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Chapter 2
Foundation of the Islamic Economic Paradigm
Implications of the Agent-Trustee Relationship

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Faculties such as áql (intelligence of the heart), human dignity, walayahh and fitrah (the primordial nature of humankind), gifted to humankind by their Creator, were to be employed in cognition, remembrance, and fidelity to the primordial covenant (mithaq). The crucial importance of fidelity to this covenant drives the necessity of remaining faithful to all covenants, contracts, and promises, as long as they are permissible, which often is emphasized in the Quran (e.g., 5:1). The commitment to remain faithful to the terms and conditions of the primordial covenant (to bear witness to Divine Existence and His Unity), equipped with the gifts of their Creator (the resources of the earth), humans were then assigned the role of trustee-agent (khalifah, or viceroy) of the Divine on earth (Quran 2:30). This mission consisted of, inter alia, developing the earth (Quran 11:61); establishing social justice through the exercise of love toward their kind and the rest of creation, as a reflection of the love of the Creator; and removing the obstacles from the path of others of their kind toward Allah (swt) (i.e., their passage from the darkness of personality traits unworthy of the human state toward the light of nearness to their Creator). Once again, it is the compliance with the rules of behavior prescribed by the Creator that makes treading the path feasible.

This agent-trustee position is a divine trust that is bestowed on humans. It is by virtue of this trust and the responsibilities associated with it that humans have been invested with domination over what has been created for them. Many verses in the Quran affirm this subjugation of resources to humans. The entire human population has the collective responsibility to ensure that every human being has the opportunity to tap his or her dormant potentialities and possibilities and convert them to actualities. This collective view of humans evokes the matter of unity of humankind, which in turn reflects the recognition of Allah's (swt) Oneness and Unity, that is, Tawheed. The link between responsible living in this world and accountability in the next provides a means for an infinite planning horizon for human beings.

The agent-trustee office bestowed on humans requires the activation of the nonmaterial gifts from the Creator that empower humans to perform their responsibility of agent-trustee. To this end, a self-cleansing and purification process is required. Believing in Islam is not a sterile, static, superficial, and passive verbal-physical expression and pretension to Islamicity. A process instituted by the Creator serves to energize the ascending movement and progress of the self toward its perfection.

Introduction to Islamic Economics

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