As I have written many times in the past, there is no prohibition of private ownership in Islam. Theoretically, there is nothing wrong with Capitalism in the religion. But there is something wrong in the religion with exploitation, manipulation, greed, the hoarding of wealth, driving people into poverty and debt, savaging the environment, the subordination of the state to business, and the creation of drastic, unsustainable income disparity in the society.
We are, quite frankly, in a disastrous situation, and we cannot refuse to discuss the social impact of business, and the need to oversee and regulate business simply because, for some reason, we have come to believe that the right to private ownership of the means of production must be accompanied by total impunity.
It falls upon the advocates of Political Islam to formulate policy measures, informed by both the Shari’ah and by Islamic principles, to undo the damage. This will require systemic change. It will require policies that are not specifically mandated in Islamic Law, but are appropriate to the circumstances.
Look, business is the single most influential element in society. We spend most of our time at work. It is how we provide for our families. It determines our standard of living and quality of life. It determines where we can afford to live, the quality of education we can provide for our children; our access to the most basic things in life. And it is managed in a strictly authoritarian manner, demanding the freedom to do anything and everything it wants for the sake of delivering profit to a handful of executives and shareholders; regardless of how that impacts the community, the environment, and society in general. It is like saying a man who owns a ferocious lion cannot be forced to keep it caged or on a leash or controlled in any way, simply because he has the right to own it.
No. That is not acceptable.