Safeguarding Wealth as a Maqasid of Shariah: A Principled, Jurisprudential, and Socio-Legal Analysis of Quranic Directives

حفاظتِ مال بطور مقصدِ شریعت: قرآنی احکام کا اصولی، فقہی اور معاشرتی تناظر میں تجزیاتی مطالعہ

Abstract

Allah Almighty has settled humans in this universe and has also provided them with everything. He has placed all the equipment to fulfill their needs. He has given them authority over the treasures of the earth. Just as Allah Almighty has given all these wealth and resources to man and has given him complete authority to use them, he has also ordered to protect them in a proper manner. He has issued various teachings and instructions for this. When Allah Almighty has made man the owner of all these treasures, then of course man is responsible for protecting all of them. Wasting wealth and resources and not protecting them has been declared a great crime. It is not that man has been given it and then he should use it as he wants. Rather, Allah Almighty has also asked man about where he spent the wealth. And whoever spends wealth on frivolous, meaningless and meaningless things or spends more than necessary, he will have to answer for it before Allah. And spending wealth in this way is wasting it. It is against its protection. Allah Almighty has called wasting wealth wastefully a satanic act and has declared those who do so to be brothers of Satan. He said: “Everything on earth is for you, but whoever wastes it wastefully and does not care about its protection is the brother of Satan.” And indeed, severity has been shown for him. Issuing such a strict order to prevent wealth from being wasted also explains the importance of wealth. And this makes the status of protecting wealth in Islam clear and it can be well understood that protecting wealth is a must in Islam.