₦airaland Forum

Our society in the world today is made up of several institutions, the financial institutions, legal institutions, institutions of common value,

religious institutions to name a few. It is therefore important to note that understanding the phenomenon that differentiates us from every other

individual is based upon on the ideologies these institutions lay upon us. The problems we have in society today such as poverty,

unemployment, human abuse, inflation, racism and the list can go on— cannot be properly addressed if the root underlying cause of these

problems is not looked into. Man for ages has tried to compete with his fellow-man either because of superiority in status or personal gains that

leaves the care of others secondary or unimportant. Our resources, are plundered only to benefit a few that may be less than 10 percent of the

world’s population while others are made to work tirelessly in order to keep up with a deteriorating economy that is far from fixed by the best

brains in economics. At this point obviously, I come to the conclusion that something is definitely wrong.

“Science is a systematic method of continuing investigation, based on observation, scientific hypothesis testing, measurement, experimentation,

and theory building, which leads to explanations of natural phenomena, processes, or objects, that are open to further testing, revision, and

falsification, and while not believed in through faith are accepted or rejected on the basis of scientific evidence” (Douglas). By definition this is

backed upon the “human wisdom”. There are several fallible theories such as the existence of man—evolution that seeks to rationalize humans

as competitors for a common goal, survival. However, what science has to offer man and his environment should only be guided by certain

principles or ethics that is sustainability, reliability and efficiency. Economists argue that the world’s resources are scarce therefore distribution of

these resources should be socially stratified. The ideas that incentives are necessary to enable people do their best to be rewarded is obsolete.

To take man back to the primary objective of environmentalism and mutual respect for his fellow human being there has to be a “Guardian,

known as God” who should be believed to advocate human prosperity without the merit that we be rewarded by other men. Great scientists of

the old namely, Galileo, Al-Kindi, Isaac Newton were fundamentally giving to the society without a reckon for what they got in return as rewards

such as money. Money has been the fundamental, drawback of our modern society; the developed world holds the third world countries into

ransom for economic depravity, the employers lays off factory workers because they have a new technology that could create goods faster and

maximize profit, the banks take off your home because you can’t pay for the mortgage. For any positive transformation to occur in our modern

society we have to change our motive in the respect of why we live. Wars, violence, tyranny and oppression nullify human unification and

cooperation in maintaining the only planet God has given us, earth.

A path that is often confused by atheistic intellectuals and moralists as a self defeating unscientific approach to life is religion. The theme of one

religion to the other differs, but a science provable religion is most likely the integral pathway every man and woman ought to work with. A

unification of all humans to build an economy not of a fallible banking system that practice interest that results to inflation, nor of industries

disposing toxic waste harmful to humans, plants and animals to avoid extra spending, nor of a corrupt government squandering its people

wealth to have bank accounts in heaven¹—is the Modern Islamic resource based economy. Arguing not from an Islamic scholar perspective, a

field not often discussed to a wide audience is “the science of religion”, the science of religion explains and accepts scientifically proven theories

that are infallible to the natural phenomenon of how the world is. In other words, scientific methods that benefit man positively are welcome

while those that seek human extermination or derogation are rejected. Our world has to see that the form of “differential advantage” based on

color, class, or ethnicity is a form of extermination or human derogation because these factors would create hatred in place of love, violence and

crime in place of selflessness and justice—and ultimately war instead of peace. Resources allocated (by God) to a given part of the earth could

be used to help develop another area but not by deterministic purposes of exploitation without making any credible change to the people that

own the resources at the first. Many African countries are being exploited by western powers, using their resources to better their own

developed countries, damaging the environment on purpose or otherwise without any meaningful growth on the individual citizens of these

countries, or their society as a whole. Nigeria for example has been plundered of its major natural resource, crude oil, by chance of massive

corruption or intellectual deficiency of its leaders the country still remains as stagnating as it was since 1960² (Smith, Harold).

However, the western powers never really had the intention of shaping the society towards development, but deprives the region where the oil

is exploited its natural merit- water and grass, for the area is now in arable and entirely polluted (Kurlansky).

The idea of the monetary system that implies “life as a profit making avenue”, is not to the interest of every human being, because it leads only

to one end—ruthlessness. For every person believes resources are scarce and must strive to pull from the limited money supply enough wealth

to fulfill his needs or wants, competition leading to greed, dissatisfaction, and violence is systematically built into the system. Take for example

“diamonds” a precious stone; there is a limited supply of this precious stone in South Africa not because there can’t be abundance for every

“jewel-lover” to acquire as he so desires, but because the monetary system designs an artificial scarcity to make it valuable (Golds and

diamonds). As we know, abundance is an enemy to the profit based economic mechanism. “They burn diamonds at the Kimberley diamond mines

and make it carbon to sustain the price level” (Fresco). Science does not say there is no technology to provide for all, in fact if there is an

abundant supply without a given value for the resource (diamond); people would use them just as they breathe air or drink natural water. The

reason why the monetary system we have today may not have taxed you for the air you’re breathing is because there is no technology to keep

this resource “in a confinement” that may be released as you pay. If there was a way to keep air scarce, it would have been worked by your

government.

The Modern Islamic Resource based Economy guarantees food, water, and shelter for everyone but the current monetary system where it’s

believed to be most successful cannot. The World Bank which publicly claims to help poor countries towards development and alleviation of

poverty has done nothing but to increase poverty and wealth gap.

“In the 1960s the income gap between the fifth of the world’s richest countries against the fifth poorest countries was 30 to 1, by 1998 it was

74 to 1—while Global GNP rose to 40% in 1970-1985, those in poverty stricken countries increased by 17%. It is important to note that those

who live by less than one dollar a day between 1985-2000 increased by 18%” (Gates).

How can you advocate policies to better other economies towards development when you can’t eliminate poverty, crimes, unfair distribution of

wealth, when you’re responsible for killing innocent people all over the world? How do you give lectures on human rights and liberty when you’re

focused on the acquisition of wealth? Do you really care? Of course not, because life is now defined as “a profit making avenue regardless of the

social or environmental cost” (Perkins). “People cannot be ethically or fair in the monetary system” (Fresco), someone comes to you in a bank

and says, “we sell the cheapest stocks” of course he is a salesman. He cannot say “. . . but the bank next door sells cheaper stocks with higher

dividends”, he won’t be in business for long. There has to be an understanding that businesses take the well-being of people secondary but

profits first. The father of economics Adams Smith in his book titled, “the Wealth of Nations” states that self-interest and competition leads to

social prosperity as competition leads to incentives  for survival” (Smith). However, what is not discussed in this theory is how self-interest and

competition leads to systemic corruption, power and wealth gap creation, social stratification, technological paralysis, labor abuse and ultimately

loss of spirituality. Natural resources must be distributed for all; “happiness can only be measured not by the size of your bank account but by

your contribution of knowledge and understanding to what you do”  (Abdullah). In other words, contributing to the well-being of the world, that

essentially means contributing to the well-being of your fellow man. In a Modern Islamic Resource based economy, your love for wealth would be

immaterial for the society would focus on the natural elements for the progressive well-being of every person with the use of science and

technology.

When people consider the use of automation as a threat to the jobs say a factory work their employers hire them for, the real advantage to

such technology is to relief people of working tirelessly with sufficient production at a considerable short time frame. With the monetary system

we have today, no one will pay you if a machine could do your job better and faster however, has the thought occurred to men of the relief that

comes about replacing people with machines for hard labor is a benefit if money did not exist? If it did not, people would start to see

technological innovations as break through and not a threat to their jobs but as a relief to focus more on the importance of life itself that is the

preparation of an afterlife³. Therefore, with the scarcity created among ourselves  eliminated, and the belief that money is all that

gets what you want taken away, what we have is our resources—earth’s resources. It is irrefutable to say the earth’s resources is sufficient for

6 billion⁺ people to enjoy health care, energy, food, housing, education, transportation and communication if guided shrewdly by the

principles of this Islamic model and technology. I would mention a few because of the lack of space in this article; “Energy”, the fossil fuel used to

power our machinery or the use of radioactive elements are dangerous and only used to maintain our monetary system’s profit mechanism.

“Solar energy” often undermined as expensive by our media houses is an example. “The power we can get from the sun in just the

mid-afternoon of a day could power the entire earth in a year if used sincerely not for profit to rival existing energy industries, by the technology

we have today” (Zeitgeist). The wind energy is known to be weak and location deterministic, this is not the case—the United States Department

of Energy admitted in 2007 that if 3 states in the country’s wind area are captured, it could power the entire nation. “Wave power”, that extracts

surface motion from the ocean, it is estimated that about 80 thousand Terawatts of power can be derived from this source, that means about

80% of  the entire world can be powered from this energy alone. It is therefore, important to note that these forms of energy do not require

burning energy to provide powers as it for coal, hydrogen, uranium or crude oil. Another is “geothermal energy”, this uses water and produces

clean air for energy, an MIT report states that 13,000ZJ of energy is readily available and an additional 2,000ZJ could be tapped with our

technology of the 21st century. The total energy used on the earth per year is about 0.5ZJ this means more than 4,000 years—the earth could

use this energy if God doesn’t call the world an end. “Transportation”, the prevailing mode of transport we have today is the automobile and

aircraft which need fossil fuel to run. For automobiles, the battery power required to power a vehicle for over 200 miles exist however, due to

the self-preservation of the oil-industry, this development have been seriously hindered—causing electric vehicles to be more expensive than the

conventional. There is no reason for such action except in the case of corruption. The airline we have today is an inefficient, slow and

cumbersome technology causing air pollution. A Maglev train uses magnet for proportion, it is fully suspended by magnetic fields and require

about 2% of the energy used by the aircraft for plane travel. This train has no wheels, so nothing can wear out, an organization called ET3 has

established this model and said this Maglev train can travel about 4000mph in a motionless, frictionless tube that can go underground or

underwater. Just imagine traveling from Ohio to Mecca for Haji⁴ in less than 1 hour! We can do this if we don’t go back to the profit

making society⁵. For jobs, a Modern Islamic Resource based Economy would eliminate 90% of jobs that involves hard labor with the

replacement of humans with highly efficient machines. Technologies such as nano-technology and pico-technology would create higher reliability

and efficiency “freeing people to live their lives without servitude to men but God Himself”—because that is the point of technology. 

As I conclude, some may consider this irrational or even having a terrorist undertone, but in fact it is not, we must develop a true economic

order to the world by massive revolts and protests against those that annex human wealth and must insert a universal fair treatment for all.

Expand the infrastructure of the entire world through the Modern Islamic Resource Economic based model. No longer can we live in a self

centered modality that breeds man for contempt for his fellow man, we must learn to reward innovation but balance the uneven tendencies of

wealth and power by inserting universal principles that can develop quality life for all against systems that oppress the majority and only reward

the rich. This recent economic meltdown creates the opportunity to work a viable alternative and to come to the truth—that is the Message of

Allah your Creator, as perceived by the men of divine understanding that are so few in number today.

“He it is Who Hath made the earth manageable unto you, so transverse ye through its tracts and enjoy of the Sustenance which He Furnishes: but Unto Him is the Resurrection”.(The Sovereignty: 15)