Headlines:
- How is Taking More Interest Based Debt Following the Model of the Madinah State?!
- The Saudi-Led Coalition for America’s War is Illegal in Islam, so Why the Prolonged Wrangle?
- Even More Privatization of Pakistan’s Assets to Will Neither Reduce Debt Nor Alleviate Property
How is Taking More Interest Based Debt Following the Model of the Madinah State?!
Speaking at the first formal press conference after the recent elections on 8 August 2018, the likely new finance minister Asad Umar said that offering any relief or subsidy to the people in first 100 days was like giving lollipops. He said the first 100 days would also not see a decision that would change the destiny of the nation, but a clear direction on what “we promised and where we are headed for stock-taking.” PTI is scrambling for options with Asad Umar saying, “The situation is such that we don’t have the luxury of choosing one option, but will have to plan all options in parallel, including the IMF support within six weeks.” Regarding other debt instruments, the PTI leader said Sukuk bond and Eurobond were on the table yet again, even though they such bonds have caused depreciation of the rupee and hence increase generalised inflation.
Like many countries, Pakistan has suffered at the hands of the IMF through the previous twelve previous programmes, since the late 1980s. Moreover, from the expected bailout from IMF, the amount of Chinese loans, based on high, commercial interest rates, come close to the IMF’s last bailout of $6.6 billion. Pakistan is already in a debt trap where its current external debt and liabilities already stand at a USD 92 billion. It is seeking more loans to finance previous loans. And it will get worse because the new regime continues the failed formula of interest based loans and debt instruments. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected Pakistan’s external debt and liabilities could peak to $144 billion in the next five years from $93 billion in the current financial year of 2018. Moreover, debt from foreign institutions like IMF world bank not only increases burden of yearly debt servicing but also collaborating with the colonialist financial institutions chains Pakistan’s economy to programmes to deprive Pakistan of large and critical revenues from energy, minerals, large scale transport, telecommunications and heavy industry through accelerated privatization. Then to meet the inevitable shortfalls in revenues, the IMF demands more back breaking taxation, which cripples industry and agriculture and chokes domestic spending.
How is all of this working according to the model of the Madinah State? Certainly, RasulAllah ﷺ never took loans on interest from the enemy Quraysh upon taking power in Madinah. The Muslims must look beyond lip service to Islam from the incoming rulers to the Islamic rulings that Islam has demanded for implementation, which will rapidly generate the equivalent of billions of dollars. Islam demands confiscation of the misappropriated wealth of those who have ruled Pakistan in the past. This is because in Islam the one that holds a ruling post is not allowed to be engaged in commercial financial work and is limited to his entitled monthly financial allowance. So, if he became immensely wealthy during his time in office, the extraordinary increase in wealth is returned to the State Treasury. This pool of misappropriated wealth is in the order of billions of dollars, for it is common in Pakistan that current rulers become wealthy by pilfering funds from loans taken in the name of the country. Also, the Khilafah state (Caliphate) will not pay any amount in interest as debt servicing as Allah (swt) has ordained interest as haraam وَأَحَلَّ اللهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّبَا “They say that Riba is a form of trade. But Allah has permitted trade and forbidden riba.” [Surah Al-Baqarah 2:175]. Interest has meant that Pakistan, like many other countries, has paid back principles on loans but remains in debt. Again its debt servicing is in the order of billions of dollars a year and eats up a third of the budget. Moreover, the Khilafah on the Method of the Prophethood state will immediately move to annex Muslim lands to unify Muslims under a single Khilafah state and ensure that energy and minerals are public property as Islam has mandated. This will mean that the billions of dollars spent on energy imports will become a fact of an unfortunate history, as the Muslims will then pool their resources as one powerful state, under one ruler and with one state treasury.
The Saudi-Led Coalition for America’s War is Illegal in Islam, so Why the Prolonged Wrangle?
The Supreme Court was informed on 7 August 2018 that former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif did not obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the federal cabinet before leaving for Saudi Arabia to head a military alliance. However, defence secretary retired Lt Gen Zamirul Hassan informed the court that it was the defence ministry which had granted NOC to the ex-chief of army staff after General Headquarters (GHQ) cleared him to accept the post. Indeed Pakistan’s then Defence Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, on 6 January 2017 confirmed that the former army chief, General (retd) Raheel Sharif, was made chief of the Saudi-based coalition to combat “terrorism” and that this step was taken with the government’s consent. After hearing all sides, a three-judge bench of the SC headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar ordered that the matter be placed before the federal cabinet. He added the matter at hand was of an urgent nature, yet, the hearing was adjourned till an unannounced date after the summer vacations.
So over eighteen months after the Defence Ministry confirmed approval of General Raheel as the chief of the Saudi-based coalition, the judiciary is playing catch up. This is even though this matter is obvious to judge upon, if there were a judiciary that ruled by Islam. It is obvious to any sane and aware person that the global “War on Terror” is a war on Islam and Muslims. This crusade is spearheaded by the Western colonialist nations and implemented by their agents in the Muslim World. This crusade is to suppress the awakening of the Ummah from her previous slumber, in a bid to prevent or at least delay her revival in general, and the return of the Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of the Prophethood, in particular.
Yet, Democracy allows the current rulers of the Muslim World rush to volunteer our armed forces for participation in global and regional alliances to assist their Western masters. Democracy issues laws to force the Ummah to accept all manner of injustice against her, whether it is her open slaughter, occupation of her lands or the denial of her right to be unified and ruled by Islam through the Khilafah. Democracy allows agents to rush to assist the Western crusaders who have failed to subdue the Ummah using their own cowardly troops and so now demand the use of Muslim troops to do their dirty jobs. They rush even though Allah (swt) forbade any alliance or assistance in sin in His saying, وَتَعَاوَنُواْ عَلَى الْبرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى وَلاَ تَعَاوَنُواْ عَلَى الإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ إِنَّ اللّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ “And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.” [Surah Al-Maaida 5:2]. Is it not clear that the wrangle over clear violation of Islam is only possible, because we do not have a state that governs exclusively according to the Quran and Sunnah?
Even More Privatization of Pakistan’s Assets to Will Neither Reduce Debt Nor Alleviate Property
Asad Umar, the incoming finance minister of Pakistan, in an interview with the Financial Times on 2nd August 2018, revealed that the country would have to consider a mass privatisation drive as it seeks to obtain the necessary funds to pull the nation out of economic crisis. This may help persuade the IMF to agree to a favourable deal for the country, he hopes.
A massive privatization program was started by the first Nawaz Sharif government in November 1990. It declared privatization as its primary economic policy objective. It set up the Privatization Commission in 1991, with its law stipulating that 90 per cent of the proceeds of privatization would be utilized to retire debt and the remaining 10 percent would be utilized on poverty alleviation. Since 1991 till April 2006, governments had completed or approved 160 transactions at the gross sale price of Rs. 395.241. billion. However, privatization proceeds have not helped Pakistan to reduce its debt or alleviate poverty. The government in waiting, that claims to want to make Pakistan a state like Madinah, in reality is devising a failed, capitalist plan. It is no different to the previous corrupt regimes and its actions will produce the same result, worsening debt and poverty. Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf neither has the knowledge or insight to implement Islam’s economic system, which was implemented by the Madinah State.
The Muslims of Pakistan must embrace the struggle of Hizb ut Tahrir for real change, through re-establishing the Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of Prophethood. Hizb ut Tahir has produced a number of books on the economic system of Islam, implemented by the state of Madinah. These include, “The Economic System of Islam”, “Funds in the Khilafah State”, “Ideal Economic Policy” and “Economic Crises: Their Reality and their solution from the view point in Islam”. In its Introduction to the Constitution, Hizb ut Tahrir has 46 articles on economy out of 191 articles, with detailed evidences from Quran and Sunnah. It has many Shabab throughout the Muslim World who are knowledgeable on matters of Islamic economy and can skilfully apply their judgement for the required change in economy. So real change can only be realized by a party who has people who understand Quran and Sunnah, can apply laws of economy or any other matter related to our lives from the Quran and Sunnah and have the capability to implement it.