Islam allows individual ownership, but has determined the manner of ownership. It has permitted the individual to freely dispose of what He or she owns, but it has also determined the manner of disposal. Islam has taken into account the disparity in the physical and mental abilities among the humans; therefore it has made provision to help the weak and the needy, by commanding the wealthy to give to the poor and needy. Islam has also made the utilities, which are in their nature indispensable to the community, a public property for all Muslims, and has forbidden any person from privately owning or protecting for himself or for others such utilities. It has also delegated the responsibility of providing the wealth, either as commodities or as services, to the State, and it has also permitted the State to exclusively acquire certain properties.

Islam has therefore guaranteed the livelihood for each citizen of the State, and ensured that the community does not fragment but rather remains cohesive. Islam has also protected the interests of the individuals and guaranteed the management of the community affairs, and the preserving of the entity of the State, which has been delegated with the necessary mandatory powers to carry out her economic responsibilities. This, however, could only be achievable if the society maintained a pattern which enables the wealth to reach each individual within the society, and if in turn the individuals within the society were collectively adherent to all of the Shari’ah rules. However, if the society were based on flagrant disparities, as is the case nowadays in the Islamic world, then a balance through a new process of distribution must be struck between the citizens in order to bring about a rapprochement in the provision of basic needs.

Furthermore, if people’s minds were to suffer deviation in the implementation of the Shari’ah rules, due to misconception, or an incidental corruption; or if the State were to neglect its duties or abuse its powers, then they would go astray and society would deviate from the right course. This would lead to egoism, selfishness and mismanagement of the individual ownership, and it would in turn lead to the maldistribution of wealth among people. That is why a balance between individuals must be maintained, and were it to be lacking, it must then be generated.

Two matters could lead to the maldistribution of wealth among people. The first would be to allow the circulation of wealth exclusively among the rich; and the second would be to deprive people from that wealth, and to prevent them from acquiring the means of circulation of that wealth. Islam has solved these two matters by decreeing a host of Shari’ah rules designed to ensure that the wealth is circulated among all people with no exception. Islam has also decreed some Shari’ah rules which prevent the hoarding of gold and silver, for they represent the means of exchange, and which ensure their circulation within the society among all individuals. This would redress the corrupted society, and the deviated or the society likely to deviate and it would aim at providing the wealth to all the citizens, one by one until each individual has his basic needs fully satisfied, and each individual has been enabled to acquire as much of the luxuries as He can.