Refuting the Claim That There Is Socialism in Islam

The Shaykh : Here now is the socialist system by which some Islamic preachers have been deluded, and they have authored more than one book, as far as I know, titled "Islamic Socialism." In such books, they permit the state to lay its hands on land like this, from which its owner extracts oil instead of water. This is not permissible, for it is contrary to the Shari'ah, just like any confiscation of a Muslim's wealth and everything he owns. Among the most famous Islamic writers who followed the path of the socialists in this matter—namely, permitting the state to take ownership of some lands that are privately owned because they contain a mineral or oil—is the well-known writer Malik ibn Nabi. Then, after him, came Shaykh Mustafa al-Siba'i (may Allah have mercy on them all), who authored his treatise or book on Islamic Socialism and adopted this approach. This is, in reality, one of the consequences of what we criticize in many Islamic political parties, let alone some contemporary writers who base their jurisprudence on a principle from which Islam disavows itself as completely as the wolf disavows the blood of the son of Ya'qub (Jacob), which is the saying of the disbelievers in the first place: "The end justifies the means." By this false principle, they legislate for people many, and very many, branches that are contrary to Islamic rulings. Among these is what we were discussing just now: that they justify taking ownership of lands that are privately owned, not merely uncultivated lands, but lands owned in a lawful manner, such as through inheritance, sale, and purchase, and the like. Expanding on this topic is one of the problems of the reality of the Muslim world today.