MUSLIM PERSPECTIVES ON WELFARE

This article is concerned in part to inform the quest for an understan ding of the perceptions which Muslim minorities have of Western welfar e state provision, but its wider purpose is to explore the essence and the potential of the Islamic welfare state. Heuristic models construc ted by social policy academics have provided insights into the influen ces of religion upon different kinds of welfare state, but no model ex ists by which specifically to understand Islamic welfare traditions, T he article explains the Islamic tradition of Zakat; its significance a s one of the central pillars of Muslim faith, and the principles throu gh which it addresses the relief of poverty and the redistribution of wealth. Islamic conceptions of state and community are then explored a nd the ways in which Muslim faith and culture are adapting at both the global and community level. The article concludes with some speculati ve remarks about the scope for rapprochement between Western debates a bout the moral basis for welfare and Muslim perspectives on social jus tice.