Investing in the future

Print

Economic down-turn. Financial instability. Depressed markets. It’s all over the place nowadays, with garish, leering headlines and faux-concern on the brows of newsreaders. Like most of us I’ve never really understood the ins-and-outs of economics, but now the stories are thick and fast and so relentless they’d make a seven year-old’s head spin. And as Muslims we’re far from impervious to the ups and downs of economic instability.

And all this talk about investments, about reliable stocks and tightening up portfolios. In times like these it’s hard to read the signs, even for the professionals, and many of us feel as though all we can do is hunker down and brace ourselves for the long-haul. I can’t be the only person who’s gone into siege mentality over the last few years. One of the less obvious casualties of this kind of struggle is perspective: who’s thinking about the big picture when the woods are burning?

So what is the big picture from an Islamic perspective? Where does the real investment sense lie? For all the hand-wringing over petrol prices, the cost of groceries and rising utility bills, where are the reflections upon how to build a better self? Where is the encouragement to learn moral virtue and follow a higher pursuit? What is our real portfolio in life? Surely our senses, our skills, our time on this earth. In such uncertain and unstable times, isn’t it time we started deciding what matters most and spending our assets accordingly?