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Shahab Mushtaq's avatar

“the sharīʿah is meant for the perpetuation of good for humans, and the sharīʿah does not eliminate inequality as any kind of end, then elimination of inequality cannot be an absolute good for humans. How can we know a good to be a greater good than any good prescribed in the Quran?” This is profound, for example the Quran allows for slavery, which is definitely against equality. But then I guess we could say that all people “start off” as equal before God and their actions in life determine their rise or fall

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Faatima M Veil's avatar

Very interesting views. I wonder if the dominant 'modus' of governance and empire matter too much in an environment where there is individual alignment to empathy, against greed and domination. I know it is a highly idealistic position - but would inequality matter so much if there were welfare systems that took care of the under-privileged and needy?

I don't think Islam came to solve governance. It came to create individuals who were highly mentally and emotionally polished - so that they would create leadership systems which were fair and equitable.

One of the key things I come back to is that the Arabs came to Africa, Australia and South East Asia centuries before white colonialists did. We don't hear much about it in the history books - because the relationships were not about dominance - but more about mutual benefit - trade, education, and natural mixing of communities.

Islam didn't tell us not to extract oil and become wealthy, for example. But it does hold us to a standard of how that wealth should be used for the benefit of the people. It was never about dominance - it was about universities, hospitals, academics, military for protection and expansion.

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