In accordance with the interests of the Ummah and the command to order the Ma’roof (right) and forbid the Munkar (wrong) the Shabaab of Hizb-ut-Tahrir in Khaleel convened a political gathering yesterday on the 26/02/12 under the title: “The taxation policy is an economic crime resulting from a criminal political failure” in the Diwan of Aali Badr. It was attended by a large crowd from amongst the prominent people, academics, and politicians in addition to the owners of factories, businesses and traders.

The gathering began with the recitation of the Qur’aan which was followed by a welcoming message from the host to the honourable guests. He then asked them in regards to the money that is taken from them (in taxes) by the Palestinian authority as to whom the benefit of it is? And where does it go? And are the people of Palestine who are living under occupation and who already face many burdens capable of handling the new tax law? And what does our firm Shari’ah say about the issue? These questions were raised in an open manner giving an opportunity to those attending to answer them amongst other issues and questions.

The presenter Ustaadh Raaghib Abu Shaamah talked first about the economic policy in any given political entity in the world in that it is not separated from the general political system of that entity. As such it is a policy which is a part of the structure of a complete political system of these states, indeed the economic, social and the remainder of the systems of life arise from a clear vision of these political entities which comes from the clarity of their political system, its crystallization and the basis upon which it is established. And that this basis is its Aqeedah (belief and viewpoint in life) so the states systems emanate from their political Aqeedah and are not cut off from this basis at all, as they are of the same origin.

And the presenter remarked upon the situation of the Palestinian authority stating: “The Palestinian authority was established upon the basis of compliance between it and the Jewish entity and related to the division of Palestine in to two states, and as such it does not exist as a complete political entity, either: politically, geographically or in terms of its security, so it does not possess sovereignty or jurisdiction. This is admitted by those who are responsible within the authority themselves when they say: “That Palestine is subservient to the occupation and remains as such” just as Abbaas and Ash-Sheikh have admitted that the Jews have stripped all mandatory powers from the authority. The presenter also made clear that peoples who live under occupation are not obliged to submit to the laws of taxation in their different forms.

And he added that it is clearly noticeable that the taxation policy in Palestine is deficient because the political system itself is deficient in relation to all aspects of the meaning of taking care of the peoples affairs. So the problem of the economic system does not stem from this specific law or the taxation legislation being faulty or in the wrong place (alone) but rather the law is a crime against the rights of the people and their properties (wealth). It reflects an economic system based on taking from the people rather than taking care of their affairs. This is because the taxes reach in their totality through both direct and indirect forms between 35-40% of the citizens income and they are a factor amongst other factors of a failed economic policy built upon a form of politics and economics which have proven to have failed in regards to taking care of the affairs of the people.

The gathering then turned to discussing the Paris agreement which the Palestinian authority convened with the ‘Jewish entity’ in 1994 and what stood at from this agreement. The discussion then turned to what happened under the government of Al-Fayyaad as resulting in a criminal economic policy which caused:

– An increase in the prices of foodstuffs and basic goods by four times.

– A decrease in the agricultural output between 8-12%

– The citizen paying a tax without being made to feel that it is a tax so for example when he buys a loaf of bread at least 15% of the price he pays is taxation (i.e. Vat).

And the presenter explained that the Islamic civilisation is the leader in the field of organising the financial resources of the Islamic Ummah and mankind got to see through the Khilafah State the very first financial structure upon the same model that is prominent in use today in the wealthy advanced states and that this structure was known as the Bait-ul-Maal.

He added: The wealth and resources that went into the Bait-ul-Maal of the Muslims were immense and he mentioned that at a certain time the amount of money that entered the Bait-ul-Maal extracted from Kharaaj totalled 315,100,000 silver Dirhams and 10,117,000 gold Dinars and he displayed these facts with the aid of a projector so as to make it easier for the attendees understand and visualise the reality.

In his final remarks he affirmed that the Maks (tax) represents taking the wealth of people oppressively meaning that it is taking without giving something in return. This includes the taking of taxes from the traveller for example where the one paying the tax does not receive a benefit in return for what he has given. And that this act is from the Kabaa’ir (great sins) and that refuge should be sought in Allah سبحانه وتعالى from it due to the statement of the Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم:

“And the possessor of the Maks (oppressive tax) does not enter Jannah”

and the origin of Maks is that it is a form of treachery and trickery.

And he added that under the shade of the rule of Allah the Muslim’s wealth is not taken except by means of Zakaah and the state spends upon the Muslims from the Bait-ul-Maal meeting the basic needs of each and every citizen in terms of food, housing, health, education and clothing. And if the Bait-ul-Maal does not have sufficient funds then it takes from the surplus wealth of those who are rich from amongst the people whose needs have been met so as to provide for those who are poor. This tax which only applies in the case of necessity in regards to the surplus wealth of the rich is a temporary measure and it is absolutely never applied upon the poor.

The presenter then responded to questions from those attending which focused throughout on explaining that we are not calling for patching up the current system which has already proven its failure and that the current system is engulfed in its political and economic criminality and that altering or cancelling a certain law is not what concerns us. That is because the calamity is fundamentally the very existence of this entity and that it is obligatory upon us as Muslims to bring together our demands and work so as to bring the ruling by what Allah سبحانه وتعالى has revealed whilst requesting from those attending that reject this Munkar and raise their voices high in doing so.

After this a documentary film was presented concerning the Muslim Hadaarah (civilisation) under the title of: ‘When the Muslims rule by the Shar’a of Allah and His Deen this is what will happen’.

The host of the gathering then ended by making Du’aa for the Muslims.

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