Press Release
Who is Responsible when Floods and other Disasters Occur?

Heavy rains in the country have brought floods claiming 36 lives so far while many have been left without shelter after their houses were washed away. The floods have disrupted transport after many bridges were also destroyed. Hizb ut Tahrir / East Africa wishes to make a call to the whole society, especially the Islamic society, to donate various relief supplies to the affected individuals as that is what Islam recommends. The Prophet (saw) said:

"من فرج عن مسلم كربة من كرب الدنيا فرج الله عنه كربة من كرب يوم القيامه" ‘Whoever relieves the difficulty of another Muslim, Allah Taala will relieve for him a difficulty among the difficulties on Judgment Day'.

These floods have clearly shown the failure of infrastructural systems in the country. Even if it is true that floods can destroy roads, but it is also true that most roads in the country were not built to last and are inaccessible not only during the rain season but also during the dry season. To make matters worse, some areas do not even have a road network yet the government levies huge taxes sufficient for construction and improvement. Alas! Because of corruption, road patches that never prevent anything are done on a daily basis where in case of drizzles, such roads turn into impassable rivers!

Often when such calamities occur, they reveal the true nature of the problematic capitalist ideology and its ruling systems of not giving priority to the public interests. It is disheartening when thousands of people are facing chilly weather after their houses were destroyed by floods, meanwhile members of parliament, senators and governors are enjoying in hotels on the pretext of discussing how to govern and account the government! How many times have MPs increased their salaries without any debate or consulting the public!  Surprisingly, during the recent election campaigns, they roamed the country in helicopters seeking votes but now they stare at televisions as the public drowns! This is the true depiction of capitalists and their leaders of valuing their lives and disregarding the lives of the poor.

Hizb ut Tahrir, an Islamic group that calls to Islam in its true ideological sense, believes that the situation could have not reached this point if the government was responsible as it would have taken early measures. Even if mankind cannot naturally prevent such disasters, Allah Taala has commanded them to take precautionary measures by instituting special procedures as a way to mitigate such disasters when they occur. This was not instituted even though the weather forecast department earlier predicted the heavy rains in many parts of the country. The government ignored this and took no action! Islam as an ideology and complete way of life defines the responsibility of taking care of the public affairs as that of the government and not individuals or private organizations. Hence, the Islamic state, al-Khilafah "Caliphate", is mandated to construct roads and ease transport. As for tragedies like floods and earthquakes, the Islamic State utilizes funds from the treasury (Baitul Mal) to tend to the affected people and this is its responsibility to the public and not a favour. If it happens there are no funds in the state treasury, then the Khalifah (Islamic leader) will be forced to levy the rich a specific amount to compensate for such a situation. This is how the Khilafah "Caliphate" is expected to take care of the interests of its citizens without regard to religion, colour or region as it will be implementing the true ideology of Islam.

Shabani Mwalimu
Media Representative
Hizb ut Tahrir / East Africa