Social Welfare in Muslim Societies in Africa

This introductory essay presents a discussion about a particular discourse within Islamic studies, namely the attempt to create a social welfare system through the establishment of an Islamic economy.However, instead of focussing on the subject of Islamic economics merely from within, there will be an attempt to locate the discussion within the framework of a larger developmental discourse.Therefore, while the first part of the essay will concentrate on Islamic economics and the creation of a social welfare system, the second part of the essay will focus on the recent establishment of various zakt organisations and put the discussion within an African context. 1 Twentieth century Muslim social scientists and economists have underlined that there is a possibility of an Islamic welfare concept based upon zakt. 2 Critical Muslim economists have claimed that the only way forward for today's Muslim societies is a return to the Islamic values and bases of the legal, social and political system. 3 Such an approach has been criticised by Western scholars as overlooking the built-in discrepancy between ideals and reality in Islamic social theory.Therefore, Western research has regarded such studies as apologetic. 4 A key problem with zakt as providing the basis of an Islamic welfare system is the role of the state.According to the advocates of Islamic economics, an Islamic state would and should introduce an Islamic social welfare system.However, at the moment, there exists no Islamic state-at least not in the sense of the apologetics of Islamic economics.There are several regimes and governments in the present Muslim world, such as Iran, Libya, Pakistan, Malaysia or Sudan, that claim to have established or are about to introduce an Islamic order, but none of these states would fulfil the requirements of having established an Islamic economy-not to speak of an Islamic social welfare system.In some Muslim states, Islamic banking has been introduced and 1 The latter part of the essay is to some extent a follow up of my discussion on the emergence of Islamic economics in Northern Nigeria in Chapter VIII. 2 See