HOW WAS THE ECONOMIC LIFE IN THE TIME OF THE PROPHET (UPON WHOM BE PEACE)?

From the start of Muhammad’s (upon whom be peace) prophethood, almost to the very end of his life—and especially in the Meccan Era—the Muslims suffered great economic distress. The Messenger of God had forsaken all his belongings, along with the wealth of his generous and compassionate wife, Khadija, in calling people to God. The first Muslims were, in fact, mostly the poor. As for the wealthy Muslims, they were constantly more than ready to sacrifice all they had for the success of the Islamic cause; and so they did. It could be argued, in fact, that economic encumbrances, by and large, endured until the victory at Hunayn.

In a further elaboration, an exceptionally simple and modest lifestyle prevailed during the time of the Prophet (upon whom be peace) although the dynamic monetary activity resulting from the treasury’s precise inflow and outflow balance was paramount.

In tandem with being enthusiastically active in the endeavor to get people to elevate themselves through the blissful path of iman, untainted faith in God, the Noble Messenger also intimately dealt with problems surrounding the society’s economic life. He worked tirelessly to cleanse it from the insidious residues of pre-Islamic life. As a culmination of this  precious struggle, the fresh Muslim society embarked on an elevating journey that was soon to reach its zenith.

Virtue, a fundamental principle of model societies, is an ideal that inevitably must be sought. In this sense, the era of the Prophet (upon whom be peace) provides us with a  splendid example of the revival and the consequential pervasiveness of virtue in all aspects of life, especially in the struggle to eliminate the unjust earning of money and other corrupt financial transactions, in order to achieve an uncompromising adherence to the Qur’an: “…and each can have nothing save what he strives for, and that his effort will be seen” (Najm 53:39-40).

In conformance with the Qur’an, the Noble Prophet himself illustrated the ideal method of earning money; “A person has never gained better sustenance than what he has gained through his own sweat. Indeed, the Prophet David earned his sustenance himself.”49 To cultivate the seeds of magnanimity in the souls of the Companions, the Messenger of God added: “It is much more beneficial for one to carry timber from mountains, to earn a living, than to beg off others, as those who are beseeched either give or refuse.”50 These words were of tremendous importance for a society whose members aligned their conducts according to divine regulations, and experienced enormous bliss and contentment from doing so. Most certainly, advice such as this had swift practical implications. Once, for instance, a Companion on horseback dropped his stick; yet he refrained from asking assistance from those standing next to him, opting instead to descend from his horse and gather the stick himself. Even asking for assistance, then, was interpreted as a form of begging.

Moreover, usury, a devastating burden fracturing the very backbone of society, was being abolished, thus granting each person a total economic emancipation. In a previously unseen race for virtue, many exemplary actions stood out, from people working in hard labor just to give their earnings to charity, to people voluntarily lending interest-free money to others in hope of benefiting from the blessings of such a praiseworthy act.51 The hadith “Muslims, in love and compassion for one another, are like a single body. If one limb is in agony, the whole body joins that limb in insurmountable pain and sleeplessness,”52 provided a practical guide for heroes sacrificing their comfort and luxury for the well-being of the whole community.

The economic purification did not stop there. An incredible balance was achieved in expenses and consumption,  and extravagance,  along with its destructive blemishes,  became remote concepts. On the other hand, abandoning even the necessary requirements for spending in the cause of Islam became habitual. These acts of virtue were all a dazzling culmination of the Companions’ exceptionally thorough comprehension of Islam, imparted to them by the Messenger of God. Along these lines, a Muslim’s life must be in absolute conformity with divine guidelines, keeping a sufficient distance from the type of dissipative spending that incurs the anger of God and the envy of others. A spending with no worthy result, one that neither acts as an instigator for a potentially beneficial movement nor serves as a catalyst to spark the dead wood of society, has no place in a Muslim’s life. The era of the Noble Prophet can thus be summarized as an epitome of this resuscitative spirit.

During this period, hatred and vengeance among Muslims w ere averted as  each person played a vital role in socially constructive activities. Because Islam was vividly being enforced in all aspects of life, class struggles became a thing of the past and there was  a  general diminution of communal vices until, ultimately, the wealthy experienced the utmost difficulty in even trying to locate poor individuals upon which they could disburse their accumulated sadaqa and zakat—quite simply, after a while, poverty virtually ceased to exist. This issue, in fact, figured prominently in the government’s agenda, as they had the increasingly difficult task of locating the poor lest the wealthy be deprived of the virtues of almsgiving.

The Meccan Era was, in a sense, filled with furtiveness. In the beginning, the call for Islam had not been undertaken overtly, thus there was no clear-cut information available regarding the financial status of the newly-forming “Golden Generation,” the Companions, as well as no system yet in place for systematically collecting or disbursing wealth. The Messenger of God (upon whom be peace) had hastened the disbursement of capital in required places during this period as the early Muslim community were incessantly suffering financial hardships that continued through the early years of the Medinan Period before times of abundant prosperity arrived in later years. The treasury became filled with zakat, sadaqa, and ushr in addition to the riches gathered from rapid conquests. Under these changing circumstances, the Noble Prophet (upon whom be peace), on behalf of the Muslim treasury, relentlessly maintained a perfect balance in financial activities, utilizing resources in the required places in a most delicate and efficient manner. Even when observing the horde of items granted to the muallafa al-qulub (those whose hearts are being reconciled with Islam) in the aftermath of the victory at the battle of Hunayn, this meticulous balance, remote from dissipation, can evidently be noted.53

It is also worthy to note that gold and silver, with their independent values, were then the most prevalent coins in circulation. Dinar and dirham were subordinate currencies used especially in trade and commerce, not to mention the additional widespread use of barter.

The spiritual resurrection in Islam had been reflected in the bazaars and markets and then onto the entire economy, imparting the gist of the Islamic spirit that attests to the potentiality of all things and thus fiercely rejects dead investments, usury and selfish accumulations of piles of gold and silver. The female Companions, unhesitant in donating all their precious jewelry in time of excessive hardship, provide an excellent example of this spirit and reality.54