عصرِ حاضر میں مستضعفین کے مسائل اور ان کا حل شریعت کی روشنی میں:ایک تحقیقی جائزہ

The Plight of the Mustad‘afīn in the Contemporary World and Their Relief in the Light of Shariah: A Research Review

Abstract

In an age marked by unprecedented economic disparity, digital marginalization, climate-induced displacement, and systemic oppression, the Qur’anic category of al-mustad‘afin (the weakened, disenfranchised, and powerless) has assumed renewed urgency. This study re-examines the lived realities of contemporary mustad‘afin ranging from refugees and low-wage migrant workers to debt-trapped households, victims of algorithmic bias, and communities crushed by neo-colonial debt structures through the integrated lens of classical and modern Islamic juridical, ethical, and socio-economic sources.Drawing upon the Qur’anic imperatives of ‘adl and ihsan, the Prophetic model of socio-economic justice, and the rich fiqh tradition concerning the rights of the poor (haqq al-faqr), the rights of the stranger (haqq al-gharib), and the obligation of collective redress (farḍ kifayah al-ta‘awun), the research identifies structural parallels between historical and present-day forms of istid‘af. It critically evaluates existing Islamic financial tools (Zakat, waqf, qarḍ hasan, micro-takaful) and proposes adaptive, Shariah-compliant mechanisms including sovereign Zakat funds, digital waqf platforms, blockchain-based transparent aid distribution, and community-driven cooperative enterprises that can effectively empower the mustad‘afin without compromising their dignity or agency.Far from offering mere charity, the study presents an actionable framework rooted in the maqasid al-shari‘ah paradigm, wherein the protection and upliftment of the mustad‘afin is reframed as a non-negotiable religious and civilizational imperative. By bridging classical jurisprudence with twenty-first-century realities, the research contends that a revitalized Islamic socio-economic ethos remains uniquely capable of dismantling systemic weakness and restoring the mustad‘afin to their divinely ordained station of strength and honour.