The qur'an on charitable giving and contemporary social values

Abstract EN

The Qur'an has clear directives on what an individual should do for the sake of welfare of others, i.e., charity.

It has established priorities similar to what a rational person may be expected to assign on his own, assuming that utility functions are interdependent.

One finds striking resemblance between the Islamic approach to redistribution and the contemporary social values implicit in redistribution in a democratic society.

This raises interesting questions for Muslims living in Western welfare societies, which are for the Shari'ah scholars to consider.

Islamic emphasis on charity for the sake of Allah and the discretion allowed to the giver in the disposal of charitable spending can make significant improvement in the performance of welfare programs.