This post is a part of the Series: Islam

Islam is a peaceful, forward thinking religion, and can actually be looked at as the origin of social justice. Muhammad saw injustices throughout his society and through his teaching and reforms tried to right those wrongs, and from his inspiration Islam furthered his mission. Muhammad himself can be looked at as a social reformer (Ahamd). He pioneered, in his 7th century reforms, the end of honor killings of women and the rights of women to approve of their marriage, to own property, to divorce their husband, and for widows and divorced women to be able to remarry (Ahamd). Some of these reforms were not part of Western culture until the 20th century (Ahamd). Furthermore, Islamic civilization established social welfare by creating a system called Waqf (Miah). Waqf is where assets are invested with the revenue from those assets going to charity (Khaled). Waqf is part of many ways which Islam ensures money does not stay with the wealthy but is circulated through the people.

Muhammad taught about many different social injustices within society that Islam further expanded on. Muhammad taught about racial equality not only in words but through his actions. In pre-Islamic Arabic society, there were tension between Arabs and non-Arabs (Ahamd). In this tense climate, Muhammad spoke out for racial equality. Two of his closest friends were former slaves, showing in his actions how people were supposed to treat those of different race (Ahamd).  In Muhammad’s teachings he says, “the Muslim community is like one body; if one part is ailing, the rest of the body responds with fever and ache” (Khaled). He saw that if some people were falling behind it created a division and imbalance within the society and the effects of it would be felt throughout the whole society. Besides Waqf, some of the other ways Islam helps the circulation of money are by almsgiving which is part of the five pillars of Islam, voluntary charity, and the idea of making amends which is the idea that putting money towards people in need is a means of atonement (Khaled). The development of social justice in Islam did not just stop after Muhammad passed away. Early Muslim civil leaders also developed ways to help the poorest parts of society by starting The House of Treasury where Waqf were administered, stipends were given to families with children to help with expenses of caring for children, and pensions were given to the Muslim and non-Muslim elderly who could not work (Khaled). Also, they introduced the idea of transferring money from where it was paid to where it was needed so that is would not create areas of extreme wealth or poverty (Khaled). Muhammad and the early Muslim civil leaders saw working toward social justice for all was achievable through purposeful action to help the poorest, weakest, and most oppressed parts of society.

Muhammad also said, “He who sleeps on a full stomach whilst his neighbor goes hungry is not one of us” (Khaled). He points to the idea that social justice is a core value of Islam and not participating in it means you are not truly a Muslim. Caring for one’s neighbor does not just stop with other Muslims. Islam not only advocates for social justice amongst its own people but for all people. There are Muslim feminist who not only work for women’s rights but for all people’s rights as that is the aim of both groups. Islam seeks “equity and justice” and “feminism is concerned with the dignity and rights of every person” (Fakhraie). Pillars of the Community works not only to serve Muslims in San Diego but also formerly incarcerated people (Littlefield). While rooted in the Islamic faith this group helps all people by providing for people who truly need it. Another group called ICNA Council for Social Justice is an organization that wants to get Muslim involvement in areas of human rights of the poor and oppressed. When these organizations fight for social justice for these marginalized people they really bring justice to all people, living out what Muhammad had noted, “the Muslim community is like one body; if one part is ailing, the rest of the body responds with fever and ache.” When one part of the body is sick the whole body is sick, so by bringing healing to one part they bring healing to the whole body.