An "Extremist"

CONTEST 2: UK Government Leaked Plans to Label Every Muslim an "Extremist"

Draft plans by the British government were leaked to the Guardian newspaper and BBC Panorama this week, which expose that the British government is once again playing politics with terrorism. The plans have nothing to do with preventing 'violent extremism' or promoting ‘community cohesion' as they tell people. The leak provides yet more evidence that the government's projects and funding for mosques, community centres, youth groups and women's groups are aimed at changing the deen that the Muslims hold. These projects are about gathering intelligence (though the police deny this) and their grants are so our communities become addicted to government money, so they can then dictate to us what we can and cannot think, believe or say

According to the Guardian, under the draft of the strategy Muslims would be considered as ‘extremists' if they believe in some of Islam's core ideas.

They will accuse you of ‘extremism' if you advocate a Caliphate (Khilafah) in the Muslim world - an Islamic state that unifies Muslim countries.

This Khilafah was explained by Allah's Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم who said:

"Bani Israa'il were ruled by the Prophets, every time a Prophet died he was followed by another Prophet, and there will be no Prophets after me, and there will be Khulafaa and they will be many. [What do you order us?] Fulfil your pledge of allegiance to them one after another, and give them their rights, and truly Allah will ask them about their responsibilities."
(Muslim)

But according to the British governments draft plans it is unacceptable for the Muslim Ummah to have a Khalifah. According to these draft plans other states in the world may seek strength through ever closer unity but the Muslim Ummah must remain divided - ruled by tyrants and despots who serve the west. According to these draft plans a Muslim can support political movements in Zimbabwe or Burma, but must cut their ties with the growing Islamic revival and the call for Khilafah and end to dictatorship in the Muslim world.

They will accuse you of ‘extremism' if you promote Shariah law - the law of Allah سبحانه وتعالى derived from the Quran, Sunnah, Ijmaa as- Sahabah and Qiyas. It is a law that is principled, which does not bend when placed under pressure, and that cannot be manipulated for any lobbyist. They manipulate the laws to suit capitalists and corporate interest groups even try to sell positions in the US Senate and votes in the House of Lords. The Shariah is the fundamental basis of Islamic law and the basis of the Muslims way of life. By attacking the Shariah their aim is for Muslims to abandon the halal and haram, the fard and the Sunnah and adopt their corrupt kufr criteria of benefit and pleasure that has brought so much harm to their own society.

They will accuse you of ‘extremism' if you believe in Jihad, or armed resistance, anywhere in the world including armed resistance by Palestinians against the Israeli military. So, for the British government, when the Israeli war machine massacred over 1300 people in Gaza, including hundreds of children, it would be ‘extremist' for the Muslims to resist this massacre - despite the fact that Allah سبحانه وتعالى tells us:

وَقَاتِلُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ الَّذِينَ يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ وَلاَ تَعْتَدُواْ

"And fight in the Way of Allah those who fight you, but transgress not the limits" (Al-Baqara, 2:190)

They will accuse you of ‘extremism' if you argue that Islam bans homosexuality and that it is a sin against Allah. Islam has given us clear rules for relationships, marriage and families. These values are in decay in this society. Peoples' sexual desires are fulfilled in any way creating a society that is in moral decline. They are trying to impose upon us the same breakdown of families, unhappiness of children, and promiscuity and immorality that is so damaging western societies.

They will accuse you of ‘extremism' if you fail to condemn the killing of British soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan - even though this government sent these soldiers there to invade someone else's country; to kill and be killed in failed colonial wars which were motivated by greed and the seeking of wealth and power.

Muslims the world over are being forced to leave their Islamic values and adopt western ones. This is what they mean when they say that the war on terror is to spread 'freedom and democracy'. This is what was said in a report by a think-tank called Civitas that advises British politicians when they said:

"it is not enough for the vast majority of decent, peaceful, law-abiding Muslims to renounce terror in principle: they also need to renounce the view - frequently expressed by Islamists - of an inevitable war between Islam and the rest of the world. If they choose to live in Western liberal democratic societies, they must accept the values of liberal democracy - as Jews, Sikhs, Hindus and others have done for many years."

It is clear to everyone that this war on terror is nothing less than a cover for a wider war against Islam. Allah سبحانه وتعالى tells us in the Quran in that:

وَلَن تَرْضَى عَنكَ الْيَهُودُ وَلاَ النَّصَارَى حَتَّى تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ

"Never will the Jews nor the Christians be pleased with you (O Muhammad) unless you follow their millah (religion)."

(Al-Baqarah, 2:120)

Yet the values of liberal democracy, which they expect Muslims all over the world to adopt as their political and social ‘religion', are not even values that all people in Britain believe in. About 40% of people in mainstream society do not vote in elections, and many of the remaining 60% do not trust their elected politicians. Every week we read alarming reports about how badly children, the elderly, women, immigrants and asylum seekers are treated or how people with a religious conviction or illiberal view are treated by liberal society. And we now also see the collapse of disaster capitalism, which has been the back bone of the secular liberal democratic system for the past 200 years.

Brothers and Sisters! Are these values, forced upon us in the UK and in the Muslim world, the values that we wish for ourselves and our children to adopt? Have we not seen the harm caused by the values in the west? Their way of life is one that has failed to bring harmony for their own society never mind for humanity. Their way of life is one that has encouraged individualism and selfishness, and the craving for material wealth. It is one that has meant ‘life liberty and the pursuit of happiness' even if it meant through colonising the world and making hundreds of millions of others suffer.

Every one of us has to understand that this is nothing less than an attempt to change the deen of the Muslims. Sometimes they have attacked the women's dress code and sometimes they have attacked the modesty and family values of Muslims. At worse we have even seen our beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and the Noble Quran attacked. Yet this is what our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم faced in his struggle in Makkah. He faced personal attacks, attacks on Islam, lies and slander. They labelled him صلى الله عليه وسلم with all kinds of names. Yet he responded with an intellectual dawah showing the superiority of the sublime Islamic values over those of kufr; proving the truth of the Islamic belief over other beliefs; meeting falsehood with the truth of Islam. And Allah made His صلى الله عليه وسلم call victorious.

This should be our calling when faced with this attack. The response to this is that every Muslim has to know his or her deen, and know the political and social values that are being forced on us - not just here but all across the Muslim world.

We should oppose government attempt to control our institutions but we should demonstrate and explain the superiority of the Islamic values and prove the truth of the Islamic belief. We must stand for Islam and expose falsehood when we see it.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى commands us:

ادْعُ إِلِى سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ

"Invite to the Way of your Lord with hikmah and fair preaching and argue with them in a way that is better."

(An-Nahl, 16:125)

That is our duty - to focus our efforts towards this dawah in the west, as well as supporting the call to replace tyranny, dictatorship and kufr in Muslim lands with a just Islamic leadership that rules by Quran and Sunnah - the Khilafah, which can show the world what the justice of Islam can bring for humanity.

As to the success or failure of these plans, the very fact they have resorted to using bribery and force against Muslims, in order to achieve these goals, proves they cannot deal with Islamic ideas intellectually and that they have lost the battle of ideas. If any individual Muslim were to abandon the truth, he would do so to his own loss. But their plans can never succeed in replacing Islam in the heart of the Muslim community or anywhere in the world for Allah سبحانه وتعالى tells us:

يُرِيدُونَ أَن يُطْفِؤُواْ نُورَ اللّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَيَأْبَى اللّهُ إِلاَّ أَن يُتِمَّ نُورَهُ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ

"They seek to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths; but Allah refuses but to perfect His light, though the disbelievers may resent it."

(At-Tawba, 9:32)

HADITH

From Mu'adh bin Jabal رضي الله عنه who said: I said:

"O Messenger of Allah, tell me of a deed which will take me into Paradise and will keep me away from the Hell-fire." He said: "You have asked me about a great matter, yet it is, indeed, an easy matter for him to whom Allah Almighty makes it easy. (It is ) that you worship Allah without associating anything with Him, that you perform the prayers, that you pay the zakat, that you fast during Ramadan, and that you make the pilgrimage to the House."

Then he said: "Shall I not guide you to the gates of goodness? Fasting is a shield; charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire; and a man's prayer in the middle of the night." Then he recited:

تَتَجَافَى جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ الْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
فَلَا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌ مَّا أُخْفِيَ لَهُم مِّن قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍ جَزَاء بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

"Who forsake their beds to cry unto their Lord in fear and hope, and spend of that We have bestowed on them. No soul knoweth what is kept hid for them of joy, as a reward for what they used to do."

[Surah al-Sajdah 32: 16-17]

Then he said: "Shall I not also tell you of the peak of the matter, its pillar, and its topmost part?" I said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He said: "The peak of the matter is Islam (submission to Allah), the pillar is prayer; and its topmost part is jihad." Then he said: "And shall I not tell you of the controlling of all that?" I said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah". So he took hold of his tongue and said: "Restrain this." I said: "O Prophet of Allah, will we be held accountable for what we say?" He said: "May your mother be bereft of you! Is there anything that topples people on their faces (or he said, on their noses) into the Hell-fire other than the jests of their tongues?"

Related by Al-Tirmidhi, who said it was a fine and sound.

Resolution 1860

Disgraceful slap in the face of the rulers in the Islamic Lands

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Resolution 1860 is a disgraceful slap in the face of the rulers in the Islamic Lands, Not content with denying Gaza the help of the Muslim armies, they surrender it to the ZIONIST through international resolutions

This morning the United Nations Security Council issued Resolution 1860 regarding the brutal hostility against the Gaza Strip. This resolution’s wording employs malicious, political cunning, as used previously in Resolution 242, after the hostility in 1967, which mentions withdrawal from “territories,” without specifying withdrawal from “the territories,” and thus granting the state of Isreal scope to remain on territories that it seized!

With regards to Resolution 1860, its does not mention withdrawal from Gaza, rather it limits itself to a ceasefire “leading” to withdrawal! And “how” or “what” is “leading.” And how is it such a resolution, intentionally cloaked with ambiguity, end the Jewish hostility, when they have never ended hostility for other even clearer resolutions?!

The Security Council resolution is not worth the paper it is written on. Moreover there are many resolutions that the Jews ignored, that now fill their dustbins! Despite this, America and its allies prevented the issuing of any Security Council resolution that insists on cessation of hostilities, in order to give the state of Jews an opportunity to continue to spill blood in Gaza, in brutal hostility, until the state of Jews achieves its objectives.Following and emulating America, the rulers in the Muslim lands fulfilled America’s will, willingly and fearfully, so they differed, disagreed and they did not gather…

And when the state of Jews faced great resistance and it was clear to the state of Jews that it was unable to achieve its objectives through military actions, and that the matter will prolong to the time that is due for their elections, when they need an environment of “victory,” whether by war or peace, up to the elections and during them, America then became active in realizing their goals for them through the means of the Security Council. Condoleezza Rice was steering the meetings and she moved her pawns amongst the rulers and they started to move, making pilgrimage to the Security Council, to merge their days and with their nights in unrelenting efforts… And they are the ones who look at helping Gaza with the look of the one who is dazed by death, at a time when if a single front, or even a few fronts, were opened, by these rulers the state of Jews would be shaken if not completely annihilated.These rulers are the “sponsors” of the resolution that allows the state of Jews to achieve what it could never achieve through its hostility! And the resolution keeps the Israeli army in Gaza, whilst sanctioning the Gaza strip of any means of strength and weaponry, and this does not change anything, despite the cosmetic mention of relieving food sanctions!…

And to market this resolution, America abstained from voting for it, as if it were not behind it and so that the Muslim rulers are able to give the impression that they achieved a big victory without America’s help, but they are lying and anyone who has a mind that can comprehend will realize that if America was not behind the resolution, it would not have allowed it to be passed.

O Muslims!

Indeed, it was true what the most truthful RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم said,

إذا لم تستح فاصنع ما شئت

"And if you have no shame than do what you wish"

And as for these rulers who are looking on as pure blood is spilled in Gaza of Hashim (named after the grandfather of RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم), they neither mobilize the armies nor launch rockets and bombers, but instead they prevent the volunteer fighters from fighting…! Yet they fall head over heels to endorse the resolution that prohibits weapons and the means of strength for Gaza and ensures the Jewish army’s occupation of it, may Allah fight them for what they do.Any one who looks to the Palestine-occupying entity of the Jews, which is surrounded by these rulers, would realize that the existence of this entity relies upon the existence of these rulers. Not only are the Jews protecting themselves, so are the rulers on their behalf. And America and the other Western states would not be able to protect this entity effectively, if there were a single righteous man amongst them!!

O Muslims!

As we mentioned many times before, and we re-iterate now, anyone who wants to annihilate the entity of Jews and return Palestine to the Abode of Islam, he has to work for the sincere ruler, the sincere state, the Khilafah Rashida. RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم said,

الإمام جنة يقاتل من ورائه ويتقى به

"Indeed, the Imam (Khaleefah) is a shield, from behind whom you fight and by whom you are protected."

And then the state of isreal will cease to exist, as will other colonialist, occupying kufr, states that are stronger and more effective than the entity of the Jews, and they will all be in humiliation.

نَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَذِكْرَى لِمَنْ كَانَ لَهُ قَلْبٌ أَوْ أَلْقَى السَّمْعَ وَهُوَ شَهِيدٌ

“And this is a reminder for those who have a believing heart and hearing, so bear witness.”

[Surah Kaf 50:37]

G20 Summit

Analysis on G20 Summit


1. From 14 to 15 of November the Group of Twenty (G20) met to discuss a variety of issues pertaining to the healthy of the world economy. Before elaborating on what was discussed and concluded, it is important to comprehend some background information.

2. The Global Financial System (GFS) unleashed a series of financial crisis in Mexico (1994-95), Asia (1997-98), Russia (1998), and Argentina (1999). It was in the aftermath of these crises that The G20 (more formally known as the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors) was formally established at the G7 Finance Ministers' meeting on September 26, 1999. The inaugural meeting took place on December 15-16, 1999 in Berlin.

3. G20 is a group that consists of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 economies. This includes 19 of the world's largest national economies, plus the European Union (EU). Collectively, the G20 economies comprise 85% of global gross national product, 80% of world trade (including EU intra-trade) and two-thirds of the world population. Full membership of the G20 includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the US and the EU. In addition, to the financial ministers of these countries, the leaders of the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) also attend G20 meetings.

4. The mandate of G20 is to protect the GFS and the economies of the major Western powers by strengthening the international financial architecture and providing opportunities for dialogue on national policies, international co-operation, and international financial institutions. G20 works with emerging economies through the IMF, WB and WTO to ensure that these economies are well integrated in the GFS.

5. The Washington meeting was called at the behest of European leaders including France's President Nicholas Sarkozy and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Europe’s leaders have been incensed at the way America allowed the credit crises to spread across the globe. For instance, the US manipulated oil, food and commodity prices to shore up the dollar. Subsequently, the cost of production and inflation soared in Europe; the European Central Bank (ECB) had little choice but to raise interest rates to tackle inflation. As a direct consequence of this policy the EU’s economy started to contract and investors switched from Euros to the Dollars. Investors felt that America’s low interest rates and economic growth was a more favorable investment as compared to the EU. Hence the value of the Euro plummeted and the EU’s economy started to tilt towards recession. Faced with poor growth the ECB was forced to slash interest rates. This further aggravated the value of the euro in comparison to the dollar. Amidst this, Sarkozy and Brown, later to be joined by Merkel and other EU leaders pressed Bush for an international summit to discuss the crisis. Associated Press reported on 5 October, that following an emergency meeting, four members of the G8 - Britain, France, Germany and Italy - “called for an international conference "as soon as possible" to consider sweeping reforms of the global finance system.” At an emergency meeting of the Eurogroup on 12 October, 2008, Prime Minister Gordon Brown presented a proposal to deal with the financial crisis. During a press conference at the 2 day EU summit in Brussels on 15-16 October 2008, European Commission chief Manuel Barosso said there will only be “a global agreement if Europe has a leadership role.” French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manual Baroso visited President George Bush at Camp David on 18 October, 2008. Mr Sakozy said “We have a mandate from the 27 members of the European Union to come here and say first and foremost that this is a worldwide crisis and, therefore, we must find a worldwide solution”. Mr Baroso stated: “The international financial system - its basic principles and regulations and its institutions need reform. We need a new global financial order...This is why Europe wants the calling of an international summit as soon as possible to launch an effective world response to world crisis.” On 21 October, 2008 President Sarkozy told the European Parliament that “Europe must be the standard bearer for the idea of reforming world capitalism.” José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the Spanish Prime Minister said, “The EU must take over the leadership of change because that is what it has long been calling for while the US was not favorable…. There has to be regulation and limits to everything to do with incentives and rewards.”

6. EU leaders believe that the cause of the global financial crisis was inadequate regulation of the financial sector, especially in the US. In other words the real culprit behind the global financial crisis in their view is American capitalism. Europe’s leaders would like to see more coordinated action to revive the world economy, both by more interest cuts and more spending by governments to bring countries out of recession. They hope that the meeting will agree a blueprint for future reform, including changes to the international organizations charged with regulating the world economy, such as the International IMF and WB.Against this backdrop, Bush finally agreed to convene an international summit in Washington from November 14 to November 15.But From the outset the meeting of the G20 was not going to produce anything substantive, apart from agreement on lofty goals and general principles. These were mentioned in a fact sheet issued by the Whitehouse after the summit.

Goals

1. Reached a common understanding of the root causes of the global crisis

2. Reviewed actions countries have taken and will take to address the immediate crisis and strengthen growth

3. Agreed on common principles for reforming our financial markets

4. Launched an action plan to implement those principles and asked ministers to develop further specific recommendations that will be reviewed by leaders at a subsequent summit

5. Reaffirmed their commitment to free market principlesPrinciples

1. Strengthening transparency and accountability by enhancing required disclosure on complex financial products;

2. Enhancing sound regulation by ensuring strong oversight of credit rating agencies; prudent risk management;

3. Promoting integrity in financial markets by preventing market manipulation and fraud, helping avoid conflicts of interest

4. Reinforcing international cooperation by making national laws and regulations more consistent and encouraging regulators to enhance their coordination and cooperation across all segments of financial markets

5. Reforming international financial institutions (IFIs) by modernizing their governance and membership

The reason for a lack of consensus on detail solutions amongst EU, US and UK leaders at the summit is as follows:-First, President George Bush does not possess the domestic clout or international legitimacy to carry out a comprehensive reform of the GFS. Besides, Bush is a lame duck president and leaders of many countries are waiting for president elect Obama to take office before seriously considering all the proposals on the table. Hence that is why George Bush launched a passionate defense of the free market on the eve of the summit, as he aimed to deflect European criticism about American capitalism. “While reforms in the financial sector are essential, the long-term solution to today's problems is sustained economic growth,” he told an audience in New York. "And the surest path to that growth is free markets and free people.” So the best George Bush could do was get consensus agreement on the free market (see goal nos. 5) which he did. The rest is left to his successor Obama to pursue.Second, prior to the G20 meeting, some EU leaders had urged a complete rethink of the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944 that created the post-war system of fixed exchange rates and established the IMF and the World Bank. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said “Bretton Woods II” should bring about “genuine, all-encompassing reform of the international financial system”. On October 13, 2008, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said world leaders must meet to agree to a new economic system. “We must have a new Bretton Woods, building a new international financial architecture for the years ahead.”However, Brown's approach is quite different than the original Bretton Woods System. Britain wants to carry on emphasizing the continuation of globalization and free trade and is opposed to a return to fixed exchange rates. Sarkozy disagrees with Brown and argues that the "Anglo-Saxon" model of unrestrained markets has failed. He is supported by Italian Economics Minister Giulio Tremonti has said that Italy will use its 2009 G7 chairmanship to push for a "New Bretton Woods.Europe’s view is diametrically opposed to America’s view on Bretton Woods, as America does not want to cede control of IMF, WB and WTO. Moreover, America possesses very little appetite to abandon the world of floating exchange rates, as it has given Wall Street complete reign over the world markets. Britain is keen to pursue free trade but is looking to acquire greater control over the international financial institutions and also wants America to regulate its corporate masters who have hitherto escaped punishment.

Because of these two factors the G20 could only agree on goals and principles. This was acknowledged by several leaders, as being the first step in the reform GFS. Future meetings of the G20 and other forums will decide what will become of the GFS.

Ramadhan

Ramadhan

Salam'

Ramadhan starts on Monday 01/09/2008.

Many Allah swt accept our fast and reward us with Jannah al Ferdous.

Wa-Salam

Saudis

Americas: Saudi’s capitulate to American pressure and raise production


On 13/6/2008 the BBC reported that Saudi Arabia could increase its output by more than half a million barrels of oil per day to a record 10 million barrels per day. Saudi Arabia is coming under increasing pressure from G8 and the Bush administration to raise production and curb escalating oil prices. However, the popular perception is that speculators are the chief culprits behind the soaring price of crude oil. Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti said "enormous" speculation is behind the rising energy prices.
It is now widely documented that whenever the dollar falls powerful hedge funds intervene and cause huge spikes in the price of crude oil. Such initiatives cause a temporary rebound in the value of the dollar. If the rulers of Saudi Arabia had a modicum of common sense they could take advantage of the current situation to rid the Saudi Arabia of American and western domination. All that is required is to de-peg the Saudi Riyal from the dollar and withdraw money from western banks.
Europe: Italy- Europe’s new police state
On 15/06/2008 the Italian government announced that 2,500 soldiers are to be deployed for a maximum period of one year. The deployment is the government’s attempt to curb Italy’s soaring crime. Up to 300 soldiers are expected to carry out patrols and security checks there to help combat muggers and pickpockets. This is the first time the Italian army has been used since World War 2. The fundamental cause of crime in capitalist societies like Italy is the capitalist goal in life, which each member of society strives to achieve. This goal in life only recognizes the pursuit of sensual pleasure for human beings as the sole way to attain happiness. The capitalist goal in life has no room for spiritual, moral or humanitarian pursuits. Naturally such a self-centered outlook towards life leads people to be irresponsible, callous and rebellious towards law and authority. Even the severity of the law does not deter people from committing crime. Thus for many years, Western governments have struggled to reduce the growing number of paedophiles, rapists, drug addicts, joy riders, burglars, fraudsters and the like - no matter how many laws they enact or how much time and money they spend on policing.
In Islam the individual through his Taqwa, the public through their concern about the preservation of society and the state all act in unison to ensure that the Islamic laws are implemented and that crime is minimized. The Islamic history bears testimony to this fact. For example, when Imam Malik was appointed the judge of Madinah, he had to wait almost a year before he presided over his first case.
Middle East: Egypt’s misplaced Fatwa
On 15/6/2008 it was reported that Al-Azhar University in Cairo issued a fatwa demanding that the government donate 20 percent of its profits from oil, gas and minerals to the poor as alms. Does not Al-Azhar recognize that this fatwa will never solve the economic problems of the poverty stricken masses? This is because the crux of the Egypt’s numerous economic problems is caused by capitalist solutions imported from the West. These solutions permeate all spheres of Egyptian life—not just economics. The fatwa that Al-Azhar should have issued is a stipulation for the removal of capitalist solutions along with the Mubarak regime that implements them. Allah says in the Quran: “And those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed are disbelievers” [TMQ]. A fatwa calling for the removal of Mubarak’s evil regime, and the re-establishment of the Khilafah on its ashes is long overdue from the ulema of Al-Azhar. The messenger (saw) of Allah described the ulema as the inheritors of the prophets. But today, Al-Azhar is a staunch supporter of Mubarak’s kufr regime that oppresses Muslims at the behest of colonialist powers.
Africa: Are Chad and Sudan on the brink of war?
This week Chad accused Sudanese soldiers of helping rebels attack one of its frontier military camps. The attack came as rebels opposed to Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno claimed further advances on the capital N'djamena. ”After dispatching columns of mercenaries to Chad and failing to secure strategic areas, the Sudanese army took matters in its own hands today and attacked Ade, backed up by helicopters,” a Chadian government statement said. Diplomatic relations broke off in mid-May after an attack near Sudan’s capital, Khartoum , by a Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement. The real architects of this perpetual conflict are Europe and America. Chad through French and British aid and Sudan through American support are engaged in a bitter proxy war—which threatens to explode into a full blown conflict. The conflict is sold to world as humanitarian crisis in Darfur —nothing could be further from the truth.
At the heart of the dispute are Sudan’s strategic oil reserves. The struggle between the major powers also explains why hitherto the UN is ineffective and EUFOR (European Force) is stationed in Chad.
South Asia: Taliban’s assault demonstrates more than luck
The recent escape of hundreds of prisoners from Kandahar, the seizure of small towns in nearby vicinities, and the capture of helicopter engines bound for US crusaders speaks volumes about Taliban’s growing confidence. America and Europe frightened by an imminent Taliban comeback have ushered in huge deployments to fight the bold pushtun resistance. The rag-tag band of men, once dismissed as ineffective by crusader forces are now posing a grave threat—one of strategic proportions. The question on most people’s minds is what would happen if the Muslim armies from Iran, Central Asia and Pakistan joined the Taliban. Whilst the agent rulers in these countries reject such assertions, their people are hoping for such an outcome. Indeed, only the Khilafah can provide such a result. The messenger (saw) of Allah said, “The Imam is a shield behind whom the people are protected and behind whom they fight”.

The Dollar

The dollar crisis, rising oil & commodity prices


Question:The dollar crisis continues to persist and it its slide down is markedly visible. This has been followed by a surge in crude oil, gold and other minerals & metals prices thereby resulting in steep rise in foodstuff prices. This multi-faceted crisis is unprecedented both in terms of its intensity as well as persistence…Is this crisis really a result of economic problems, or is it the US policies that are spurring & aggravating it?I request you to please clarify this, may Allah reward you for it.

Answer: Indeed this crisis has a genuine economic aspect as well, but the interference of political hands has compounded & aggravated the problem to such proportions that we see.To fully clarify the picture, we shall explain how the crisis developed, how the political hands interfered with it and how the rise in the prices of crude oil, gold and metals affected the crisis, and finally we shall see how it developed into a food crisis.First of all: Indeed there is a genuine crisis in the US economy which has affected the strength & influence of the US dollar, consequently the US economy has been hit by the currently widespread slowdown. The current crisis has grown to such proportions due to the following factors:The US Trade Deficit:The United States imports more goods & services than it exports and its consumers have a great appetite for imports. For instance, the US imported goods & services worth US$ 1,625 billion in 2003, while its exports during that year were worth US$ 1,203 billion, which leaves a deficit of US$ 449 billion and has since risen to a gigantic figure of US$ 816 billion! This difference between the imports & exports was adjusted by printed currency (US dollars) or by US government bonds. This, by its nature leads to a downturn in US Dollars though it may not be officially acknowledged.Certainly, the US has never before experienced a trade deficit of such colossal proportions; on the contrary, it has been witnessing trade surplus and that too for many a decades, especially after World War II. Gradually, this trade surplus began to taper off over the years thanks to stiff competition from European as well as Asian countries that produce the goods at lower costs. This resulted in even higher imports of goods & services from such countries. This coincided with a huge military expenditure in the Vietnam War resulting in steeply risen balance of payment. In 1971, the US was forced to abandon supporting its dollar with gold, this was the first tremor. In the 80’s when global trade grew and industrial plants shifted from America to those countries that offered cheaper labour, economic shortfall began to show its ugly face. Also the continued imports from the countries that produced cheaper goods like Mexico, China & Malaysia led to further widening of the trade-deficit.Thus the deficits in the trade & payment balance sowed doubts and distrust about the US economy among the investors and later this led to a slump in the value of the US dollar.Debt:The US Treasury department statistics showed a rise in the indebtedness of the government (the Federal administration as well as the local administrations) from US$ 4.3 trillion (US$ 4,300,000,000,000) in 1990 to a staggering US$ 8.4 trillion in 2003, further rising to about US$ 8.9 trillion in 2007. This general debt is the size of 64% of the Gross Domestic Product. Thus the US can be grouped alongside those countries that suffer most from their debts. This debt is not confined to the US governments alone but comprises firms and individuals in its web. Individual debts alone in the US have recently reached a staggering figure of US$ 6.60 trillion, while the corporate debts, ranked first have reached US$ 18.40 trillion. Thus the total debts stand at US$ 34 trillion which is three times the GDP. This, in itself is a grave economic crisis.The Rise of the Euro:Ever since the advent of the Euro, it became the second alternative global reserve currency after the US dollar. This was due to the fact that Euro inherited this distinguished position from the Deutsche Mark, but it even surpassed it and this adversely affected the dollar. Thus the Euro enjoys even more trust than its German predecessor with its value constantly on the rise affecting the demand for the US currency and taking its shine. Hence several investors were encouraged by this fall of dollar’s value into switching their investments from the US currency to the stronger Euro.In addition to these, the US economy suffers from several factors foremost of them being inflation crossing 4%, unemployment in excess of 5%, an industry in disarray, poverty, poor education services, and the like…All these factors have contributed to the dollar losing its face & value.The dollar’s fall has forced several central banks across the globe to reduce their stocks of the US currency.Paul Michael, a currency strategist at the HSBC says: “The central banks have for quite some time realised that they are no longer keen to boost their dollar stocks. As a result, most central banks around the world have reduced the dollar part of their assets form 73 to 64%”.This is the real picture of the crisis confronting the US dollar.Secondly: It is in these circumstances that the US political interference came about in order to exploit the crisis in order to serve its own interests and thus turn the crisis from being a local crisis to a global one… this is how it came about:1. Any decrease in the value of an exporting country’s currency increases its exports because the costs of the goods becomes relatively cheaper for the importing country due to the fact that the importer pays a lower price for the goods considering that the currency of the exporting country has fallen. For instance, when an importer pays US$ 1000.00 as cost of the goods and presuming that this equals €1000.00. Now if the US dollar loses say 10% of it value, the importer will only need to pay €900.00 instead of €1000.00 on the earlier rates. Therefore the importers prefer to import goods from such countries that have lower value currencies.It is another matter that all this is fine so long as the currency depreciation is within 5% and is still acceptable if the currency has lost up to 10% value. But if the depreciation exceeds 10%, the industrial plants that manufacture the goods suffer due to the resulting inflation, in other words, the cost of the goods increases in such countries that have lost the currency values because the purchasing power of that currency is impaired. This inflation results in higher cost of the industrial plants and thereby an increase in the prices of its goods follows. This means that the cost of the goods does not remain US$ 1000.00, but it increase. Thus if a currency loses its value beyond an acceptable limit, the cost of production increases resulting in reduced exports due to the resulting inflation. In the case of America, the loss of the dollar’s value has crossed an acceptable limit, for instance, the Euro is trading at around US$ 1.60 as compared to US$ 0.80 in 2000. Which means that the value of the US dollar has breached critical economic limits and has lost over five times….As a result of this depression, the US exports have only grown by a meagre amount meaning that though the trade deficit has marginally been reduced, it remains and haunts the economy.Yet in spite of these, the US has not taken any steps to correct the trade deficit, it has not opened up its oil reserve stocks for usage to bring down the cost of production for the industrial plants which would result in increased exports. In fact the Bush administration has refused to open up the oil reserves for usage in order to reduce the fuel costs which have been shooting up drastically. In other words, the US has not tried to solve the deficit problem from an economic perspective.Similarly, it has not addressed the issue of the debt, on the other hand it has in fact it has worked to increase it further as a result of its aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq which have cost it over 2 trillion dollars! In addition the Bush administration has given loans to the wealthy US capitalists in the range of about a trillion dollars by way of tax subsidies. This is motivated by electoral & political considerations… leaving the debt as it was, or even worse.Thus the fall of dollar has persisted and the US has taken no economic steps to rectify the situation. It then exploited this low-cost dollar to politically blackmail countries that have huge dollar reserves such as China which has dollar reserves in the range of a thousand billion dollars causing it to lose colossal sums, then it exploited India, European countries and the oil countries forcing them float their currencies and buy dollars. This increased the demand for dollars and marginally contained the US deficits.2. Then came the collapse of the shares of US real estate mortgage firms which enabled America to transfer its crisis to the global level!America gave loans on soft interests to housing companies, especially the real estate mortgage firms that sell houses on mortgage until the installments are paid for. Thus liquidity was available to these companies in a big way, motivating them to go soft on conditions of sale and on easier terms and even reduced rates because liquidity was no problem for these companies thanks to the cheaper state loans. The Americans went in for buying houses in a big way because cash was available to them from US banks that gave loans on easy terms. In fact the banks gave loans even to extent of the full value of the mortgage unlike the European banks that give loans only up to 60% of the mortgage value. All this was because the US government was giving cheaper credits to real estate companies, causing them to register considerable profits.Now because of globalisation and susceptibility of one company buying out another whenever it sees a profit opportunity, the multinational companies, specialised banks and central banks as well as individuals bought shares of US real estate companies with the aim of taking profits… this caused the real estate companies to register consistent boom in the stock exchanges across the globe and especially in the US and eventually the real estate shares became the preferred form of investment at the cost of other sectors including modern technologies that were exposed to losses. Earlier, the investment of choice were the information technology and communication firms, but now the Americans, both individuals and companies preferred to buy real estate as long-term investment or for speculative trading. The real estate facilities were now so easily and widely available that banks even gave to loans to those individuals who were not in a position to pay their debts due to their reduced incomes.This situation persisted and caused no severe problems till the current year until the burden of the loans became untenable for the government. The US then stopped the soft-loans to the mortgage & real estate sector banks; it even demanded repayment of the earlier loans which were now due. These real estate companies and mortgage banks in turn asked their customers to repay. But since unemployment, inflation and economic stagnation was rampant in the US, the house owners could neither repay the loan mortgages on the house cost nor the bank loans… real estate prices collapsed as a result of this payment default and the individuals who were in a position to repay their loans also defaulted. Thus, a house whose price was US$ 500,000 lost over half of its value and was available for US$200,000, yet as was reported in the press, no one was willing to buy even at this price. Over 2 million American owners were left encumbered with life-long financial liabilities. Consequently, due to loans default at such an enormous scale, the lending banks’ shares fell on the stock markets and mortgage companies collapsed under tremendous losses estimated to be in the range of US$ 2,000 million! This led to several real estate companies announcing their bankruptcy.As a result of this, an enormous portion of the debts became unrecoverable bad debt.The big banks were at last exposed to a severe jolt in the American mortgage sector, ‘Market’ magazine published by the German-Arab Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Berlin, pointed that the American ‘CitiGroup’ that opened the new year with losses incurred in the last quarter of the previous year to the tune of US$ 9.83 billion (equivalent to € 6.60 billion at the then prevalent rates). This loss to the ‘CitiGroup’ in the mortgage sector has now reached a staggering US$ 18.10 billion.The same losses were suffered by other banking institutions; the American ‘Merryll Lynch’ announced a write-off of US$ 14.10 billion from its assets, meaning that it ran a loss of US$ 9.80 billion in the last quarter of 2007-the biggest loss in its history.The Swiss giant ‘UBS’ was also similarly placed; it received billions of dollars from the Singapore Sovereign Fund, the ‘GIC’ to enable it to avoid going bankrupt.This is how the shares of real estate mortgage firms collapsed in the stock markets and as a result the shares of banking institutions followed in several countries across the world that were linked to the real estate investments or directly involved in the US real estate market. This did not strictly remain confined to the specific sector, but spread to even such sectors that do not deal in real estate, but because of the effects of globalisation, and overlapping of economic sectors over each other, no sector was totally insusceptible.It was not just that the shares of the real estate sector firms collapsed by on the American Wall Street, this phenomenon was repeated across the world; the Frankfurt exchange index fell by 7.10%, in Paris, the index lost 6.80%, the London index fell by 5.40%, in Madrid by 7.50%, Tokyo lost 3.80%, Shanghai 5.10%, Sao Paolo index fell by 6.00%, Riyadh index lost 9.80%, Dubai index fell by 9.40%, Beirut by 3.00% and Cairo lost 4.20%.Owing to the enormity of the losses suffered, it was decided by the French President Nicholas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in their 27th March, 2008 meeting that they will urge the banks to immediately disclose the extent of bad debts with them. In January last, Brown had said that Britain faces a tough test with the global economy in difficult and dangerous times due to the credit crisis precipitated by US loans default. This statement came after the 5th largest British real estate mortgage bank; the ‘Northern Rock’ was exposed to huge losses due to the US real estate crisis.This is how the United States passed its local crisis to the global level to such an extent that the European central banks pumped in a whopping US$ 150 billion in the last year to support real estate mortgage companies so that the resulting crisis does not adversely affect the global stock exchanges including the European exchanges due to the global reach of multi national companies that affects every country because of the maze created in the aftermath of a globalised world. Thus America exposed Europe and then supported its own real estate companies through such means.In conclusion, the American crisis had several political & economic ramifications; the US, passing through real crises leading to the devaluation of its currency, indulged in manipulative politics (or conspired) to involve the entire world to be sunk in by a crisis that was essentially an American crisis especially after globalisation and opening up of stock exchanges in the name of ‘market economy’ and extending the reach of multinational firms to the whole world. In this environment, most countries’ stock exchanges are open to each other and affected by them.The dollar devalued owing to America’s economic woes was thus exploited by it to reduce its trade deficit and to politically blackmail especially those countries that maintain huge dollar reserves. In the process, it also managed to convert what was essentially a US real estate mortgage firms’ crisis into a global crisis; it is another matter that America itself is not insulated from this.Yet in spite of all these political maneuverings, the US economy has not returned to growth cycle, it is just that its’ collapse has ceased for the time being. Were it not for globalisation, open-market economy and the capitalist economic order being prevalent and dominant over the world economy, and importantly if the countries were not relying on the US dollar as the reserve currency, the American economy could not have stood on its own and sustained until now.Thirdly: As for the rising prices of such minerals as oil, gold, iron etc., it must be observed that it followed the real estate mortgage crisis and the resulting stock & derivatives market crisis when the stock indices collapsed. In the aftermath of these crises, the investors’ confidence took a beating in such investment instruments that do not carry any intrinsic value, like bonds, shares and equity stock markets. Therefore they moved away from such investments and preferred such investment avenues that have an intrinsic value like gold and other important metals thereby creating demand for such commodities and consequently a huge upsurge in their prices; thus gold prices have already reached US% 1,000 per ounce and as the current indicators point, it is poised to even reach US$ 1,500.00 an ounce.Indeed the United States is itself among those worst affected by the gold price upsurge. If this upward trend in gold prices persists, the value of the dollar will not be worth the paper it is printed on! Therefore, the US is expected to take steps to curb gold prices, indeed there are already pointers to that; the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has decided to sell 403 tons of gold due to its own budget deficit. However, the IMF has said that this quantity will be sold in phases over a long term. This declaration by the IMF will go a long way in curbing the (speculation) in gold prices. It is probable that this gold will be sold to central banks which may cause the central banks to increase their profit margins and thereby it may also result in increased exchange rates. Again, the IMF on 9th April, 2008 stated, that the financial crisis will cost a trillion US dollars. Such statements more than being honest reflections of the situation are designed to be speculative aimed at changing the course of economy and finance. As the English newspaper ‘Telegraph’ said in its commentary, the IMF is the last resort to emerge out of the current financial crisis, thus this statement of the IMF amounts to preparing grounds for it.Thus the fall in dollar prices and investors’ lack of confidence in the primary US markets has pushed many of them not to invest in banknote credit instruments. A logical assessment of this reveals that the current banknote credit instruments are not fully backed in any perceptible way. In other words, in the current atmosphere, the confidence crisis will quickly spill over to other currencies. Therefore, certain central banks, like the Central Bank of China have begun to buy gold and this has pushed gold prices t its highest levels. The same applies to the price rise in other metals like silver and platinum. Further, due to increased demands of copper, zinc, aluminum and nickel from India and China, their prices have also risen. This increased demand from India and China is due to their rapid economic growth. This has been the case of the Chinese demand for the last 12 years while in the case of India, it has been there for 4 years. China has invested US$ 1 trillion in its infrastructure development and will spend another US$ 50 billion every year for the coming 15 years. On its part, India has begun its infrastructure development plan six years back. In the beginning, the investments on this plan were meager, but in the last 4 years investments have reached US$ 50 billion and it has plans to invest between US$ 30 to 40 billion annually for the next ten years. However, India does not have sufficient mineral reserves to support this investment plan; moreover, the rise in petrol prices has meant an increase in its production costs and as a result of this, there is an overall price increase.Indeed the cause of oil price increase is related to the sinking dollar prices and the higher purchasing power for oil of countries like those in the European Union, China and India and this is driving the demand for oil. However, the chief cause for oil price upsurge is the speculative trading, and it is the American speculation that has led to it. This was meant to put together the dollars in circulation from those who want to buy oil in order to enable the US to avoid a total collapse of its currency. This is reason behind uncertain information (rather misinformation) regarding American oil reserve figures that the US puts out periodically.Speculations play a key role in price rise; for instance, take the speculative trading in futures contracts or the speculative trading in minerals, especially gold. A higher gold price pushes such countries as China, Russia and other Asian countries to buy gold as a means of getting rid of their enormous dollar reserves. These countries no longer trust the US currency, because any decrease in its value results in severe losses to them. Similarly, China bought iron and other metals required for its industry and this pushed the iron and other metals’ prices up. Also Germany bought huge quantities of scrap iron and this caused the price surge, in fact it multiplied because a big portion of it is exported to China.It has been known for a long time that crude oil prices increase whenever there is a surge in the value of dollar. These two are inversely linked to each other. The current condition is no different, on 17th April, 2008, the crossed the barrier of US$ 115.00 per barrel and the upswing continued with the prices crossing US$ 120.00 per barrel today on 5th May, 2008.The oil prices have increased more than four folds since the year 2002 due to an increase in demand not just in China and other growing economies. In fact, the projections indicate that oil prices will reach US$ 130.00 per barrel by December next.Fourth: As for the global food crisis, it has exacerbated the economic crisis arising out of the US home mortgage crisis. Another crisis has emerged which is far more severe and threatens global food security in various parts of the globe where food prices ranging from bread to even milk have shot up.This crisis became evident recently after the increase in prices of wheat, maize and other basic food stuffs in the last few years. This worrisome trend has emerged in the past few months.On 12th May, 2008, the British magazine ‘Economist’ published a report which said that the pulses prices increased in an unprecedented manner unheard of since the “Economist Index’ for food stuffs was instituted in 1945 and according to the magazine, this increase has been 75%. The Chicago Chamber of Commerce, whose food pulses price index is the world’s leading indicator of pulses reports a 90% increase in wheat prices, 80% in soya beans and 20% in maize prices and are still on the rise even today.The major reasons behind the foodstuffs price rise and consequently the emergence of the food crisis:Increase in oil prices and sliding dollar prices:1. Certainly, the increase in oil prices has led to an increase in the prices of products required for agriculture like seeds, fertilisers, insecticides & pesticides, agricultural implements and transportation. An increase in cost of production and transport influences increase in the prices of foodstuff especially wheat and maize. For instance in the Philippines, the rice prices have risen by 70% during the last year.On the other hand, the foodstuff prices are mostly assessed US dollars, and when the dollar loses its value, it is but natural that foodstuff prices will automatically shoot upwards.Gratsiano observes: “loss of confidence in the dollar has pushed the investment funds to look for higher returns in the basic goods…first of all in metals and then in foodstuffs”. A number of speculators have in the past years switched their investments to the commodity markets in search of higher returns than they would earn in shares and bonds markets.2. Climatic Conditions: Climatic conditions such as floods, droughts and cyclones affect agricultural production. For instance, Australia, one of the largest exporters of food pulses is currently facing unprecedented levels of droughts in its history. Such conditions have been compounded by an economic boom in countries such as China, India and Brazil and this has resulted in accentuated levels of meat consumption.It is a known fact that to produce a piece of meat containing 100 calories, 700 calories of vegetation has to be fed to animals. Out of 2.13 billion tons of food grains only 1.01 tons is earmarked for human consumption. These figures are released by the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN. Consequently, as the global economy grows, cattle livestock also grow proportionately.3. Bio-fuels from food grains:Jean Zeigler, UN’s Special Rapporteur on the ‘Right to Food’ observed in a statement over the German Radio that intensive bio-fuel production now represents ‘crime against humanity’ because it pushes food grain prices across the world.Bio-fuels depend on agriculture production, and during the recent years many of the industrialised countries have exploited agriculture produce and agricultural land for the production of bio fuels in order to reduce their dependence on petro oil whose prices are touching record-high levels. This is leading to increased demand for bio fuel and thereby for food grains.Therefore in certain countries such as the United States and Brazil, agricultural land is being converted for production of maize and soy bean required for producing ethanol from them. Since 2001, the quantity of maize used in production of ethanol in the US has increased 300%. Further, the US is attempting to produce 35 billion gallons (133 billion liters) per annum of ethanol by the year 2017. The US Congress in its ‘Energy Document’ for 2005 has decided to increase maize-extracted ethanol production from 4 billion gallons in 2006 to 7.5 billion gallons in 2012.In March 2007, the US President George Bush met his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to sign the ‘Ethanol Convention’ between the two countries for cooperation among them to develop research and development on the next generation bio fuels. They also agreed on forming a trade union for bio fuel especially in the Central Asian countries. This ‘Ethanol Convention’ between the two presidents marks the beginning of a growing phenomenon of producing food grains for extraction of bio fuels. In the grasslands and forests of Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay, the land is being set aside for production of sugarcane plantation, palm oil and soy beans for extraction of bio fuels. In Brazil alone, soy bean production has occupied some 21 million hectares of forest lands, 14.0 million hectares in Argentina. It does appear that this phenomenon will subside so long as the food grains prices continue to surge upwards. In the year 2008, it is expected that out of 2.13 billion tons of food grains, 100 million tons will be used to extract bio fuels, in other words, this 100 million tons will used for feeding cars instead of human beings!4. Administrative & Political failures:As regard to wheat and other strategic grains production, the EU produces some 122 million tons, China produces 106 million tons, India, 75 million tons, America produces 56 million tons and Russia produces 48 million tons of grains. The US exports 32 million tons, Canada exports 15 million tons and the EU and Argentina export 10 million tons each.As for the Arabian countries, they all import wheat except Syria. The leading importer is Egypt, the land of Nile. It is the largest wheat importer in the world with wheat imports of 7 million tons while Algeria, that used to present itself as the land of the Atlas Mountains and farmlands during the French period, imports 5 million tons. The land of Tigris & Euphrates, Iraq imports 3 million tons, Morocco also imports 3 million tons, Yemen imports close to 3 millions as well while Tunisia imports 1 million and Jordan 500,000 tons of wheat.During this period of a lower dollar and higher oil prices, the import cost of wheat is likely to go higher and higher, which will greatly encumber the budget of importing countries even if wheat and other food grains are made available to them at subsidised rates.This is despite the fertile lands & water resources available to these Arab countries! Is it not surprising or even shocking that the land of Nile delta (Egypt), the land of the two rivers (Iraq), and the land of the Atlas Mountains (Algeria) happen to be the largest importer of wheat in the world!!!.Perhaps this is what becomes evident from the recent report of the World Bank on water resources in the Middle East and Northern Africa. This explains how the wicked politics shapes the Arab world! The report concluded that in order to provide water, it is imperative to develop agriculture policies in such a way so as to reduce dependence on water consumption. The World Bank has advised to grow tomatoes, water melons etc.. Instead of wheat! As per the recommendations of Francisco Montovani, the water resources expert at the World Bank, it is not related to technological processes to be decided upon by engineers; rather it is through deeper policies!

It is known that several countries have capacity to grow wheat, but colonialist policies followed by the International Monetary Fund prevent this. The IMF recommends growing of tobacco & cotton to those countries that follow its recommendations and gives them loans and other assistance to grow such crops, while it refuses loans and other assistance for growing wheat. This is evidently meant to feed the industrial plants of the rich nations with these raw materials.Indeed Allah (swt) has bestowed the Muslim countries with bounties of fertile lands and abundance of water resources, and if these are properly harnessed, Muslims can lead affluent lives. But this requires a rightful system from the One who has wisdom, i.e. the system of Islam, the Khilafah Rashidah which will fill the world with justice and well being. It is hoped that this will soon materialise with the command of Allah (swt).