Islam and self-reliance: the making and preparation of a useful and productive member of a society

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Periodical article

Title:	Islam and self-reliance: the making and preparation of a useful and productive member of a society
Author:	Sokoto, Abdullahi Alhaji Shehu
Year:	1993
Periodical:	Orita: Ibadan Journal of Religious Studies
Volume:	25
Issue:	1-2
Pages:	124-147
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	Islam self-help economics
Abstract:	Few Nigerian Muslims are aware of the teachings of Islam in relation to the value it attaches to economic and social self-reliance. The utter disregard of and total deviation from the teachings of the Islamic economic system make contemporary Nigerian Muslims face religious, social, political and economic problems which must be eradicated. The author details aspects of the Islamic economic outlook: how to choose and struggle for a living as a matter of necessity, the importance of lawfully acquired wealth, the social responsibility of being able to maintain one's family and of living according to one's means, and the concept of charity for social welfare. He notes that the leaders of the Sokoto jihad of the 18th and 19th century were exemplary in their self-reliance, and that they also enumerated different types of occupation a Muslim should adopt as a means of earning a livelihood. He argues that the teachings of Islam, if implemented, could no doubt solve Nigeria's current problems and help improve the country's paralysed economy. Notes, ref.