Environmental and Natural Resource Policies

Abstract

The first principle of property rights in Islam is that Allah (swt) is the ultimate owner of all things in His creation. The most important of the property rights principles have been presented earlier and are summarized here that: (i) the Creator has ultimate property rights in all things; (ii) Allah (swt) has created resources for all humankind of all generations and no one can be denied access to, or be deprived of, these resources; (iii) work (and voluntary transfer) is the only means by which individuals gain rightful possession of property when they combine their physical/mental abilities with natural resources to produce a product; (iv) since natural resources belong to all humankind, a right is created in the products produced by the more able for the less able; in effect the less able are silent partners in the products, income and wealth produced by the more able whose shares has to be redeemed; (v) all instantaneous property rights claims, such as theft, bribery, interest, gambling, are prohibited; and (vi) a person can transfer property rights claim to another via exchange, inheritance, or the redemption of the rights of the less able.