THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW - ISLAMIC INVESTING AND WORKERS RIGHT

By Dr. Muneer Fareed

Source: Article from Islamica Magazine

In recent years, the idea of Shariah compliance has taken firm root in the business world and been applied in multiple spheres; everything from Shariah-compliant mortgages to Shariah-compli¬ant hedge funds are growing increasingly popular. The Economist dubbed the phenomenon "sharia-nomics."

Today, as Islamic financing grows exponentially because many more Muslims are mindful of the Shariah aspects of financial transactions, I would like to remind them that there is an often ignored social justice aspect to such financing as well. As Dr. Kavilash Chawla points out in his article "Islamic Venture Philanthropy" ;Business Islamica, June 20071, as the world tilts away from state power towards corporate power, the ability of public institutions and aid organizations to address poverty across the world grows weaker. Because of this tilt, the private financial sector is being called upon increasingly to do more to alleviate the suf¬fering of the poor: I believe that Islamic financing is uniquely positioned to do just that, but only if it broadens its application of the Shariah.

“Islam, we know, enjoins Muslims to treat the worker not just fairly, but generously. It demands that the worker be paid not just promptly, but adequately as well.”

The Power of Wealthy Islamic Investors The eminent sociologist Saskia Sasser' tells us that the world is remapping itself; concentrating its population and power into 40 or 50 "global cities" that act as "engine rooms" in driving the global economy. While manufacturing remains an important part of world economic activity, these cities serve the so-called FIRE sector: finance, insurance and real estate.

keep their office towers clean, secure and well maintained. these very cities have come to depend heavily on cheap labour. As a result, we now have millions of migrants/immigrants working in these cities: Mexicans in Los Angeles, Moroccans in Paris, Filipinos in Riyadh. These workers - jani¬tors, food servers, window washers, security offi¬cers, etc. - are amongst the most poorly paid and powerless workers on earth. And this is precisely where much Shariah-compliant investing thrives. Because Shariah-compliant transactions must have an underlying asset, Islamic investing leans heavily towards real estate development and own¬ership. What many don't realize is that such invest¬ing often makes institutions of Islamic investing accessories to worker exploitation. If only such institutions were inspired by both the letter and the spirit of the Shariah, there is no telling what they could do to raise living standards for workers who service the real estate market. This could very much be a win-win situation.

The city of Indianapolis, Indiana, the headquar¬ters of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), is one example of a city that is actually benefiting from corporations working in tandem with workers (janitors, in particular), to improve working conditions. This was important to the ISNA because it is headquartered in Indianapolis, and because it represents all of the major Islamic organizations in the United States. Our goal is to contribute to the betterment of the Muslim com¬munity and society at large by providing a com¬mon platform for presenting Islam, supporting Muslim communities, developing educational, social and outreach programs and fostering good relations with other religious communities and civic and service organizations.

In so doing, we are inspired by both the spirit of the Shariah as well as its letter. Islamic banking's adherence to the Qur'an's prohibition against alco¬hol, gambling, pork, pornography, tobacco and the charging of interest is well known. However, since Islamic investing is largely a private-sector initiative, we must not lose sight of the spirit of Islamic banking - the importance Islam gives to the treatment of workers. Islam, we know, enjoins Muslims to treat the worker not just fairly, but gen-erously. It demands that the worker be paid not just promptly, but adequately as well.

In conjunction with the Chicago-based organiza¬tion Interfaith Worker Justice (IMJ) and our city's janitors, we have been fighting to improve working and living conditions in their industry. Like many janitors across the world, the janitors who clean Indianapolis' downtown office buildings lived in poverty, with little opportunity to visit the doctor, buy a home, pay for education or save for retire¬ment. But together we devised an innovative, industry-based model to help lift thousands of working families out of poverty while simultane¬ously keeping cleaning companies competitive. By forming a union and then negotiating a single, city-wide agreement, our janitors will be able to negotiate affordable health care and a decent wage. This will put an end to the "race to the bot¬tom" practice in which companies vie for contracts by paying workers as little as possible. Instead of this, we will now have an environment where com¬panies compete on the issues of quality, efficiency and innovation. Everybody benefits. Cleaning companies reduce their turnover, services improve and working families have hope for the future.

This model has been successful wherever janitors, cleaning contractors, building owners and tenants have come together. By working together; business leaders and workers in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio, for instance, are increasing the income of janitors by up to 129 percent over the next five years. In Columbus, Ohio, businesses and janitors are rais¬ing standards and helping communities through increased pay better working hours and employer-paid health care.

But the needs of workers go beyond economics. Workers also need a voice on the job to be able to solve problems specific to them. In Columbus and in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Somali immigrant janitors have won the right to fulfil their obligation as Muslims and pray on the job. These gains were possible because workers united to create greater awareness among businesses. We are hopeful that the same will occur in Indianapolis, where many corporations and building owners appear poised to improve worker conditions.

Today the still-emerging Islamic investment com¬munity stands at a crossroads. Will it be faithful to its roots and the social justice precepts of Islam or will it abandon these ideals and come to resemble the countless number of global corporations that have adopted high-flying rhetoric in order to cover up exploitative, unethical practices? The commu¬nity has opportunities to promote responsible busi-ness practices, economic development and demo¬cratic reforms in urban areas worldwide. While most investors have a passive role, Islamic investors can actively work to ensure that their investment capital is earning appropriate financial and social returns by supporting the efforts of low-wage workers to improve their lives.

Dr. Muneer Fareed is the Secretary General of the Islamic Society of North America. He is the author of "Legal Reform in the Muslim World: The Anatomy of a Scholarly Dispute in the 19th and the Early 20th Centuries on the Usage of Ijtiha_d as a Legal Tool" (1996) as well as many articles on Islamic law and interpretation. Before joining ISNA, Dr. Fareed was an associate pro-fessor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Near Eastern and Asian Studies at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

The needs of workers go beyond economics. Workers also need a voice on the job to be able to solve problems specific to them.