Diversity of talents and social interdependence

تنوع المواهب والتكامل الاجتماعي

Sha'rawi holds that God distributed talents among creatures and did not gather them in one person, so that the world completes itself and each part needs the others. Difference of rank is needed for complementarity, people are best when they differ, and rivalry over one shared talent corrupts society 1 2.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
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Worship and the pillars

Summary

Sha'rawi holds that God distributed talents among creatures and did not gather them in one person, so that society completes itself and each person needs the talents of others 1.

Complementarity, not favour

He says this joining is not a favour from the rich to the poor but a necessary coexistence, since each needs what the other produces, and difference of rank is needed for complementarity 2.

A community with equal talents

He holds that a group whose talents are the same will compete and destroy itself, that people are best when they differ, and that the small peak is carried by the broad base, and the one who reaches the top should be helped to stay there 2.

Not yet checked

The social reasoning is Sha'rawi's own and has not been checked against works of sociology or economics. The academic view and any non-Sunni view have not been checked.

People and things also explored

The ruling on one who abandons prayer· Ada' (performance of an obligation within its time)· Adhan (the call to prayer: its ruling, wording, conditions, recommended features and the muezzin)· Bone (adhm): purity, use and retaliation· The adornment of desires and the goods of this world· The people of the bench (ahl al-suffa)· The earth made a place of prayer and purity· Spending in the way of God (infaq)

Sources

  1. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1143
  2. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1144
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Diversity of talents and social interdependence”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/diversity-of-talents-and-interdependence/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Related

The ruling on one who abandons prayer

Al-Sallabi quotes Ali: whoever does not pray is an unbeliever. He then reports from al-Nawawi the dispute over one who neglects prayer while believing it obligatory: the majority (Malik, al-Shafi'i) hold him a sinner to be asked to repent, others hold him an unbeliever, a view ascribed to Ali; Abu Hanifa and the Kufans hold him not an unbeliever but to be disciplined.