The debate on how to measure development and progress of societies has been joined by many researchers. Different normative theories have been proposed and many more measures or indices have been devised from both the conventional and the Islamic viewpoints. These range from simple measures such as the GDP per capita to more complex forms of the Human Development Index. Some of these indices measure progress and development through the degree of reduction in income poverty. Some go further and try to measure growth in terms of social opportunities and the distribution of those opportunities within low income groups so as to measure inclusiveness of growth. Some go even further and attempt to measure deprivation of capabilities and the extent to which these deprivations can be reduced. Going yet even further, some have focused on freedom deprivation to measure the reduction in multidimensional poverty.
From the Islamic viewpoint, many scholars, for example Dar (2004), Anto (2009), Rehman and Askari (2010), Medhi (2014), Salman and Hamid (2014), have attempted to extend the Human Development Index in the direction of Maqasid al-Shariah. Dar (2004) developed the Ethics-Augmented Human Development Index (HDI-E). He integrated for the first time an explicitly ethical dimension through the incorporation of faith, freedom and the family values aspect in the Human Development Index. Anto (2009) suggested that human development from the Islamic perspective must be based on Maqasid al-Shariah and subsequently created an index of human development based on the principles of Islam. He improved his index by including the right to freedom and the protection of the environment. Rehman and Askari (2010) measured the degree of religiosity of Islamic countries to reflect the correlation between Islam and economic performance, the standard of living and development in general. Medhi (2014) showed the impact of the objectives of Maqasid al-Shariah on human development.
However, all indices that have been developed by the earlier researchers do not take into account the practice of debt. In the property dimension, for example, all the researchers measured the ownership of property based on income. In fact, even if the income earnings are high, but with high debt then high income does not put a person at a higher level of satisfaction. Conversely, even if income earnings are low but the person has no debt, there is a possibility of people with a lower income to reach a higher level of satisfaction. So, the quality of life of a person cannot be measured by income alone without taking other things into account, for example debt. Debts that are not managed properly will provide only
145 temporary satisfaction and will bring punishment in the hereafter. The following are a few hadith that discuss the matter. For example, the hadith narrated by Muslim, 6/38:
―Forgiven are all sins for those who die a martyr‘s death unless he has a debt (to humans)‖. Another hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari 1/24: The Prophet SAW taught his followers to pray regularly to be discharged from debts.
―Oh Allah, I seek refuge in you from sin and debt‖. Then someone asked: ―Why do you often seek protection from debt?‖ The Prophet said: ―If a person owes a debt, when he speaks, he lies; when he promises, he reneges‖.
Another hadith narrated by An-Nasaie, 2/316:
―Oh Allah, I seek refuge from sin and debt‖. Someone asked: ―Are you equating atheism with debt, O Messenger of Allah?‖ The Prophet replied: ―True‖.
From a legal standpoint, debt is permissible (harus). However, this status can change according to the scenario. It may be necessary (wajib) when the debtor intends to meet his basic needs (dharuri). It may be forbidden (haram) if the debtor intends to show off or to do things forbidden by Islam. Another aspect that should be considered is the method of borrowing. If a person wants to borrow, he must ensure that the method of borrowing must be permitted by Islam, namely either Qard al Hasan (interest free loan) or through an Islamic financing facility based on a valid purchase offered by Islamic financial institutions. Based on the discussions above, the debt variable may have correlation with other variables in the Maqasid al-Shariah, especially the property, education and faith elements. So the debt variable should be considered when measuring HDI from the Islamic perspective.
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