Why Socialist/Communist Economic Intervention is Incompatible with Islam

Last Updated on June 30, 2019 by Hamad Subani

Here is the full text of this Hadith:

Anas reported that during the life-time of the Holy Prophet there was a rise in prices and people said: Messenger of Allah, set the prices for us. Upon this the Holy Prophet said: Verily, Allah is he who sets the prices, who holds the means of sustenance and expands them and I hope that I shall see my Lord and none, amongst you, will claim me the compensation of any injustice concerning blood and money.

Source: Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1314; Book 14, Hadith 117 & Sunan Ibn Majah; Book 12, Hadith 2284

Of course, this is not meant to be a shout out to libertarians, because some aspects of the genuine Islamic State would upset them too (such as the ban on usury). Neither would this legitimize a capitalist economy (though it would come theoretically close to doing so) because in a capitalist economy like the United States, The Powers That Be manage to “fix” a lot of things secretly even if they don’t openly go about fixing prices. This gem is a great way to see through the impulsive and short-sighted tendencies of many modern economic policies, and the ruin they bring by tampering with the organic state of the market. While they fail to play God, their mere attempts to do so leave behind a trail of destruction.