As mentioned above, in Islam people have not been left totally free to earn their wealth or and spend it as they wish. The underlying principle is that Islam does not look favourably upon the accumulation of wealth in a few hands, and a number of commandments have been set to mitigate against it, the system of Zakat, and the principles of inheritance being two such examples.
In Zakat, financially well-off Muslims are obligated to give a fixed proportion of their wealth to poor Muslims every year. Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam. A rich Muslim has no option of saying, “why should I give my hard-earned money to someone else? I earned it, I will spend it on my own comforts, my own family”. There are very severe penalties mentioned in the Noble Qur’an for those who do not pay Zakat as due. This provision ensures transfer of wealth from the wealthy to the poor on a regular basis.
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