Viongozi wakuu wa dunia wanakiri ukweli kwamba mdororo mkubwa wa kiuchumi unaikumba dunia nzima, na wanasayansi wengi wa uchumi na wanasiasa wengi wanataja misingi mikuu ya mfumo wa kiuchumi wa ubepari kuwa chanzo kikuu cha tatizo hilo. Viongozi wa G8 katika mkutano wao nchini Italia mwezi Julai 2009 walisema katika Tamko la Viongozi wa G8: Uongozi Wenye Uwajibikaji kwa Mustakabali Endelevu: “Tunaendelea kuelekeza fikra zetu kwenye mgogoro wa kiuchumi na kifedha pamoja na madhara yake kwa binadamu na kijamii.” Mgogoro huu uliwasukuma wasomi kama Francis Fukayama kupiga kengele ya tahadhari dhidi ya ubepari na demokrasia. Aliandika katika makala yake “The Fall of America, Inc.”:

Top leaders of the world acknowledge the fact that a deep economic depression is encompassing the entire world and scores of economists and politicians cite the core ideas of the economic system of capitalism as a root cause of the problem. The G8 leaders in their meeting in Italy in July 2009 stated in the G8 Leaders Declaration: Responsible Leadership for a Sustainable Future: “We remain focused on the economic and financial crisis and its human and social consequences” . This crisis prompted scholars like Francis Fukayama to blow the siren on capitalism and democracy. He wrote in his article “The Fall of America, Inc.” :

Pamoja na baadhi ya kampuni maarufu zaidi za Wall Street, dhana fulani ya ubepari imeanguka. Jinsi ya kurejesha imani katika chapa yetu. Kuporomoka kwa benki kuu za uwekezaji za Marekani zilizokuwa maarufu zaidi. Kutoweka kwa zaidi ya trilioni moja ya dola za utajiri wa soko la hisa kwa siku moja. Dola bilioni 700

Along with some of Wall Street’s most storied firms, a certain vision of capitalism has collapsed. How we restore faith in our brand. The implosion of America’s most storied investment banks. The vanishing of more than a trillion dollars in stock-market wealth in a day. A $700

bilioni nyingi za dola kwa walipa kodi wa Marekani. Ukubwa wa kuanguka kwa Wall Street hauwezi kuwa mkubwa zaidi. Hata hivyo, wakati Wamarekani wanauliza kwa nini wanalazimika kulipa kiasi hicho cha kushangaza ili kuzuia uchumi usiporomoke kabisa, wachache wanajadili gharama isiyoonekana lakini inayoweza kuwa kubwa zaidi kwa Marekani: uharibifu ambao mdororo wa kifedha unasababisha kwa chapa ya Amerika.

billion tab for U.S. taxpayers. The scale of the Wall Street crackup could scarcely be more gargantuan. Ye t even as Americans ask why they’re having to pay such mind-bending sums to prevent the economy from imploding, few are discussing a more intangible, yet potentially much greater cost to the United States—the damage that the financial meltdown is doing to America’s brand.

Profesa wa uchumi wa Chuo Kikuu cha Massachusetts, Richard Wolff, anachambua vyanzo vikuu vya mgogoro wa kiuchumi wa leo, akionyesha jinsi unavyoakisi kushindwa kwa kina ndani ya miundo yenyewe ya mfumo wa ubepari wa Kimarekani. Profesa Wolff anatangaza kwamba mgogoro wa sasa ndio mgogoro mkubwa zaidi wa ubepari katika maisha yake. Anapendekeza kwamba mabadiliko ya msingi zaidi yanahitajika ili kuepuka misiba ya siku zijazo.

University of Massachusetts economics professor Richard Wolff breaks down the root causes of today’s economic crisis, showing how it reflects seismic failures within the structures of American style of capitalism itself . Professor Wolff declares that the current crisis is the greatest crisis of capitalism in his lifetime. He suggests that more fundamental changes need to be made to avoid future catastrophes.

Mgogoro wa sasa wa kiuchumi na wingi wa kukosolewa kunakoelekezwa kwa ubepari unaashiria mwelekeo mmoja muhimu katika historia ya kisasa ya mifumo na itikadi; huo ni kuanguka kwa ubepari.

The current economic crisis and the score of criticisms targeted at capitalism point to one important trend in the contemporary history of systems and ideologies; that is the downfall of capitalism.

Mtindo mwingine ambao unavutia umakini wa wasomi pamoja na wanasiasa ni ule unaohusiana na kuibuka kwa Uislamu wa kisiasa na harakati za kurejesha muundo wa Kiislamu wa utawala na uchumi katika eneo pana la dunia. Rejeo lililo wazi zaidi kwa mwelekeo huu linatolewa na Noah Feldman katika kitabu chake The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State. Feldman anasema kwamba dola ya Kiislamu iliyoanguka mwaka 1924 inarejea sasa

Yet another trend which captures the attention of scholars as well as politicians is the one related to the rise of political Islam and the quest for the reestablishment of an Islamic model of governance and economy in a large geographic span of the world. The most explicit reference to this trend is made by Noah Feldman in his book The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State . Feldman argues that the Islamic state which fell in 1924 is being 4

Hiyo imejengwa upya leo. Yeye anasema:

reconstructed today. He states:

Kwa maana ya kiishara na ya vitendo, Dola ya Kiislamu ilikufa mwaka 1924. Hata hivyo, leo Dola ya Kiislamu inarejea tena . . . Upepo uko upande wao. Katika nchi za Kiislamu zinazoenea kuanzia Morocco hadi Indonesia, wengi mno wanasema kwamba Shari'ah inapaswa kuwa chanzo cha sheria za nchi zao. (Feldman, pp. 2)

In both symbolic and practical terms, the Islamic State died in 1924. Ye t today, the Islamic State rides again . . . The trend is with them. In Muslim countries running the geographical span from Morocco to Indonesia, substantial majorities say that the Shari’ah should be the source of law for their states. (Feldman, pp. 2)

Maelezo mengine kuhusu mwelekeo wa "kuongezeka kwa Uislamu" yanaonekana katika makala ya hivi karibuni iliyochapishwa na Patrick Buchanan katika jarida la mtandaoni la Townhall.com chini ya kichwa "An Idea Whose Time Has Come"5. Pat Buchanan aliandika:

Another account of the “rising Islam” trend is depicted in a recent article published by Patrick Buchanan in the Townhall.com online magazine under the title “An Idea Whose Time Has Come”5. Pat Buchanan wrote:

Lakini leo hii, mamia ya mamilioni ya Waislamu wanaonekana kuwa wanarejea katika mizizi yao ya Uislamu safi zaidi. Hakika, kudumu kwa imani ya Kiislamu ni jambo la kushangaza. Uislamu ulinusurika karne mbili za kushindwa na kudhalilishwa kwa Dola ya Ottoman na kufutwa kwa ukhalifa na Ataturk. Ulidumu kwa vizazi vingi vya utawala wa Magharibi. Ulidumu zaidi ya watawala wa kifalme waliounga mkono Magharibi huko Misri, Iraq, Libya, Ethiopia na Iran.

But today, tens of millions of Muslims appear to be . . . returning to their roots in a more pure Islam. Indeed, the endurance of the Islamic faith is astonishing. Islam survived two centuries of defeats and humiliations of the Ottoman Empire and Ataturk’s abolition of the caliphate. It endured generations of Western rule. It outlasted the pro-Western monarchs in Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Ethiopia and Iran.

Uislamu umeweza kwa urahisi kuzuia ukomunisti, ulinusurika kushindwa vibaya kwa Unasserism mwaka 1967, na umethibitisha kudumu zaidi kuliko utaifa wa Arafat au Saddam. Sasa, unapinga nguvu kubwa ya mwisho duniani.

Islam easily fended off communism, survived the rout of Nasserism in 1967 and has proven more enduring than the nationalism of Arafat or Saddam. Now, it is resisting the world’s last superpower.

Machapisho yaliyochapishwa kuhusu mojawapo ya masuala haya mawili—kuanguka kwa ubepari au kuinuka kwa Uislamu—ni mengi sana. Lakini jambo lisilo la kawaida katika maandiko ni kuona masuala yote mawili yakijadiliwa katika jukwaa moja. Hivi karibuni, "kuanguka kwa ubepari na kuinuka kwa Uislamu" ndicho kilichokuwa kichwa cha mkutano uliofanyika katika eneo la Chicago. Mkutano huo ulizua athari mchanganyiko, kutoka jamii za Waislamu na zisizo Waislamu. Inavutia kutambua kwamba pale kila upande wa mada unapojadiliwa peke yake, mwitikio huwa mdogo sana ikilinganishwa na pale masuala yote mawili yanaposhughulikiwa kwa pamoja. Mchanganyiko wa mada hizi mbili huchochea makala nyingi za mtandaoni, machapisho ya Twitter, tovuti na maoni ya vyombo vya habari. Ni mchanganyiko huu ndio utakaokuwa mada ya kitabu hiki.

The published material on either of the issues—the fall of capitalism or the rise of Islam—is notably large. What is not common in the literature is to have both issues discussed in the realm of the same platform. Recently, the “fall of capitalism and the rise of Islam” was a title of a conference convened in the Chicago area. The conference generated mixed reactions from both Muslim and non-Muslim communities. It is interesting to note that when each dimension of the subject is discussed separately, the reaction is far less dramatic than when both issues are addressed simultaneously. The combination of both topics provokes scores of Blogs, Twitters, sites, and media commentaries. It is this combination which will be the subject of this book.

Pia si kawaida kwa Waislamu kushiriki katika mjadala wa kisiasa kuhusu hatima ya ubepari. Wanafunzi wa sayansi ya siasa, historia, theolojia, na harakati za kimataifa wamezoea kusoma simulizi za wanajamaa, wakomunisti, wasomi, na wanasiasa wa vituo vya fikra kuhusu hali ngumu ya ubepari. Lakini ni nadra kuwaona Waislamu wakilizungumzia suala hili kwa mtazamo wa Kiislamu. Kitabu hiki kitatoa simulizi kuhusu ubepari kutoka mtazamo wa Mwislamu na mtazamo wa Uislamu.

It is also uncommon for Muslims to be involved in the political discussion on the fate of capitalism. Students of political science, history, theology, and global movements are accustomed to reading the accounts of socialists, communists, academics, and think tank politicians on the plight of capitalism. But rarely we find Muslims addressing this issue from an Islamic perspective. This book will provide an account of capitalism from the perspective of a Muslim and the viewpoint of Islam.

Mgogoro wa hivi karibuni wa ulimwengu wa kiuchumi wa kibepari ulisababisha uchunguzi kadhaa kuhusu njia mbadala za kiuchumi za Kiislamu. Lakini wachunguzi hao wanaendelea kufanya utafiti kwa lengo la kutafuta suluhisho la muda kwa uchumi uliodhoofika, badala ya kutafuta mfumo kamili wa kiuchumi wenye misingi na miundo tofauti na ile inayoonyeshwa na ubepari na ujamaa. Lengo moja la chapisho hili ni kuwasilisha mtazamo kamili wa Uislamu kama itikadi inayojumuisha mfumo wa kiuchumi, kisiasa na kijamii, pamoja na mfumo wa maadili na kanuni za kimaadili, yote yakiambatana na kujaza roho ya mwanadamu kiroho.

The most recent crisis of the capitalist economic world did provoke several inquiries into the Islamic economic alternatives. But those inquirers continue to be made in search of temporary fixes for an ailing economy instead of looking for a comprehensive economic system with different foundation and structures than those exhibited by capitalism and socialism. One objective of this publication is to present a comprehensive view of Islam as an ideology which comprises economic, political, and social system as well as a system of values and ethics, all coupled with a spiritual filling of the human soul.

Kitabu hiki si matokeo ya "mgongano wa ustaarabu" kama alivyotabiri Samuel Huntington. Badala yake, ni maelezo ya mwelekeo unaoendelea katika uwanja wa kimataifa; angalia Kielelezo 1. Upande mmoja, itikadi za utaifa, ujamaa, na ubepari either zimefifia au zinaendelea kufifia. Upande mwingine, misingi ya kuzaliwa upya kwa dola ya Kiislamu inayotawaliwa na Shari'ah ya Uislamu inaendelea kuimarika.

This book is not an outgrowth of the “clash of civilizations” as prophesied by Samuel Huntington . Rather, it is a depiction of an ongoing trend in the global arena; see figure 1. On one side, the ideologies of nationalism, socialism, and capitalism either have faded or are still fading. On the other side, the grounds for the rebirth of an Islamic state governed by the Shari’ah of Islam continue to strengthen.

Mgogoro wa kifedha si jambo jipya katika ulimwengu wa ubepari. Marekani na Ulaya zimepitia mdororo kadhaa wa uchumi na/au kuporomoka kwa uchumi katika karne iliyopita ya miaka mia moja. Tofauti na migogoro na misukosuko yote ya zamani, wakati huu mgogoro wa kifedha umeibua wasiwasi mkubwa kuhusu hali mbaya ya ubepari, miundombinu ya msingi ya mfumo wa sasa wa kifedha na kiuchumi. Masoko ya hisa na bidhaa yalipofikia kiwango cha chini kabisa mwaka 2008, ubepari ulionekana kuwa mgonjwa mahututi. Historia inaweza kushangaza kiasi gani, Dola ya Kiislamu ya Uthmaniyya ilionekana kuwa mgonjwa wa dunia mwishoni mwa karne ya kumi na tisa; wakati huo, ubepari ulikuwa ukiibuka kama mfumo wenye afya na wa kupendeza. Leo, baada ya karne ndefu ya mafanikio, ubepari unakuwa mgonjwa wa dunia; Uislamu, sasa, unaibuka kama mfumo wenye afya na wa kupendeza.

The financial crisis is not a new phenomenon in the world of capitalism. The United States and Europe have gone through several recessions and/ or depressions for the last hundred years. Unlike all crisis and turmoil of the past, this time around, the financial crisis raised serious concern about the plight of capitalism, the backbone infrastructure of the current financial and economic system. When stock and commodity markets hit rock bottom in 2008, capitalism was viewed as seriously sick. As astonishing as history could be, the Islamic Ottoman State was viewed as the sick man of the world in the late nineteenth century; then, capitalism was emerging as the healthy splendid one. Today and after a long century of success, capitalism is becoming the sick man of the world; Islam, now, is emerging as the healthy and splendid one.

Gazeti la Financial Times lilichapisha mfululizo wa makala uliopewa kichwa "Mustakabali wa Ubepari." Wanauchumi, wanasiasa na wanafalsafa waliona Mdororo Mkubwa wa Uchumi wa 2007-09 kama kipindi cha mabadiliko makubwa ya kihistoria, nao wakatoa maono mapya ya ubepari uliobadilika. Mchambuzi mkuu wa masuala ya uchumi wa gazeti la London Financial Times, Martin Wolf, anafikia hitimisho lifuatalo katika makala yake "Mgogoro Huu ni Wakati, lakini Je, ni Wa Kufafanua?":

The Financial Times ran a series of articles titled “The Future of Capitalism.” Economists, politicians, and philosophers saw the Great Recession of 2007-09 as a historic watershed and produced new visions of a changed capitalism. Chief economics commentator at the London Financial Times Martin Wolf makes the following conclusion in his article “This Crisis Is a Moment, but Is It a Defining One?” :

Nadhani mgogoro huu uliharakisha baadhi ya mienendo na kuthibitisha kwamba mingine haiwezi kudumu. Umeharibu sifa ya uchumi kama taaluma. Utaacha urithi chungu kwa dunia. Lakini huenda usiwe mstari wa kihistoria unaogawanya zama. Kwa kubadilisha maneno ya watu walivyosema walipofariki wafalme: "ubepari umekufa; ubepari uishi milele."

Imekuwa desturi kwa wanauchumi, wanasiasa, na wanafikra kudai kwamba sifa kama tamaa na woga ndizo zilizosababisha mgogoro wa sasa wa kifedha na kudorora kwa uchumi. Kwa kiwango kipana zaidi, wanafikra na wanasiasa mashuhuri huweka mgogoro wa kimaadili nyuma ya kushindwa kwa kiwango kikubwa zaidi. Zbigniew Brzezinski, aliyekuwa mshauri wa usalama wa taifa katika utawala wa Carter, anaonya kwamba Marekani imepoteza dira ya kimaadili ambayo ni muhimu kwa Marekani kudumisha uongozi wake duniani. Kwa maneno yake mwenyewe Brzezinski, "Hadhi ya kimaadili ya Amerika imechafuka . . . kukosekana kwa imani za kimaadili kunaacha fursa za udanganyifu wa kisiasa unaotumia migogoro ya ghafla na hofu mpya"11.

It has become customary for economists, politicians, and thinkers to claim that traits such as greed and fear were behind the current financial crisis and economic downturn. In a more general case, prominent thinkers and politicians put the moral crisis behind failure at a larger scale. Zbigniew Brzezinski, the former national security advisor in the Carter administration, warns that the United States has lost the moral compass which is necessary for the United States to sustain its world leadership. In Brzezinski’s own words, “The moral standing of America has been tarnished . . . the absence of moral convictions leaves opportunities for demagogy that exploits sudden crises and new fears”11.

Jimmy Carter anazungumzia mgogoro wa kimaadili unaozidi kuongezeka nchini Marekani katika kitabu chake “Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis”12. Mada yake imefupishwa katika maneno yafuatayo: “Mabadiliko yanayotokea sasa katika misingi yetu ya kimaadili, mijadala ya umma, na falsafa ya kisiasa ni makubwa na ya kina.” Wanauchumi, wanasiasa, na wachambuzi wengi walihusisha mgogoro wa sasa wa kifedha na kudorora kwa uchumi na ukosefu wa maadili na miiko ya kimaadili sokoni. Kulingana na Barack Obama, “tulisamehe na hata kukumbatia maadili ya uchoyo . . . tulihimiza mazingira ya mshindi-achukue-yote, lolote linaruhusiwa”13. Mgombea urais wa chama cha GOP, John McCain, alisema mgogoro wa kifedha ulisababishwa na “uchoyo, rushwa, na ziada . . . huku Wall Street ikiutendea uchumi wa Marekani kama kasino”14. George Bush alitaja uchoyo wa mashirika na ziada za soko alipodai kuwa “Wall Street ililewa”15. Ralph Nader anasema alitabiri mgogoro wa sasa wa Wall Street, ambao anaamini ulisababishwa na “uchoyo mtupu”25. Akitafakari matukio yanayojiri Wall Street, mwandishi wa CNN alitoa kauli isiyo ya kawaida kwa uwazi: “Masoko yanaendeshwa na mambo mawili: hofu na uchoyo.” Oskari Juurikkala, mtafiti wa Taasisi ya Sheria ya Kiuchumi ya Kimataifa nchini Finland, aliandika “Greed Hurts: Causes of the Global Financial Crisis”16. Oskari anasema kuwa mgogoro wa sasa wa kiuchumi unathibitisha kwamba “uchoyo ni uovu,” akirejelea ukweli kwamba uchoyo ni moja ya sababu kuu za mgogoro wa sasa. John Steele Gordon, mwandishi aliyebobea katika historia ya fedha na biashara na mwandishi wa An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power, anataja uchoyo, ujinga, na udanganyifu kama mambo makuu katika mgogoro wa sasa wa kifedha17.

Je, Uislamu unawezaje kuwa mbadala wa ubepari? Uislamu unachunguzwa kwa uwezo gani? Je, Uislamu si dini tu kama Ukristo na Uyahudi? "Kuinuka" tunakozungumzia ni aina gani ya kuinuka ikiwa Uislamu umekuwepo nasi kwa miaka elfu moja mia nne iliyopita? Maswali haya na mengine mengi yatashughulikiwa katika kitabu hiki sehemu ya pili. Lakini kabla ya kufanya hivyo, tuone jinsi Uislamu ulivyotajwa moja kwa moja na kuingizwa katika picha tangu mgogoro wa kifedha ulipoanza kuenea duniani kote. Katika ripoti, mijadala na majukwaa mengi, mbinu za kifedha za Kiislamu zimetajwa kuwa thabiti zaidi na zisizoathiriwa zaidi katika mgogoro huu wa sasa.

How could Islam be an alternative to capitalism? In what capacity is Islam being investigated? Isn’t Islam just another religion like Christianity and Judaism? What type of “rise” are we talking about if Islam has been with us for the past fourteen hundred years? These and many more questions will be addressed in this book in part 2. But before we do so, let’s see how Islam has been directly tagged and brought into the picture since the financial crisis began to sweep the world over. In so many reports, discussions, and forums, the Islamic financial practices have been cited as the most stable and immune in the current crisis.

Labda kazi ya Charles Tripp *Islam and the Moral Economy: The Challenge of Capitalism* ndiyo inayohusiana zaidi katika suala hili, kwa kuwa inaweka Uislamu katika upinzani wa moja kwa moja dhidi ya ubepari. Hoja yake ni kwamba ubepari umeathiri sana mwenendo wa Waislamu katika miongo michache iliyopita. Leo, mwelekeo ni kinyume: Uislamu unatafutwa ili kurekebisha mazoea katika ulimwengu wa ubepari. Sifa za ndani za Uislamu zitachunguzwa ili kuona kwa nini na jinsi Uislamu unaweza kupingana na ubepari.

Perhaps the work of Charles Tripp Islam and the Moral Economy: The Challenge of Capitalism is the most relevant in this respect, since he places Islam in a direct contrast with capitalism26. His argument is that capitalism has greatly influenced the Muslims’ behavior in the past few decades. Today, the trend is in the opposite direction. Islam is sought to modify practices in the world of capitalism. The intrinsic properties of Islam will be explored to see why and how Islam can contrast capitalism.

Katika makala iliyochapishwa na gazeti la New York Times tarehe 24 Desemba 2008, James Joyner anaripoti kwamba mdororo wa kifedha duniani umekuwa neema kwa benki za Kiislamu, ambazo ziliepuka sehemu kubwa ya athari za mgogoro wa rehani za kiwango cha chini (subprime) kwa kufuata kanuni kali zilizowekwa katika Qur'ani. Waziri wa fedha wa Ufaransa, Christine Lagarde, ameahidi kufanya marekebisho katika silaha za kanuni na sheria ili kuiwezesha Paris kuwa soko kubwa la fedha za Kiislamu; alisema, "Wafadhili wa Kimagharibi wangeweza kujifunza jambo au mawili kutoka ulimwengu wa Kiislamu wakati viongozi wa dunia wanajaribu kuweka kanuni mpya za mfumo wa fedha wa kimataifa, zilizojengwa juu ya uwazi, uwajibikaji na kiasi."27 Naibu katibu wa hazina wa Marekani, Robert M. Kimmit, wakati wa ziara yake Jeddah nchini Saudi Arabia, alinukuliwa akisema kwamba wataalamu wa wakala wake wamekuwa wakijifunza sifa za benki za Kiislamu.28 Uislamu unazidi kuchukuliwa kuwa suluhisho badala ya tatizo. Majed al-Refaie, mkuu wa Benki ya Uwekezaji ya Unicorn yenye makao yake Bahrain, anaeleza sababu ya mabadiliko haya: "Uzuri wa benki za Kiislamu, na sababu inavyoweza kutumika badala ya soko la sasa, ni kwamba unaahidi tu kile unachomiliki."28 Ingawa hii ni maelezo rahisi mno kwa jambo la kuongezeka kwa Uislamu, linaonyesha mwelekeo wa mwenendo mpya.