Umar bin Abdul-Aziz and the Eradication of Poverty
I have been continuing to reflect on the implementation of Islamic economic principles and examples of precedence.
After reading Askari state in the book Challenges in Economic and Financial Policy Formulation: An Islamic Perspective that “given the rules governing property rights, work, production, exchange markets, distribution, and redistribution, it is reasonable to conclude that in a rule-complying and Allah-conscious society, absolute poverty could not exist”, I looked for historical examples of the delivery of economic justice.
I found that through his strict compliance with the values and principles imposed by the Qur’an and Sunnah, the Umayyad caliph Umar bin Abdul-Aziz (r. 717–720 CE) implemented strict economic reforms that resulted in the near-eradication of poverty during his very short reign. I found that the OnePath Network has produced an excellent biographical video about the caliph that I’ve inserted below for your ease.
Umar bin Abdul-Aziz, the great-grandson of Umar ibn Khattab, was not only an issuer of Islamic legal rulings…
