We have all been following the events in Pakistan with anguish. It seems every week there is a new twist in the plot. The suffering of ordinary people is increasing and emotions are running high. Most recently, we had the Long March whose stated purpose was to demand the restoration to office of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. Well, that was achieved and hailed as a victory by many. Nawaz Sahrif’s party declared victory for the opposition, the secularists and so-called civil society hailed victory for the people and even claimed it to be part of a ‘soft revolution’. Of course the media hyped it all up leading some to believe that what happened is in fact a new a source of hope and even a vindication of the system in Pakistan.
Looking at the background to the events and the broader geopolitics of Pakistan, however, may lead us to another conclusion.
The US was not absent during the events surrounding the ‘Long March’ and is known to have designs on Pakistan; rather the entire drama was acted out under American influence. On March 12th the US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, spoke separately to Prime Minister Gilani, President Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. Then, on March 15th the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, talked to both Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. Given the degree of US interference, it is highly unlikely that the players were not aware in advance that the Chief Justice would be back in his job. In fact Nawaz Sharif declared victory for his party without even consulting his coalition.
Why are the US and the politicians of Pakistan doing this? Well, they certainly know the Pakistani people are in danger of totally losing faith in the system, a system run by the colonialists and their agents. Unless some faith is restored, it is highly likely that the people will call for an alternative. The Islamic (Khilafah) system is that alternative and in a country with a large, vibrant population and strong military it is the nightmare scenario that Obama and US planners fear most. If the people are expending their energy on cosmetic changes and not thinking about the bankruptcy of the system this can only be good from the American point of view.
Not wanting to be told what to think by those who would wish us harm, let us look deeper into the Pakistani malaise and address what the powers that be do not want us to address. However to do this, we need to free ourselves from the secular straitjacket that the Pakistani establishment, including most of the media and so-called Islamic parties, have been restricted by for so long. Let us look at the systemic failure and what Islam has to offer by comparison and let us do this by addressing four main areas that have been central to this whole controversy around the restoration of the chief justice; accountability, constitution, rule of law and political parties.
Accountability
The Muslims of Pakistan all want their rulers, civil servants, police and so on – to be accountable; authority without accountability is oppression. Unfortunately the current system in Pakistan is actually hardwired to prevent accountability and rewards corruption. For example the National Reconciliation Ordinance was passed specifically to exempt former politicians, bureaucrats and army generals from prosecution. Thus, the system in Pakistan can actually allow laws to be passed that prevent accountability. Have we not wondered how someone known as Mr 10% could become President?
Another example of this is the 17th amendment by which Pervez Musharraf changed the constitution effectively preventing his actions from being challenged. Indeed, Zardari is now benefiting from the enhanced powers that Musharraf defined for his office and now Nawaz Sharif is raising the issue of the 17th amendment as a way of challenging Zardari. All of this makes a mockery of the concept of accountability, allowing rulers to literally get away with murder.
Islam, on the other hand, has an altogether more stable view on the matter. Accounting the rulers is obligatory and they cannot change or bypass the law to prevent themselves being taken to court. An example of this from our legal sources was when a woman from Bani Makhzum committed theft. Bani Makhzum was a powerful tribe and the thief was one of the elites among them – thus being comparable to the political families, industrialists or landlords of modern day Pakistan. People came to the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم asking for exemption in her case but in response our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, ‘If the daughter of Mohammad صلى الله عليه وسلم had committed theft, I would cut her hand.’ By stating this and carrying out the shariah punishment on the woman from Bani Makhzum, he صلى الله عليه وسلم confirmed that no one, not even Ahl al-Bait, were above the law.
Constitution
With regards to the constitution, there is no respect for it all; rather it is changed regularly according to the interests of whoever is in power at the time. The current debate surrounding the article 58 proposal would allow the President to remove the Prime Minister and parliament. (The President would then have to notify the Supreme Court but, as we know, Musharraf has already shown how that means nothing because he got rid of it when he was in power.)
Thus, the constitution is, and will continue to be, a tool used to gain power. We will see over the coming months another constitutional crisis when PML-N, in preparation for the departure of Gilani and the appointment of their own man, will try to reduce Zardari’s powers. They will push for a change in the constitution to prevent the possibility of Zardari removing Sharif in the future.
No one can possibly run a country when the rules of their appointment keep changing; when, for various selfish reasons, the President can get rid of the Prime Minister and vice-versa. If the rules that govern society are unstable and always change, society will malfunction. Without fixed rules and regulations, corruption and mayhem necessarily result.
In Islam, of course, the constitution is not and cannot be defined by the people, Majlis al-Ummah, Khalifah or judges. Rather, every single article of the Islamic State’s constitution must be sourced from the Qur’an and Sunnah. We do not have new verses or ahadith being revealed and our texts do not change for the sake of political, social or economic expediency.
The rules are derived in accordance with the sciences of jurisprudence (fiqh) and not the influence of lobby groups and bribery. The only reason a rule can be changed is if it is seen to be weaker than another in fiqh. Indeed, anyone who changes the constitution to bring kufr would be dealt with severely; it has been reported on the authority of Ubada Ibn us-Samit who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم called upon us so we gave him the pledge of allegiance. We pledge ourselves to him in complete obedience, in weal and woe, in ease and hardship in preference over ourselves, and that we would not dispute with the people in authority; and he صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Unless you witness an act of flagrant disbelief of which you have proof from Allah.’ Thus, the constitution is fixed and cannot be changed except under the regulation of Islamic jurisprudence.
Justice
Those who believe that justice will return with the return of the Chief Justice are rather missing the point. At the end of the day, no matter how morally upright an individual judge may be, what determines the matter of justice is the nature and source of the laws. The legal system in Pakistan, of course, originates from the British system which is by no means just. Thus, for example, if an individual in Pakistan wanted to go and fight occupation and oppression in Afghanistan or Chechnya, this action would be classed as terrorism and illegal and the numerous policies that are currently destroying Pakistan are, by and large, legal also. Hence, when deciding whether or not the system is just, it is the laws that one needs to concentrate on and not so much the personalities of individual judges as their job in essence is to implement the laws.
Political Parties
The US has historically gained influence across the world through national armies and political parties; these are the main sources of foreign interference in Pakistan. The US has significant influence on the political parties in Pakistan such that if one politician outlives his usefulness, he can readily be replaced by another; for example if the US has problems with Zardari, they can just as easily rely on Gilani.
All of the political parties in Pakistan have ties with the US and the UK. Indeed their very origins; the source of their ideas and the character of their people emanate from the West. We all remember how Nawaz Sharif accused Zardari of following America even though he himself had met with the US ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Patterson, just 2 days before the long march.
In Islam, we do not have ruling parties; parties that compete with each other for power. Islam would never allow such harmful entities to exist which do nothing more than harm the country and paralyse government. Under Islam, the people elect the Khalifah who implements the Kitab and Sunnah and we hear and obey. If he fails to implement Islam and oppresses his people, we remove him immediately by initiating the accounting process and the Islamic system does not allow judges to be removed or laws to be changed to hamper this process.
Furthermore, political parties must be based on Islam only and not on secularism, nationalism, socialism or any of the other foreign ideas given to us from the West. Allah سبحانه وتعالى made this clear when He سبحانه وتعالى stated:
وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَأُوْلَـئِكَ
“And let there arise out of you a group (or groups) calling to the Goodness, commanding what is right and forbidding what is evil.” [Al-Imran, 3:104]
He سبحانه وتعالى commands groups to arise from amongst you; they must be sons and daughters of the ummah and not children of the US or UK. One of the main problems with the political parties in Pakistan is that they simply do not call for what agrees with the noble history, values and emotions of the people; it is as if aliens have landed on planet Pakistan to rule by something from another world.
Under Islamic ruling, political parties are there to call to Islam and account the rulers. Enjoining the good and forbidding the evil includes the good and evil of the rulers. Our beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: ‘The Master of martyrs is Hamza and the one who accounts the ruler and is killed.’ Hence, under Islam parties are political by nature and work tirelessly to be a watchful eye over the rulers ensuring they implement, protect and spread the justice of Islam for all citizens regardless of gender, tribe or creed.
We may ask that while the current political parties were playing out their drama of the Long March, which they claimed to be a great success, where were their voices with regards to the bombing and killing of our women and children? Where were the calls for protecting the borders and sovereignty of the nation? There have been several US drone attacks since Obama began his administration and it was recently reported that the US is planning to extend its operations to Balochistan – claiming al-Qaida is there.
Why the silence? The reason is simple; the Pakistani political parties are all on the same page as the US in the so-called War on Terror and the media is, by and large, still failing to think outside the current system. They’re all singing from the same hymn sheet.
Even with such a brief overview as this, it is clear that to obtain change in Pakistan we need to look at the system as opposed to the personalities alone. Cosmetic changes distract from the true nature of the problem and only entrench American hegemony further. The current opportunistic political class and secular political system will never deal with the poverty, inflation, moral corruption, mal-distribution of wealth, implementation of draconian taxes like GST, looting and plundering by multinational companies, American drone attacks, IMF and World Bank exploitative policies and so on that will destroy Pakistan if the people do not move for real change.
The colonial powers and their agents are building a case for direct military intervention and effective occupation of Pakistan. The job of true political parties who have the interests of the people at heart is to combat this by mobilising public opinion to call for the establishment of the Islamic Khilafah system. The people of power and influence – the modern day Ansar – must answer this call and bring back this, the only practical solution.
Thus our focus, wherever we are in the world, must be to join with the sincere sons of the ummah who are calling for real and radical change; not change based on the false options made available by the corrupt system but change based on Islam and the values and history of our people. Now that would be a march worth joining.