Elections under Democracy in Pakistan Are a Deceptive Illusion of Change

Elections are being expected in Pakistan. Once again they are being tipped as the cure for all ills albeit with some groans and grunts. Where for a faction, it is just another ruse for getting attention away from the political turmoil. Then still for others it is a necessary protection for their investments or earnings. Regrettably, the Muslims of the region have seen no solace whilst facing attacks on their Iman, life, honor, and livelihood. There are still the isolated lot complaining of not having enough democracy. The matter of fact is that what ails us continues unabated and all attempts to address or arrest the continued decline have failed. The spectacular failure of the colonialist project of the populist hybrid regime is an opportunity for the Muslims of the region to reevaluate the blind following of the imposed ideas in this continuation of the oppressive ruler.

Regrettably, the discussion today is limited to the issue of a level playing field when knowing very well that even if there was a level playing field locally, the international arena is wholly biased towards the victors of the Second World War, where the hegemons have many a way to influence and force through established democratic systems. Local election interference is alluring to the colonialist forces because of the very fact that it is the cheapest and an effective instrument of placating local populations from the real problems and their reasons. Pakistan is facing a myriad of problems in all facets of life; social, economic or state structure and function, all aspects of life are at a crisis.

The federal model of uniting the people within the unnaturally defined UN borders has failed. The federation is facing insurgency in two of its federating units for the umptieth time even after losing half of the country to the same reason. The notion of a state is being hammered in using the barrel of a gun whereas Islam provides the platform and structure to unite all Muslims irrespective of their numerical size, simply by removing the majority’s will from the equation. The Muslims of Baluchistan fear becoming a minority within their own home because of this sole reason. Under the current majority’s will principle, they postulate that a mere 10 million population is not enough to protect their rights against 120 million strong population. In comparison, The Khilafah state provides a neutral dispute resolution mechanism between all deferent Muslim communities. The 40 million Muslims of Afghanistan or 35 million Muslims of Uzbekistan will not fear the dictatorship of the majority from the 250 million Muslims of Pakistan as in the Khilafah state; it is the Shariah that is sovereign against any notion of collective wisdom. Indeed, the Infinite Wisdom of the Al-Hakeem (Al-Wise), Al-Aleem (All-Knowing) Creator is superior, beyond any measure, from all that the best of the humanity can ever produce. The nation-state construct is a disease and a hidden door for the colonialists to exploit at will. Isn’t it time for us to relegate this failed idea of organizing people in a state i.e. federation to the dustbin and replaced with the Khilafah state before any election is held?

The last two years were a good standard presentation of what the balance of power idea brings to a state. The suspension of state functions first by the back-and-forth clashes between the ruling faction and the opposition then there was the fight over the top position in the armed forces and finally the powerplay in the judiciary was the final straw. All of it started with the jockeying over who would be the head of the Pakistani armed forces intelligence, ISI. This script has been repeated almost every 10 years in Pakistan’s 75 years’ history. Even though all accept that a divided house cannot stand an enemy, still the balance of power is taken as a default position by the ruling elite such that are smitten by the Western civilization.

The notion of balance of power or division of power is an outcome of West’s own terrible experience with their sovereigns and their conclusion that power corrupts. Islam did not ever have any ruler to have claimed sovereignty, but all were such that had submitted to the sovereignty of the Sharia. Of course, there were the ones who twisted the ahkam of Islam or misapplied them. Nonetheless, none dared to declare themselves above Allah the All-Mighty and His Messenger (saw). The Khilafah state does not have division of power, rather the Sultan (authority) belongs to the Ummah and it transfers authority to the Khalifah (caliph) through the bayah that we would obey in hardship and ease if are ruled as per the laws derived solely using Islamic jurisprudence from purely Islam’s sources. The Khalifah implements the Ahkam of Islam fearing the accountability of Allah (swt), Al-Jabbar, Al-Qawwi. The Ummah is vigilant towards the implementation of the Ahkam of Islam through the obligation of enjoining the Good and forbidding the Munkar, fearing the accounting of the All-Mighty All-Knowing Allah (swt). This division of power idea has been the cause of the weakening of the Muslim state. This is another trapdoor for the colonialist to keep the Ummah subjugated and ineffective. Isn’t it time to relegate this flawed notion of balance of power to the dustbin where it belongs and restore the power to the Khalifah who will rule by the revealed text only.

Then there is the devolution of power from the federal government to the provincial and then the city or local government. This scheme of division of power, resources, and responsibility has been a recipe for disaster. Naturally, each of the contesting parties is always eager to have the maximum power and resources but the least of responsibilities. This results in the abandonment of the problems the people face. Menial daily routine tasks have become a bone of contention. Natural calamities are a challenge on their own, but this bitter dispute increases the pain and suffering of the people by manifolds. Whether it was the floods in Sindh and Baluchistan or garbage collection and street repair in Karachi and Peshawar, the lives of people became a ball being tossed between the federal, provincial, and city governments. Each blamed some other and none stepped up to shoulder the responsibility. Islam placed the Imam the Khalifah above the father in care and responsibility towards the people. Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar (ra) reported, the Messenger of Allah (saw) said,«أَلَا كُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ فَالْأَمِيرُ الَّذِي عَلَى النَّاسِ رَاعٍ وَهُوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ وَالرَّجُلُ رَاعٍ عَلَى أَهْلِ بَيْتِهِ وَهُوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْهُمْ وَالْمَرْأَةُ رَاعِيَةٌ عَلَى بَيْتِ بَعْلِهَا وَوَلَدِهِ وَهِيَ مَسْئُولَةٌ عَنْهُمْ وَالْعَبْدُ رَاعٍ عَلَى مَالِ سَيِّدِهِ وَهُوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْهُ أَلَا فَكُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ»“All of you are guardians and are responsible for your subjects. The ruler is a guardian and responsible for his subjects. the man is a guardian of his family; the woman is guardian in her husband’s house and responsible for her wards; a servant is guardian of his master’s property and responsible for his ward. So all of you are guardians and are responsible for your subjects.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

That is why the second Khalifah Rashid, Umar Al Farooq (ra), feared being held accountable to Allah (swt) the All-Mighty, if the road along the Euphrates was not paved. Our Master Muhammad (saw) has informed that the holding of a public office is a responsibility, Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported, I said, “O Messenger of Allah, will you not appoint me to (an official position)?” He patted me on my shoulder with his hand and said, «يَا أَبَا ذَرٍّ، إِنَّكَ ضَعِيفٌ، وَإِنَّهَا أَمَانَةٌ، وَإِنَّهَا يَوْمَ القِيَامَةِ خِزيٌ وَنَدَامَةٌ، إِلاَّ مَنْ أَخَذَهَا بِحَقِّهَا، وَأَدَّى الَّذِي عَلَيهِ فِيهَا» “O Abu Dharr, you are weak and it is a trust. It will be a cause of disgrace and remorse on the Day of Resurrection, except for the one who takes it up with a full sense of responsibility and fulfills what is entrusted to him.” [Muslim]

And he (saw) warned that the ones who failed to fulfill their responsibility towards the people will be denied entrance to the Jannah. It has been narrated on the authority of Hasan who said: Ubaidullah b Ziyad visited Ma'qil b. Yasir al-Muzani in his last illness. Ma'qil said (to him): I am narrating to you a tradition I heard from the Messenger of Allah (saw). If I knew that I am to survive this illness. I would, not narrate it to you. I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say, «مَا مِنْ عَبْدٍ يَسْتَرْعِيهِ اللَّهُ رَعِيَّةً يَمُوتُ يَوْمَ يَمُوتُ وَهُوَ غَاشٌّ لِرَعِيَّتِهِ إِلاَّ حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ الْجَنَّةَ»‏ “If Allah appointed anyone ruler over a people and he died while he was still treacherous to his people, Allah would forbid his entry into Paradise.” [Muslim]

In the Khilafah state, the Wali and the Amil fulfill their responsibilities towards the people as the delegate (Na`ib) of the Khalifah as long as the people carry trust in their abilities. Fundamentally, it is the responsibility of the Khalifah, or in other words, the buck stops at the Khalifah’s office. The Khalifah is answerable to Allah (swt), Al-Qawwi, Al-Aziz concerning his affairs. And who can best the judging of the Lord of the Day of Judgement? It is time to rid the people of this failed idea of devolution of power where no one is ready to be responsible and one must wait for five years to rid oneself of an incompetent, negligent, and failed ruler and replace it with the Khilafah system where the reception of a complaint of failure to fulfill one's responsibility towards the people is enough for a dismissal.

Pakistan has returned with its begging bowl back to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) doors 23 times. Inflation has sucked the life out of most of the people. The energy bills have become prohibitively expensive. Healthcare is becoming a luxury and education is being left for survival. The neoliberal ideas of managing the economy have come full circle where a nuclear power appears to have been forced to its knees. And rather than, for this nuclear power to push out the colonialist powers from the region and become the bulwark and stalwart vanguard of the causes of Islam, it has become the errant boy of the hegemonic West. The post-Washington Consensus ideas peddled by the IMF that serve the purpose of the continuation of the American Raj include the privatization of capital-intensive enterprises, social sector corruption and liberalization, exports and interest-rate supported fiat currency, arbitrary taxation, regressive or progressive taxation, privatized energy and goods supply chain management, and interest-based financial engagements have only increased the control of and dependency on the hegemonic West. We must discuss this imposed economic order, whether it is the Neo-Liberal model, or the Austrian-Capitalist model of capitalistic economy, or the already dead socialistic model.

And compare them with the economic system of Islam that allowed the Ummah to produce again and again the most affluent states and regions in the world, to such a degree that their wealth captured the imagination of the rest. Cordoba, Timbuktu, Baghdad, Delhi, Samarqand, and Istanbul are just a few to mention. The bi-metallic currency of Gold and Silver as injunctioned by Islam will not only free us from the hegemony of the Dollar, but also remove the raison d'etre for the existence of interest and finish off the menace of inflation and price hikes once and for all times. The state management of public properties with a focus on self-reliance and independence will unlock the true potential of economic merit of the citizens of the Khilafah state. A fast-tracked unification of Muslim lands will effectively address fuel supply chain hurdles. It will not be north-south connectivity, geo-economics, the Green Revolution or the Gulf investment revolution that will change our conditions. Our conditions will only be changed when this flawed notion of neo-liberal economic order is relegated to the dustbin where it belongs. Our conditions will only change upon the restoration of the Khilafah state that will establish an economy determined by the divine Revelation, ensuring the Western hegemonic order is defeated.

Without addressing all the trapdoors designed in the secular democratic setup by the hegemonic West, that they use to interfere and sabotage our attempts to break free, any struggle is futile. The election is merely the freedom to elect our slave driver. In essence, we are being made to elect the next civilian traitor who will abandon the Muslims of Kashmir, by normalizing relations with India, sell the Blessed Land of Palestine by accepting the division of Islamic lands, through the recognition of the Zionist entity, and the one who will collect taxes by breaking our backs, and pay thousands of billions of rupees to the banks upon usurious loans. This is unbefitting the noble Ummah of our Master and the Last Messenger Mohammad (saw). Allah (swt) explains to the noble Ummah the evident choices,

[أَفَمَن يَمْشِى مُكِبًّا عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهِۦٓ أَهْدَىٰٓ أَمَّن يَمْشِى سَوِيًّا عَلَىٰ صِرَٰطٍۢ مُّسْتَقِيمٍۢ]

“Is then one who walks headlong, with his face grovelling, better guided, or one who walks evenly on a Straight Way?” [TMQ Surah Al-Mulk 67:22].