The masses of the Islamic ummah are suffering, and it is the duty of every Muslim to work to uplift the less fortunate members of our community from their poverty, illiteracy, and deprivation.

To realize this goal, we must establish an Islamic economic system and Medina is the example.

For a brief time, when Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) was the ruler of that city, poverty was eradicated in Medina. Muslims who lived there had to travel to neighboring towns and villages to pay zakat, the Muslim alms tax, since there was no one in Medina whose standard of living was below the poverty line.

How did they do it? Well, they put the tenets of the Holy Quran into practice. They acted upon the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). They shared. They cared about their neighbors. They worked together to establish an ideal Islamic economic system.

Islam calls for a mixed economy. The Islamic economic system is neither capitalist nor socialist, but has elements of both, hence it is a mixed economic system. However, there is no consensus on whether it should lean more toward socialism or more toward capitalism.

Yet, the fact that it is a mixed economy means that it can better provide for the poor.

In socialism and communism, the state is tasked with raising the standard of living of the poor and the individual’s role is not emphasized. In capitalism, the main responsibility for uplifting the poor is placed on the shoulders of the individual members of society, with the government playing a less important role and sometimes not helping at all.

The Islamic economic system provides a better social safety net because both the state and individuals are called upon to raise people out of poverty.

According to Islam, individual Muslims are the first line of defense in the war on poverty. Family members, friends, and neighbors are required to assist the poorer members of the community. When that is not possible, the government must do all it can to boost the economic status of the poor by working to create employment or providing financial and material assistance to the needy from the bait-al–mal (public treasury).

Unfortunately, this ideal is not being put into practice by any Islamic country.

The Holy Quran places great emphasis on the need to provide for orphans and the destitute, but it seems that we have all fallen short in our duty to the poor.

Surah 107 of the Holy Quran, Al Maun (The Daily Necessaries), warns those who withhold the necessaries of life and says that those who do not believe in the Judgment Day treat the orphans with harshness and do not urge others to feed the poor.

When will we listen and learn?

Of course, we will not be able to establish an economic system like Medina had at the advent of Islam because they had Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and we don’t.

Medina, Madinat an-Nabi, the City of the Prophet, was the city par excellence.

We will only be able to reestablish the ideal Islamic economic system when we have an ideal Islamic state, which will not happen until Imam Mahdi (peace be upon him) appears to establish his Islamic state.

However, in the mean time, we should work to establish an economic system that is at least somewhat in line with the tenets of Islam before Imam Mahdi (PBUH) appears and the time is ripe for the reestablishment of the ideal Islamic economic system.

If we believe in Islam and have compassion for our fellow human beings, we must work hard to implement some kind of Medina economics.