The Sacred Cow of Democracy

News:

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, "We call for the respect and equal application of democratic principles, freedom of expression around – and rule of law around the world, and of course, in Pakistan, we urge that these principles be respected for all people,". (The News)

Comment:

The current political situation in Pakistan has not only shaken Pakistan but has made waves in the world. The American expression of worry for democracy doesn’t show concern about the people of Pakistan who are living under back-breaking circumstances but about the maintenance and survival of the implanted system. Meanwhile, the people of Pakistan have been divided in search of the right person or party among the culprits. Democracy has been forced down the throats of the Muslim world and is occasionally switched with military rule so people can crave it again.

Democracy in fact is a fulminating lesion that kept getting worse with time and eventually has brought a land full of resources to the point where the two major political parties opposing each other have been doling out national assets during their time of power. We’ve had many assets mortgaged for loans, a practice that began in 2006 by then finance Minister, Shaukat Aziz, and later taken up by yet another wily operator, Ishaq Dar.,The wave began with highways, later extending to motorways, airports, PTV, Radio Pakistan, and may now engulf parks in this list.

In 2006, amidst hymns to ‘high growth’, Rs6 billion was raised by mortgaging toll-yielding roads like M-1, M-4, IMDC, and Okara Bypass. According to the latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan, total debt and liabilities have amplified to Rs 73 trillion, and if we compare based on democracy vs dictatorship, our democratically-elected leaders were behind 82 percent of these loans. All these loans and mortgages are weighing us down deeper and deeper, as capitalism is designed to be unjust and creates more poverty than solves it. All their concerns are towards keeping the wealth concentrated and accumulating within the hands of the few, and it is foolish to think that will ever change, or to look to them for solutions to problems they caused.

People see all these injustices and exploitations and get angry, and in that emotional state are further exploited by individuals claiming to have solutions to their problems. These individuals are just different faces linked to the old system. They ignite riots, to give a revolutionary impression and people get fooled to be abandoned again. Here we must deeply analyze the strength of our aqeedah and see if our thought and method are connected or not. It was narrated from Ibn ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: لاَ يُلْدَغُ الْمُؤْمِنُ مِنْ جُحْرٍ مَرَّتَيْنِ» ‏“The believer should not be stung from the same hole twice.” [Sunan Ibn Majah].

As believers, we know that Islam has its own detailed systems of ruling over people and places and that it is all done in obedience to Allah (swt). When we react with mere emotions of deprivation and hurt from injustice, we fail to connect fikrah with tareeqah (idea with method). Implementation of Islam is not for gaining benefits but is obedience to Allah (swt). It is His Mercy and Hikmah that He has put (benefit (khair) for us in His obedience. For economic independence and getting out of this debt trap, our currency must be based on gold and silver, rather than tied to the dollar. The Messenger of Allah (saw) approved of the minting of Gold Dinars, weighing 4.25g, and Silver Dirhams, weighing 2.975g, as the currency of the state. The Messenger of Allah (saw) set a standard (weight) for gold and silver, which was the standard of the people of Makkah. The Khilafah (Caliphate) State maintained the same currency system for around 1300 years, which generally stabilized prices and prevented back-breaking inflation. It will be only the reestablishment of the Khilafah State that will pull our Muslim Ummah out of this chaos named capitalism or any other man-made system.

[وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَن يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ وَمَن يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا مُّبِينًا]

“It is not for a believing man or woman—when Allah and His Messenger decree a matter—to have any other choice in that matter.1 Indeed, whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has clearly gone ˹far˺ astray.” [Al-Ahzab: 36]

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Ikhlaq Jehan