Surah Quraysh

For the civilizing (taming) of the Quraysh For their civilizing Wehave caused the caravans to move forth In Winter and in SummerSo let them worship the Lord of this House who has fed themagainst hunger And has made them safe from fearThe Glorious Quran (Surah 106)(translated by M. Pickthall)The nature and scope of an Islamic economic system has been the subjectof considerable discussion in recent years. While there is something of aconsensus on the point that Islamic economics is neither Capitalism norSocialism, there is considerably more debate on the prevalence and extentof state intervention in an Islamic economy. Perhaps a closer look at SurahQuraysh may be helpful in this context. The surah is one of the earliest surahsto be revealed and it belongs to a period when Islam was laying forth itsgeneral ideological outlines to the idolators of Makkah. It extracts a messagefrom commercial life of Quraysh and it adumbrates a world view which canbe helpful in guiding us to fmt principles.The translation I am using is that of Pickthall and it is important thathe tries to provide as literal an interpretation of the Holy Qur’an as is feasible.The word “i-la-f,” which Pickthall translates as ’’taming” civilizing” has beenvariously translated by other authors as “gathering,” “security,” and ”union.”Without claiming any expertise in Arabic etymology, it may be pointed outthat neither “gathering” nor “union” is quite consistent with the subsequenttext, which focuses on the commercial success of Quraysh due to the locationof the Ka'bah at Makkah. It is not Quraysh who were “gathered” or ”united”,at the religious fairs, if one may so term the occasions. “Security,” on theother hand, is not in direct opposition to the meaning of the next siimh butthe connotation, as relating to armed warfare, is inappropriate in this context ...