Clerics for 'Islamisation' of economy

Chairman Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani on Wednesday stressed for extraneous efforts to check concentration of wealth in a few hands and ensure equitable distribution of resources. Talking to reporters after conclusion of a two-day seminar, he said CII and State Bank of Pakistan should devise a mechanism to remove flaws in economic system.
He said inheritance laws should be implemented in letter and spirit. Islamic system of charity, Zakat and Usher should be implemented for ensuring distribution of wealth among the needy and deserving, he added. He said world's leading economic systems had already admitted their failure to deliver and now onwards Islamic economic system should be implemented for better progress and prosperity of people.
Criticising policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), he said the interest-based system should be eliminated from the country. He pleaded for making gold a mode of bilateral trade, just as currency notes. He said Islam stresses providing facilities to consumers and dislikes hoarding, adulteration and charging interest. Islam discourages concentration of wealth and interest-based economic system, he added.
About Islamic banking system, he said the flaws in current system should be removed and redressed. Earlier, the speakers of two-day conference titled 'Foundations of Islamic economy and modern-day challenges,' stressed a comprehensive campaign for preparing civil society to cope with current challenges. They said people donate Rs 20 billion each year as Fitrana, which is enough to provide loans to 200,000 unemployed educated youth. Similarly, an effective mechanism should be worked out to utilise billions of charity money in providing jobs to unemployed youth. They also recommended for making Zakat collection system simple and across-the-board collection of Zakat.
They said there were 18 laws in country relating to Zakat collection and distribution. There should only one integrated law relating to Zakat for its effective distribution and collection. In the country, internationally recognised institutions should be established for preparing qualified Muftis and scholars. The conference recommended a joint strategy for implementing its recommendations.
The conference totally rejected interest-based system and stressed the need to rid economy of interest. The CII should play its role in Islamisation of economy, it added. The conference was addressed by Dr Tahir Amin Tanoli, Allama Shabbir Maessemi, Saqib Akbar, Dr Muhammad Kasaib, Zahid ur Rashdi, Chaudhry Mukhtar Ahmed, Dr Asad Zaman, and Abdullah.