Dear brothers and sisters, December 30, 2009;
Assalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmathullahi Wa Bharakhathuhu.
Innovation is a gift from Allah Subhana Wa Taala. Muslims normally prefer to be rewarded for their good deeds in the Hereafter by Allah Subhana Wa Taala. They prefer to perform good deeds in secret.
What happens if through innovation a Muslim produces a new item and gives a number of them as free to the needy? Further let us consider the situation that this Muslim indeed re-invented the wheel, that is, the product that he/ she produced is governed by a patent. Even if the Muslim was unaware of the patent, she/ he would be forced to compensate the patent holder for having violated the patent. What should a Muslim do?
Should the Muslims also follow the non-Muslims and acquire patents and get riches and then spend the riches in charity?
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Yusuf Ali 2:267
O ye who believe! Give of the good things which ye have (honourably) earned, and of the fruits of the earth which We have produced for you, and do not even aim at getting anything which is bad, in order that out of it ye may give away something, when ye yourselves would not receive it except with closed eyes. And know that Allah is Free of all wants, and worthy of all praise.
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We cannot give for charity (Zakat and Sadaqa) from the earnings of monopoly, patents, and copyrights unless it is found that these incomes are Halal. We show below that such income is indeed Haram.
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Yusuf Ali 9:34
O ye who believe! there are indeed many among the priests and anchorites, who in Falsehood devour the substance of men and hinder (them) from the way of Allah. And there are those who bury gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah. announce unto them a most grievous penalty-
Shakir 9:34
O you who believe! most surely many of the doctors of law and the monks eat away the property of men falsely, and turn (them) from Allah's way; and (as for) those who hoard up gold and silver and do not spend it in Allah's way, announce to them a painful chastisement,
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In the earlier days people buried their treasures hoping to use the buried treasures during future days of scarcity. Now-a-days there is no need to bury; we could have them in bank lockers. Further the gold and silver are often converted to paper currency and put in fixed deposits or savings accounts. All these keep the money from activity and is called hoarding. In addition to money, a number of consumables like grains, vegetables, fruits, oils are also stored under security. All these are hoarded.
Are there explanations related to hoarding in the Traditions? Some Traditions are given below.
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The words "hoard withhold" appear in 2 hadith(s) in Muslim translation.
(2) Asma', daughter of Abu Bakr, reported that she came to the Apostle of Allah (may peace he upon him) and said: Apostle of Allah, I have nothing with me, but only, that which is given to me by Zubair (for household expenses). Is there any sin for me if I spend out of that which is given to me (by Zabair)? Upon this he (the Holy Prophet) said: Spend according to your means; and do not
hoard, for Allah will
withhold from you.
(Book #005, Hadith #2246)===
This Tradition indicates the benefit of 'not hoarding.'
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The word "hoarding" appear 1 time(s) in 1 hadith(s) in Abudawud translation.
(1) Narrated Ya'la ibn Umayyah: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said:
hoarding up food (to sell it at a high price) in the sacred territory is a deviation (from right to wrong).
(Book #10, Hadith #2015)===
One should remember that most of today's business involves buying cheap at the time of harvest and storing the same to sell at a later time on profit. Such business is not allowed inside the Arabian Peninsula. At that time the Muslims were living inside the Arabian Peninsula only. Thus we understand that any business that acquires consumables at times of plenty and stores them until times of scarcity (indirectly contributing to the scarcity) is not allowed for Muslims. What about perishable goods? We could preserve them but they should be released without causing steep increase in prices; release them without causing scarcity.
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The word "fatigue" appear 1 time(s) in 1 hadith(s) in Muwatta translation.
(1) Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Umar
ibn al-Khattab said, "There is no hoarding in our market, and men who have excess gold in their hands should not buy up one of Allah's provisions which he has sent to our courtyard and then hoard it up against us. Someone who brings imported goods through great
fatigue to himself in the summer and winter, that person is the guest of Umar. Let him sell what Allah wills and keep what Allah wills."
(Book #31, Hadith #31.24.56)===
During the time of Caliph Umar, Allah be pleased with him, the territory under Islam extended beyond the Arabian Peninsula. From the above, we find that shipping and handling charges and nominal profit in view of the effort spent is allowed, when dealing with products not availabe inside the Muslim land. Now we have no Caliph and we have no Muslim land, but Muslims are everywhere. So we understand that a Muslim is allowed to import materials from a land other than her/ his nation and make profit on the same. Here again, we believe excessive profiteering might not be right.
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The words "forbade hoarding" appear in 1 hadith(s) in Muwatta translation.
(1) Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Uthman ibn Affan
forbade hoarding .
(Book #31, Hadith #31.24.58)===
Here we see that even the concession given by Caliph Umar, Allah be pleased with him, is withdrawn. We agree that hoarding is bad even in the case of imported goods.
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The words "hoard silver" appear in 2 hadith(s) in Bukhari translation.
(1) Narrated Zaid bin Wahab: I passed by a place called Ar-Rabadha and by chance I met Abu Dhar and asked him, "What has brought you to this place?" He said, "I was in Sham and differed with Muawiya on the meaning of (the following verses of the
Quran): 'They who
hoard up gold and
silver and spend them not in the way of Allah.' (9.34). Muawiya said, 'This verse is revealed regarding the people of the scriptures." I said, It was revealed regarding us and also the people of the scriptures." So we had a quarrel and Mu'awiya sent a complaint against me to 'Uthman. 'Uthman wrote to me to come to Medina, and I came to Medina. Many people came to me as if they had not seen me before. So I told this to 'Uthman who said to me, "You may depart and live nearby if you wish." That was the reason for my being here for even if an Ethiopian had been nominated as my ruler, I would have obeyed him .
(Book #24, Hadith #488)===
Here we see that the holier than thou attitude of Muawiya, Allah be pleased with him, was rejected by Caliph Uthman, Allah be pleased with him. Hoarding is forbidden for all.
From the above we conclude that monopoly, which is direct hoarding, and patents and copyrights, which are hoardings for a limited time, normally about one lifetime, are forbidden.
Does that mean Muslims do not innovate? Or should it be that Muslims should allow their innovations to be stolen, patented or copyrighted, and then get blamed for using their own innovation? Worse still the thief might even initiate legal action against the Muslims after having stolen their innovation.
At least protect themselves from unjust legal actions, Muslims need to copyright their literary works. Likewise Muslims need to patent their innovations.
Having secured so called monopoly rights Muslims should make them open to all to get the full reward from Allah Subhana Wa Taala on the Day of Judgment. Of course Muslims could opt to receive a miniscule part of their reward in this life and the rest, the major part, in the Hereafter.
Muslims have no permission to indulge in monopoly trade directly or indirectly. Inshah Allah we would consider indirect monopoly elsewhere.
For copyright, Muslims could announce the cost of preparing one copy of their work in the form it gets distributed and seek a reasonable profit above the cost. We leave the definition of what would be a reasonable profit to be between Allah Subhana Wa Taala and the Muslim.
With respect to patents, considering that Arabic language makes no distinction between three or more of anything, we suggest that the Muslim innovators could sell 'non-exclusive rights' on their innovation to at least three independents individuals or groups of individuals.
Allah Subhana Wa Taala knows best.
Your brother,
Mohideen Ibramsha
Was Salaam