Tofauti na mtazamo wa sasa wa dunia unaoendelezwa na Ulimwengu wa Kibepari wa Magharibi, Uislamu unaona kuwa tatizo kuu la kiuchumi ambalo wanadamu watawahi kukabiliana nalo ni la ugawaji wa mali, si la uzalishaji. Kwa mtazamo wa Ulimwengu wa Kibepari wa Magharibi, kuna uhaba wa jamaa wa rasilimali zilizopo duniani, na mahitaji ya watu juu ya rasilimali hizi hayana mwisho. Kwa hiyo kila taifa, na kwa kweli dunia nzima, inapaswa kujikita zaidi na zaidi katika uzalishaji. Kadiri kiasi cha mali kinachozalishwa kinavyoongezeka, ndivyo idadi ya watu watakaotosheleza mahitaji yao kupitia shughuli za kiuchumi inavyoongezeka, au ndivyo nadharia inavyosema.

Unlike the current world view as pushed by the Capitalist West, Islam considers that the main economic problem that mankind will ever have is that of distribution of wealth and not of production. In the eyes of the Capitalist West, there is relative scarcity of resources available in the world, and people’s demands for these resources are endless. Hence each nation and in fact, the world, should concentrate on more and more production. The higher the amount of wealth produced, the higher the number of people that will satisfy their demands through the process of economic activity, or so the theory goes.

Uislamu unatofautisha kati ya mahitaji ya msingi, ambayo ni pamoja na chakula, mavazi na makazi, na matamanio ya anasa, ambayo ni pamoja na yote yale ambayo si mahitaji ya lazima maishani. Unaona kwamba kuna rasilimali za kutosha kukidhi mahitaji ya msingi ya watu wote wakati wote na kukidhi baadhi ya matamanio ya anasa ya watu, na kwamba tatizo la kiuchumi ni la ugawaji sahihi wa mali na si kuongeza uzalishaji pekee. Kuna rasilimali za kutosha kulisha, kuvisha na kuwapa makazi watu wote duniani kikamilifu, kama inavyoonekana kwa milima ya chakula ya Ulaya na ziada ya matajiri wachache katika kila nchi, ikiwa ni pamoja na nchi za Ulimwengu wa Tatu. Kwa kuzingatia falsafa yao ya Ubepari ya kuongeza faida, tunaona serikali zikiwalipa wakulima wazalishe kidogo, kama ilivyo katika nchi za Jumuiya ya Ulaya, au hata kuharibu kilichokwisha zalishwa, kama ilivyotokea katika Amerika ya Kusini maskini ambako huko nyuma kiasi kikubwa cha kahawa kilichomwa moto ili kudumisha kiwango fulani cha bei. Mali nyingi zaidi huondoka katika nchi maskini za Afrika kuelekea Magharibi tajiri kuliko kinyume chake, kutokana na mikataba ya kiuchumi isiyo ya haki. Hata wakati wa kilele cha janga la njaa la Ethiopia mwishoni mwa miaka ya themanini, nchi hiyo ilikuwa ikisafirisha nje rasilimali zenye thamani ya mamilioni ya dola kwenda Magharibi. Allah (SWT) anasema katika Qur'ani,

Islam distinguishes between basic needs which include food, clothing and shelter, and luxurious wants which include all those things that are not necessities in life. It views that there are enough resources to satisfy the basic needs of all people all the time and to satisfy some of the luxurious wants of people, and that the economic problem is that of correct distribution of wealth and not merely involving increasing of production. There are enough resources to feed, clothe and house everybody in the world fully as can be seen by the food mountains of Europe and the excesses of the few rich in each country, including the Third World countries. In accordance with their Capitalist philosophy of maximising profit, we find governments paying farmers to produce less as in the EC countries, or even to destroy what has already been produced as happened in poor Latin America where in the past a huge amount of coffee was burnt to maintain a certain price level. Far more wealth leaves the poor countries of Africa for the rich west than vice versa due to unjust economic deals. Even at the height of the Ethiopian famine crisis in the late eighties, the country was exporting millions of dollars worth of resources to the West. Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an,.

“Ni Allah aliyeumba mbingu na ardhi, akateremsha maji kutoka mbinguni, kwa hayo akatoa matunda kuwa riziki yenu. Na amekutiishieni jahazi lipite baharini kwa amri yake; na amekutiishieni mito, na amekutiishieni jua na mwezi vinavyoendelea katika njia zao, na amekutiishieni usiku na mchana, na amekupeni katika kila kitu mlichomwomba. Mkihesabu neema za Allah, hamtaweza kuzihesabu; hakika mwanadamu ni mwenye dhulma, mwenye kukufuru.” [TMQ 14:32-34]. Katika aya nyingine Yeye anasema,.

“It is Allah who created the heavens and the earth, and sent down from heaven water wherewith He brought forth fruits to be your sustenance. And He subjected to you the sea at His commandment; and He subjected to you the rivers and He subjected to you the sun and the moon constant upon their courses, and He subjected to you the night and the day, and gave you of all that you asked Him. If you count Allah’s bounty, you will never number it; surely man is sinful, unthankful.” [TMQ 14:32-34]. In another ayat He says,.

Hakika Mola wako humkunjulia riziki amtakaye, na humbana (riziki yake). Kwa hakika Yeye ni Mjuzi na Mwenye kuona waja Wake.

“Verily, your Lord does provide sustenance in abundance for whom He pleases and He does straiten it, for He does know and regard all His creatures.” [TMQ 17:30].

Aya hizi, pamoja na nyingine nyingi, zinaonyesha kwamba Allah (swt) ameweka katika ulimwengu huu mahitaji yote na mambo yenye manufaa kwa binadamu, na ametoa rasilimali za kutosha kukidhi mahitaji ya kimwili ya binadamu.

These verses among many others show that Allah (swt) has pooled in this universe all the needs and beneficial things for man, and has provided sufficient resources to satisfy the material needs of man.

Katika Uislamu, kuna utofauti kati ya sayansi ya uchumi, ambayo inahusu njia za uzalishaji, na Mfumo wa Kiuchumi, ambao unahusika na tatizo la ugawaji wa mali, yaani kanuni zinazoeleza jinsi mali inavyoweza kupatikana, kuwekezwa, kutumiwa na kutolewa. Ni kupitia Mfumo wa Kiuchumi ulio mahsusi kwa Uislamu ndipo mali inagawanywa kwa haki, wakati sayansi ya uchumi si mahsusi kwa Uislamu kama hivyo, bali inaweza kupatikana kutoka itikadi nyingine yoyote au kuendelezwa kadiri itakavyoonekana inafaa.

In Islam, a distinction is made between economic science, which is to do with the means of production, and the Economic System which is concerned with the problem of distribution of wealth, namely the rules by which wealth can be acquired, invested, used and disposed of. It is through the Economic System that is specific to Islam that wealth is distributed equitably, while economic science is not particularly specific to Islam as such but can be acquired from any other ideology or developed as seen fit.