Intellectual Property Rights in Islam

Intellectual Property Rights in Islam

By Sajjad Chowdhry , Mar 6, 2006

Understanding Intellectual Property in today’s Muslim world business environment also means coming to terms with the Islamic perspective on the subject.

As with many modern issues, diverging views are to be found in Islamic scholars conclusion on this topic with overwhelming majority concluding in support of IP rights.

This article presents both sides in summary, and discusses Islam’s view of legitimate profit and its concept of property.

The Creative Impulse & the Profit Motive

In times past, ideas developed slowly and moved from one place to the next at a snail’s pace. Effectively, merchants could protect their livelihoods and capitalize on new ideas and methods for a good amount of time before seeing those ideas used by competitors in the market. But as the global economy is increasingly characterized its reliance on knowledge based transactions protecting the means of livelihood has become even more important. Ideas move at lightning speed. Tracing the source of those ideas is not only a means of giving credit where due but also of claiming at least a partial right to profit from that idea – in tangible ways or otherwise.

We wake up in the morning to earn our bread and butter – no one wants that right taken away from them. In the Qur’an we read, “And among His signs is the sleep you take by night and by day, as well as your quest of some of His bounties: in these, verily, there are signs for people who listen” (30:23). The profit motive drives our efforts, our approach to solving problems, and our creativity and innovative impulse.

Islam’s concept of private property

In Islamic thought, individuals are entitled to enjoy the fruits of their labor. People don’t go to work so that the value of that effort is automatically given up to others. That value -given through wages/salary or through ownership – is transferred/spent according to the discretion of the agent giving his effort. No one can appropriate that value or that ownership.

In fact defending one’s property has been equated with defending honor in Islamic thought.

In a hadith narrated in Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Thabit we read, “The Messenger of Allah (s) observed, ‘He who dies in protecting his property is a martyr.'”

It is such an important concept that the Prophet of Islam (s) chose to mention it in his Farewell Sermon at the occasion of his Last Pilgrimage. The Prophet said, “Verily your blood, your property are as sacred and inviolable as the sacredness of this day of yours, in this month of yours, in this town of yours.”

Giving credit where credit is due

Islam’s emphasis on giving due credit for knowledge is well known. Centuries before printing became known the world over, Muslims developed systems of transmitting knowledge that became the precursors for modern teaching methodologies.

Acknowledging the source of information, or the chain of transmitters through which information was handed down through the generations, is the method Muslims cultures have inherited in the form of the system of Hadith preservation and authentication. The Isnad, or chain of transmission, creates a meticulous picture of the knowledge path taken by a text as well as if and when there were any gaps or weaknesses.

An allied method was the system of teaching texts in the seminaries of Muslim lands. As early as 750 CE, any copy of a book had to be authorized by the original author who personally taught the book to his students who were thereby authorized to narrate and transmit that text and to hold a copy. This authorization was in the form of an “Ijazah” or certificate of permission. These certificates were examined meticulously before knowledge was taken from someone other than the book’s original author.

Modern Islamic interpretations of Intellectual Property

The concept of intellectual property has been defined elsewhere in this issue. Readers are however reminded that the idea of intellectual property does not hinder or curtail the flow of knowledge. Rather intellectual property protects the right to benefit commercially for a specified period of time. In the realm of ideas IP laws only stipulate that due credit is given to the source of the concept.

Traditional scholars limited the definition of property to only those assets which were tangible and experienced by one of the five senses. It is interesting to note here that one of these five senses is the ability to hear and curious that ideas are therefore not held to be in the domain of the tangible by many traditional scholars.

Given the rapid developments in society, contemporary jurists and thinkers are divided over the issue of intellectual property. Those who fervently stick to the position of classical scholars augment their position against the concept of intellectual property by arguing that knowledge is the sole position of God and is merely a trust for humans to use and share with each other.

On the other hand are scholars who have accepted the premise that ideas and/or methods can be protected under the rubric of intellectual property – that IP is reconcilable in the Shari’ah. According to Mufti Taqi Usmani of Pakistan , there are no express provisions in the basic texts which limit ownership to tangible objects. Copyrights, patents, and trademarks are legitimate claims to ownership which give their owners the right to profit from these claims.

The Bases of IP rights in Islamic thought

Contemporary Fatawa (plural of Fatwa or juridical ruling) have equated violations of IP law with stealing; the late Sheikh `Abd Al-`Aziz Bin Baz is among the prominent scholars to have ruled in this regard. In addition, the Council for Islamic Jurisprudence met in Kuwait in 1988 and ruled that “. nobody has the right to violate.” intellectual property claims.

This understanding is based on three authentic ahadith of the Prophet which scholars cite. The first states, “Muslims are to honor their agreements”. This hadith actually mirrors the first ayah of Surah al-Maida which reads, “O you who believe! Fulfill your obligations.” These agreements or obligations are interpreted by scholars as the laws of the state individual Muslims make their home in.

In another hadith we read, “A Muslim’s wealth is forbidden for others to use without his permission.” Interpretations of the hadith do not limit wealth to money. Rather, even sources of income are protected as wealth. The Prophet (s) also remarked, “Whoever is the first to acquire a thing is more entitled to keep it.”

Violating Intellectual Property Rights

Copying protected media for sale and profit has been forbidden as it is equated with stealing and punishable under both Islamic and State law. In fact, it is a violation of the law of contract in Islam to sell something that you do not own. The object of sale has to be owned by the seller. At the very least, the seller must have the express permission of the owner (preferably in writing) for the sale to be considered valid.

Key Learnings: Defending one’s property has been equated with defending honor in Islamic thought. It is such an important concept that the Prophet of Islam (s) chose to mention it in his Farewell Sermon at the occasion of his Last Pilgrimage. Centuries before printing became known the world over, Muslims developed systems of transmitting knowledge that became the precursors for modern teaching methodologies. Copying protected media for sale and profit has been forbidden as it is equated with stealing and punishable under both Islamic and State law. In fact, it is a violation of the law of contract in Islam to sell something that you do not own.

Source: http://www.dinarstandard.com/management/IPinIslam020306.htm