The Quran says: (وَمَا مِن دَابَّةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا عَلَى اللَّـهِ رِزْقُهَا  (11:6 – Allah has provided the means of nourishment to all living beings. Anyone who has doubt about this – let them look around and see how this universal nourishment happens.

29:60   وَكَأَيِّن مِّن دَابَّةٍ لَّا تَحْمِلُ رِزْقَهَا اللَّـهُ يَرْزُقُهَا وَإِيَّاكُمْ ۚ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

How many living beings are there on the earth, which store their food or carry it on their backs? Every one of them gets its sustenance as per the universal Divine Law of nourishment (11:6).

However, Allah does not give nourishment to humans directly. (36:47) وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ أَنفِقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّـهُ قَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنُطْعِمُ مَن لَّوْ يَشَاءُ اللَّـهُ أَطْعَمَهُ إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلَّا فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ – Thus, when they are told, “Spend on others out of what God has provided for you as sus­tenance,” those who are bent on denying the truth say unto those who believe, “Shall we feed anyone whom, if [your] God had so willed, He could have fed [Himself]?” Clearly, such people are completely lost in manifest error!

Consequently, they object when they are told to keep open the means of nourishment that the Almighty has given so that it is accessible to the needy. At this, those who deny this Divine Directive tell those who have faith in it, that if Allah had willed that wealth should be distributed in a way that no one remains hungry in the world, then why did He not arrange it so by Himself?

Why is He asking human beings to establish a system in which everyone adequately gets the necessities of life? Who should tell them that by saying so they are committing a big mistake? God establishes His system in human society through human hands. The purpose is that human beings should exercise their freewill to choose the proper course of life, so that their self and personality could develop in the right direction. Otherwise, it was not at all difficult for Allah to have made humankind devoid of freewill just like the other beings in the universe bound by Allah’s laws of Nature.

It is the human’s unjust system, which has created economic imbalance and disorder in society, thus shattering humanity. By saying, “Had God wanted so He should have done this Himself”, humans deny their own dignity – of having freedom of choice and Allah-granted freewill – and try to evade their responsibility. This is humans’ gross error of judgement.

If humans established a universal system of sustenance in society (and stopped plundering or hoarding) then everyone will get nourishment with dignity as every other being in Nature gets (6:152). This is because Allah hears all and is aware of everyone's needs. No one is outside His view.

It is the requirement of the Divine Order – and those who believe in this must practically implement it in society – that each individual should receive sustenance according to his needs. This is the Quran’s system of sustenance (or in modern terminology, we can refer to it as the Quranic economic system) (6:151, 29:60, 36:47, 41:10 ).

The Quran says (43:33-35): وَلَوْلَا أَن يَكُونَ النَّاسُ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً لَّجَعَلْنَا لِمَن يَكْفُرُ بِالرَّحْمَـٰنِ لِبُيُوتِهِمْ سُقُفًا مِّن فِضَّةٍ وَمَعَارِجَ عَلَيْهَا يَظْهَرُونَ ;وَلِبُيُوتِهِمْ أَبْوَابًا وَسُرُرًا عَلَيْهَا يَتَّكِئُونَ وَزُخْرُفًا ۚ وَإِن كُلُّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمَّا مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۚ وَالْآخِرَةُ عِندَ رَبِّكَ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ. If it was not in Our program that all humanity should eventually become one universal community (2:213, 10:19), then We would have left the people alone who deny Our economic system of universal sustenance.

These people want to collect colossal material wealth for themselves and amass such riches that they would like to make even the roofs and stairs of their houses in silver. Moreover, they would like the doors of their houses and the couches over which they recline, to be made of gold.

However, this gross difference between various sections of society would not have allowed humans to become one brotherhood. It is for this reason that We continue sending such messages and create parties which raise their voices against unjust distribution of wealth. They also proclaim that the objective should not be comfort and luxury in this worldly life only, but should also be happiness and success in the hereafter.

This future objective can only be achieved if the human social system is subservient to Divine Law and guidance. In this way, despite the fact that different people will have varying capabilities of earning, the whole of humanity can become one brotherhood.

In this connection, the Quran says (43:36): وَمَن يَعْشُ عَن ذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ نُقَيِّضْ لَهُ شَيْطَانًا فَهُوَ لَهُ قَرِينٌ  – However, most people turn away from this basic reality of life. Moreover, as soon as a person turns away from the concept of universal sustenance, people with a similarly rebellious disposition join him and become his intimate associates.

The great difficulty in tackling capitalism is that the capitalists – whether they are politicians or whether they are wealthy executives – they are not alone in caching and accumulation. They surround themselves with circle of close friends who give them strategic advice to fortify their power and multiply their wealth. The root meaning of the word “يَعْشُ” is to become dazed by synthetic glitter and glamor, and consequently, not being able to see the divine laws clearly. When this happens to someone, then crooks overtake him.

The verse (43:36) above declares human ego as Satan. It is usual to blame Satan for misguiding humans. However, in this verse (and many others), the Quran says that Satan is not some external entity but the human ego itself. Man does not say that he himself gets misguided; that he himself commits sins; that he himself commits crime. Instead, he says that the Satan makes him do such things. He blames Satan and places his own responsibility on to the Satan. When God asked Satan why you did this, he replied: who I am to disobey your order? It is Thou who made me do this because Thou are Almighty and Omnipresent; that nothing can happen without Thou permission.  Thus, the Satan dumped his defiance of God on God Himself; and we dump our errors and crimes on to the Satan.

Therefore, whatever bad actions humans commit, they lay it on to the Satan; and thus they escape responsibility and accountability for their actions. This is the basic reason our society is used to wrong things because we refuse to own them. This is the reason the Quran says (43:62): وَلَا يَصُدَّنَّكُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ ۖ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ. And beware! Let not Satan (i.e., human’s own wicked selfish desire) bar you from the right path, for that is your open enemy. (6:43): فَلَوْلَا إِذْ جَاءَهُم بَأْسُنَا تَضَرَّعُوا وَلَـٰكِن قَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ. Yet when the misfortune decreed by Us befell them, they did not humble themselves, but rather their hearts grew hard, for Satan had made all their doings seem goodly to them.

The word نقیض (Naqid) in verse (46:36) means to cover someone in such a way as the eggshell covers the egg. Advisers cover the wealthy and powerful in such a way that no sound can get in or get out of their closed circle. If we picture how these core advisors encircle and surround people then we will appreciate what the Quran has said here 1400 years ago. Now we can think of all types of secret advisory councils whether political, economic, financial, strategic, security, defense, etc. that surround decision makers. These bodies put a tight shield around their inner circles and do not let anything get in or get out.

In another place, the Quran says that advisers present everything to them that looks and sounds very beautiful. They shower praises on them at everything they say or do and never let facts come out in front of them as facts. The Quran calls these advisers as Satan/Iblis. (16:63): فَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ – but Satan made their deeds attractive to them. (15:39): قَالَ رَبِّ بِمَا أَغْوَيْتَنِي لَأُزَيِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَأُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ  – [Whereupon Iblis] said: “O my Sustainer! Since Thou hast thwarted me, I shall indeed make [all that is evil] on earth seem goodly to them, and shall most certainly beguile them-into grievous error.”

These hidden advisers manipulate realities and facts, and create exterior glamor of shine and glitter that bedazzle and mesmerize people into believing what is fake as real, into believing what is falsehood as truth. They thus think that this way they can maintain their falsehood forever. However, as Allama Iqbal says (in Baang-e-Dara):

The glitter of modern culture creates a blinding glare in the eyes.
This designing, milling, and polishing of culture is but mere fakery!

Subliminal programming and manipulation can never save that society.
A society erected on the base of capitalism is doomed to fail ultimately! 

Robert Briffault echoes the same sentiments when he says, “No system of human organisation that is false in its very principle, in its very foundation, can save itself by any amount of cleverness and efficiency in the means by which that falsehood is carried out and maintained by any amount of superficial adjustment and tinkering. It is doomed root and branch as long as the root remains what it is. ¹R. Briffault, The Making of Humanity, p. 159]