Headlines:
- Democracy Creates Uncertainty through Annual Budget and Opportunity for Electioneering
- Only the Khilafah Will End the Menace of Corruption, Returning the Looted Wealth
- Dr Shakeel Afridi’s Case is a Confirmation of the Need to End Alliance of Humiliation with the US
Democracy Creates Uncertainty through Annual Budget and Opportunity for Electioneering
In a Dawn Newspaper report of 30 April 2018, the chief minister’s spokesperson, MPA Shaukat Yousafzai, told Dawn that the KPK government was against presenting the budget but it had decided to present the budget on the insistence of the opposition parties. He said his party was against the current government presenting the annual development programme for the next fiscal and that it only wanted to present the administrative budget. Before that on 12 April 2018, after the CEC meeting, Imran Khan had announced that his party’s government in KP would not present next year budget and had also demanded that PML-N-led federal and Punjab governments do not present next year’s budget, as they could not present whole year’s budget when only 45 days of their tenure were left.
In Democracy, it is a legal requirement to present an annual budget followed by approval of the assembly which makes it a law for a whole year, otherwise the functioning of the government stops. Every year the government has to announce how much it plans to spend on expenditures and how it will gather resources as revenues by taxing on various sectors of the economy in order to spend on expenditures. This annual budget sets the direction of economic policies but it has to be reviewed and again required the approval of the assembly with changes or without changes after a year. The phenomenon of annual budget itself is a cause of uncertainty as people do not know what will come out of new budget. If there are changes they have to remodel their strategy to steer their businesses. When it comes to the last budget before election than the outgoing regime tries to please as many people as possible in order to get maximum votes to come in power once again, in a clear display of electioneering. This is the reason that most of the opposition rejected for the federal government to present its last budget for whole year, when its own tenure is about to end in less than a month.
As for the Islamic State, it does not draw up an annual budget because the matter does not require a specific law for the budget each year. The budget does not get proposed to the Ummah’s Council, nor is the Council’s opinion sought. The Islamic State does not need annual budget, because the Treasury’s revenues are levied according to the Shari’ah rules stipulated by text and they are paid out according to the Shari’ah rules stipulated by text. All of these are permanent Shari’ah rules. The permanent revenues of the Bait ul-Mal are: Booties (Fai’), Spoils (Ghana’im), Land Tax (Kharaj), Head Tax (Jizya), the different types of public property revenues, the revenues of the State properties, the tithes (Ushr), the fifth of the hidden treasure (Rikaz), the minerals, and the funds of Zakat.; hence, there is absolutely no room for opinion seeking with regard to the revenues and with regard to the expenditures. The sections in the budget are formed of permanent sections that have been determined by permanent Shari’ah rules. So the Khilafah system is more stable and its economic policy is the most consistent as Allah swt has fixed the revenue sources for ever which cannot be changed and people know that there is going to be no change as even Khalifah cannot place any tax, or change policy with regard to any sector of the economy without the backing of Sharia evidence. Thus, in its Introduction to the Constitution, Hizb ut Tahrir has adopted in Article 148, “The budget of the State has permanent chapters determined by Shari’ah rules” and in Article 149, “The permanent sources of income for the Bayt Al-Mal are the booty, Jizya, land tax, a fifth of buried treasure, and Zakah. This income is collected continuously irrespective of whether there was a need or not.” So in Khilafah the atmosphere for business is more conducive than any other system.
Only the Khilafah Will End the Menace of Corruption, Returning the Looted Wealth
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif owned the Avenfield properties while he was a public office holder, the investigating officer (IO) in the corruption reference against the Sharif family informed an accountability court on 2 May 2018. Imran Dogar stated that Sharif used offshore companies Nielsen and Nescoll Ltd to buy the properties in London while he was the actual owner of the apartments. He said that during investigations, the accused were unable to provide their sources of income and that the properties have been in ownership of the Sharif’s since 1993.
Earlier, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which probed into the murky offshore business dealings of the Sharif family, has found a massive increase in the wealth of its members between 1992 and 1993 – the time when Nawaz Sharif was the prime minister of the country. From 1992-1993, the first period of Nawaz Sharif in ruling the wealth of his family has seen manifold increases. The wealth of the father of Nawaz Sharif, late Mian Muhammad Sharif, had multiplied 4.3 times from Rs7.53 million to Rs32.15 million, his daughter Maryam’s assets grew 21 times in a single year from Rs1.47 million to Rs30.5 million, the wealth of Hussain Nawaz, his son had increased 10 times from Rs3.3 million to Rs33.63 million, another son Hassan Nawaz owned assets worth of Rs2.4 million in 1991-92 which swelled by 13.14 times to Rs31.55 million in 1992-93, Asma Nawaz, the second daughter of Nawaz Sharif, had also witnessed 21.7–time increase in 1992-93 from Rs1.47 million to Rs31.55 million, Kulsoom Nawaz, Nawaz Sharif’s wife, had also grown 17.5 times from Rs1.66 million to Rs28.62 million in 1992-93 against a reported income of Rs279,400 only. The father in law of Asma Nawaz, the former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, has also benefitted. His wealth statement from 2008-09 shows his assets had grown by 91 times from Rs9.11 million to Rs 831.70 million in sixteen years. Other ministers of the ruling party are also facing corruption charges in the National Accountability Bureau courts. The cause of this immense increase in wealth during their term in ruling is not unique with to PML-N. Its arch rival, the PPP, Pakistan People’s Party, has also shown immense increase in wealth. Asif Ali Zardari went from being a Sindhi land and cinema owner to become part of the Forbes world’s richest list in late 2000s, when he was President of Pakistan. As for Imran Khan’s PTI, many of its “electables” have similar shady dealings, such as Jehagir Tareen, who has been disqualified after amassing huge wealth when he became part of regime in the era of Musharaf. Thus, in democracy, the greedy, opportunist use immense resources to come to power to legislate, so that they can increase their wealth manifold as a return on their electoral “investment.”
In Islam, rulers are not the source of legislation, because legislation is not according to the whims and desires of men, but it is according to the Quran and Sunnah. So in Islam there is no room for the greedy to manipulate law to secure personal wealth. In the Khilafah, the one that holds a ruling post is not allowed to be engaged in any business. He is entitled only to his imbursement, i.e. his monthly financial allowance. The one that holds a ruling post is not allowed to be engaged in any commercial financial work. He is entitled only to his imbursement, ie his monthly financial allowance. So, if he became wealthy during his time in office, he has to be accounted for that; and it is common that all current rulers become wealthy by possessing funds from the loans the government adopts and also possessing the public properties and state properties through front men. When Omar (ra) suspected wrongdoing by a governor, he used to take from him the money which was surplus to his estimated provisions, or divided his money between him and them. He used to count the funds of the governors before and after they held office; and if he found they had extra money, or he suspected them, he would confiscate their wealth or divide it between him and them, and put the confiscated share into the State treasury. This was not considered an infringement on their private property, because they did not earn it legally. For if a man was appointed as a ruler and became remarkably wealthy during his term of office, then this is considered as sufficient evidence for confiscating some of his wealth, because he had earned it illegally, i.e. from other than his salary. What is taken from the governors would be put in the State treasury, and the debts would be repaid from that. Thus the Khilafah state alone can secure the Ummah from the menace of corruption and secure the return the usurped money which is in the order of hundreds of billions of dollars.
Dr Shakeel Afridi’s Case is a Confirmation of the Need to End Alliance of Humiliation with the US
The Foreign Office (FO) on 3 May 2018 denied rumours that the sudden decision to move Dr Shakeel Afridi, who was imprisoned for his alleged links to a banned militant group, from Peshawar to Adiala jail, was part of a possible deal with the United States government. Addressing a weekly briefing, FO spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal insisted that government authorities were not planning to swap Afridi for Aafia Siddiqui — who is currently serving a sentence in a US jail for trying to kill US agents and military officers in Afghanistan — or former Pakistani ambassador Hussain Haqqani who resides in the US and is the prime suspect in the Memogate scandal that surfaced in 2011. Dr Faisal turned down questions about media reports claiming that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had tried to stage a jailbreak in Peshawar in order to rescue Afridi, saying he had no information about the matter since it concerned the interior ministry. Afridi, a former senior surgeon believed to be in his mid-50s, was arrested eight years ago after it emerged that he had passed on intelligence about former Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to the CIA. He was accused of helping the CIA track down the Al Qaeda leader in Abbottabad. However, he was never tried on those charges.
Dr. Afridi may have had a hand in the Abbotabad raid, but the raid not could have happened without the consent and knowledge of Pakistan’s rulers. Thus, despite the scale of his alleged crimes, Dr Shakeel Afridi is a small criminal compared to the traitors in Pakistan’s military and civilian leadership. The master criminals are those leaders that colluded with America to ensure the violation of Abbotabad, a military cantonment. They took an oath to protect this Muslim Land and its people from the enemy, yet they broke that oath to adopt the role of cheap spies that allow the Americans to survey our lands for their plans. Such traitorous rulers have broken their own oath many times, whilst taking care to remind everyone else of their oaths. They have earned the wrath of Allah (swt) on the Day of all Days for allying with the hated kafir enemy, spending our blood, toil and sweat to grant them a foothold that they neither have the courage nor means to achieve for themselves. They have allied themselves with the enemies of Allah and the believers despite that Allah (swt) said, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لاَ تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ تُلْقُونَ إِلَيْهِمْ بِالْمَوَدَّةِ وَقَدْ كَفَرُوا بِمَا جَاءَكُمْ مِنْ الْحَقّ “O you who believe! Choose not My enemies who are your enemies as allies showing them affection even when they disbelieve in that truth that has come to you” [Surah Mumtahina 60:1]
We will never know of peace within our region, until we rid ourselves of alliance with the US. The basic root of unrest is the American Raymond Davis network, with its support network of intelligence, private military, bases, fortress like embassies and consulates. Our present calamity is the direct outcome of American foreign policy, specifically the policies of low intensity conflict and covert, “black” operations. It is this low intensity conflict which destroys internal stability, strains our capability, strangulates our potential and justifies repeated American interference to ask us to “do more.” It is the covert operations, such as “false flag” attacks in the name of the enemy, which are an American ploy, practiced by its intelligence agencies all over the world from Latin America to South East Asia, to make sure that conflict continues by burning the country in the fires of insecurity. The actual required operation is the sealing of the American embassy, consulates and bases, as well as expulsion of the diplomatic, military, private military and intelligence personnel. The Khaleefah of the Muslims will soon inshaaAllah undertake these actions, without prelude, fanfare or negotiations, but in obedience to the command of Allah (swt). Allah (swt) said, إِنْ يَثْقَفُوكُمْ يَكُونُوا لَكُمْ عْدَاءً وَيَبْسُطُوا إِلَيْكُمْ أَيْدِيَهُمْ وَأَلْسِنَتَهُمْ بِالسُّوءِ وَوَدُّوا لَوْ تَكْفُرُونَ “Should they gain the upper hand over you, they would behave to you as enemies, and stretch forth their hands and their tongues against you with evil, and they desire that you should disbelieve.” [Surah Al-Mumtahina 60: 2]