Press Release
As the Coronavirus Disease Crisis Intensifies, the Muslims of Pakistan Fend for Themselves, like Orphans without their Faithful Guardian, the Khilafah

Pakistan’s number of Covid-19 cases have now surpassed those of China, which was the global center of the outbreak and whose population is almost five times larger. The hospitals have become overwhelmed with cases of Coronavirus disease, with shortages in ventilators for the severely ill and an increase in infections amongst doctors and nurses through lack of protection. To add to the misery of illness and loss of loved ones, the costs of staying in hospital, buying medication and paying for tests, are far beyond the means of most of the people, who are already crushed by the collapsing economy. Yet, detached from the needs of the people, the PTI government resorts to first asking the people to take care of social distancing, rapidly progressing to berating them, as if it is just an irritated onlooker, with nothing but toothpicks in his hand. The PTI government hides behind the term of “smart lockdown,” whilst being glaringly inactive in ensuring the scientific, statistical and technical requirements to halt the spread of infection. So, the government announced that tens of thousands are being tested a day, although identifying the active centers of disease spread requires hundreds of thousands of tests daily, as well as a supporting infrastructure of data analysis and effective intervention. And by boasting that “We are amongst [the] pioneers of this approach,” on 6 June 2020, Imran Khan appears out of touch to the rampant spread of the disease in Pakistan’s two biggest cities, Karachi and Lahore.

The PTI government is detached and unaware during the Coronavirus disease outbreak because looking after the affairs of the people is not its priority. Like the PPP and PML-N governments before it, the PTI’s priority is to secure the financial interests of the corrupt within its ranks, as well as those of the colonialists, who are securing substantial returns on their investment of Pakistan’s debt, at tax payers’ expense. Democracy is fundamentally unable to address the needs of the Muslims, as it gives more value to the material interests of the powerful than the welfare of the people. As for health care, under Democracy, it is care in name only, when in reality it is about securing profits for the private companies that either supply state health care or own private health care. For decades, Democracy has ensured that provision of health care is limited by rigid financial planning to ensure maximum profits for the private companies, leaving health care without the capacity for large scale emergencies. The private companies only pursue and fund research in medication that they can patent and copyright for profits, even though much of this medication worsens the suffering of the patient through side effects, as has emerged in the treatment of Covid-19 cases. These private companies have no financial incentive to thoroughly research the readily available foods and herbs that Allah (swt) has provided to both boost the immunity of His servants and completely rid them of disease.

The failure of Democracy is not obvious in Pakistan alone, but to the entire world. The failure of the global standard bearer of Democracy, the United States, to deal with Covid-19 crisis is an evidence of that Democracy’s priority is taking care of the powerful. In terms of total and daily new cases and deaths, the United States is amongst the worst hit nations. The US government has not been able to exceed 500,000 daily tests, far below what is needed to control the spread. However, the US has spent trillions of tax payers’ dollars to bail out the powerful, whilst its billionaires have increased in wealth during the crisis to the order of hundreds of billions of dollars.

O Muslims of Pakistan! We will be abandoned like orphans without a guardian until we restore ruling by all that Allah (swt) has revealed. RasulAllah (saw) said,

«كُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ، وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْؤولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ، فَالأَمِيرُ الَّذِي عَلَى النَّاسِ رَاعٍ»

“All of you are shepherds and each of you is responsible for his flock. The Amir of a people is a shepherd and he is responsible for his flock.” [Bukhari, Muslim] In the era of ruling by Islam, the Khilafah provided high quality state funded health care because Islam has made it an Obligation upon the state. The Khilafah’s hospitals were state funded, providing all the necessary medication and attendants, until the patient was completely cured of the illness. The hospitals were active in audit, research and medical training, laying the foundations to much that is known in modern day medicine. Furthermore, health care itself benefitted from fulfilling the Obligation of spreading Islam through Dawah and Jihad. The Khilafah developed food science over centuries to a high standard to ensure that its troops would have nutritious and well-preserved food during their long mobilizations to open new lands to Islam. The Khilafah established large networks of hospitals to have the capacity to manage large scale health emergencies that occur during warfare. Thus, today, the return of the Khilafah (Caliphate) of the Method of the Prophethood will be a welcome relief for the people of the world that are burdened by the oppressive, man-made laws of Democracy.

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
in Wilayah Pakistan