About a decade ago I asked an Afghan immigrant, who had come to the US by way of Germany and who had a B.A. in Economics from that country, if he thought the economic ideas outlined in the Qur'an were basically socialist. You know, that book that says Jesus was the messiah and which appeals to the supernatural for its authority.
He told me, no, socialism is socialism, and Islam is Islam, each a separate, whole system. One of the 5 pillars of Islamic faith is giving 10% of one's income to the church or to charity. I guess youc ould call that welfare if you want. And other principles in the Qur'an control other aspects of economic behavior: usury or lending at interest is supposed to be forbidden, for ex. But so is alcohol or men wearing gold. (Wedding doweries, the way meat is processed, etc., are also pretty explicitly outlined in the Qur'an.) Most of these principles are based upon how the nascent Muslim community of Medina operated after they were chased from Mecca, in 622 AD.
One could piggy back some hybrid pf socialism on top of this, just like when progressive Xtians try piggybackmodern anti-capitalism values onto Xtianity. You end up with a jumbled & inconsistent mess.
-B.
Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> Ian Buruma is hardly an ideal writer to introduce
Tariq Ramadan's
> ideas to the American audience, but this ultimately
(if very much
> grudgingly) sympathetic portrayal of Ramadan's work,
published in the
> New York Times Magazine as well as the International
Herald Tribune,
> may serve to pique some open-minded people's
interest. -- Yoshie
>
>
<http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/04/europe/web.0204tariq.php>
> Tariq Ramadan has an identity issue
> By IAN BURUMA
> Sunday, February 4, 2007