What is the Islamic take on Marxism?

[conscienta]

I was wondering if Islam was compatible with Socialism. Not the Stalinist Regime of the former Soviet Union and certainly not of the DPRK... unless there are Stalinists here. Lol.

I would encourage Anarcho Syndicalists to speak up, too :D

Is it more compatible with Capitalism?

Note: This topic is not about whether or not communism works or whether or not capitalism is bad; I don't want to debate in the forums.
(If this topic doesn't go here, please move it.)

[Intisar]

:sl: *Thread moved and approved*

[brotherinfaith]

what do you mean by compatible ?

[Zafran]

salaam

marxism is a form of kuffur as the main goal is materailistic.

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[The Khan]

Well, as a former Jusche communist, here are my points:

Marxism promotes its establishment through a bloody revolution.

In Islam, Jihad, a holy war, is permissible only under the following conditions:

- In defence

- If the enemy is persecuting Muslims

In addition to this, the Shafi madhab allows an offensive war only against pagan Arabs.

Rule of the proletariat: Marxism calls for dictatorship of the working class prior to the transaction from a capitalist society to a classless society. This is against Sunni and Shi'a viewpoint, but may or may not be so for the Ibadis, I shall explain as follows (mods, sorry for this slight sectarian discussion, but it is absolutely necessary to compare this important view, and it's only of a political nature, so no need to worry, in my honest opinion :) ):

Sunni viewpoint of the caliphate: Election by the Shura council (parliament), preferably from the Quraysh tribe.

Shi'a viewpoint: Caliph must trace his roots to Caliph Ali.

Ibadi viewpoint: Caliph must be a just and able ruler, politically, economically, and militarily. He must have a complete knowledge on the Qur'an and Sunnah. It does not matter if he is elected, appointed, or is a monarch, as long as he satisfies these conditions.

Classless society: As much as the Qur'an makes it absolutely clear that a slave and his master are equal, the classless society concept is absent. Now this may seem contradictory, but it is clear: Rich, middle class, poor, and slaves (slavery continues even to this day, in the form of sexual slavery... 1 million sex slaves are imported/exported to/from North America alone annually) exist. Now, the only way a classless society can exist is with the abolishment of money, ie, a resource based economy, a concept (of the Venus project) I support, but realise it will not be implemented in my liftime if at all. Instead, what does the Qur'an have as a solution for these problems? Zakat (charity), and freeing slaves. The Qur'an makes it clear that freeing a slave is one of the greatest acts one can perform.

Marx's theory of history:

Primitive Communism: as seen in cooperative tribal societies.

Slave Society: which develops when the tribe becomes a city-state. Aristocracy is born.

Feudalism: aristocracy is the ruling class. Merchants develop into capitalists.

Capitalism: capitalists are the ruling class, who create and employ the true working class.

Socialism ("Dictatorship of the proletariat"): workers gain class consciousness, overthrow the capitalists and take control over the state.

Communism: a classless and stateless society.

Islamic view:

"Prophethood will remain amongst you for as long as Allah wills, then Allah will remove it. Then, there will be hereditary authority (ie, Kingship), which will remain as long as Allah wills, then Allah will remove it. Then, there will be forced authority (dictatorship - personally, I view democracy as a dictatorship in which you have to chose the lesser of the two evils) which will remain as long as Allah wills, then he will remove it.

Then, the rightly guided Khilaafah upon the path of the prophet Muhammed will return.

(Related by Imaam Ahmad, upon the authority of Hudayfah)

Well, that's my two cents.

[conscienta]

Brotherinfaith: As in, can a person, who is Muslim, also work towards Socialism, be it reformist or revolutionary(mainly revolutionary here)?


I caught wind of a Muslim Trotskyist, and that's what got me to post this.


Zafran: Thank you for clarifying. Thought that would be a problem, but wasn't quite sure...

The Khan: Thank you so much for explaining. That was helpful!