Corrupt Muslim leaders blame the Muslim Ummah for its ‘backwardness’

[pearl]

June 19, 2004 www.1924.org

 

Last weeks conference of the Organisation for Islamic Countries (OIC) was littered with speeches and statements in which the rulers of the Muslim countries blamed the Muslim Ummah for being ‘backward’.

 

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed said that the Muslims had only themselves to blame for the poverty, misery and violence afflicting much of the Islamic world, “To be very crude the fate of the Muslims of today is of their own making”

 

He further added that the Muslims were continuing in this trend and that there was no clear end in sight for the decline.

 

“1.3 billion Muslims need to arm themselves with knowledge and skills to enrich their countries and defend themselves. They missed the Industrial Revolution completely. And now they are going to miss the Information Age,” said Mahathir.

 

The Secretary General of the OIC, Abdelwahed Belkeziz, said the “community was dispersed, divided, diminished and debased, overwhelmed by a debilitating feeling of impotence”.

 

“The powerlessness that the Muslim world is experiencing today and the difficulty of finding solutions to our just causes have been the reason behind the rise of extremism,” he said.

 

The way in which these charlatan rulers have passed the buck of responsibility to the entire Muslim Ummah, shows the utter contempt they show for Muslims and Islam in general, and how they completely absolve themselves for any personal responsibility in the dire situation that they have almost single-handedly created for the Muslim world.

 

One has to ask them, are they not the ones who are in the position to govern the political, cultural and economic affairs of the Muslim world? Are they not the ones with control of the Muslim funds and resources?

 

Surely the Muslim world would have been in a healthier economic situation had these rulers not readily plundered its wealth for their own personal gain? Surely the Muslim world would have been politically stronger had these rulers not ensured disunity and subservience to western interests, in order to protect their own thrones? Surely there would be stability in the Muslim lands if the Muslims were allowed to be governed according to Islam, as opposed to non-Islam? And surely there would be harmony if those who called for the implementation of Islam were not repressed and brutalised for doing this basic Islamic requirement? Surely the blame firmly lies on these corrupt and inept Muslim rulers.

 

The actions of these inept rulers have seen the Muslim nations sink into poverty even though they are blessed with vast natural wealth. For example, Pakistan is said to have amassed a $2 billion debt from the actions of two former Prime Ministers alone. Saudi Arabia, home to the largest oil reserves on Earth, is also in debt whilst unemployment is soaring. The Saudi royalty has done nothing to prepare for a future when oil reserves will eventually run out, as one western commentator put it “A tribe of camel herders living in tents suddenly found themselves in palaces and driving limousines, but will soon find themselves living in tents and herding camels again”.

 

Making provisions for the Muslim citizens is the role of the State, yet these corrupted rulers even absolve themselves from this basic duty. Many of the Muslim countries are full of charitable institutions and private funds which provide food, medicine and education for the poor and needy. Such philanthropic ventures by the Muslim Ummah themselves often become the only source of support and assistance for the desperate, instead of supplementing the duties and actions of the State.

 

The potential economic strength of the Muslim countries is unparalleled. They consist of a population in excess of 1.3 billion and plentiful natural resources; 700 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, vast amounts of natural gas reserves, gold and diamond mines, as well as huge amounts of other precious minerals. Yet, for all this strong economic foundation, the Muslim countries are still not able to match any western power even through the combined efforts of all 57 Muslim countries.

 

It is not the Muslim Ummah that is in charge of the economic direction of these Muslim countries, rather their rulers have handed over responsibility of this to non-Islamic institutions like the IMF and World Bank, which are controlled by the powerful western nations. Crippling loans, currency devaluations, the elimination of subsidies and privatisation have allowed the vital resources of the Muslim Ummah to be purchased and owned by western multinational corporations. As such, the entire Muslim wealth is in free-flow to the western nations, who reward the corrupt rulers in Muslim lands with prestige, and secure their thrones for their treacherous actions. This wealth never reaches the Muslim Ummah, who struggle to survive.

 

It is not the Muslim Ummah that has decided to sell a barrel oil cheaper than a barrel of water; such prices are ensured by their leaderships. When the price of oil increases - as was the case recently - the corrupted rulers in Muslim lands do not rejoice, but instead rush to increase supply so that prices will fall back down! They do this to protect the economies of their western masters, and it is the Muslim economies that then suffer as a direct result.

 

It is not the Muslim Ummah that calls for disunity and impotence to western aggression, which was demonstrated clearly in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, when Muslims all over the world demonstrated in their millions and implored their armies to move to protect their Muslim brethren. Even with such actions, the rulers acted against their wishes and violently clamped down on dissent. In Pakistan, Musharraf turned his back on the Taleban, and sold out the Jihad movement in Kashmir, and instead began a western crusade against anyone that opposed US hegemony. In Turkey, the government allowed the Americans to use bases and airspace to attack and kill the innocent Muslims of Iraq in return for a bribe. Qatar and many of the Gulf nations provided bases and facilities to feed, house and nourish the western soldiers who daily engaged in the spilling of pure Muslim blood.

 

It is absolutely conclusive then that blame for the backward, impotent and dire situation in the Muslim lands does not lie with the Muslim Ummah, but firmly at the feet of their corrupt and treacherous rulers.

 

The Secretary General of the OIC was correct in one assertion however, when he stated that there was a difference between the Ummah in the past and the Ummah of today. However, his blind subservience to the western secular values blinds him to the true reason for this difference.

 

The Muslim Ummah of the past, which reached great heights politically, economically and spiritually, lived under an Islamic system not a secular system, and was united under one Khaleefah rather than being cut up into 57 irrelevant “nation states”, ruled over by 57 despots. Through this Islamic system, the Khaleefah looked after the affairs of the Muslims without external interference or direction. As such poverty was almost an alien concept, whilst education, transport, medicine and science were centuries ahead of the rest of the world.

 

The rulers in the Muslim lands have only themselves to blame, but they will continue to blame everyone but themselves. Muslims throughout the world must realise that if they are to have a future that resembles their glorious past, they must recreate the circumstances that facilitated such elevation. That future would involve the removal of all the secular and treacherous leaderships that exist today, and the re-establishment of a singular sincere Islamic Khilafah.

 

Such a task is not easy or simple, but is crucial and pivotal to the future of Islam and Muslims. It is an obligation that carries great reward and requires great sacrifice, and has been entrusted to the noble Muslim Ummah. Allah (SWT) commended those engaged in such a struggle,

 

 

وَالَّذِي جَاء بِالصِّدْقِ وَصَدَّقَ بِهِ أُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُتَّقُونَ لَهُم مَّا يَشَاءونَ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ ذَلِكَ جَزَاء الْمُحْسِنِينَ

 

 

“And he who brings the Truth and he who confirms (and supports) it such are the men who do right. They shall have all that they wish for in the presence of their Lord: such is the reward of those who do good.” [TMQ Az-Zumar: 33-34]

 

The Prophet (SAW) also commended the Muslims for such actions,

 

“A group of people from my Ummah will continue to fight in defence of truth and remain triumphant until the Day of Judgment” [sahih Muslim: 4718]

 

Shehzad Bashir

[sahal]

TRUE, Jazakalah Bro/Sis

[Warrior of Light]

Jazakhallah Kheir sis. Enjoyed reading the article well balanced and very informative. Keep them coming sis.