَ عَنِ النَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ ۗ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ. آل عمران ١٨٥
  • مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنَّهُ مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَا أَحْيَا النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا ۚوَلَقَدْ جَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ ثُمَّ إِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فِي الْأَرْضِ لَمُسْرِفُونَ. المائدة ٣٢ 
 
NAFS CAN BE GOOD OR BAD
  • وَمَا أُبَرِّئُ نَفْسِي ۚ إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّي ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّي غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ. يوسفغ ٥٣
  • وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَشْرِي نَفْسَهُ ابْتِغَاءَ مَرْضَاتِ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ رَءُوفٌ بِالْعِبَادِ. الابقرة ٢٠٧
  • يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ * ارْجِعِي إِلَى رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَرْضِيَّةً. الفجر ٢٨
 
PSYCHOLOGY IS COMPLEX
  • Both nafs and jasad influence the human mind and human behavior.
  • The human mind and human behavior manifest the human duality of the material and non-material components. 
  • This makes psychology a complex subject.
 
PSYCHOLOGY AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR
  • Psychologists have developed insights into human behavior that have enabled them to control and direct human behavior.
  • The use of psychology to control human behavior has had its positive and negative consequences in many fields: media, industry, politics, etc.
 
THE SUFI EXPERIENCE
  • Sufi experiences are a spectrum with some extremes. The main idea is spiritual discipline among the adherents.
  • Sufi masters are able through training to get full submission of the followers to a disciplined spiritual life.
 
DEFINITION OF VALUES AND ETHICS
  • Ethics: a branch of philosophy that studies what is right and wrong.
  • Akhlaqiyyat is not an Arabic translation for ethics; the difference between ethics and law.
  • Western perspective ethics is not always legal and vice versa.
  • Islamic perspective ethics = Law. Haram = unethical and halal is ethical.
 
SECULAR VALUES
  • Secular according to Oxford Languages ‘not connected with religious or spiritual matters’.
  • The rise of European secularism in the post-renaissance period was against the ‘Church’ and not religion.
  • Europeans left the religion forced on them by the Roman Empire and returned to their original Greco-Roman and pagan ‘religions’.
  • Secularism was, therefore, a move from formal organized religion to informal religion.
  • Secularism being against formal religion shares characteristics of ‘shirk’. Informal religion is easy to follow you can choose and make your own god who does not control you but you make the god and you have control so you are free to do what you want.
  • Examples of secular religions are juche, scientism, Maoism, aspects of Hinduism, and aspects of Buddhism.
 
SOURCE OF SECULAR ETHICS: EUROPEAN ETHICAL THEORIES
  • Utilitarian consequence-based theory (balance of good and bad, relative, no absolute right and wrong). JEREMY BENTHAM 1747-1832 (click pic from Google) & JOHN STUART MILL 1806-1873 (click pic from Google).
  • Obligation-based theory  (moral obligations,  absolute right, and wrong). IMANUEL KANT 1724-1804 (click pic from Google).
  • Rights-based theory is based on respect for human rights (individual rights).
  • Community-based theory (community decides).
  • Relation-based theory (family and physician-patient relations).
  • Case-based theory (practical case-by-case decision).
 
ISLAMIC VALUES
  • Islamic values (القيم الاخلاقية) are universal human values that shape the human personality and behavior and apply to every place and time. They are not exclusive to Muslims others may share some of them with Muslims.
  • Values reflect the basic fitra of the human and are consonant with the mission of the human on earth which is ibadat in its widest sense manifested at the societal level by the three concepts of istikhlaf (استخلاف), taskhiir (تسخير), and isti’maar (استعمار). The three are closely related to respect for life.
  • Values are understandable from appreciating the duality of the human as nafs and jasad as well as the balance between the two in varying circumstances.
 
SOURCES OF ISLAMIC VALUES
  • The Qur’an and sunnat are the primary source of all values.
  • Some secondary values can be derived from the primary sources by human reasoning.  There is harmony between the 2 sources: تكامل القل والنقل
  • The prophet’s life was a practical manifestation of the Islamic values.
  •  لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآخِرَ وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا . الأحزاب ٢١
  • The shari’at comprises all values.  It is positive law + morality/ethics.
  •  لِكُلٍّ جَعَلْنَا مِنكُمْ شِرْعَةً وَمِنْهَاجًا. المائدة ٤٨
  • Maqasid al shari’at. Values are practical and not only philosophical constructs.
  • Values depend on the worldview: Qur’anic worldview is holistic = nafs + jasad). The secular worldview is material jasad only.
 
FOCUS ON THE VALUE OF RESPECT FOR LIFE
  • Khilafa has to do with life. The first failure of the human was when he was killed. The angels knew the human nature fisq and fasaad.
  • وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً ۖ قَالُوا أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ . البقرة ٣٠
  • For lack of time and expertise focus on only the value of respecting human life. It is the main one:
  • مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنَّهُ مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَا أَحْيَا النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا ۚ وَلَقَدْ جَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ ثُمَّ إِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فِي الْأَرْضِ لَمُسْرِفُونَ . المائدة ٣٢.
 
ABORTION: COMPARISON OF FETAL WASTAGE US vs NIGER in 2020
  •  وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُمْ خَشْيَةَ إِمْلَاقٍ ۖ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُهُمْ وَإِيَّاكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ قَتْلَهُمْ كَانَ خِطْئًا كَبِيرًا . الاسراء ٣١
  • The US induced abortion ratio was 198 abortions per 1,000 live births in 2020[1].
  • The US-induced abortion rate was 11.2 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years,
  • The US infant mortality ratio was 5.44 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021[2],
  • Niger-induced abortion ratio in 2020 was 0.4-6.7 per 1000 women[3]
  • The infant mortality rate for Niger in 2020 was 43.495 deaths per 1000 live births[4]
 
SELECTIVE FEMALE ABORTION IN INDIA
  •  وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُمْ خَشْيَةَ إِمْلَاقٍ ۖ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُهُمْ وَإِيَّاكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ قَتْلَهُمْ كَانَ خِطْئًا كَبِيرًا. تكوير ٨-٩ 
 
FORCED STERILIZATION IN INDIA
  • On 6 August 1976, the state of Maharashtra became the first governmental unit to enact legislation mandating compulsory sterilization of men and women after the birth of a third child.
 
FORCED STERILIZATION IN BANGLADESH
  • Bangladesh had a long-running government-operated civilian sterilization program as a part of its population control policy, which targets mainly poor women and men.
  • The government offers money for women to undergo tubal ligation and men to undergo vasectomy.
 
COMPULSORY STERILIZATION IN Xinjian, CHINA
  • Forced sterilization in Xinjiang.
  • Part of the Uyghur genocide.
 
EUTHANASIA and PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE
  • Euthanasia: active vs passive.
  • حَدَّثَنَا الحُمَيْدِيُّ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ الزُّبَيْرِ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الأَنْصَارِيُّ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ التَّيْمِيُّ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ عَلْقَمَةَ بْنَ وَقَّاصٍ اللَّيْثِيَّ، يَقُولُ: سَمِعْتُ عُمَرَ بْنَ الخَطَّابِ t عَلَى المِنْبَرِ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ: إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى، فَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى دُنْيَا يُصِيبُهَا، أَوْ إِلَى امْرَأَةٍ يَنْكِحُهَا، فَهِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى مَا هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِ الأمور بمقاصدها
  • Physician-assisted suicide is legal in some countries.
  • Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, parts of the United States and Australia.
  • وَهُوَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ وَلَهُ اخْتِلَافُ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ (80] (المؤمنون: 80[
 
UNETHICAL CLINICAL TRIALS IN AFRICA
  • Uneducated research subjects are ignorant of their rights.
  • Recruited into research without proper consent
  • Exposed to risks that cannot be accepted in Europe and America
  • Pfizer meningitis trial in Nigeria 1996 meningitis epidemic
  • The company tested its antibiotic trovafloxacin (Trovan) against ceftriaxone. Families were not informed that Trovan was an experimental drug. Randomisation was not proper. Parents did not know that the standard treatment was available.

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