[Islam-Online- Economy]

Islam aims to establish a just and moral social order through the agency of man, rooted in justice. Islam does not distinguish between the religious and the secular or between the spiritual and the temporal. Within the framework of Islamic law each person is given freedom of action subject to the limitation that the individual's actions do not violate the rights of others (Mirakhor, 1989). Amr bi al?Ma'ruf wa nahi 'an al?munkar (enjoin the good and forbid the wrong) is the Qur'anic concept that holds the key to the worldview and value system of Islam (Ansar, 1989)
Islam's economic system is an integral part of Islamic life. The expression used for Islamic economics (iqtisad) literally means the "state of being even or equally balanced." Iqtisadi activities are considered to represent a means for showing love of God.1 Some differences from Western economics, in terms of emphasis, follow:

Westerners may be influenced by materialism; Islam emphasizes eternal values;
Westerners focus on human laws as governing humanity's well-being; Islam sees an omnipotent God;
Westerners regard resources as limited; Islam sees resources as sufficient (however, it prohibits waste);
Westerners maintain that wealth can be accumulated; Islam condemns such accumulation while others are in need;
Westerners regard virtually any activity that leads to profit as lawful; in Islam ethics and humanitarian endeavors play an essential role;
Westerners allow supply and demand to govern; in Islam there are rules relating to prices and wages;
Westerners tend to favor private ownership; Islam acknowledges at least three types of ownership, including state ownership (Al?Hasani, 1989). When some of the rules of Islam and iqtisad are reviewed in light of the structural and operational issues impacting denationalization, areas of potential friction come into focus:
The welfare and security of employees;
The optimum technique for privatization (Islam frowns upon shareholding, but accepts state ownership);
Ethical awareness on the part of managers and employees; Islam sees the ethics of the righteous individual as governed by both internalized principles and external controls;
The rights of the various members of the stakeholder family, beyond investors and creditors;
Environmental protection and the avoidance of waste.

The causes of friction have been presented in realistic terms. Unrest has been mounting over unemployment and ethical issues. In Pakistan, opposition to privatization and pressure from fundamentalists to implement Islamic business practices continue to pose risks. Egyptian labor is strongly opposed to privatization of the state sector, fearing loss of jobs; layoffs following privatization are expected to further increase social tensions. Morocco's biggest union, the Democratic Labor Federation, believes that privatization will cost jobs and further concentrate wealth among the Casablanca?Rabat elite. The Algerian government has called for a "social pact" to soften the flow of the movement toward a market economy. The Speaker of the Kuwait National Assembly has demanded a probe of allegations of insider trading said to have occurred in the State's latest share sale, which has already been alluded to.
Call for Action

The problems of denationalization must be solved by using a combination of Western and Islamic solutions. The Western solution would call for improvement in the denationalization process, including availability of proactive audit support. The Islamic solution would seek to mitigate the effect of structural deficiencies. Time is of the essence.

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