Category Archives: Finance & Economics

Habib Ali’s Analogy on Rizq

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Hammad shares a wonderful analogy on Rizq, particularly relevant to those us like me who travel extensively for work.

If someone were to represent a company or an institution in his own country or abroad in order to conclude a business deal, to make a bid, or for research purposes, would the representative bear the burden of the expense? No, because he is confident that his large, wealthy company will provide him with a ticket, living expenses, travelling expenses and will also reimburse him for his entire journey. He will travel with very little worry about expenses because he is confident that his company, as long as it has contracted him to do this task, is duty-bound to fulfil his needs.

“What’s the Harm?”

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Anis outlines certain Islamic rulings whose wisdom may not be fully apparent to certain observers. Indeed, it may be that something appearing good may be harmful for us, and something appearing harmful may be good for us.

There are a few other things which are which apparently seem harmless and are prohibited, for example music and interest. A basic argument can be put forward that if it is not used for anything immoral or exploitation, what is the harm in it?

On the Recent Alcohol Fatwa

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Mahmood chimes at his den about the recent Qaradawi fatwa on the permissibility of small amounts of alcohol. Editor’s Note: this piece is sarcastic, and should not be considered an endorsement of the fatwa in any way.

But what’s the context, I hear you ask? Well, the guy based this “fatwa” on the (apparent) fact that some energy drinks contain minute amounts of alcohol, said to be about 1/8th of that contained in light beers. And as – says he – a person cannot get drunk by consuming copious amounts of said energy drink, then a little dram won’t hurt anyone, and is Islamically sanctified.

Food for Thought

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[Photo by imranchaudhry]

Hayah at Tinge of Blue shares some startling facts about the apparent “food shortage” that the world is meant to be facing:

There are many many malnourished infants today, maybe equal to or more than that 25 years ago. And despite the fact that human population of the globe has doubled, the food productivity has quadruppled, meaning that the 800 million people in the world are hungry not because of food shortage but unequal distribution of it. An FAO report showed that 80% of the children who are hungry, live in countries that PRODUCE food surplus. Which goes to show that famines are also due to a human phenomenon called ‘grain trade’.

Charity: Approaching Jannah Half a Date at a Time

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HalfDate.com is inspired by the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and prayer be upon him) where he called us to be part of the solution even if our contribution is as small as half a date.

Each month, you will suggest a specific cause (specific goal, amount of $, and due date) and HalfDate.com will feature it as a DateDrive.

Photo by Fairywren

How much luxury is just right?

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Islam Q and A has a very detailed answer for an interesting question:

“My wife insists that we must buy a big house with a garden and swimming pool. While I insist on living in a small house (3 bedrooms for example) without the extra luxuries such as a garden and swimming pool. What is the solution for this problem? I cannot force her to be ascetic…What shall I do?If I buy a big house as my wife wishes, will I be rewarded?“

Photo credit - flikr - ahomeinbali

(Photo credit: ahomeinbali, via flickr)

Snippets of the answer, which is detailed and covers many points:

“It was narrated that Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqaas said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There are four things that are essential for happiness: a righteous wife, a spacious home, a good neighbour and a sound means of transportation. And there are four things that make one miserable: a bad neighbour, a bad wife, a small house and a bad means of transportation.”

Read more at Islam Q & A.

Islamic Charity 2.0

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Austrolabe suggests alternative methods for raising money for Islamic charities:

It is interesting to see the extent to which Web 2.0 technologies are being used for charitable purposes… As is well known, charity plays a pivotal role in the faith of every Muslim — being, as it is, zakat, one of the five pillars of our faith — so it is surprising to see that there hasn’t been a similar innovation in terms of how we give charity.