The Social Capital Fountain: Solidarity, Empathy, Trust, and Property Rights

The Islamic conception of development places great emphasis on the need to focus human energy on achieving social solidarity and unity.1 In turn, that unity is firmly grounded on the purposiveness of the Creation, the Walayah of the Creator for and over the humanity that invested high dignity in the human state and the responsibilities implied by that state. The Khalifah (trusteeship/agency) responsibility provides every human the means by which the Walayah of the Cherisher-Lord is cognized through service to other demonstrated through His Walayah. This is returned through Ihsan: Walayah of each human for others in the rest of the creation. This reciprocation of Walayah by Ihsan (deeds of love, justice, goodness, compassion and mercy), in response to the injunction of the Qur’an, “is goodness reciprocated by anything but goodness?” (Q 55:60) can only take place in a societal setting. The Khalifah functions of each human can only be meaningful in collectivity with other humans. The intensity of Islam’s emphasis on the social dimension is so great that there is not one act of adoration and worship that is devoid of societal implication. Moreover, every interaction among humans, from the most intimate to the most public, is sanctified when engaged in with cognizance and full awareness of Allah (swt).