A RECENT PRESS release by Oxfam reports that billionaire wealth increased by $2 trillion in 2024, three times faster than in the previous year, while the number of people in poverty has hardly changed since 1990.
The report reveals that contrary to common belief, much of billionaire wealth is unearned —60% comes from inheritance, monopolies, or crony connections. Unjust wealth and colonialism, which involve both past wealth extraction and ongoing inequality, are key reasons for how billionaires accumulate their riches.
Wealth extraction continues today, with huge amounts of money moving from the Global South to the Global North and their richest citizens, reflecting what Oxfam calls modern-day colonialism.
The richest 1% in Global North countries like the US, UK and France extracted $30 million an hour from the Global South through the financial system in 2023. Despite contributing 90 per cent of the labour that drives the global economy, workers in low- and middle-income countries receive only 21 per cent of global income.
“The ultra-rich like to tell us that getting rich takes skill, grit and hard work. But the truth is most wealth is taken, not made. So many of the so-called ‘self-made’ are actually heirs to vast fortunes, handed down through generations of unearned privilege. Untaxed billions of dollars in inheritance is an affront to fairness, perpetuating a new aristocracy where wealth and power stays locked in the hands of a few,” says Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.
None of this should be surprising. When left to their own devices, the rich and powerful will secure their interests over those of the poor and weak. They will establish political and economic systems to keep wealth in their hands. They will create laws, spin narratives that benefit them, and use violence when needed. This occurs both within countries and between them, as different institutions uphold the dominance of the elite.
Is there a way out of this corruption?
Consider this ayah:
مَّآ أَفَآءَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِۦ مِنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْقُرَىٰ فَلِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ وَلِذِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَٱلْيَتَـٰمَىٰ وَٱلْمَسَـٰكِينِ وَٱبْنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ كَىْ لَا يَكُونَ دُولَةًۢ بَيْنَ ٱلْأَغْنِيَآءِ مِنكُمْ ۚ
As for gains granted by Allah to His Messenger from the people of (other) lands, they are for Allah and the Messenger, his close relatives, orphans, the poor, and (needy) travellers so that wealth may not merely circulate among your rich. (al-Hashr 7)
The ayah talks about the wealth (fa’i) gained (without fighting) when lands are opened to Islam. This wealth is to be collected by the Messenger ﷺ and shared with those in need. The purpose is to ensure that wealth does not just flow to the rich. Without such Divine guidance and a practical system to distribute wealth, wealth will inevitably concentrate in the hands of a few, as we see today.
Islam is thus a distinct way of life. Unlike Communism, it rewards effort, and unlike Capitalism, it limits unfettered desire. The Islamic way, through a state, helps people engage in economic activities for their betterment while adhering to halal and haram and crucially ensures wealth is distributed to satisfy everyone’s basic needs.
Islam has a clear and broad economic system outlined in the Qur’an and Sunnah, which many in the Muslim Ummah are unaware of due to colonialism and the imposition of secularism.
Yet, this is the way of life that we need to understand, have confidence in and present to the world, if we are to lead it out of the misery that it finds itself in.
الٓر ۚ كِتَـٰبٌ أَنزَلْنَـٰهُ إِلَيْكَ لِتُخْرِجَ ٱلنَّاسَ مِنَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ إِلَىٰ صِرَٰطِ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْحَمِيدِ
Alif-Lãm-Ra. (This is) a Book which We have revealed to you (O Prophet) so that you may lead people out of darkness and into light, by the Will of their Lord, to the Path of the Almighty, the Praiseworthy. (Ibrahim 1)
Living For Islam 