From Slave Trade to Brain Drain

News:

According to the UN Human Development Reports, 64 percent of the population of Pakistan (some 148.1 million out of 241.4 million) is less than 30 years old, and 29 percent of Pakistanis are aged between 15 to 29. According to World Economics, Pakistan's median age is 20.2 years against a global median of 30.3 years. In sum, Pakistan has a great number of young people in the country, a luxury not many countries have today, not even the richest and most developed ones. However, the unfortunate reality is that on account of multiple reasons, these very energetic young people are reluctant to serve the nation for various reasons, mostly valid. (Pakistan Today)

Comment:

The article above talks about the brain drain in Pakistan and the effect it has on the economy of Pakistan. Being poor can be a temporary condition which can be caused by multiple factors and if those factors are properly dealt with, this condition can be defeated. History has many examples where hunger and elitism has destroyed Empires, and history also shows us how the governance of Prophet Yusuf (as) saved the people of Egypt from being victims of a seven-year famine, where Prophet Muhammad (saw) before the Battle of Trench tied two stones on his stomach.

The reason behind this static or worsening poverty of all of these almost 100-year-old nation states is that they were planned and designed to be this way. These are nothing more than slave plantations for the colonizer who chooses to sit behind a veil and get his work done. Here people will go in rounds like oil extracting bulls and all they have on their mind is to be able to provide food for the family. These very people working so hard know that the only way to save their children from this fruitless labour is to send them away, to make them capable enough so they can actually be in the land of the master. That in itself is a sign of deviation which shows that focus of the Muslim ummah turned from gaining pleasure of Allah (swt) towards achieving from survival and then comforts of life.

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: I heard the Prophet (saw) saying,

«لَوْ كَانَ لاِبْنِ آدَمَ وَادِيَانِ مِنْ مَالٍ لاَبْتَغَى ثَالِثًا وَلاَ يَمْلأُ جَوْفَ ابْنِ آدَمَ إِلاَّ التُّرَابُ وَيَتُوبُ اللَّهُ عَلَى مَنْ تَابَ»

“If the son of Adam (the human being) had two valleys of money, he would wish for a third, for nothing can fill the belly of Adam's son except dust, and Allah forgives him who repents to Him.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]

Allah (swt) has granted Muslim lands with immense treasures and Muslim youth with remarkable capabilities, but as Adam (as), after being warned by the Almighty Allah, became a victim of deception of Iblis and then was taught ways to break the trap and achieve the pleasure of Allah and regain his place in Jannah. To save the treasures of this Ummah, be it material or intellectual, we must understand that the purpose of a Muslim’s life is to attain Allah’s pleasure, not to raise his individual status in this world, and to spread the Deen of Allah (swt) and raise the status of the Ummah as a whole. As a result of that increase in the status of the Ummah, every member of this Ummah will rise where minds and bodies of the youth of this Ummah will work for the spread and rise of Islam. Although this tranquility can only be achieved under the shade of Khilafah (Caliphate), but to reach that point our youth must learn from the Sahabah like Mus’sab Bin Umair, who left all the luxuries of this world to follow Islam and sacrificed in every possible way and not only achieved his rank among the people of Jannah but also became a role model for the coming generations. Meanwhile we the dawah carriers must keep spreading the call and reach the youth of this Ummah and help them become the Mus’sabs of their time. Only then we will attain our goal of the establishment of the Khilafah and will not only become a protective shield for existing Muslims but will also provide guidance and protection to future Muslims inshaallah.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Ikhlaq Jehan