O Muslims of Pakistan!

As we seek to secure Ramadhan's many rewards, let us remember for centuries this Ummah rushed to secure Islam's most significant victories during this blessed month, whether against the Quraysh of Makkah, the plundering Crusaders, the brutal Tartars or the lowly European hordes of Spain (Andalus). However, this Ramadhan, without Islam as the law of the land

Event:

On June 30, 2013; the Bangladesh Parliament passed the national budget of Taka 2,225 billion for the 2013-14 financial year. After the budget was proposed on June 6 by the Finance Minister, there were no discussions by the political parties in the parliament about the economic policies and strategies for development or sources of revenues and areas of expenditures. Rather these parties passed the sessions in the parliament making accusations of personal scandals against each other, totally bypassing the interests of the Ummah.

Comment:

In all budgets under the capitalist system, sources of revenue, in other words, money taken from the people is a process of zulm (oppression) while the allocation of resources is a source of corruption, without giving any priority to the people's needs. Especially, the national budget in Bangladesh has become a tool of deception, lies and empty promises. Ruling Awami League in its election manifesto in 2008 explicitly mentioned that number of poor population will be reduced from 65 million to 45 million by 2013 and number of unemployed will be reduced from 28 million to 24 million by 2013. This is the year 2013 and the Finance Minister conveniently forgot the number of poor and unemployed in his budget speech. Hiding behind statistics, he barely mentioned that the poverty ratio declined by 10 percent compared to 2005, quoting a survey of 2010. Regarding employment, he hid behind another statistic - ‘man-months' instead of the number of unemployed people.

To eliminate poverty, which is again defined and changed as the World Bank wishes, the government undertakes various social safety programs. Last year, the allocated amount was Taka 1,384 million and proposed amount for the next year is Taka 2,275 million. In a recent survey by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), it was revealed that the target poor populace for these programmes, which represents 40 percent of the total population, ended up receiving only 55 percent of the benefits. The rest 45 percent of social safety net benefits ended up with the richer 60 percent, who do not fall in the poorest or most vulnerable category. So, basically all these so called social safety net programs are a source of corruption and often the resources of these programs are used as political tools by the local political thugs.

Another priority election pledge by the Awami League was declaration of a target for power generation. The government vowed in its election manifesto that power generation will be increased to 7,000MW by 2013, which in any case is very low from the existing demand point of view. On June 30, 2013, maximum power generation was 6,041MW, even after looting public money in the name of quick rentals. The zalim government has also looted money from the people by increasing the price of electricity six times in the last four and half years following the dictates of the IMF. The whole country is now boiling under the heat of summer while load shedding is happening every hour in the cities and for hours on in the rural areas. Along with the power projects, the Hasina government presented the nation with massive corruptions in the capital market, Padma Bridge and other infrastructure projects, banking sector and multi-level-marketing (MLM) companies.

The Ummah is betrayed again and again by the rulers with various words and statistics. Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (ra) narrated that Allah's Messenger (saw) said:

: «أَلَا إِنَّ لِكُلِّ غَادِرٍ لِوَاءً يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِقَدْرِ غَدْرَتِهِ أَلَا وَلَا غَدْرَ أَعْظَمُ مِنْ إِمَامِ عَامَّةٍ»

"Everyone who had betrayed a trust would have a banner on the Day of Resurrection to the extent of his betrayal in the world, and that no betrayal was greater than that of the ruler of the common people, whose banner would be fixed onto his posterior." (Tirmidhi)

Allah (swt) has given us a system which solves the problems of people instead of deceiving them. Islam has defined the basic needs of human beings and the Khaleefah, the ruler of the Islamic State, is bound to deliver the basic necessities to the citizens. Our Prophet (saw) said,

من أصبح معافى في بدنه آمنا في سربه عنده قوت يومه فقد حيزت له الدنيا، يا ابن آدم، يكفيك ما سد جوعتك ووارى عورتك، فإن كان بيت يواريك فذاك، وإن كانت دابة تركبها فبخ، فإن الخبز وماء الجر وما فوق الإزار حساب عليك

"The son of Adam has no better right than that he would have a house wherein he may live and a piece of cloth whereby he may hide his nakedness and a piece of bread and some water." (Al-Bayhaki)

Accordingly, Hizb ut Tahrir, in its draft constitution, states in the Article 125:

‘Every individual must have all his basic needs provided for completely by the State.'

The draft constitution also states in Article 153:

‘The State should provide employment for all subjects holding citizenship of the State.'

It also mentions in the Article 156:

‘The State is to guarantee the living expenses of the one who has no money, no work and no relatives responsible for his financial maintenance.'

In the Islamic State, GDP and its growth will not be the target; rather the satisfying individual's basic needs will be the focus of the state. Khilafah "Caliphate" will generate employment by putting priority on agriculture and industrial sector as well as the military. Utilizing energy resources will be the driver behind industrialization in the Khilafah "Caliphate" state. Islam does not allow privatization of electricity. Electricity generation energy like gas, oil, coal etc are public resources. Our Prophet (saw) said:

«الْمُسْلِمُونَ شُرَكَاءُ فِي ثَلَاثٍ فِي الْمَاءِ وَالْكَلَإِ وَالنَّارِ وَثَمَنُهُ حَرَامٌ»

"The Muslims are partners in three things: waters, feeding pastures and fire." (Ahmad). So, Khilafah "Caliphate" government will not make profit, rather it will ensure benefits of electricity and energy to mass people at an affordable price.

In the Islamic ruling system the Khaleefah is accountable to the people for all his actions. He will set economic policies of the state according to Islam as he is bound to rule people on the basis of Qur'an and Sunnah. Khaleefah takes responsibility to solve people's problems. So, people must abandon the capitalist system and come forward to establish the Khilafah "Caliphate" system, the only ruling system that Allah (swt) has given us.

Muhammad Raiyan Hasan

Member of Hizb ut Tahrir, Wilayah Bangladesh

Hizb ut Tahrir/ East Africa organized a public seminar to welcome the holy month of Ramadan in Haile Selassie Zanzibar's Banquet Hall, where lectures were given about the virtues of the holy month of Ramadan.  They presented the importance of restoring the Book of Allah (swt) (Quran al Kareem) to be taken as a way of life which was revealed during this holy month.

Saturday, 27 Shaban 1434 corresponding to 6 July 2013

Headlines:

• Russia Threatens to Bomb Qatar and Saudi Arabia
• Syria is a 10-year Issue, says Top US General
• US Told Morsi to Go an Hour Before His Ouster: Report
• Karzai Wants Pact with US Against Pakistan

Details:

Russia Threatens to Bomb Qatar and Saudi Arabia

A senior source in the Russian Air Force told to Moscow website Telegrafist that Russia had plans to bomb Qatar and Saudi Arabia. He claims that the combat mission can be done by a unit of Su-27s, as well as by modern bombers Su-34s with extra fuel tanks, accompanied by the Su-27s. "Today, the situation is such that even in case if the Su-34s do not have enough fuel to get out of Iran's airspace on return flight, they will be able to land right there," he said, "a combat radius of the Su-27s allows fly to the capital of Qatar and Saudi Arabia and return, the Su-34s do not have such radius". On the question when and why these plans developed, the Russian Air Force officer replied: "Saudi Arabia is a key US ally in the region, not Israel, as many suggest, namely the regime of King Abdullah who is willing to get involved where you want to please his masters, so of course the Soviet Union (They mean Russia) was preparing plans for the destruction of this regime because without it - Saudi Arabia will no longer be an integral state and Washington will get hordes of barbarians who destroy their bases by using the same US military hardware." The Russians also claimed they needed no more than 24 hours for the entire operation to destroy the ruling circles of the two monarchies from the air. [Source: Telgrafist]

Syria is a 10-year Issue, says Top US General

The United States faces "a 10-year issue" in Syria as it weighs how deeply it wants to get involved the country's civil war, the top U.S. military officer warned in an interview that aired Sunday. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey told CNN's State of the Union that the conflict is entwined in a regional issue that is now spilling over into both Lebanon and Iraq, and those underlying causes "will persist for 10 years." "It is related -- not exclusively -- but related to a competition at best and a conflict at worse between the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam, and it's been hijacked at some level on both sides by extremists -- al Qaeda on one side and Lebanese Hezbollah and others on the other side," said Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He added, "This is about a 10-year issue, and if we fail to think about it as a 10-year regional issue, we could make some mistakes." But Dempsey, Obama's principal military adviser, told CNN the war in Syria is "not a simple matter of stopping the fight by the introduction of any particular U.S. capability." "It seems to me that we need to understand what the peace will look like before we start the war," he said. [Source: CNN]

US Told Morsi to Go an Hour Before his Ouster: Report

U.S. National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice had told deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's team that the president would leave office an hour before his ouster by the military, a report says. An Arab foreign minister had called Morsi as an emissary of the United States to give him one final chance to make changes to his cabinet to end the standoff with the military, The New York Times reported on Saturday. Senior advisors with Morsi said the minister, not named in the report, made the call several hours before the announcement of the president's ouster by the military on Wednesday to ask for the appointment of a new prime minister and cabinet. The new cabinet would have assumed all legislative powers and replaced Morsi's appointed provincial governors. Morsi's top foreign policy adviser, Essam al-Haddad, who was with Morsi when the call came through, then left the room to call U.S. ambassador to Egypt Anne W. Patterson to notify Washington that Morsi had refused to comply, the U.S. Daily said. Upon returning to the room, Haddad said he had called Susan Rice, Morsi's aides said. "Mother just told us that we will stop playing in one hour," read a text message sent by an aide to his associate, referring to "Mother America," the Egyptians' sarcastic name for the Western power that has for years supported the Egyptian military with billions of dollars in aid. Gen. Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian Defense Minister and the country's top military commander, announced on Wednesday that the army had removed Morsi from power. After the TV announcement, the military said Morsi, Egypt's first democratically-elected president, had "failed to meet the demands of the Egyptian people." [Source: New York Times/Press TV]

Karzai Wants Pact with US against Pakistan

Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants to sign a long-term bilateral security agreement with the United States of America in a bid to compel it to protect Afghanistan from Pakistan. Officials close to President Hamid Karzai quoted by US newspaper, The New York Times, said that Karzai also seeks direct military action by the US against Taliban havens on Pakistani soil. The officials further said that Karzai is keen that US should deal with the militant groups for peace in Afghanistan on his terms. According to the New York Times the sudden return of the Taliban group in peace talks back in June seemed like a potential coup for the American diplomacy and now persuading a "frustrated" Karzai to restore his delegation to talks would most likely take more than the United States would be willing to deliver. President Hamid Karzai also wants a firm commitment on the number of American troops that would stay in Afghanistan past next year, and a lead role in peace efforts, officials close to Karzai said. "All of that is rooted in one of Mr. Karzai's core beliefs, according to those who know him: that the central challenge facing his government is not the Taliban insurgency, but rather in bringing the United States around to his way of thinking,"  The New York Times noted in its report. An Afghan official told the Times, "Assurances that America will take care of us will no longer do for the president. To move forward, Karzai wants ‘certainties'." According to the New York Times, the developments around the Qatar peace opening seemed to be ripped directly from Karzai's personal nightmare script: that his government would be marginalised in Washington's endgame in Afghanistan. [Source: The News International]

Abu Hashim