Islam means peace and anyone who embraces the true teaching of Islam will have peace. Any country which embraces the true Islamic system of governance will certainly have peace in the country. Similarly in those countries that embrace the true Islamic system of wealth distribution will have peace between the rich and the poor. Islam means peace and if the system claims to be Islamic yet the outcomes of the system is not peace, then it is not an Islamic system. In order to have peace, the system must be compatible to human nature and must perpetuate peace and justice. Almost all men love wealth and money. Men love money and wealth because they believe with money and wealth they can have happiness in this world. Except for those who are real believers, most men want wealth more than Allah. Real believers want Allah more than material wealth and they values good actions more than they values wealth. Muslims who have becomes believers want Allah to love them, more than they want men to love them. In order to gains the love of Allah the path to be followed is the path of good actions. Believers value good actions more than they values money and wealth. When a country has more believers than Muslims, good actions will prevail in the country and the result of good actions is the showering of Allah’s blessing to the country. With blessing from Almighty Allah, the country will not have calamities that will retard economical and social growth and among the peoples, there will be peace and harmony. Majority of Muslims have not becomes believers yet mukmin ‘orang beriman’ but have only entered Islam or in Malay we called as orang Islam. Although Islamic systems can work even among ‘orang Islam’ but it works tremendously well when Muslims have become believers.

Allah has made men to be different from each other. Each man is a unique individual and is different to another man. We cannot find two men exactly the same in everything in this world. The finger print of one man is different from the finger print of another man. The iris pattern of one man is different from the iris pattern of another man. No one can work equally hard as the other man. Allah has made each man to be different and Allah has ordered us to treat men differently. Communism wants to treat men as equal and this is against the teaching of Quran. Men must be rewarded according to the amount of work that he or she has done. When a man delivers a good work, he or she must be rewarded accordingly. A man who could deliver the work of higher quality must be rewarded with higher salary than the man who could deliver a much lesser quality of work. A person must be rewarded according to the quality of his or her work .When men are rewarded according to the quality of work done, men will be motivated to work harder and to produce quality products. A person who can deliver the work of higher quality is a person, who is able to produce products with quality within a specified period of time. In order to produce work of high quality a person need to have good working behaviours. A person with good working behaviours is a person who works hard with skill, knowledge and motivation. Without hard work, skill, knowledge and motivation a worker cannot produce quality products. When a country has many workers with good working behaviours, it means the country will have good human capital, and a country with good human capital is going to become a prosperous country. In order to become prosperous country, the country needs to have many workers with good working behaviours. Success and prosperity is related to good behaviours and not only to material wealth. With good behaviours even without having material wealth a person can attain success and prosperity. When a country has many workers with good behaviours, the country will be able to have high productivity of high quality products. High quality products are products of high marketability within and outside the country. When the products produce by a country is of high marketability, the country will become a rich country. In order to have workers with good working behaviours, the country must invest heavily in behaviours modification therapy. Behaviours can be modified. Behaviours are related to belief and mindset. Belief and mindset of a person can be modified by using self-talk therapy. Contrary to Capitalism, Socialism and Communism, Islam believes that good behaviours are the determining factor in influencing performance or success. Allah is the one who gives success and Allah looks at men’s heart and behaviours. Islamic system gives utmost importance to behaviours. Good behaviours of the peoples will lead to prosperity of a country. Socialism and Capitalism had failed because the system stress on having material wealth and not on having good behaviours. Prosperity is the outcome of having good behaviours and not the outcome of having material wealth. With good behaviours, productivity of good quality products increases, and with good quality products, marketability of the products increases, and with the marketability of the products increases, the income of the country increases. With the increase income, business activities also increase and with the increase of business activities, it creates more jobs opportunities. Islam teaches the concept that working is a form of worship or working is an ibadah.Working becomes ibadah; when Muslims work with the intention to please Allah. When a person works with the intention to please Allah, his or her work becomes a form of worship. In Capitalism, Socialism and Communism, the factor of good working behaviours is completely neglected. Motivating factor in Capitalism and Socialism is money and there is absolutely no motivating factor in Communism. Motivating factor in Islam is to gain the pleasure of Allah. A sincere worker is a person who works with the intention to please Allah and a worker with good qualities.

In Islam, workers are paid according to the amount of quality works they delivered. Amount of quality work delivered is measured by the production of quality products. The more quality the products, the more marketability the products are. The more marketability the product, the more the country makes profit. In Capitalism, all profit belongs only to the shareholders of the industries. However in Islam, profits must be shared among the shareholders, the country and the workers. A major portion of the profit (which is about two third or 2/3 of the profit) must be shared equally among all the workers. Another one third (1/3) of the profit is shared equally between the shareholders and the country which mean each party earn about 1/6 of the profit. Islam values the contribution of all the workers, the shareholders and the state towards producing quality products but gives preference to the workers than to the shareholders and the state. According to Islam, the most important person in any industries is the worker. When the workers are happy and satisfied, the production of products by the industries will increase. When the production of products increases, business grows and prices of goods and unemployment decreases. Concept of sharing profit between workers, shareholders and the state is a concept of recognizing and appreciating the contribution each and everyone towards production of quality products. This concept of profits sharing between the workers, shareholders and the state will certainly create a good atmosphere of satisfaction among the workers. The workers will be motivated to work harder because the more profit the company gains, the more the workers will have extra income.

Islamic system induces peace and satisfaction to the workers and to the shareholders because Islam means peace. On the other hand, Capitalism induces injustice to the workers. Socialism induces injustice to the shareholders. Communism induces grave injustices to all the workers. In Communism all men are treated equal and workers are given equal amount of salary irrespective of their position and responsibility. The amount of salary given in Communist countries is so small and is hardly sufficient to buy even their basic needs. In Communist countries, all farms and factories belong to the state and all profit is given only to the state. On the other hand, in Capitalism all profit is given to the shareholders and none is given to the workers. In Capitalist countries, individual as well as the industries have to pay tax to the government. Government will tax individual according to the level of their income and the more income the individual earns the more that person would have to pay tax to the government. In countries that practice Capitalism, industries that make profit would also have to pay tax to the government. However in Islam there is no income tax to the individual as well as to the industries but there is a sharing of profit between the states, individuals and the owners. Countries that practice Islamic system, the government may collect from the individual whether Muslims or non-Muslims who has surplus of money, above certain amount (the amount is decided by the government) kept in his or her custody for a year must pay 2.5% of the money to the poor. This is known as zakat to the Muslims or personal tax to the non-Muslims. This amount of money collected by the government from the Muslims and non-Muslims is to be given only to the poor.

Allah orders men to work in order to fulfill their needs. When men are in need, Allah order men to work and it becomes obligatory for him to work. In Islam the hand that gives is better than the hand that receives. Allah ordered men to work in order to earn their living. Islam dislikes the poor to ask their needs from the rich, but Islam encourages the rich to help the poor. In Islam only those who are regarded by the government as poor will be helped by the government. Other than the poor as define by the government, the rest need to pay, in order to have their needs fulfilled. Government will help the poor to pay for their medical and educational services. All hospitals, universities and colleges regardless whether it belongs to the government or private sectors will have same amount of tuition fees as decided by the government. Government will take responsibilities in providing all the universities and colleges with students and also will take the responsibilities in providing employment to all the students once they have graduated. The salaries of the doctors, lecturers and administrators (according to their levels) in all the hospitals, universities and colleges will be almost the same as advice by the government. All universities, colleges or hospitals either belong to the government or the private sectors will work on the same principles and system as advice by the government. Education is compulsory until higher school certificate of education and there is no age limit to study.

When we practice Islamic system, wealth will be evenly distributed between the government, the shareholders and the workers. In society that practice Islamic system, there is love between the rich and the poor. The rich is happy to help the poor and the poor love the rich. When many have become believers, good actions are more important than wealth and money. When the rich is a believer, the rich will search for the poor so that the rich can help the poor and when the poor is a believer, the poor would not search for the rich so that the rich can help the poor. In order to practice Islamic system, Muslims have to become believers. Muslims in those countries must be encouraged to participate in the work that will enable iman to be inculcated into their heart. When Muslims started to do the work that will increase their iman, the iman of the Muslims in the country will start to increase. As iman of the Muslims increases, the desires of the Muslims for wealth and material wealth decreases. With desires for material wealth and money decreases but the peoples have more money in their hands; the result is the peoples become happier and contented. Peoples are not happy and contented when their desires for material wealth and money are high but they do not have much money in their hands to buy those materials that they want to buy. In Islamic system, workers are having share in the profits of the industries and they are generally wealthier than the same categories of workers in Capitalist system. In Islam the workers are happier than the workers of the same categories in Capitalist system, because the workers have both iman and material wealth. When workers are happy, the workers will work harder and production of goods and food products will increase. As production of goods increases, the prices of goods and food product decrease. With more money in their hands, having less desire for wealth and material goods and at the same time the prices of goods and food products are cheap, the peoples in those countries that practice Islamic system will be happier and more satisfied than the peoples in those countries that practice Capitalism, Socialism and Communism.

In Islamic system, the workers do not think that the rich or the shareholders are exploiting them as they are also given a portion of the profit and the rich or the shareholders loves the workers because they regards the workers as their most important asset in helping them to become rich. Both the rich and the poor are respecting each other, creating a society of taqwa and loving towards other creations of Allah. Regarding foreign investors who come into the country to invest in the various industries, Islam teaches us to regard them as guests and they are given 40% share of the profit. As guests who bring businesses and technologies into the country many benefits are given to them. 50% of the profits are shared between all the workers and another 10% is given to the government. Since greater percentage of the profit is given to the investors, more investors would be willing to invest into the country that practice Islamic system. There is also no income tax or other taxes imposed on foreign investors. Foreign investors are allowed to remain in the country as long as they wish and they are welcome to become either as permanent citizens or later as the citizens of the country. As more foreign investors come into the country to invest, more employment is created and the country will be more prosperous.

Socialism had failed because the system does not value the contribution of the rich peoples in providing employment to the poor and Capitalism had failed because the system does not value the contribution of the poor in providing workforce to the industries. Many workers in countries that adopt Capitalism demand better salary, better working conditions and less working hours. Workers in countries that practice Capitalism have no share in the profit gains by the industries .Whatever profit gains by the industries in Capitalist countries belongs entirely to the shareholders. Many workers in those countries are less motivated to work hard because the workers are not rewarded on their hard work and their ability to produce good quality products. Since there is no reward given to extra hard work, many workers in Capitalist countries are generally lazy. Because of their luxurious lifestyle, the workers continue to demand for better salary, better working condition and less working hours. Workers in countries practicing Capitalism continue to demand higher salary because they cannot control their desires for wealth and material comfort. With desires for wealth increases and prices of goods increases but salary remains the same; workers generally become unhappy. When the workers become unhappy with their jobs, they become lazy and unproductive. Instead of working, the workers choose to take holidays.

In many countries that practice Capitalism, those who are unemployed are given by the government salary. Many young men and women in those countries, choose not to work and use the salary given by the government to enjoy themselves with drugs and alcohols. Many workers in those countries are poor but choose to lead a luxurious lifestyle. Where do they get the money in order to have a luxurious lifestyle? They use credit cards. They take loans from the bank, but they do not have the ability to pay back to the bank. They do not have money because they are lazy to work. When the workers are lazy, the production of quality goods decreases and the marketability of the products decreases and many industries are not making profits. In order to gains profits many owners of industries in Capitalist countries move their factories to other countries that have workers who are willing to work hard but with lower salary. When many industrialists move their factories from the Capitalist countries to another countries, unemployment become a major problem. Many workers in those countries have no jobs which mean they do not have money to buy their needs. Where would they obtain the money to pay for their needs? They loan from the bank by using credit cards. When the number of peoples who loans from the bank is more than the peoples who deposited their money into the banks, the banks finally will have no money to pay to the depositors. Because there is a massive unemployment, there will be poverty and social unrest. The poverty and social unrest in those countries is the result of their own bad actions or behaviours. The bad actions or behaviours of the peoples are the result of the wrong systems (Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism) that men have adopted to solve their problem. Men are unable to solved men’s problems because men are using the systems developed by men themselves. The only system that works is the system from the Quran, the system given by Allah – the Creator to the entire mankind.

Prof Dr Nasoha Saabin
June 2012
Integrative Holistic Wellness Centre