Development Of A Self-Contained Islamic Socio-Economic System Centered Around Community Masjids

Abstract

The Muslim world has been in a state of veritable chaos and distance from their lord in our modern times. Since the destruction of the Caliphate in the early 20th century, the central leadership of the Muslims was lost. As such the benefits that came with this leadership was lost as well. Facilities that would have been available, the overseeing body with concern for the Ummah (Muslim Community) and all other aspects of the Caliphate that comforted the Ummah were now lost. This study aims to develop a framework that can be implemented by local Masjids that would enable them to provide some semblance of comfort to their membership just as the Caliphate did for its subjects. This framework is also one that can peacefully coexist with our modern society. In order to develop the framework, the value added by the Caliphate needed to be first established. To do this, the state of the Arabs before and after the advent of the Caliphate was assessed with a conclusion as to the various ways that value was added. The next step was to examine the aspects of the “veritable chaos” of the modern world. Once this was established the next step was to utilize the value added in order to propose an overarching system that would address the finer points of the chaos mentioned. Finally, each component of the framework was examined and developed in greater detail. The result of our study was a developed framework that can give the Masjid the power to address the issues facing the Ummah. The framework was designed to be a self-subsisting one that not only provides the relevant facilities, but also the relevant methods to make it self-financing. As a result of this study, the framework developed also had the added benefit of stratified entry levels. As such, it caters for adoption by Masjids of all sizes.