Capitalism – The Rule of the Wealthy Elite

On December 14, 2017, Barry and Honey Sherman were found hung side by side in their residence. Their tragic death is currently being investigated by the Toronto police and was a shock not only to their local community but also to the political elite in Canada.

Barry Sherman was a billionaire and the founder of Apotex – a Canadian generic pharmaceutical manufacturer. Apart from his prolific professional life, he was well-known as a philatrophist who would donate millions of dollars to hospitals, universities, and medical research. His funeral was attended by thousands, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, and Toronto Mayor John Tory.

What could warrant such high ranking politicians attending the funeral of a local businessman?

The Politics of Pull

Barry Sherman was a very well-connected businessman, and was able to leverage his massive wealth and philanthropy as a bargaining chip to get things to go the way he would want. According to the Toronto Star, in the late 1990s he was able to pressure the president of the University of Toronto to write a letter to the then Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, to pull back pharmaceutical regulations. He told the UofT president that if the letter was not written, he would take away close to $20 million in donations. When the Prime Minister continued on with the regulations, Sherman gave the University only $1 million as opposed to the $20 million, and also pulled $5 million in donations from Mount Sinai Hospital, and reduced his United Way donations by a half. 

Around the same time, he threatened Dr. Nancy Olivieri, a researcher at the Toronto Sick Kids Hospitals, with lawsuits for questioning the effectiveness and safety of one of the drugs Apotex produced, and pulled her research funding.

More recently, he was being investigated by the Federal Lobbying Commissioner for potentially breaking lobbying rules; the Commissioner had subpoenaed Apotex board members to answer questions regarding a political fundraiser that Sherman arranged at his house for then-candidate Justin Trudeau. Sherman was fighting these subpoenas in court just days before his death. 

One Bad Billionaire or a Wider Issue? 

In Canada, the wealthy elite have exclusive access to the ruling institutions; in other words, Capitalist societies discriminate based on the amount of capital one possesses. As illustrated here, the wealthy elite are the true rulers of society, who control the society through political donations, philanthropic work, or funding in research or academia. Even charity can be used by billionaires to further their own interests, as they have the power to use their donations to manipulate institutions (e.g. universities) and control them. 

This explains why the political elite across all three levels of government would feel an obligation to attend the Sherman funeral; it explains why Trudeau would spend his vacations in the Bahamas at the personal estate of the Aga Khan, who is also being investigated for lobbying violations; it explains why Bill Morneau – a man who inherited a vast amount of wealth before leading Morneau Shepell, a major HR firm – would be appointed to the position of Finance Minister, and be able to enact policy that could benefit the HR firm that he was still invested in at the time. 

Examples of these patterns of behavior are almost endless, and raises a fundamental question: Is this a situation of a few bad apples who occasionally get into positions of power and influence, or is this a natural result of the system itself.  

Capitalism and human dignity

The Capitalist system, with its focus on freedom and individualism, uses the standard of self-interest to make decisions; it encourages the members of a society to maximize their self-interest and places very few limits on how they go about doing so. This means that those who have inherited wealth or found a way to amass wealth are free to leverage this wealth to gain an advantage over those who have not had the same opportunities. This is what freedom actually means: to be free to use one’s wealth as one pleases without being restricted by what Allah (swt) has made Halal or Haram. 

This leverage held by the wealthy includes access to the political elite in order to shape legislation and political outcomes. Thus, Capitalism creates an unequal society, where those with wealth will use it to gain an unfair advantage over those without it. This inequality is only made worse when it intersects with physical disabilities, mental health, or racial discrimination. 

What else explains why the death of Barry Sherman needed to be investigated properly, with the police being held accountable to provide a responsible answer and not jumping to conclusions, while the death of Soleiman Faqiri – a schizophrenia patient who died in the custody of prison guards after being restrained and severely beaten – has not had his death properly investigated for over a year; or while the deaths of dozens of native youth across indigenous communities have not had their deaths properly investigated, much less have their funerals attended by the political elite. It is because these are not deaths worthy of memorializing for the political elite – these are not funerals they deem worthy of attending. 

This difference in treatment is not the result of a mere lack of compassion on the part of some people, or the lobbying efforts of a particular community; rather this inequality is a natural result of the implementation of the Capitalist ideology. 

Conveying Islam: Restoring dignity

The dignity of every human being, regardless of status, physical capability, or wealth, is a core element of our Deen. Allah (swt) revealed:

“We have certainly honoured the children of Adam.” [17:70]

In one example, our beloved Prophet (saw) was in Makkah conveying the message of Islam to a member of the political elite of Quraysh, and he frowned when a blind man interrupted the discussion to ask him a question about Islam, Allah (swt) reminded the Prophet (saw) and revealed Surat ‘Abasa, which said:

“He frowned and turned away, because a blind man came to him [interrupting]. You never know, (O Prophet), perhaps he might be purified, or he may be mindful, benefitting from the reminder. As for the one who was indifferent (to the message), to him you give attention, even though you are not to blame if he would not be purified. But as for the one who came to you eager to learn, in awe (of Allah), from him you are distracted.” [80:1-10]

From these verses, we can clearly see that our beloved Messenger (saw) was trying to convey the message of Islam to the political elite and gain their support for Islamic change in Makkah, not for any self-gain. It is also abundantly clear that the blind man, whose name was Ibn Umm Maktum, would not have even perceived the frown! Yet, such is the emphasis on human dignity in our Deen. 

These concepts did not remain a matter of theory for the early believers, rather the Sahaba were quick to internalize and apply this sense of dignity towards others and unity regardless of status or wealth. Abdul-Rahman bin Awf (ra) – the wealthiest of the Sahaba – after a long day of fasting lost his appetite for Iftar after he reflected on the life of Mus’ab bin Umayr (ra), who died in absolute poverty. Abdul-Rahman (ra) said:

'Musab ibn Umayr has been killed. He was better than me. We did not find anything of his belongings with which to shroud him except what would cover his head but leave his legs uncovered. Then Allah granted us the wealth of the world. I really fear that our reward in the Afterlife has been given to us early in this world.'

After decades of living under Capitalist rule – both in the Western nations and in the Muslim lands – it has become inconceivable for us to imagine the wealthiest in society being moved to the point of losing their appetite when reflecting on the life of the poor. But this is the power of the Islamic Aqeedah, which roots us in the purpose of our existence: to please our Creator; this Aqeedah makes us equal, as brothers and sisters, partners in achieving this goal. 

It is our duty as believers to exemplify this brotherhood in our communities, whether in our Masajid or our community centers and associations. It is also our duty to convey this sense of unity and purpose to our non-Muslim friends, neighbours, and coworkers, inviting them to ponder upon the Islamic way to belief through intellectual engagement.

Finally, it is our obligation as a community to convey this Deen as a complete way of life to society at large, especially the disadvantaged who are most vulnerable to the cruelty of the Capitalist system. We must urge the leaders in our Masajid and community projects to actively build relationships with those who are advocating for justice and dignity for the disadvantaged in Canada, and to communicate our complete belief system to them, including the solutions that Islam offers for people’s problems. How else will they be able to see the mercy, compassion, and protection of our revealed way of life?

“And hold firmly to the rope of Allah and do not be divided. Remember the favour of Allah upon you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts and you became, by His grace, brothers.” [3:103]