Humanism
The Holy Qor-aan has enumerated several characteristics that elevate Man from his being a greedy grabbing creature to a better person of a higher level to serve selflessly. The following verses give one of those values and strikes at the core of many evils – the ‘misuse of money’ by hoarding it.
The hoarding takes money out of circulation and hurts the economic growth of the community. It is tantamount to almost a crime to withhold money one controls from investing it in good causes including such business activity that advances progress by widening academic and educational pool, encouraging scientific experimentation, breeding entrepreneurs, expanding labor force, providing jobs for the less fortunate and thus moving the economy forward at an accelerated pace.
Islam highlights this phenomenon as a key for the advancement of human progress and evolution. Indeed, investing stimulates economy whereas hoarding stifles it.
- The Holy Qor-aan 104: 002 وَيۡلٌ۬ لِّڪُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ۬ لُّمَزَةٍ
Wai-loonl-lay-kool-lay-ho-mo-za-tinl-lo-mo-zah mo-zah Woe onto every backbiter, slanderer
Note: Malik Ghulam Farid’s translation quoted the Arabic dictionary Uq-rib that has defined هُمَزَةٍ as ‘finding fault in others behind their backs’ and لُّمَزَة as ‘finding fault in others behind their backs as well as on their faces.’ It is a matter of common observation that those with money boastfully compete each other in making and hoarding more of wealth and insultingly blame each other for ommiting to invest in common good .
- The Holy Qor-aan 104: 003 ٱلَّذِى جَمَعَ مَالاً۬ وَعَدَّدَهُ ۥAlla-zee-ja-ma-aa-maa-lunw-wa -uda-dah He who hoarded wealth and kept counting it
- The Holy Qor-aan 104: 004 يَحۡسَبُ أَنَّ مَالَهُ ۥۤ أَخۡلَدَهُۥ Yuh-sa-bo-un-na-maa-la-hoo-ukh-la-dah Thinking that surely his wealth will immortalize him
Note: Most translations of مَالَهُ construe it as a combination of two words namely مَا and لَ and state as shown above which logically is connected to the word مَالاً۬ in the previous verse. However, a much broader, more comprehensive and enormously rich meanings come up when مَالَهُ is construed as a combination of three words — being مَا meaning ‘all that or whatever’ plus لَ meaning ‘belonging to, for, or owned by’ plus هُ meaning ‘his or him’ — because then مَالَهُ will mean ‘All that belongs to him’ including time, sources and other valuables one controls, and not just the wealth one has stored.
