TOPIC 3 Islamic Management Concept ISLAMIC MANAGEMENT CONCEPT

TOPIC 3. Islamic Management Concept

ISLAMIC MANAGEMENT CONCEPT The concept of al-Istikhlaf Islamic management model: Management of Rasul PBUH. Management during the Islamic Caliphates. Islam and modern management.

The concept of al-Istikhlaf It is stated in the Quran in more than one place that ownership of everything belongs to Allah, since He Almighty is the dominion. However, he has put mankind in charge of worldly property and provided them with it and has given them the right to use it. Istikhlaf is based on the Quranic notion that Allah (SWT) created humankind and every individual to be a vicegerent, a deputy in use of property that belongs to the creator.

To us Muslims, when the concept that “Allah is the owner” settles in a man’s heart, be he a producer or a consumer, he feels honored and grateful that some of Allah wealth has been put in his trust. A man is then inclined to acknowledge Allah’s right to define for him the proper limits for the enjoyment and the appropriate extent of use of wealth. He also acknowledges Allah’s right to designate other individuals or the community as the rightful claimants to share that wealth.

It is stated in the Quran: “Believe in God and His messenger and expend of that unto which He has made you trustees. And those of you who believes and expand shall have a mighty wage” 57: 7. آﻤﻨﻮﺍ ﺑﺎ ﻭﺭﺳﻮﻟھ ﻭﺃﻨﻔﻘﻮﺍ ﻣﻤﺎ ﺟﻌﻠﻜﻢ ﻣﺴﺘﺨﻠﻔیﻦ ﻓیھ ﻓﺎﻟﺬیﻦ آﻤﻨﻮﺍ ٧ ) ﺳﻮﺭﺓ ﺍﻟﺤﺪیﺪ آیﺔ. ) ﻣﻨﻜﻢ ﻭﺃﻨﻔﻘﻮﺍ ﻟھﻢ ﺃﺠﺮ ﻛﺒیﺮ Out of this concept of trustship follows unique Islamic moral, political and economic principles for social and individual life. There is nothing in the concept of Istikhlaf that goes against the desire for fulfillment of material needs, nor that it is an appeal to shun worldly pleasures.

On the contrary, those material needs has been so explicitly recognized by Shari'ah. Suffice it to say that a Muslim dying for defending his material wealth is recognized in Shari'ah as martyr. The concept of Istikhlaf is the foundation of the principles of Islamic economic system, and the ideal underpinning of the economic behavior of individuals in an Islamic society.

For example: Out of the concept of Istikhlaf emanates the individual’s responsibility towards the rest of the society, be it in the form of Zakat which is compulsory, or Sadaqat which is voluntary, but may become obligatory when rest of society is in need. These obligations stem from the fact that the wealth at hand is actually owned by Allah and holder only deputized to use it. Another outcome of the Istikhlaf concept is apparent in the Islamic laws of inheritance.

In other legal system where ownership over assets lack this concept of Istikhlaf, owner can dispose of his wealth during his life time and even after his death. We frequently hear about a wealthy individual leaving all his financial legacy to a museum at the determinant of his immediate family and children. In the Islamic system, because an individual is only vicegerent, he has the right to enjoy wealth during life time only. Once dead, the ownership goes back to the original owner who is Allah. Hence must be distributed in the way prescribed by the real owner. These are the Shari'ah law of inheritance. The deceased has no right to dispose of anything outside the prescribed inheritors, except no more than ⅓ and even that only to a benevolent purpose, again defined to be so by the law giver who is Allah.

Concept of Khilafat Allah had promised to those among you who believe and do good works that He will surely make them Successors in the earth, as He made Successors from among those who were before them; and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them; and that He will surely give them in exchange security and peace after their fear: They will worship Me, and they will not associate anything with Me. Then who so is ungrateful after that, they will be the rebellious. (Surah Al-Nur, Verse 56) This is known as the istikhlaf verse. A promise has been made to the believer of succession. Some commentators have translated istikhlaf as ‘inheritance of power’. While this is also part of the meaning, it is more correctly translated as succession or vicegerency.

According to a famous lexicographer, Ibn-e-Manzoor Ifriqi, “al-khalfu didd al-qudaam, ” khalf (behind/ at the back) is opposite to qudaam (fore part/front part); khalifah means, the one who becomes successor to his prior. (Ibn Manzoor, Lisaan al-‘Arab, (Qum: Nashru Adab al-Hawzah), 1405 AH, 9: 82 -82) Imam Razi also says that, “al-Khalifah, man yakhlufu ghayarahu wa yaqumu muqaamahu” (khalifah is the one who comes after another person and takes his place) meaning he was called khalifah because he is a vicegerent of Allah in exercising His authority among the people obligated to follow His Commands. (Imam Razi, Tafsir-e-Kabir, 12: 202). All words in the Qur’an using the root word “kh-l-f have the same meaning. 9: 83, 7: 75, 6: 166, 10: 74, 38: 27; 35: 40; 7: 70; 27: 63; 48: 12, 16, 17).

The four verses prior to verse 56 in Surah Al-Nur deal with obedience. Obedience to ‘Allah and His messenger’. Obedience to ‘what is right’. And if you obey the Messenger you will be successful and ‘rightly guided’. These verses explain that you have to display obedience to receive guidance. This guidance is through the Messenger and then after him through his Successor or Vicegerent in the earth. This is a promise of spiritual and temporal leadership, which will keep the believers united and lead to peace. When a Messenger dies people naturally get fearful as to what will happen next. A leaderless people are without direction and this situation will eventually lead to chaos. Allah promises to exchange their fear with security and peace. But the condition is the believers need to worship Allah alone and do good works.

The next verse (24: 57) describes three essential conditions for the fulfillment of this promise namely 1. Observe prayer. 2. Give Zakat (alms to the poor) 3. Be obedient to the Messenger.

Management of Rasulullah PBUH Allah says in the holy Quran surah Al Asr verse 1 -3: Which means: By the token of time. Verily, man is in loss. Except those who believe and do righteous good deeds and recommend one another to the truth, patience and constancy.

The lesson and message from this verse highlighted the importance of time management and that we should internalize it as part of daily lives. Time is one of the gift or nikmat given by Allah s. w. t. to us. Those who manage time well are those who will reap success while those who mismanage their time are those who will be the losers and shall live to regret it. From here, we can see how the importance of time management in the eyes of Islam.

Islam requires us to manage our time wisely. As an example, lets look at our fasting ritual. Although fasting begins only when the time of fajr sets in, we are encouraged to stop our food consumption at least 10 minutes earlier. This has been the practice of the sahabats and the solafus soleh. It testify that those who lived 1400 years ago had even started practising time management during their life time.

Rasulullah saw says in his hadith: Which means: Grab five things before another five appear, young age before old age, health before sickness, wealth before poverty, leisure before busy, life before death "

We usually do not value the gifts of good health and the abundance of time until those gifts were taken away from us. Often whenever someone fall ill, only then would he value the importance of good health and the abundance of time. Those were the words of Rasullullah saw in a hadith that says: There are two nikmat that man always abuse…. . it is the abundance of time and good health.

Management during the Islamic Caliphates.

20 ISLAMIC LEGAL MAXIMS The general principle of fiqh in a concise legal form, embodying the broad issues of the provision of Islamic law that are incorporated within its scope. Methodologically speaking, legal maxims are the sub-product of substantive law (fiqh). Legal theory (usul fiqh) makes/discloses the law (fiqh) and legal maxims synthesis these branches of law Function: Mainly to facilitate jurists and practitioners in their courses to find the law; Diverse and scattered divisions can be unified under one concept.

21 SOME MAJOR MAXIMS APPLIED EXTENSIVELY IN ICL Matters are determined by the intention -Duties and liabilities of a finder The origin rule in contract is permissibility - Hybrid contracts (takaful, ijarah thumma al-bay’) Where text is clear, there is no room for interpretation - -verses regarding original form of riba’ Hardship justifies giving of facility (rules regarding necessities and needs) -salam, isitisna’ etc Rules of law vary with the change in time and place -viewing subject matter of the sale

22 RULE MAKING PROCESS IN ISLAMIC COMMERCIAL LAW Reference is made to the primary sources, i. e. , the Quran and Sunnah The primary sources provide general guidelines / principles for Islamic commercial dealings, e. g. : the need to fulfill contractual obligation; al maidah (5: 1) the basis of wealth transfer is contract by mutual consent; al nisa’ (4: 29) the prohibition of riba in loan transactions; al baqarah (2: 275) the rule regarding riba in exchange transactions; saying of the Prophet on the six commodities

23 Cont’d… the prohibition of sale involving gharar, such as sale of birds in the air, fishes in the sea, etc. ; saying of the Prophet the need for full consent and satisfaction by the parties in a contract, by giving examples of situations where consent may be defective (e. g. mistake, defective product, lack of understanding due to infancy or insanity, under duress, etc. ); saying of the Prophet etc.

24 Cont’d… From the general principles laid down in the Quran and Sunnah, the Muslim jurists exercise further reasoning and deduction in a process known as ijtihad according to the rules and methodology as laid down in the science of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al fiqh)

25 Cont’d… From this exercise of ijtihad, they are able to formulate more complete and detailed rules and principles on Islamic commercial transactions, e. g. : Theory of contract Elements and conditions of each contract Factors for validity / invalidity of contracts Etc.

26 Cont’d… The compilation of these rules is generally known as fiqh al mu`amalat or Islamic commercial law The scope and application of this branch of law is extendable to new cases and situations which ensures the dynamic development of Islamic law and fiqh al mu`amalat itself. This dynamism contributes to further development of Islamic instruments in the financial system as evidenced today

27 DIVERGENCE OF OPINIONS IN LEGAL RULINGS The differences in legal opinions is an old phenomenon in Islamic legal history, known in Islamic jurisprudence as ikhtilaf al fuqaha’. Muslim scholars generally view the divergence of opinions as positive and natural, as an outcome from the practice of judicial interpretation (ijtihad) among the jurists or scholars. Since the judicial interpretations are being implemented by humans, they are subject to differences, changes and modifications.

28 Cont’d… In discussing the degree of tolerance to divergence, Al Shafi`ie considered it permissible as long as: there is no clear-cut texts (nas qat`i) on the matter the opinion is arrived at by using acceptable methodology, such as, by way of analogy (qiyas). If the divergence occurs in the existence of clear-cut texts, Al Shafi`ie considered it forbidden and blameworthy

29 REASONS FOR DIVERGENCE (ASBAB AL IKHTILAF) Differences of interpretation of the meaning of words or intent of any particular injunction in the primary text, either in the Quran or Sunnah Different level of access or acceptance to the reports of the sunnah Differences as to the existence of consensus (ijma`) on any given issue Differences in the methodology undertaken in deriving the rules, e. g. , whether to use qiyas, or istihsan, or maslahah

30 EFFECT OF DIVERGENCE OF OPINIONS The formation of various legal schools (madhahib fiqhiyyah) The prevailing sunni schools until today are: Hanafi madhhab Maliki madhhab Shafi`i madhhab Hanbali madhhab Other relevant schools: Zahiri madhhab Zaydiyyah, or other shi`i madhahib

31 EXAMPLE OF DIVERGENCE OF OPINIONS The need for the subject matter / goods too exist at the time of contract The definition and validity of bay` al `inah transaction The definition of bay` al dayn and rules pertaining to bay` al dayn Etc.

32 CONTEMPORARY RULE MAKING PROCESS Currently, the exercise of individual original ijtihad in the rule making process is very rare The common exercise is to evaluate the existing rulings (precedents) in the madhhab and apply them to the new case/situation (taqlid), by way of direct application or analogy Sometimes, if there are differences of opinions among the madhahib, preference of certain views over the others are made (tarjih madhhabi) Even when there are no precedents in the madhahib, the jurists have been generally hesitant to exercise aggressive original ijtihad

33 Cont’d… However, since the 1980 s onwards, some forms of group ijtihad are organised in order to issue opinions and fatwas, utilising all the applicable methodologies discussed earlier As a result of these group ijtihads, some decisions have been achieved in solving the questions raised on the permissibility of various financial and banking practices, such as, the issue of shareholding in companies, legal personality, intellectual property rights, etc Various new financial and banking products have also been developed and structured via this process A number of other issues remain unsolved as yet, but the rule making process is an on-going and dynamic process, which will eventually provide solution or alternatives to the problems/issues

Islam and modern management. Managing your time and using it wisely is a journey, and not something that can be easily mastered overnight. Implementing a plan will help, but it is not going to be a sure cure. Time management requires a significant amount of self-discipline. Here are some tips to assist you with time management: 1. Set Goals Set both short-term and long-term goals for your work day, work week, and work year. Take the time to make a written list of your goals, which will allow you to refer back to the list when you need some guidance. Keep in mind that it is okay to adjust the goals as your business needs or your role changes. Use them as a tool to guide you.

2. Mini-Rewards All work an no play is a difficult concept to sustain for very long. Build rewards into your schedule. If there is a task you really dislike, follow it with a task that you greatly enjoy. Build "mini-rewards" into your schedule to increase your productivity. 3. Keep Lists Keep a running "To Do" list. The To Do list should contain both daily tasks as well as longer-term tasks. Having a To Do list will help keep your attention on the projects that require attention, and prevent some items from slipping through the cracks and being forgotten. 4. Be Realistic Keep your expectations realistic. No one can do everything, and with that it mind, try to set realistic expectations of what you can hope to accomplish. 5. Prioritize the list of things to do. Some items might require immediate attention, while others may be necessary but not as urgent. And after prioritizing, try not to become a "firefighter" and only react to the urgent items. Be sure to still give proper attention to non-urgent items as well, as they are important too.

6. Use Time Wisely If there are blocks of time that you spend waiting or commuting, figure out ways to use that time being productive! Reading, writing, proof-reading, reviewing your schedule, planning for your next activity, etc, are all things that can usually be done remotely to fill in some of the unavoidable "dead" time in your schedule. Try to find interesting and unusual productive things to do during those periods of downtime. 7. Set Limits Set reasonable time limits for tasks. When working on those tasks, monitor the time that each item is taking. 8. Organize Work Space Organize your work space, and remove any excessive clutter. Spending time looking for something is a waste of time. . . and time is a precious commodity. Both your computer files and your physical working area should be organized so that you can easily locate anything you need in a moments notice. 9. Minimize Distractions If you find yourself consumed by social media, facebook, instant messaging, or other social mediums, set aside a specific and timed period of the day for participating in the online social community. Other than those specific periods of time, set your status to "unavailable" so that you are not interrupted throughout the work day. Minimize interruptions and distractions as much as possible.

10. Reflect At the end of the day, reflect on what you accomplished. If you were unable to account for a specific period of time, or you found a given day to be particularly unproductive, take an inventory and try to determine where your time management system broke down. Keep in mind that not every day is going to be as productive as you would hope. Unexpected things always come up, and no matter how hard you try, your expectations just might not be realistic. Do not become discouraged. Instead, simply stay focused and make an effort to increase your productivity the next day. Reference: Ahmad Sanusi Husain CEO & Principal Consultant - Alfalah Consulting

Conclusion In fact Allah s. w. t is the greatest time manager and whenever death appear to a man, it would never be delayed nor it will be advanced even for one second. Allah says in surah Yunus verse 49: