Islamic Stance On Conglomerates and Monopolies

[Eddie Mecca]

Salaam, 

Humanity has painted itself into quite a corner. We're on the verge of WW3 and nuclear annihilation because we neglected to check certain individuals and families and ethnic groups. What's the Islamic stance on conglomerates and monopolies? Does Islam place a cap or limit on the amount of profit a company or business can make? I know Islam forbids usury and shuns hoarding in general. Nowadays, certain firms or families or religious groups can control governments and world politics and they manipulate the economy to their favor/advantage. How would an ideal Islamic state prevent this from happening? Who would determine the limits and how would they do it and where would they draw the line? What is the evidence from Qur'an and Sunnah? I've been wondering this for awhile. Shuk'ran in advance.

[Eddie Mecca]

[Haji 2003]

On 12/4/2025 at 5:08 AM, Eddie Mecca said:

What is the evidence from Qur'an and Sunnah? I've been wondering this for awhile. Shuk'ran in advance.

I am not a scholar, but this analysis argues why the story of Prophet Yusuf ((عليه السلام).) has macroeconomic implications, including the state's role as a monopolist as opposed to private sector players.

ins

[Abu Hassanain]

Salam

most Muslim countries leaned more socialist in the sense of the government controlled the major utilities in corporations in the 70s and 80s with small private businesses. In general businesses tended to be more localized.

You didn’t see large chains in Muslim countries tended to be more regional

Once China switched their economy from a more Marxist model many other countries eliminated certain for lack of a better word Marxist leaning practices that was in the early 80s by the 90s capitalism large scale, national chains cookie cutter apartment buildings and walls became much more common

Iran would be a unique case because of Islamic governments resistance stance and the sanctions there’s not a lot of international company you would say find in the golf, Saudi, Egypt, etc.

The Midwest in the south have a burger place called Hardee’s. It’s widely known to be one of the worst burger places ever. They have one now in Egypt somebody actually decided yes I will bring a franchise of the most horrible western burgers to Egypt.

As far as monopoly, Monopoly tended to only be broken up when they are unfairly overcharging for goods that people need and it would have to come under the rules of hoarding

A juris could decide that national monopoly are hurting regional interest, local economies, preventing a living wage or not paying enough for religious taxes, doing charities, etc., and give a specific verdict for a specific situation

Islam has general guidelines on economics, but as Maurf local customer and situation affects rolling, those general guidelines are used to make specific rollings for specific times

The commander of the faithful used to give out tracks of land and build houses for the poor then he would give them jobs to do or help them create businesses

Giving people individual houses with land would be difficult now because of the population so some of the Islamic countries have what is called projects or council houses, especially for the elderly the disabled the second funded either by NGO’s or the religious taxes. The same general principle is there the method changes according to the customer in time

I economics is a masterpiece of theoretical Islamic economics however it’s looking at the Marxist-Leninist model and the pre-Reagan capitalist model largely outdated, but it gives you an interesting thought and idea

After the revolution, the religious taxes were not generally enough to pay for everything because each scholar collected his own. The late founder of the republic wanted to unit all of the fifth tax under one office other scholars did not like this idea so it didn’t happen it would’ve been interesting to see what could’ve been done. If all the religious taxes were united in one fun and distributed and used wisely

So they have certain taxes when you buy a house when you buy this some of the rainy brother can explain better, but that this is not a general, but this is a specific situation or money needs to be raised for the needs of the people in the nation

wallahu Alam 

@Ashvazdanghe @Haji 2003 @Eddie Mecca

[Ashvazdanghe]

On 12/4/2025 at 8:54 PM, Abu Hassanain said:

find in the golf,

Salam undoubtedly "Persian gulf"

[Eddie Mecca]

On 12/4/2025 at 12:24 PM, Abu Hassanain said:

You didn’t see large chains in Muslim countries tended to be more regional

Even in America during the 1920's, 1930's etc. you had plenty of mom and pop shops... local individually-owned hardware stores, donut shops, coffee houses, sporting goods stores etc... The 1960's, 1970's 1980's and onwards saw the accelerated growth and expansion of mega stores, shopping malls, Big-Box stores, chain franchises etc.... Stores like Target, Walmart, Kmart, Krispy Kreme, The Sports Authority, Starbucks, Subway etc replacing their small independent counterparts.... I suggest watching The Foods That Built America and its spinoff documentaries

On 12/4/2025 at 12:24 PM, Abu Hassanain said:

Once China switched their economy from a more Marxist model many other countries eliminated certain for lack of a better word Marxist leaning practices that was in the early 80s by the 90s capitalism large scale, national chains cookie cutter apartment buildings and walls became much more common

Agreed

On 12/4/2025 at 12:24 PM, Abu Hassanain said:

Iran would be a unique case because of Islamic governments resistance stance and the sanctions there’s not a lot of international company you would say find in the golf, Saudi, Egypt, etc.

The Iranians are not copying the Western economic model 

On 12/4/2025 at 12:24 PM, Abu Hassanain said:

The commander of the faithful used to give out tracks of land and build houses for the poor then he would give them jobs to do or help them create businesses

Beautiful 

[Ashvazdanghe]

On 12/8/2025 at 10:40 PM, Eddie Mecca said:

The Iranians are not copying the Western economic model 

Salam I have hoped so that it would be true but unfortunately major economic problems in Iran is due copying   Western economic model(s) which it has caused high inflation rate & creating great gaps in society between rich & poor .

[Abu Hassanain]

11 hours ago, Ashvazdanghe said:

Salam I have hoped so that it would be true but unfortunately major economic problems in Iran is due copying   Western economic model(s) which it has caused high inflation rate & creating great gaps in society between rich & poor .

Salams

Thoughts on Ayatullah Mahmud Talagjani model of economics ?

Dr Ali Shariati this is model still aclable today ?
 

Would be a better way to deal with the economic situation in line with Islamic teachings, but applying general principles to the current world situation 

[Ashvazdanghe]

9 hours ago, Abu Hassanain said:

Thoughts on Ayatullah Mahmud Talagjani model of economics ?

Dr Ali Shariati this is model still aclable today ?
 

Would be a better way to deal with the economic situation in line with Islamic teachings, but applying general principles to the current world situation 

Salam surly applying Islamic economical teachings is the best & ideal but unfortunately  Ayatullah Mahmud  Taleghani  model of economics just has been remained in theory level just in papers between few people ; which as I know Dr Ali Shariati only has had social ideal without considering economics which he has not  any idea or theory about economics  by himself  which also he has not any expertise in Islamic economical teachings so therefore he just has supported some reforms in current  westerner economical system    .

Edited December 11, 2025 by Ashvazdanghe

[Ashvazdanghe]

Addendum

"Father Taleghani" and the economy that wanted to be Islamic"

Seyyed Mahmoud Ala'i Taleghani, nicknamed "Abu Dharr Zaman" and "Father Taleghani", is a contemporary Shiite scholar who has thought and commented on various political, social and economic issues. While he has addressed the issue of Islamic economics in a special and independent manner in a book titled «اسلام و مالکیت»  ("Islam and Ownership") among his few works, this issue has received less attention from scholars and researchers, along with his socio-political thoughts. The book Islam and Ownership is a product of an era that has seen the presence of Western colonialism in Iran for about a century. According to researchers, the foundations of Iran's traditional and shaky economy were shattered by the Western invasion of the Qajar period, and the last resistance to the growth of national capitalism was shattered by the coup of 1953. Iran was caught up in a rentier state and capitalism dependent on the West. Marxist ideas, which had entered Iran since the mid-Qajar era, were growing and expanding rapidly due to the victory of the October Revolution of 1917 and under the support of the Soviet Union. After the coup, they were severely suppressed, slowly opening the way for the growth of religious and political forces.

The seminarians and religious forces were trying to form an alternative discourse against Marxism and capitalism. Shiite scholars opposed the influence of Western capitalism by emphasizing and adhering to the principle of "Negation of means"  (Nafy al-sabīl ) However, in the face of Marxism, their most important concern was the negation of private property, which Islam accepted it and jurisprudence in this area had developed greatly (and basically, one of the most basic issues of disagreement between Shiites and Sunnis was the Fadak affair and the debate on the legitimacy of private property). Therefore, the efforts of scholars to reject Marxism and possibly absorb parts of it under the title of justice and equity, which Taleghani discusses with an emphasis on «حرمت کنز» "the sanctity of treasure," could be due to the attraction of the justice-seeking ideas that Marxism promoted; otherwise, Islam was more akin to an economy based on private property.

Quote

The efforts of scholars to reject Marxism and perhaps absorb parts of it under the guise of justice and equity, which Taleghani addresses by emphasizing the "sanctity of treasure,"«حرمت کنز» could be due to the attraction of the justice-seeking ideas that Marxism promoted; otherwise, Islam was more akin to an economy based on private property.

In such circumstances, Taleghani, emphasizing the innateness of the principle of property, first endorsed the principle of private property; then he rejected Marxism's claim about the abolition of private property. He considers the factor of class conflict not to be due to the principle of private property, but to arise from human excess, and he tries to find a way to moderate this excess and simultaneously maintain private property and social justice. He does not consider "labor" to be the basis of exchange value; rather, he believes that exchange value is due to two factors: utility or using value and scarcity of goods.

This is while political economy distinguishes between used value and exchanged value and believes that although using value is the initial and fundamental condition of any exchange, but it is not considered at the moment of exchange; because it is assumed that the two parties to the exchange need each other's goods that have entered the exchange; therefore, another factor must be considered involved in determining the exchange value. Although the issue of scarcity can affect nominal value - which is caused by an imbalance between supply and demand - in a hypothetical exchange with an emphasis on real value, the scarcity factor is not taken into account, and it is assumed that both goods are in a similar situation in this case; or, in other words, there is a balance between supply and demand.

Taleghani, likewise Sadr, believes that jurisprudential rules, along with Islamic education, can resolve class conflicts and antagonisms resulting from capitalism without the need to abolish private property. By enumerating three classes: capitalist, military, and clerical, he believes that Islamic rules block the way for the growth of any capitalist class. Defense is also obligatory for all Muslims under certain conditions, and specialists in command and military skills are limited and do not enjoy special privileges; therefore, in the Islamic system, the military does not have special power. Regarding the clerical class, he also writes after referring to the privileges of the clerical class in other religions: “However, the clerical class of Islam - especially the Shiite - is not a special and privileged class with physical, legal, and financial privileges, and it does not claim a divine nature or special divine sovereignty. The sign, attribute, and characteristic of the clerical class of Islam are only two things: justice and the power of ijtihad. By the measure of these two attributes, clerics, like other Muslims, or more than them, consider themselves to be bent by the rules of Islam and adhere to its teachings.”

This definition of "class" in Taleghani's view does not quite correspond to the scientific and sociological definition of the concept of class; because in this definition, except for capitalists, the military and the clergy are not considered as a class. Also, the military belong to the military bureaucracy and the clergy is basically a status. As mentioned, Taleghani thinks that by observing and implementing jurisprudential and Islamic rulings, not only will class conflict not form, but unity and harmony between classes will be established.

In summary, it can be said that despite Taleghani's good intentions and mastery of jurisprudential issues, his lack of economic and social knowledge prevented him from adequately answering the emerging questions.

https://mobahesat.ir/15065

Principle of Nafy al-sabil

The Principle of Nafy al-sabīl (Arabic: قاعِدَة نَفي السَبيل; lit: Principle of Negation of means)

https://en.wikishia.net/view/Principle_of_Nafy_al-sabil

Edited December 11, 2025 by Ashvazdanghe