On Monday 17th February, Afghan President Hamid Karzai blocked a law passed by the Afghan parliament that was to be inserted into a new criminal prosecution code. Many women's activists argued that the new ruling would have silenced victims of domestic violence, forced marriages and abuse by barring relatives from testifying against each other, hence curbing prosecutions against abusive husbands or family members.

News

Uzbeknews.net reported on the 18 of February 2014 that close associates of Gulnara Karimova the daughter of Karimov the president of Uzbekistan, have been arrested and are under investigation for corruption and financial crimes. The Prosecutor General's office reported today that Rustam Madumarov, Gayane Avakyan, and Ekaterina Klyueva have been detained in violation of Article 178, Part 2 (concealment of foreign currency), and Article 184.3 (evasion of taxes and other government payments).

Comment

These arrests have occurred at this time not out of any sincere sense of justice on behalf of the Uzbek authorities as the elites and their children have been abusing their positions of power for decades with the permission and supervision of the Uzbek leadership. The fact that the president of Uzbekistan's own daughter's close friends are criminals reflects her own deviant lifestyle as the hadith of the Prophet (saw) informs us that a person is known by the company they keep.

«الْمَرْءُ عَلَى دِينِ خَلِيلِهِ فَلْيَنْظُرْ أَحَدُكُمْ مَنْ يُخَالِلْ»

Prophet (saw) said: "One imitates his close friend, so watch carefully who you choose to be your friend."

These arrests are most likely a result of internal conflicts of interest common in despotic corrupt regimes were immunity from punishment are given to a select few chosen by the officials in power. Gulnara herself is under investigation in Sweden for fraud and financial misdealings. It seems that the rotten apples do not fall far from the diseased tree as Karimov himself runs Uzbekistan as if it is his own private company hiring and eliminating officials, not according to the superior values of Islam and accountability to Allah (swt), but according to his own personal desires and interests. Llike his daughter, he surrounds himself with ‘close associates' and decides his ‘friends' according to who is silent about his network of vice and corruption. The Muslims of Uzbekistan have suffered from the secular political values that are in place in a desperate attempt to keep the Muslims call for Khilafah "Caliphate" at bay. Through the continuous efforts of the dawah carriers in the region, many of them women, Allah (swt) will soon return the true sincere leaders who will re-establish a political system that has a strong anti-corruption framework.

`Abdullah bin `Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah said:

«لعن الله الراشي والمرتشي»

"The curse of Allah is upon the one who offers a bribe and the one who takes it." (Ahmad, Ibn Majah and authenticated by Al-Albani)

Such high values were placed into practice through the history of the Khilafah "Caliphate" as is proven in the example of Abu Humaid ibn Sa`d As-Sa`idi (May Allah be pleased with him) when he reported that the Prophet (saw) employed a man from the tribe of Al-Azd named Ibn Al-Lutabiyyahh to collect the Zakah.

حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ السَّرْحِ، وَابْنُ أَبِي خَلَفٍ، - لَفْظُهُ - قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي حُمَيْدٍ السَّاعِدِيِّ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم اسْتَعْمَلَ رَجُلاً مِنَ الأَزْدِ يُقَالُ لَهُ ابْنُ اللُّتْبِيَّةِ - قَالَ ابْنُ السَّرْحِ ابْنُ الأُتْبِيَّةِ - عَلَى الصَّدَقَةِ فَجَاءَ فَقَالَ هَذَا لَكُمْ وَهَذَا أُهْدِيَ لِي.‏ فَقَامَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ فَحَمِدَ اللَّهَ وَأَثْنَى عَلَيْهِ وَقَالَ «‏مَا بَالُ الْعَامِلِ نَبْعَثُهُ فَيَجِيءُ فَيَقُولُ هَذَا لَكُمْ وَهَذَا أُهْدِيَ لِي ‏.‏ أَلاَّ جَلَسَ فِي بَيْتِ أُمِّهِ أَوْ أَبِيهِ فَيَنْظُرَ أَيُهْدَى لَهُ أَمْ لاَ لاَ يَأْتِي أَحَدٌ مِنْكُمْ بِشَىْءٍ مِنْ ذَلِكَ إِلاَّ جَاءَ بِهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنْ كَانَ بَعِيرًا فَلَهُ رُغَاءٌ أَوْ بَقَرَةً فَلَهَا خُوَارٌ أَوْ شَاةً تَيْعَرُ».‏ ثُمَّ رَفَعَ يَدَيْهِ حَتَّى رَأَيْنَا عُفْرَةَ إِبْطَيْهِ ثُمَّ قَالَ: ‏اللَّهُمَّ هَلْ بَلَّغْتُ اللَّهُمَّ هَلْ بَلَّغْتُ

When he returned (to the Prophet with the collections), he said: "This is for you while this (other wealth) is a gift presented to me. (So, it is mine)." So, the Messenger of Allah stood on the pulpit, praised Allah, extolled Him and then said, "Why does an official whom I send (in a mission) say: 'This is for you and this has been presented to me as gift'? Why did he not stay in the house of his father and mother to see whether gifts will be given to him or not? By (Allah) in Whose Hand is the life of Muhammad, if any one of you takes anything (wrongfully,) he will bring it on the Day of Resurrection, carrying it on his neck..." Then he raised his hands till we could see the whiteness of his armpits and repeated twice, "O Allah! Have I conveyed (Your Commandments)?" (Muslim)

The elites in power fear the re-establishment of the Khilafah "Caliphate" and imprison the righteous male and female dawah carriers of Uzbekistan in order to try and delay its inevitable return that will remove the current leadership body full of cronyism and it would not allow friends and family to be above the law. The future Khalifah would follow the steps of the first ruler of the first Islamic State, the Prophet (saw), when he said even if his beloved daughter Fatimah committed theft, he would punish her. In Uzbekistan, when those close to the elite steal that which is not theirs, they are in fact rewarded, Insha Allah these dark days of despotism and dishonesty are soon coming to the end.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Imrana Mohammed
Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir