Safety nets and Social Security in Islam: An Evaluation Study

This research affirms that Islam is deeply committed to achieving social security. It does so, first, by motivating every individual to provide for himself and those under his care, as a Shariah obligation. It then provides multiple frameworks of takāful (mutual support), such as fraternity, kinship, inheritance, blood money (ʿāqila), neighborhood rights, and zakat. Finally, the Islamic state is responsible for guaranteeing its citizens’ basic needs as the ultimate safety net. An analytical review of Islamic legislation shows the superiority of its socio-economic system, both in its principled stance on social security and in the institutional and financial frameworks supporting it. In contrast, social security obligations were not recognized in Western systems until the late nineteenth century, nor did the issue enter international concern until the twentieth century, with the Constitution of the International Labour Organization, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. By the last decade of the twentieth century, however, the global reality of social security witnessed a serious decline, driven by neo-liberal economic philosophy and policies. This gave rise to what came to be known in UN studies as “social safety nets,” designed to mitigate the effects of those policies on the poorest communities. This study evaluates the inherent, timeless, and comprehensive safety and security frameworks of Islam in comparison with the ad hoc, temporary, and partial safety nets of market economies and international organizations under globalization.
Keywords: Social Security, Safety Nets, Islamic Economics, Takāful, Zakat