Zia Ahmed

There are essentially two distinct concepts of poverty: the absolute and the relative poverty concepts. The former is normally associated with some income level required to sustain a minimum standard of living. That income level, defined as poverty line income is often used to determine whether an individual is poor or otherwise. The individual is considered poor if his income is below poverty line income. He is not poor otherwise. The poverty line income is therefore a very useful concept which defines the income required to sustain a minimum standard of living. One of the approaches adapted to measure the minimum standard of living is the basic needs approach. It looks at the economic, social, political and even cultural needs. One is said to attain a minimum standard of living if all his basic needs are satisfied.

Human Needs
Before we dwell into the concept of poverty in Islam, it would be very helpful to discuss what constitute human needs and also basic needs. These concepts will be very useful for a meaningful discussion of poverty in the Islamic framework. There are essentially five groups of activities and things which make up the human needs. These are: (a) Religion, (b) Physical self, (c) Intellect or Knowledge, (d) Offspring, and (e) Wealth.
The fulfillment of these needs is considered one of the basic goals of the religion of Islam. This is so because Islam aims at providing every opportunity for good living both at the individual as well as the societal levels. The starting point is that Islam sets goals for human life. All matters (be they activities or things) that help to achieve the goals increase welfare or standard of living and are called masalih or utilities; the opposite are mafasid or dis-utilities. Let us discuss the five foundations one by one.

Wealth
Wealth is obviously a fundamental human need. Wealth here can be interpreted as a stock or flow. In other words, one may talk about a piece of property that generates income or an employment that brings remuneration. These needs which define the foundations for good individual and social life, are classified into three levels, or hierarchy, namely (1) necessities (dharuriyyat); (2) convenience (hajiat); and (3) refinements (kamaliat).

Necessities (dharuriyyat)
Necessities consist of all activities and things that are essential to preserve the five needs discussed above at the lowest level or the barest minimum for an acceptable level of living. Necessities therefore should include the ability to perform the five pillars of Islam (Belief, Prayer, Fasting, Zakah and Pilgrimage) and calling to the way of God; protection of life, securing food, clothing and shelter, education, the right to earn a living, to set up a family, etc. It is to be understood that at this level, one has enough to live but not necessarily to be in some comfort.

Conveniences
Conveniences comprise all activities and things that are not vital to preserve the five foundations, but rather, are needed to remove difficulties or i mpediments in life. Examples include the use and enjoyment of things that man can do without, but with difficulty, such as the use of some mode of transport (a car), a carpet in winter, etc.

Refinements
This category includes items that are beyond those for convenience. They do not only remove difficulty but improve the comfort. For example, if a car is considered as an item of convenience, than a chauffeur-driven car is obviously a refinement.

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What is poverty- Definition?

THE ISLAMIC VIEW OF POVERTY

Poverty in Islam


	What is poverty- Definition? There are essentially two distinct concepts of poverty: the absolute and the relative poverty concepts. The former is normally associated with some income level required to sustain a minimum standard of living. That income level, defined as poverty line income is often used to determine whether an individual is poor or otherwise. The individual is considered poor if his income is below poverty line income. He is not poor otherwise. The poverty line income is therefore a very useful concept which defines the income required to sustain a minimum standard of living. One of the approaches adapted to measure the minimum standard of living is the basic needs approach. It looks at the economic, social, political and even cultural needs. One is said to attain a minimum standard of living if all his basic needs are satisfied. THE ISLAMIC VIEW OF POVERTY Human Needs Before we dwell into the concept of poverty in Islam, it would be very helpful to discuss what constitute human needs and also basic needs. These concepts will be very useful for a meaningful discussion of poverty in the Islamic framework. There are essentially five groups of activities and things which make up the human needs. These are: (a) Religion, (b) Physical self, (c) Intellect or Knowledge, (d) Offspring, and (e) Wealth. The fulfillment of these needs is considered one of the basic goals of the religion of Islam. This is so because Islam aims at providing every opportunity for good living both at the individual as well as the societal levels. The starting point is that Islam sets goals for human life. All matters (be they activities or things) that help to achieve the goals increase welfare or standard of living and are called masalih or utilities; the opposite are mafasid or dis-utilities. Let us discuss the five foundations one by one. Wealth Wealth is obviously a fundamental human need. Wealth here can be interpreted as a stock or flow. In other words, one may talk about a piece of property that generates income or an employment that brings remuneration. These needs which define the foundations for good individual and social life, are classified into three levels, or hierarchy, namely (1) necessities (dharuriyyat); (2) convenience (hajiat); and (3) refinements (kamaliat). Necessities (dharuriyyat) Necessities consist of all activities and things that are essential to preserve the five needs discussed above at the lowest level or the barest minimum for an acceptable level of living. Necessities therefore should include the ability to perform the five pillars of Islam (Belief, Prayer, Fasting, Zakah and Pilgrimage) and calling to the way of God; protection of life, securing food, clothing and shelter, education, the right to earn a living, to set up a family, etc. It is to be understood that at this level, one has enough to live but not necessarily to be in some comfort. Conveniences Conveniences comprise all activities and things that are not vital to preserve the five foundations, but rather, are needed to remove difficulties or i mpediments in life. Examples include the use and enjoyment of things that man can do without, but with difficulty, such as the use of some mode of transport (a car), a carpet in winter, etc. Refinements This category includes items that are beyond those for convenience. They do not only remove difficulty but improve the comfort. For example, if a car is considered as an item of convenience, than a chauffeur-driven car is obviously a refinement. Poverty in Islam Poverty in Islam is related to the concept of necessities discussed above. One is considered poor if he does not possess sufficient necessities to fulfil his basic needs in each of the five foundations for good individual and social life. In other words, one of the basic goals of Islam, i.e. to establish a reasonably good life has not been fulfilled. This definition also implies that all the five foundations or needs must be fulfilled. If only one of the needs is not fulfilled, then one is still considered poor. Poverty is also associated with the concept of nisab which is one of the two prerequisites for a Muslim to pay the zakah. Nisab is a certain minimum quantum of any good or wealth that must be possessed before that good or wealth is subject to zakah. In this context, Islam defines two categories of poor, namely the poor and needy or destitute. The former are those who do not possess the necessities, whilst the latter implies those whose level of necessities do not reach half of that of the poor. It is the destitute or the so-called hard-core poor who should receive more attention. The distinction between the poor and the destitute has been very clearly defined for the development of a proper approach to poverty eradication in Islam. Present status of poverty in the world Half the world - nearly three billion people - live on less than two dollars a day. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world's 7 richest people combined. Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn't happen. 1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day).




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