CHAPTER 7
ACQUISITION AND DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY

Acquisition of individual property

Property may be acquired in three ways, by earning (iktiṣab), by inheritance (warāthah) and by gift (ḥibah). Of these, inheritance, on account of its importance, is dealt with in a separate chapter. Acquisition of property by the individual, whether male or female, is recognized by Islām as one of the basic laws regulating human society: “For men is the benefit of what they earn. And for women is the benefit of what they earn” (4:32). Both sexes have also an equal right to inheritance of property: “For men is a share of what the parents and the near relatives leave, and for women a share of what the parents and the near relatives leave” (4:7). No limitation is placed upon the property or wealth which an individual may acquire or give away. The Holy Qur’ān speaks even of heaps of gold being in the possession of a man which he may give away to a woman as her dowry: “And (if) you have given one of them a heap of gold, take nothing from it” (4 :20). Islām is thus opposed to Communism, which recognizes no individual right of property; but it is at the same time socialistic in its tendencies, inasmuch as it tries to bring about a more or less equal distribution of wealth.

Unlawful means of acquiring wealth

All unlawful means of acquiring property are denounced: “O you who believe, devour not your property among yourselves by illegal methods except that it be trading by your mutual consent” (4:29); “And swallow not up your property among yourselves by false means, nor seek to gain access thereby to the judges, so that you may swallow up a part of the property of men wrongfully while you know” (2:188). The latter verse alludes to bribery. Dacoity and theft are spoken of elsewhere as punishable crimes (5:33, 38). Misappropriation is forbidden: “Allāh commands you to make over trusts to those worthy of them” (4:58). Gambling is prohibited as being a false or dishonest