carrying out of the scheme, the state-agents, may not tomorrow degenerate into an oligarchy similar to the oligarchy of Capitalism? Human nature is too prone to these tendencies, and Communism offers hardly any remedy to check such tendencies. But there is more than this. Communism which came as the friend of labour defeats its own end by denying to labour its fruits. The rigid system of doling out the necessaries of life to all alike, to the indolent and diligent, the stupid and the intelligent, will undoubtedly foster conditions which must soon become unbearable for humanity; for it is going directly against nature and nature’s recognized laws. But its evil results cannot be seen in a day.
To Islām is due the credit of not only solving the wealth problem but at the same time, developing the higher sentiments and building up character, on which alone can be laid the foundations of a lasting civilization for the human race. The rigid laws of Communism, which gave the body sufficient to live on, are killing the higher sentiments of human sympathy and love—qualities which not only make life worth living but lacking which humanity must degenerate into the worst barbarism. Islām accomplishes both objects by its state institution of charity, which goes under the name of zakāt or poor-rate. Every possessor of wealth in the Islāmic commonwealth is required to contribute annually one-fortieth of his wealth to a common fund, which is managed by the state, or by the Muslim community where there is no Muslim state, and this fund is utilized by the state or community for the amelioration of the condition of the poor. Zakāt, therefore, acts not only as a levelling influence, but also a means of developing higher sentiments of man, the sentiments of love and sympathy towards his fellow-man; while the rigid system of state ownership and equality of distribution helps to kill man’s higher instincts. By this means, too, wealth is made to circulate in the body-politic of Islām, just as blood circulates in a living organism, a fixed portion of the wealth of the richer members being drawn to the centre, whence it is sent forth to those parts of the body-politic which need it most. The institution of zakāt thus becomes not only a levelling influence but also one of the means for the uplift of the nation as