Supporting the Poor
Liberalism requires those who have dropped behind in the brutal completion of the free market be left alone. Spending the government’s budget or a portion of the income of other people for supporting weak people is against free market and even justice. But Islam does not accept this logic. In addition to recognizing private ownership, Islam does not overlook the livelihood of the poor.
A portion of Islamic tax and the income of the rich must be spent on eradicating poverty and providing livelihood for those who cannot earn their leaving. In his letter to Malik al-Ashtar, Imam Ali urges him to be mindful of the conditions of the poor:
“Fear Allah, fear Allah about their [the poor] conditions… They are poor, they are destitute and many of them are cripples and unfit for work. Some of them (who maintain self-respect) do not beg. For the sake of Allah, Maalik, protect them and their rights. He has laid the responsibility of this upon your shoulders. You must fix a share for them from National Purse (the Government Treasury). Besides you must also reserve a share in kind of crops etc. from government granaries in cities where food-grains are stored as are cultivated on State-owned land because in these storage the share of those living far away from any particular city is equal to the share of those living nearby.” [1]
[1] . Nahj al-Balagha, translated by Jafar Shahidi, letter 53, p. 335
Ahmad Niazi, graduate of Qom Seminary and Phd student of Al Mustafa international university
Source: Political Science journal, No. 3
Translated by: Sadroddin Musawi
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Education
Leading the Society towards Perfection
