"Say:   This is my way, I call to Allah with sure knowledge, I and whosoever followeth me." (Quran 12:103)

Today we are gathered here from different parts of this country, to worship Allah not only by praying together but also by thinking together, working together and seeking Allah's blessing and guidance, in brotherhood and solidarity.

We are here today to seek a way out of the state of apathy and indifference that envelops Muslims in all parts of the Muslim world. This state has been aptly summed up by the Workshop on Problems of Muslim Countries formed at the time of the Fifth Annual Convention of the MSA and published in the Newsletter of Rajab 1387; and I quote:

"The Committee considers aimlessness as the most crucial problem of the Muslim world.

"Due to various factors, faith in Islamic ideology as a way of life has been shaken. In general, the intelligentsia seriously doubt the ability of Islam to solve social, economic, political and cultural problems of the contemporary world. In a state of utter confusion, it either becomes apathetic to Islam or is facsinated by secular concepts of life directly opposed to Islam. A part becomes estranged from the Islamic way of life and a part tends to reconcile the diametrically opposite concepts.

"The Muslim masses, though traditionally performing certain rituals, are ignorant. In an atmosphere of social injustice they are amenable and are systematically subjected to disguised anti-Islamic ideologies.

"The Ideologies of capitalism, nationalism, socialism and Communism in their own right, have also a tremendous appeal for the masses. The traditional religious leadership is generally unenlightened and inadequately trained. The movements and forces for Isilamic revival are weak and handicapped, (and) at times the traditional religious leadership is ageiinst them... "

In these carefully chosen words, the state of apathy, and aim-lessness of the Muslim world reflects itself.   Though this statement does not give us the reasons for such a state, it successfully pictures the situation. The reasons are numerous, however, three synonyms, handicap, hindrance, and Impediment all but summarize them.

THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM

In any battlefield, seeking victory depends on three elements: the soldier, the officer and the armament. In our battlefield we spent a considerable amount of time without any of these. However, in the first half of this century, substantial progress was mace in preparing a truthful, faithful and reliable soldier. But inadvertently perhaps the soldier was left handicapped. The result is that he has been fighting his battles with obsolete, 13^th century fashioned weapons. Could there be any hope that the soldier will win the fight? The officers have lately realized the problem, and are now pleading for building the modern equipment factory. However, though those officers are trustworthy and dedicated, they lack the tools by which to construct this factory.   They possess the modern techniques, but the tools are in the hands of mashayekh (the traditional religious leaders), and there exists a wide gap between the two. The first step is, therefore, to close this gap by either "modernizing" the mashayekh, or separately by providing the officers with the tools. It seems that the latter method is faster and much easier. I will explain later on how. However, as it is, the efforts made in recent times by some of the officers cannot be overlooked. Some of them have made honest attempts in this field, but their lack of the tools that are necessary for understanding and interpreting the Qur'an and the hadith and for tracing the differences among the four schools, not to mention the officers' surface knowledge of the Arabic language, has left much to be desired in their writings and research on Islam.

The traditional (ulama) (the religiously-learned) for their part look upon the introduction of modern techniques with suspicion and doubt. Their preferred ways of approaching problems are outmoded and no more effective.

The result of this lack of coordination and understanding is that both groups, the intellectuals emd the ('ulama) unconsciously fail to make a good case for Islam.

Two strategies are common to both groups. These I would call the advertising strategy and the reconciling strategy.

The advertisement principle is clear in the Islamic writings which try to compare Islam with other ideologies.  The writer devotes a considerable part of his work to the explanation, and then denunciation of other ideologies. If there is any good thing left, he reserves it for the concluding chapters saying, as it were: "Well, this we have in Islam too, and in much better form, so please don't tuin away. Remain Muslims; be true believers."

I do not see any point in defending Islam in this way unless one wishes to present it as an unsold product of which sales have to be activated.

Coming to the second strategy, if some Muslim scholars avoid the first they invariably incline toward the second strategy. Writings on economic, social, political or spiritual aspects introduce the Islamic view as a reconciling view. Writings on zakah (purifying dues), insurance, usury, rents, shura (mutual consultation), ownership, property, banking, woman, or family, aim at resolving with Islamic techniques and methods problems which are ostensibly of non-Islamic or mixed Islamic origins. I do not see the Importance of discussing whether Interest is usury and then whether it is permissible or prohibited, in a banking system or in an economic system which, though it exists in a Muslim society, is built on non-Islamic axioms of which interest is one fundamental pillar. Solutions, justifications, and ways out are initiated essentially to deal with this basic fact. Answers are not given to questions such as whether the whole banking system can survive without interest, whether the economic system can function without interest, whether usury exists in non-banking transactions or is it mainly confined to banks?  What other forms of organization or institutions are then needed?  What would be the effect of any change on other variables in the system? How can income oe distributed? What kind of political and social organization is required to fit the suggested distribution?  Answers to such questions should have been sought, instead of taking "interest" as a basic fact and trying to get around it by interpreting and associating different meanings to different types of interest and then concluding that this type is permissible and the other is not. Such conclusions are based, of course, on certain verses of the Qur'an and hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad, bearing in mind the problems that may spring from interpretation of the said hadiths.

Testing different hypotheses should have been the major concern and not reconciling Islam with differently oriented systems. Now, the Workshop on Problems of Muslim Countries, mentioned above, suggested,
and I quote:

"The Committee discussed the idea of a model Islamic state at some length; it was recommended that the objective of establishment of such an Islamic state be brought into sharp focus. A system of communication amongst Muslim Students could promote a general awareness of and need for such a state. An objective assessment of the available potential to satisfy the spiritual and material needs of an Islamic state in the modern world will help in deciding about the how, when and where of the question." 

This sentiment as applied to the economic side of the problem provides the motivation of what is to follow.   My propositions are formulated not with the intent to answer tie where, what, or when of the question, but
simply the "how".

THE IDEA OF A MODEL

I would like to make clear at the outset, that I am not trying to quantify anything and I am not seeking any figures or statistics especially when I am referring to the "data."

For all of you are familiar with the idea, that the model is a normative notion through which the analyst can observe the mechanism of a specified system, the interaction and the interdependence among its different variables with the intention of recommending policies for curing existing problems.

I am not advocating the idea of a special theory or a general theory since theory relies in its inference on prior assumptions. The model goes beyond that and tries to test every assumption itself.

As an example, I would like to draw your attention to the celebrated demand and supply analysis. The demand curve is supposed to slope downward on the assumptions that income, tastes, and other prices are given. The supply curve is assumed to slope upward on the basis that other prices, a cost function, a production function, and a certain motive all are given. When this analysis is cast in a model all these ceteris.parabus assumptions are tested simultaneously with the demand and supply curves. Not only
this but the model goes as far as to test the more fundamental basics, such as the political organization and the social structure.

Since we have rot been able yet to spell out the political and social structure of the Islamic state, the problem of deriving the economic system of Islam has to be approached by means of this tool of analysis, namely, the model.

In this case the need to develop an Islamic institution which embraces the form of political organization and the type of social structure, is essential. This calls on tiose who will be concerned with these aspects of the Islamic state to coordinate their efforts with those who will be building the economic model.

Building any economic model needs the specification of variables. On the production side, variables such as land, capital, and labor, have to be studied in detail to expi.ore their nature, definition, and meaning according to Islam. The role of government as a productive agent needs elaboration. For instance, to what extent can the government in the Islamic state interfere in economic activities? Since the analysis deals with an open economy, therefore, international transactions regarding loans, interest payments, and foreign enterprises have to be treated carefully. Other major variables like distribution of wealth, distribution of output among factors of production, ownership and property, the pricing mechanism, and the ranking system have to be related to the relevant Islamic insights. Moreover, the place of purely Islamic variables such as siakah will have to be determined.

The sources required for such study are, respectively, the Qur'an, the hadlth, and the rules derived by the four schools of jurisprudence. These are what I call this data of the model.

I should mention here two problems with regard to these data. The first problem is naskh or abrogation.   Some jurists declare that some hadith may abrogate another. For example:

"Ibn 'Umar said that when Prophet Muhammad, may Peace be upon Him, was victorious in Khaybar, he wanted to evict the Jews. They asked him to let them stay on the land, cultivate it, and share one-half of the crops with the Muslims. The prophet said: "We will let you do so as long as you wish.' The deal was in effect until caliph 'Umar evicted them."

This hadith was viewed by several jurists as having abrogated another hadith that forbids sharecropping.   Abdul-Hamld Abu- Sulaymah has elsewhere in this volume argued that there is no abrogation in this instance. Since the people whom the former hadith deals with were foreigners. Prophet Muhammad was preserving the rights of Muslims regarding transaction with foreign non-Muslims.

The second point is tie interpretation of hadith according to the situation and the circumstance surrounding it, for example:

Jaber related that Prophet Muhammad, May Peace Be Upon Him, said: "If any of you owns land he should cultivate it. If he is not able to cultivate it he should grant it to one of his brothers and not rent it. "  

Abu Dawud related: "We used to rent lands and pay the rent with what grows along the reclaimed water-front. The Prophet prohibited us and directed us to pay rent dues'with gold or silver. " 

Again, Abu-Sulayman argues thcit these two hadiths deal with two different situations. One prohibits rent on owned lands and the other permits giving compensation for labor put in reclaiming and improving lands.  These are some of the problems that we shall face when we start building the Islamic economic model, and we have to be careful and open minded.

In the end, I would like to suggest the following steps:

1. We should see the urgency of forming a group that will be committed to building such a model.

2. A comprehensive collection of all Quranic verses and hadiths related directly or indirectly to economics, as well as a survey of the existing rules of the four schools of Jurisprudence are essential as a starting point.

3. It is usually difficult without special training to read and understand the traditional books written on hadith and other related subjects, so it is suggested that some of the scholarships available to the MSA for
studying in Islamic univsrsities be devoted to members of this group.

4. Those concerned with other aspects of the Islamic state should also form similar groups; thus a group to study Islamic law, another to work on the political system of Islam, and one on the social system of Islam, and so on, are strongly recommended. It is only by coordination, and cooperation among these different groups, that the shape and pattern of the model Islamic state can be fully studied and visualized.

"Is not the time ripe for the hearts of those who believe to submit to Allah's reminder and to the truth which is reveeiled, that they become not as those who received the scripture of old but the term was prolonged for them and so their hearts were hardened, and many of them are evil-livers." 57:17