Freedom from Want and Hunger: Poverty and Redistribution Mechanism

Downwards to the B40 - the Islamic Perspective

Dr Asmak Ab Rahman

Department of Shariah and Economics

Academy of Islamic Studies

University of Malaya

asmak@um.edu.my

Poverty and Redistribution Mechanism

• What have been done by the government/NGOs/Society to eradicate poverty?

• How effective redistribution mechanism in eliminating poverty and hunger?

• Poor people still remain poor only few can move to higher economic status

• Why poverty still there?

Freedom from Want and

Hunger

economic development

community building

Sources of redistribution

Government (income tax etc)

community participation

Who are the poor?

B40

• B40 refers to bottom 40% household income group with monthly income RM3,900 and below.

Islamic View

• A Faqir is a person who has some property but not enough

• A Mikin is a person who has nothing

Islamic view on Hunger

And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and

a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient

(al-Baqarah(2):155)

Feeding the poor from Islamic Perspective

• It is an obligatory for the muslims to feed the poor

• It is not a choice

And asking them], "What put you into Saqar?

They will say, "We were not of those who prayed,

Nor did we used to feed the poor.

Al-Muddathir(74): 42-44

Punishment for not feeding the Poor

9

The parable of those who spend their wealth in Allah’s Way is

as the parable of a grain; it grows seven ears, and in each ear

there are a hundred grains. Allah gives manifold increase to

whom He wills. And Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing

Motivation

Islamic Redistribution Mechanism

Obligatory

Zakat

Zakat Fitrah

Zakat on wealth

Recommended

Donation (sadaqah)

Hibah

Aqiqah

Qurban during eid

Wakaf

Fine

Dam in Hajj

Fidyah of fasting

Ta’widh

Zakah collections in Malaysia from 2011 to 2015 (RM)States 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

Johor 239,454,953.12 211,218,871.25 200,204,075.55 171,939,397.69 137,470,058.08

Kedah 134,556,613.46 128,400,303.04 122,669,758.82 106,471,950.65 106,084,292.22

Kelantan 161,908,949.42 133,321,295.88 134,150,726.83 113,163,004.70 93,888,154.69

Melaka 65,967,051.30 58,280,964.16 53,106,623.54 43,980,976.99 37,930,357.61

Negeri Sembilan 94,420,490.70 88,200,428.43 78,853,814.12 65,352,483.87 57,917,702.28

Pahang 118,082,517.70 109,325,106.94 115,834,412.24 108,608,951.67 88,538,218.43

Pulau Pinang 98,883,208.25 87,936,653.80 86,359,640.13 77,523,689.41 59,579,183.82

Perak 132,584,966.22 114,588,531.29 109,825,143.00 99,506,819.10 86,113,585.24

Perlis - 162,327,654.00 115,049,928.00 78,912,426.00 59,303,270.00

Selangor 627,220,773.00 582,120,473.00 517,305,275.00 451,325,027.00 393,538,752.00

Terengganu 126,639,148.45 120,116,379.60 120,881,661.74 107,079,884.76 88,274,932.37

Sabah 61,795,695.17 52,829,145.28 49,219,209.48 36,561,237.50 33,891,152.97

Sarawak 68,573,996.00 67,319,511.00 69,462,067.00 50,831,899.00 44,126,089.00

Wilayah Persekutuan 565,830,672.18 538,580,526.00 491,214,216.00 408,915,425.00 347,454,163.00

Zakat Distribution in Malaysia from 2011 to 2015States 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

Johor 240,550,521.75 191,069,510.44 159,545,424.47 143,346,570.76 151,427,478.55

Kedah 144,955,284.85 110,840,195.47 105,877,077.00 92,415,153.38 79,801,298.57

Kelantan 196,744,773.04 151,230,993.87 136,355,732.13 100,850,645.16 79,946,658.37

Melaka - 57,200,588.16 54,015,566.84 49,040,873.87 34,277,215.20

Negeri Sembilan 96,935,984.93 97,785,893.00 76,833,689.98 61,462,602.85 59,342,517.00

Pahang - 109,052,421.09 94,806,310.00 81,047,299.00 59,609,627.00

Pulau Pinang 105,987,040.63 80,098,947.00 71,562,194.42 68,671,396.46 54,243,511.44

Perak 164,264,513.67 130,316,694.70 101,641,793.00 82,683,568.86 67,586,161.85

Perlis - 104,453,705.00 99,128,897.00 - 43,447,071.00

Selangor 676,047,579.00 595,114,122.00 463,472,826.00 401,717,682.00 371,720,961.00

Terengganu 122,041,037.35 79,195,981.72 67,405,128.05 84,518,495.97 65,042,905.52

Sabah 72,904,222.68 64,959,240.44 48,481,454.47 36,654,371.08 32,389,983.48

Sarawak 44,155,518.00 40,506,983.00 35,174,369.00 36,766,114.00 27,057,710.00

Wilayah Persekutuan - 419,225,908.00 328,394,455.00 271,967,597.00 246,849,435.00

Summary of Zakat Aid for the poor

Basic aid Selangor Pahang Kelantan Kedah Melaka Pulau

Pinang

N.

Sembilan

Sabah

Financial aid /

living allowance

Food aid

Medical aid

Electricity and

water aid

Summary of Zakat Aid for the poorFor education Selangor Pahang Kelantan Kedah Melaka Pulau

Pinang

N.

Sembilan

Sabah

Aid to continue studies

in institutions of

higher education

Scholarship/ grant aid

Aid to religious school

Tuition aid

Al-Quran tahfiz aid

Study and PUSRAWI

nursing college

Spectacle aid

Bicycle aid

Summary of Zakat Aid for the poorHousing Selangor Pahang Kelantan Kedah Melaka Pulau

Pinang

N.

Sembilan

Sabah

House repair aid

Housing aid

Home rental

deposit/ rent aid

Fakir and miskin

settlement

Summary of Zakat Aid for the poorCelebration Selangor Pahang Kelantan Kedah Melaka Pulau

Pinang

N.

Sembilan

Sabah

Ramadhan aid

Eid celebration

aid

Summary of Zakat Aid for the poorEntrepreneurship Selangor Pahang Kelantan Kedah Melaka Pulau

Pinang

N.

Sembilan

Sabah

Business/ entrepreneurial

independence aid

Business recovery aid

Life skills aid (Career in sewing,

embroidery, automotive and

cosmetology)

Agricultural aid

Deposit aid for school vans/ busses

Deposit aid for the purchase of

tricycles for the handicapped

Deposit aid for the purchase of cabs

Premise rental deposit

Summary of Zakat Aid for the poorOther general aid Selangor Pahang Kelantan Kedah Melaka Pulau

Pinang

N.

Sembilan

Sabah

Emergency aid

Matrimony aid

Funeral aid

Creation of centre for the

elderly

Management of rest homes

for the elderly

Aid to charitable agencies

Summary of Zakat Aid for the poorOther general aid Selangor Pahang Kelantan Kedah Melaka Pulau

Pinang

N.

Sembilan

Sabah

Religious program

Transport

Shelter home

Tabung haji and ASB aid

Takaful aid

Shariah legal aid

Thank You

human security

• human security as providing safety for the people from hunger, diseases, oppression and other chronic threats as well as protecting them from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the patterns of daily life.

• Describing the summation of the seven distinct dimensions of human security: Economic,Food, Environmental, Personal, Community and Political, the Report insisted that now is the time to change the concept of security from state-oriented to human being-oriented perspectives.

Freedom from Fear and from Want

• The UNDP report referred to “Freedom from Fear and from Want”, which was the purpose of the foundation of the United Nations.

• The phrase of ”freedom from fear and want” derived from the Atlantic Charter of 1941, which proclaimed “(Sixth), after the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, they hope to see established a peace which will afford to all nations the means of dwelling in safety within their own boundaries, and which will afford assurance that all the men in all lands may live out their lives in freedom from fear and want”

• The assurance in the Atlantic Charter came to legitimate the war waged by the Allied powers during World WarII.

how to pursue “freedom from fear and want”

• The peace of the world could be established not only through preventing war and military conflicts among sovereign states, but also by taking initiatives to “achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”.

how to pursue “freedom from fear and want”

• Edward R. Stettinius Jr., U.S. Secretary of State, reporting to his government the results of the San Francisco meeting that set up the United Nations, wrote: “the battle for peace has to be fought on two fronts.

• The first is the security front where victory spells freedom from fear. • The second is the economic and social front where victory means freedom

from want. • Only victory on both fronts can assure the world of an enduring peace

[...] • No provisions that can be written into the Charter will enable the

Security Council to make the world secure from war if men and women have no security in their homes and their jobs

“Freedom from want

• Since the late 1990s, due to the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the Japanese government repeatedly insisted that human security “is a concept that takes a comprehensive view of all threat to human survival, life, and dignity” and the need to respond.

• Japanese policy stresses the importance of economic development and provision for basic human need, summarized by “Freedom from want”.

• The approach has been shaped by ad hoc programs focusing on economic development and community building.

“Freedom from want

• Compared with the Canadian approach, which tends to make new treaties to protect civilians, Japan’s likely approach is to go along with UN activities, implementing human security items.

• The Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said “we believe that freedom from want is no less than critical than freedom from fear. So long as its objectives are to ensure the survival and dignity of individuals as human being, it is necessary to go beyond thinking of human security solely in terms of human life in conflict situations.”

The United Nations

income poverty

human poverty

Poverty causes hunger.

income poverty

• Income poverty is an understanding of poverty that is solely based on levels of monetary income.

• It is used by both the World Bank and the UN.

• According to the World Bank, people living on less than US$1 per day are living in extreme poverty, and people who earn less than US$2 a day are in moderate poverty.

• Worldwide, approximately one billion people live on less than US$1 a day.

• About 2.6 billion live on less than US$2 a day.

• This amounts to 40% of the world’s population.

income poverty

• South Asia is the region with the greatest concentration of extreme poverty.

• In India, the world’s second most populous nation, 34% live on less than US$1 a day and 80% live on less than US$2 a day.

• In Sub-Saharan Africa, 41% of the population lives on less than US$1 a day.

• Income poverty is also used to determine a poverty threshold or poverty line.

• This is the boundary between poverty and non-poverty as determined by governments.

• It is based on the cost of subsistence needs in a given country so, while US$1 a day is the international poverty line, for countries where the cost of living is higher, the poverty line is higher.

• In the United States, for example, the poverty line is at about US$28 a day.

Human Poverty

• Human poverty encompasses the multiplicity of dimensions associated with poverty. It includes deprivation on a material level, e.g. lack of proper diet, clothing, shelter, and work. It also includes social deprivation, such as denial of employment, participation in social institutions, and education.

• The UN utilizes the human poverty framework as well as income poverty.

• The UN’s Economic and Social Council has described human poverty as:

Human Poverty

• … a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living on marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation”

Hunger

• From the most comprehensive perspective, hunger describes the feeling of discomfort that is the body’s signal that it is in need of more food.

• All people experience this feeling at times but, for most people, particularly in the developed world, this phenomenon is a fleeting event that is alleviated once the next meal is taken, causing no deep or permanent damage.

• When hunger or lack of food persists, however, the consequences can be devastating.

The relationship between hunger and poverty

• Not every poor person is hungry, but almost all hungry people are poor.

• Millions live with hunger and malnourishment because they simply cannot afford to buy enough food, cannot afford nutritious foods, or cannot afford the farming supplies they need to grow enough good food of their own.

• Hunger can be viewed as a dimension of extreme poverty.

• It is often called the most severe and critical manifestation of poverty.