Trade has the potential to lift individuals and countries out of poverty, as well as contributing to the problems and inequalities they face. At present, the international trading system is an un-level playing field that unfairly disadvantages the poorest countries and is pushing many of them deeper into poverty.

In Islam, trade is encouraged as it is considered to be an empowering activity. However, there are boundaries on what can be traded, how and with whom. Above all, social justice and equity must be the determining factors in all economic endeavours, as social justice and equity are at the heart of Islam.  As a result, in Islam there are a number of principles that economically active people must adhere to.

Islamic principles of trade ethics and the current message of trade justice advocacy groups have much in common. Both focus on empowering poor countries and communities and eradicating the exploitation of producers in the developing world.  Islamic Relief has developed three trade-related objectives:

Working towards a more just world trade system: Islamic Relief will contribute towards the development of a more just world trade system. We will complement the existing work of various worldwide trade justice lobbies by adding Islam-specific messages on trade ethics to the discourse. This will involve advocacy campaigns aimed at the general public and our donors, as well as engaging in in-depth dialogue with key trade organisations and policy makers.

Implementation of an internal fair trade policy: Islamic Relief will progressively implement an ethical procurement policy. This will begin at our headquarters and will spread to other parts of the Islamic Relief family. This will begin with securing a fair price for small producers, combating environmental degradation and will increase to include issues such as labour rights.

Entering the worldwide ‘fair trade’ market:  Fair trade products range from bananas to coffee and are produced and bought in such a way as to guarantee small producers in developing countries a fair wage and to encourage economic and social development. In the long term, Islamic Relief will utilise its successful livelihood projects to produce items that are marketable and ethically produced and traded.

For more information on the impact of debt on the social and economic development of poor countries, please refer to Islamic Relief’s international debt policy.