Food Security, Affordable Housing, and Poverty: An Islamic Finance Perspective (Palgrave Studies in Islamic Banking, Finance, and Economics) by Ahmet Suayb Gundogdu

1. Affordable Housing and Poverty
“The root causes of the problem in accessing affordable
housing”
Ahmet Suayb Gundogdu
Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, Istanbul, Turkey
Ahmet Suayb Gundogdu
Email: Ahmet.gundogdu@izu.edu.tr
Keywords Land use policy – Sustainable cities – Zakat – Waqf
In Islam, paying Zakat, avoiding Riba, and spending to avoid hoarding have
much more value than abstaining from fornication, theft, and drinking. The
hoarding issue has not been appropriately preached since Al-Ahbari has
been hoarding.
1 The importance, as well as the proper imposition of Zakat,
is also ignored. Case Box 1.1 showcases the clarification from Muhammad
( ).
Case Box 1.1: The merit of Paying Zakat
I went out one night (and found) the Messenger of Allah ( ) walking all
alone. There was no man with him. I thought that he did not like anyone
walking along with him. So I began to walk in the light of the moon. He,
however, turned his attention to me, saw me, and said: Who is this? I said:
It is Abu Dharr. Let Allah make me a ransom for you. He said: Abu Dharr,
come on. He (Abu Dharr) said: So I walked along with him for some time,
and he said: The wealthy persons would have little (reward) on the Day of
Resurrection, except upon whom Allah conferred goodness (wealth). He
dispensed it to his right, left, in front of him, and at his back (just as the
wind diffuses fragrance) and did good with it (riches). I went along with
him for some time when He said: Sit here. And he made me sit at a safe
place, and there were stones around it, and he said to me: Sit here till I
come to you. He went away on the stony ground till I could not see him. He
stayed away from me, and he prolonged his stay. Then I heard him as he
came back, and he was saying: Even if he committed theft and even if he
committed fornication. When he came, I could not help asking him: Apostle
of Allah, let Allah make me ransom for you; who were you speaking on the
stony ground? I heard nobody is responding to you. He (the Holy Prophet)
said: It was Gabriel who met me by the side of the stony ground and said:
Give glad tidings to your Ummah that he who died without associating
ought to with Allah would go into Paradise. I said: Gabriel, even if he
committed theft and fornication? He said: Yes. I said: Even if he committed
theft and fornication? He said: Yes; I again said: Even if he committed theft
and fornication? He said: Yes, even if he drank wine
Source Sahih Muslim, 2175
The religion of Islam advises a delicate balance by encouraging property
ownership until a certain hoarding level, spending money on the first
family, and then giving alms to the community. Discouraging hoarding,
encouraging spending, and almsgiving are perceived as solutions to grapple
with poverty. In Islam, poverty is one of the most important issues, which
needs to be handled to the extent that it is similar to struggles against
disbelief (kufr). Muhammad ( ) said: “O Allah! I seek refuge from
disbelief (kufr) and poverty.”
The definition of poverty in Islam is based on Zakat liability. A person
is deemed poor if their net worth is negative. Unlike the conventional
understanding of income, in Islam, a person should have shelter, a transport
vehicle, and a certain amount of savings to ensure the affordability of needs
for a year to be considered not poor. A person with a negative net worth is
still deemed poor in Islam, even if they can generate a steady income.
Today, such a steady income can be generated with debt bubbles. Hence,
the Islamic view rejects any reference to the International Poverty Line
based on income less than a certain amount a day that international
organizations use as a reference.
The sound understanding of Zakat is linked to a comprehensive
understating of the term hoarding. The Arabic term Ihtikar is used for

Food Security, Affordable Housing, and Poverty: An Islamic Finance Perspective (Palgrave Studies in Islamic Banking, Finance, and Economics) by Ahmet Suayb Gundogdu