PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN UNITE! WHY WE NEED A REVOLUTION

When a people begin to develop a conscious they tend to look at the problems around them search resolutions this search leads to the ultimate solution to the world’s problems revolution. Unfortunately for us our nations people are blinded by false promises and insecurities and even though the time is right with all the ingredients present resentment, poverty, injustice and a well aware middle class we have failed to react, overthrowing the old system of governance and form the true basis of democracy rule of the people, by the people and for the people. The time for a people’s revolution is ‘NOW OR NEVER’.

We need to open or eyes and escape the dilemma of waiting for others to take the step, it is time we correct the mistakes of our forefathers and take responsibility to guide our country even if it has been bestowed upon us by the accident of birth away form the road to inevitable annihilation it has taken. We need to change our prospective, attitude towards this land cause it all we have and try strive for change in ideology and implementation from the roots of our society lying amongst the peasants to the ruling hierarchy. We need a complete over haul of the system because in over half a century of our existence our ruling classes have remained the same as they were during the time of the British Raj under feudalistic control along with much of the land and the peasants making up 70% of the population bound to it. None of the pillars of state besides the military are institutions with a distinguishable stature and codes of conduct. Our states structure has bee amended along with a constitution alien to the masses numerous time by successive governments for their private benefits. Our Youth is a group lacking both purpose and organization; we seem not to choose to be Pakistanis but are forced into it by circumstances. Our geo-political position in the world is a curse causing great interest in us which seems to be causing more damage then benefits. Since the unfaithful moment Muhammad Ali Jinnah passed away in the back of an ambulance we have failed to see the rise of any leader capable of uniting the people. Our people starve on the streets, while our leaders feast.

Necessity is the mother of all inventions and even though we lack leaders and the sprit of nationalism amongst us we need to come with something so as to save ourselves, the fittest will survive but our nation seems to sliding the dark abyss from there is no return and only outcome is ruin. The question is how we can change what we see around us when we live in a embodiment of democracy where 25,000 of the population rules over 160 million and plans to do so without giving up easily. In search for torch bearers this nation has turned everywhere but found none capable of rallying us and moving forward in today’s Pakistan. With such complex issues losing faith is not something that is astonishing what we should do is stick to the principles of our nations father Jinnah ‘Unity, Faith and Discipline’ is the only way forward we need to beginning with changes ourselves and making those around aware of the various issues and arose a sense of patriotism and vengeance against these national issues. The changes will be small and pointless but it is every single drop which eventually adds up into becoming an ocean. 

Organization of Presentation

Golden rule:

Human attention is very limited. Don’t cram too much information, either in each slide, or in the whole talk. Avoid details: they won’t be remembered anyway.

 

Organization:

 

• Have a very clear introduction, to motivate what you do and to present the problem you want to solve. The introduction is not technical in nature, but strategic (i.e. why this problem, big idea).
• If you have a companion paper, mention it during the talk and recommend it for more details. Don’t put all the details in the talk. Present only the important ones.
• Use only one idea per slide.
• Have good conclusions slide: put there the main ideas, the ones you really want people to remember. Use only one “conclusions” slide.
• The conclusion slide should be the last one. Do not put other slides after conclusions, as this will weaken its impact.
• Having periodic “talk outline” slides (to show where you are in the talk) helps, especially for longer talks. At least one “talk outline” slide is very useful, usually after the introduction.
• Don’t count on the audience to remember any detail from one slide to another (like color-coding, applications you measure, etc.). If you need it remembered, re-state the information a second time.
• Especially if you have to present many different things, try to build a unifying thread. The talk should be sequential in nature (i.e. no big conceptual leaps from one slide to the next).
• Try to cut out as much as possible; less is better.
• Help the audience understand where you are going. Often it’s best to give them a high-level overview first, and then plunge into the details; then, while listening to the details they can relate to the high-level picture and understand where you are. This also helps them save important brainpower for later parts of the talk, which may be more important.
  

Science Is Silent On This Mystery‏

The “Bermuda Triangle” or “Devil’s Triangle” is an imaginary area located off the southeastern Atlantic coast of the United States of America, which is noted for a supposedly high incidence of unexplained disappearances of ships and aircraft. The apexes of the triangle are generally believed to be Bermuda; Miami, Florida; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The US Board of Geographic Names does not recognize the Bermuda Triangle as an official name. The US Navy does not believe the Bermuda Triangle exists. It is reported that Lloyd’s of London, the world’s leading market for specialist insurance, does not charge higher premiums for vessels transiting this heavily traveled area. The Bermuda Triangle is a strange and mysterious place in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is roughly the shape of a triangle and it is said to have sucked planes and boats into its dark and murky waters. No one knows what happened to the planes and boats. When some enter the waters of the triangle they disappear forever. Bermuda-Triangle.Org is the web site of Gian J. Quasar. It originally began in 1999 as his massive database on the Bermuda Triangle until the publication of his book, Into the Bermuda Triangle. Now it is also the personal website of the author, not only containing the Bermuda Triangle database but keeping everyone updated on his several other books, events and projects. Triangular Shape: The triangle has had mystical and magical connotations attached to it since before written history – after all, the Great Pyramid is sitting out there for all to see – and it is a perfect triangle with a whole slew of unknowns surrounding it. Having said that, is the triangular shape of the Bermuda Triangle of any significance? Yes, but not like one might think……..it indeed does appear to be on a strong energy line or vortex in addition to all the variations described above, but this appears to be more relevant to its placement on earth than the actual triangular shape made by the 3 reference points by which we identify it. The US geological Survey has estimated that just two small areas off the coasts of North and South Carolina, which are a part of the Bermuda Triangle, contain about 70 times the quantity of gas consumed annually in USA. The sea bed and the areas of permafrost are therefore storehouses of a great energy source. It has been estimated that just 1% of gas hydrate is equivalent to half the present conventional gas reserves. But the bad news is that methane is a greenhouse gas and it is vulnerable to blowouts when drillings go wrong. It is only stable under narrow temperature and pressure conditions and would decay due to global warming. We will have to wait and see whether it gives us energy to burn or it burns us up instead. The Bermuda Triangle is a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by a line from Florida to the islands of Bermuda, to Puerto Rico and then back to Florida. It is one of the biggest mysteries of our time – that isn’t really a mystery. The term “Bermuda Triangle” was first used in an article written by Vincent H. Gaddis for Argosy magazine in 1964. In the article Gaddis claimed that in this strange sea a number of ships and planes had disappeared without explanation. Gaddis wasn’t the first one to come to this conclusion, either. As early as 1952 George X. Sands, in a report in Fate magazine, noted what seemed like an unusually large number of strange accidents in that region. In 1969 John Wallace Spencer wrote a book called Limbo of the Lost specifically about the triangle and, two years later, a feature documentary on the subject, The Devil’s Triangle, was released. These, along with the bestseller The Bermuda Triangle, published in 1974, permanently registered the legend of the “Hoodoo Sea” within popular culture. Several books suggested that the disappearances were due to an intelligent, technologically advanced race living in space or under the sea. The only problem was that the mystery was more hype than reality. In 1975 a librarian at Arizona State University, named Larry Kusche, decided to investigate the claims made by these articles and books. What he found he published in his own book entitled The Bermuda Triangle Mystery-Solved. Kusche had carefully dug into records other writers had neglected. He found that many of the strange accidents were not so strange after all. Often a triangle writer had noted a ship or plane had disappeared in “calms seas” when the record showed a raging storm had been in progress. Others said ships had “mysteriously vanished” when their remains had actually been found and the cause of their sinking explained. More significantly a check of Lloyd’s of London’s accident records by the editor of Fate in 1975 showed that the triangle was a no more dangerous part of the ocean than any other. U.S. Coast Guard records confirmed this and since that time no good arguments have ever been made to refute those statistics. So the Bermuda Triangle mystery disappeared, in the same way many of its supposed victims had vanished. Even though the Bermuda Triangle isn’t a true mystery, this region of the sea certainly has had its share of marine tragedy. Perhaps the best known one was the story of Flight 19.

Pakistan and corrupt Politicians

The government of Pakistan was based on the Government of India Act (1935) for the first nine years after independence. The first Constitution of Pakistan was adopted in 1956, but was suspended in 1958 by General Ayub Khan. The Constitution of 1973—suspended in 1977, by Zia-ul-Haq, but re-instated in 1991—is the country’s most important document, laying the foundations of government. Pakistan is a semi-presidential federal democratic republic with Islam as the state religion. The bicameral legislature comprises a 100-member Senate and a 342-member National Assembly. The President is the Head of State and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and is elected by an electoral college. The prime minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the National Assembly. Each province has a similar system of government with a directly elected Provincial Assembly in which the leader of the largest party or alliance becomes Chief Minister. Provincial Governors are appointed by the President. The Pakistani military has played an influential role in mainstream politics throughout Pakistan’s history, with military presidents ruling from 1958–71, 1977–88 and from 1999–2008. The leftist Pakistan Peoples Party, led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, emerged as a major political player during the 1970s. Under the military rule of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan began a marked shift from the British-era secular politics and policies, to the adoption of Shariat and other laws based on Islam. During the 1980s, the anti-feudal, pro-Muhajir Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was started by unorthodox and educated urban dwellers of Sindh and particularly Karachi. The 1990s were characterized by coalition politics dominated by the Pakistan Peoples Party and a rejuvenated Muslim League. In the October 2002 general elections, the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) won a plurality of National Assembly seats with the second-largest group being the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), a sub-party of the PPP. Zafarullah Khan Jamali of PML-Q emerged as Prime Minister but resigned on 26 June 2004 and was replaced by PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain as interim Prime Minister. On 28 August 2004 the National Assembly voted 191 to 151 to elect the Finance Minister and former Citibank Vice President Shaukat Aziz as Prime Minister. The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, a coalition of Islamic religious parties, won elections in North-West Frontier Province, and increased their representation in the National Assembly – until their defeat in the 2008 elections. Pakistan is an active member of the United Nations (UN) and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the latter of which Pakistan has used as a forum for Enlightened Moderation, a plan to promote a renaissance and enlightenment in the Muslim world. Pakistan is also a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO). In the past, Pakistan has had mixed relations with the United States; in the early 1950s, Pakistan was the United States’ “most allied ally in Asia”[27] and a member of both the Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO) and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO). During the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s Pakistan was a major U.S. ally. But relations soured in the 1990s, when sanctions were applied by the U.S. over suspicions of Pakistan’s nuclear activities. However, the 11 September 2001 attacks and the subsequent War on Terrorism led to an improvement in U.S.–Pakistan ties, especially after Pakistan ended its support of the Taliban regime in Kabul. This was evidenced by a major increase in American military aid, providing Pakistan $4 billion more in three years after the 9/11 attacks than before.[28] On 18 February 2008, Pakistan held its general elections after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination postponed the original date of 8 January 2008.[29] The Pakistan Peoples Party won the majority of the votes and formed an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League (N). They nominated and elected Yousaf Raza Gilani as Prime Minister of Pakistan.[30] On 18 August 2008, Pervez Musharraf resigned as President of Pakistan amidst increasing calls for his impeachment.[31] In the presidential election that followed, Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan People’s Party won by a landslide majority and became President of Pakistan.

Poverty Alleviation:

Poverty is a multi-faceted phenomenon manifesting itself in a vicious circle; low saving and investment results in low income, poor education, lack of health facilities, unequal distribution of wealth and poor infra-structure. The goal for human development is to increase human capabilities and the level of choices. This will results in a benign and better environment in which humans are given sovereignty and respect.
Due to rapid globalization, countries and their economies are becoming more integrated, it also brings evil effects of rich countries on poor and under-developing countries. The dominant countries not only influence the policymaking of poor countries but also exploit them with the tools of tariff and quota‚s. This widens the gap between the rich and the poor countries of the world, the poor become poorer and the rich become richer.

The poor countries of the world have to reorganize themselves to extract the benefits of globalization and avoid the perils of globalization. They should not beg for loans from the Godfathers of the international arena. Poor countries are also infected because of the so-called economics reforms like downsizing and rightsizing, concomitant the unemployment and increase in the number of poor. The slogan “halving the poverty of world by 2015” was raised in the UN millennium declaration. Policy makers assumed that this statement could be made possible because of the brisk economics growth in India and china. 1.2 billion of total world population is living below poverty level, they are not earning more than 1 dollar a day, it is also aimed that in underdeveloped country the number of poor person will shift to 1 person out of six from 1 person out of three. Eight millennium goals were also there on the agenda to achieve. The millennium development goals (MDG’s) are: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve primary universal education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, ensure environment sustainability, build a global partnership for development.

The international institutions are doing their job to some extent. We can’t blame them. The debacle of Argentina was caused due to the fact that international financial intermediaries like IMF and WB were not willing to take into account the problem of poverty in UDC’s and provide these countries assistance and grants for poverty alleviation. These situations also reduce the chances of direct foreign investment in these countries, which use to be considered as the catalyst of economics growth. But the flow of direct foreign investment (DFI) is also induced by the geopolitical situations of the region.

As far as poverty in Pakistan is concerned, the situation is deteriorating. Many factors are responsible for this influx of poverty. This country has been facing political turmoil and shutdowns. People have been elected on the basis of their cast and their pervasive influence on the society, uncountable wealth earned from huge and tremendous corruption. The 8th amendment of Zia and 13th amendment of Nawaz couldn’t stabilize the pulse of dying politics. Out of 55 years of independence we face 28 year of military dictatorship which concomitant loss of Bangladesh, hunger, lack of clean water, lack of health care, huge amount of debt burden, unequal distribution of wealth, unemployment, inflation, and irrigation water problems. Nuclear tests of May 28th 1998, the September 11th incident of and the war in Afghanistan have all had negative consequences like cancellation of export orders (most from US), suspension of cargo and passenger flight and imposition of war risk charges (WRS). Another bitter reality is that for past three fiscal years 1.5 million people added to the rank of unemployment, in this atmosphere of political unrest poverty alleviation is like asking for the moon.

Pakistan has a population of 14 million out of which 40 million are living below the poverty level; funds have been allocated on various projects for the improvement of infrastructure and communications, now that is has been realized that the main problem Pakistan has been facing is poverty. In Pakistan, the poverty level varies from province to province. NWFP has the highest rural and urban poverty followed by Punjab. Another obstacle in the way of poverty alleviation is that funds are given not for the purpose of poverty alleviation but to obey the foreign donor and to say YES to them. The UDC’s governments usually do this to attract more foreign assistance.

Tension on borders is also a vital factor that contributes to salinity in the pool of poverty. If this phenomenon carries on for longer period of time, much of the resources reserved for poverty alleviation and for other social action programs will be deployed on military purposes. The social indicators, which explain the picture of poverty in a country, are showing a declining trend in Pakistan as compared to those countries, which have same income level.
Poverty alleviation is also disturbed because of the loopholes of ineffective policymaking, bureaucracy (Red-tapism) and political instability in the system. It is commonly said that the signing of poverty alleviation and growth facilities (PRGF) program for the assistance of 1 billion dollars is also need of the time. In the regard government hit two birds with one stone, fulfilling the foreign reserve shortage and for poverty alleviation. The reality is that policies for poverty alleviation and other social developmental programs are half-baked. Poverty alleviation and growth facility (PRGF) is a buzzword. PRGF is a panacea or a mirage is still a moot question, signing of PRDF is followed by some terms and condition as well. The budgets of 2002-03 and 2003-04 will be dictated by donor authorities, so one expect that there will be new lot of taxes, customs duties, surcharges in the name of collecting revenue instead of broadening tax base stopping tax evasions and educating people. Signing of PRGF paper is followed by a rescheduling of 12.5$ billion of its official debt through Paris club this has result in conversion of these loans into long term concessional loans with extended repayment time of 40 years. The expected reduction in official debt is expected to be 1 billion dollar per year; the important point is that the loan, which is rescheduled, 70 percent of it is already on concessional terms. The real support will be if the high-interest loans would be retired first. The real purpose of seeking rescheduling the debt is to relieve resources and put them on productive public investment to stimulate growth and ultimately alleviate poverty because the poverty alleviation heavily depend upon rapid growth.

The international godfathers are also insisting on eradicating child labor which is not possible because in countries like Pakistan child labor is indispensable, a child may be the only earning hand of his family, eradicating child labor mean increasing level of poverty and unemployment. Lack of good governance is also a factor, which has been contributing in increasing poverty, and it has become a major problem in UDC’s and it needs to be addressed.

Therefore it is important to bring changes on the micro and macro level. Easy access to education, health and food should be given to poor. If Pakistan is able to create an abiding peace with its neighbors, it can become a favorite destination of DFI and if this will happen it will reduce the poverty and social deprivation.

Financial institution like KHUSHHALLI bank (micro finance bank) and SME’s are also a well-appreciated step taken by government in the regard. KHUSHHALLI bank will provide cheep loans to the poor. It has a network in 33 districts and its beneficiaries are 20,000 households and it also has a capacity to reach 100,000 households. Small medium enterprises (SME’s) provides short term and long term loans to medium and small enterprises. It makes the provision of credit easy and accessible to common man. To eradicate poverty from its roots we have to fight against corruption, improve governance, ensure transparent use of funds, and improve the police and judicial system. Greater access and maximum trade is also important for poverty reduction. Pakistan is a developing country. The government should take honest, practical and firm steps in this regard and it should deal the problem of poverty with iron hand so we can switch towards prosperity and insure better future for our coming generations.

An Essay on Education..

An Essay on Education..

Outline:

1. Introduction
2. Standard
3. Causes of Downfall
4. Remedies

Introduction:

“Education is the third eye of a man”

Education is only the weapon by which one can fight and conquer the battle of life. The education has been a very essential part of the different civilization of the world in historical perspectives. In olden times, cave men had no ideas regarding communicating themselves with one another; the first step was taken in this regard was the formation of language, and it had become the very inceptive source of communication in the earliest history of mankind. They came to know that they had already been bestowed upon a tongue as a source of communication by the Allah Almighty, and now, it was their emphatic job to be civilized and moral etiquettes were required to be shaped.

Then, the early sages made a format of alphabets and thoroughly worked on philology. Thus, gradually grammar was made up, in which, different bifurcations were made; as, man could easily operate the language as a source of communication.

Since then, the world has witnessed the outflow of knowledge that has crossed the boundaries of the different regions and made a world like a global village in recent times, all it was done by the untiring efforts of mankind that has been imparting valuable contributions in different walks of life especially ‘EDUCATION’.

Here, it is necessary to focus on the system of education in Pakistan; and how long this department has been a victim of negligence by the people from different strata of our society and it will be observed, being an individual, who is responsible for the downfall of education in the country.

Before independence, in 1875, a Primary School was established at Ghazipur, (India) by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, later a High School was established at Aligarh by the same mighty man. But through out India, Muslims were denigrated and the basic needs of life were denied to them by the English. Keeping this in view, Sir, Syed Ahmed Khan aimed at to open a college for the Muslims of India so that they may be able to get the best in higher education. In 1876, Mohammadan Anglo College was established at Aligarh as to meet the demand of education of Muslims of India.

The college was affiliated to the Culcuta University; degrees were conferred upon the graduates by Culcuta University for about 43 years, and in 1919, the colleges was upgraded upto a university level and renamed as ‘Aligarh University’. The university produced thousand of graduates who spread throughout India and started to champion the cause of un-educated and fought for the freedom for a separate homeland.

The Muslims of India, of course, were backward in education than their Hindu counterparts. The Muslim could not follow the way that was directed by the English and the Hindus, as, it was against their religion. The poor type of education made the Muslims unable to get good jobs in English offices; hence, they remained out of politics for they had the scarcity of consciousness. This came to them through the light of education and they went successful in getting the freedom of Pakistan.

Standard of Education in Pakistan:

In Pakistan, unfortunately the people have been introduced the double standard of education. The one, which prevails through out the country is related to public sector and the other is an out come of private investors.

Let us examine that how far the public sector has fulfilled the requirement of the people of Pakistan by providing them in education. The country had got independence 58 years ago, since then, the contribution imparted by this sector is a little bit worth to be mentioned. The result produced by the sector is very poor and the quantity has outdone quality as far as the contribution and creation is concerned. The education system in Pakistan faced enormous problems after independence. A little attention was paid in this respect. The education has remained an orphan child in our society by facing double standard and has created an atmosphere of frustration among the young ones.

Government has established schools, colleges and universities throughout the country that have been imparting education in different respects and studies of life. The students from these departments are wandering due to lack of opportunities. Everywhere they are denied services because they bear a label of government academies. Now one can imagine that why the government system of education is being neglected throughout the country and why the establishment has allowed private sector with its tails up to introduce another standard of education.

Parents are scared about their children and they even do not allow their children to be admitted in public sector school, they prefer their child to get education in private sector as, it suits them more. This does not mean that public sector schools are not producing the cream of the future, most of our genius and sages who are imparting their valuable services, are out come of public sector schools. The only submitted reason by their parents is lack of management in public sector schools. The well management is offered at private schools.
The relation between teacher and student is sacred. Children are taught social and moral etiquettes with more comfort at private schools, the behaviour of teachers is quite frank and the student can come in direct contact to their teachers. On some scale, this is true that contact between learner and learned lacks in public sectors but the thing they are learning must be the same for both sectors, I mean the curricula. The Curriculum Board has been established but it has allowed private sector to run their own syllabus. Now, the degrees are same but the scope of knowledge got by the two is too different to be compared. Here, students face many complications by studying under different curricula. This has created a big rift between the two sectors.

Causes of Downfall:

There are enormous causes for the downfall of education in Pakistan which are discussed under different sub-headings.

Economical Negligence:

Since its inception, Pakistan has remained a weak economy of the world for it has got nothing in its just assets that were aggressively snatched by India. The conflict between the two countries over Kashmir issue has hardly allowed the government to consider and allocate funds in budget for other sectors, the education is not an exception in this regard. Still, only 2% of GDP is allocated for the welfare of education, which is quite inappropriate to meet the demands of education. And it is worth to note that this allocation budget is too not spent for educational purposes, the whole money is taken away by using unfair means by the concerned officials. All these funds are not given through a proper channel so that a false audit report is submitted that the utilization of funds has been spent on requisite purposes.

Rapid growth in poverty:

According to 2002 Economic Survey of United Nations, “Most of the inhabitants of Pakistan are poor and 40% of them live under poverty line, about 70% of its population dwells in villages. About 300,000, young ones are jobless. They have no access to good education”. The reports shows that how much difficulties and troubles have been faced by this poor and suppressed class of the country. Their main occupation is agriculture and its yearly out put cannot meet their daily and basic needs of life. It is worth to note that only 1% landlords hold almost 95% of lands in Pakistan. This unjust division of land further creates economical problems not only for the poor but also the government does not get the lion’s share in this respect.

Political Negligence:

“If you want to destroy the future of any nation, no need to wage war with them; defunct their education, they will remain no more live on the map of the world.”
No politician has paid attention in improving the standard of education so far, as far as the question of history of development of education in Pakistan is concerned. In case of Sindh, in early 1970s, lingual riots took place and a new cancer of copy culture was introduced and boosted up by politicians to prevail among the people. No official steps were taken in curbing this fatal disease. Now, the result is that throughout the country Sindhi students are understood the out come of copy culture and basic rights in every walk of life are denied to them, because however, they may be genius and creators but the fact remained that they lack in management and unable move the economy of the country just because they bear a title of COPY CULTURE. It was a political conspiracy based on totally bias. Being a Sindhi, I do not favour Sindhis that they are not given a proper share in different walks of life, whatever is happening to them is the only out come of wrong and misled policies which have been blindly followed up by them. Patriotism is the very hinge for all virtues, living in the same country every one at first is Pakistani then Sindhi, Punjabee, Balochee and or Pathan, respectively. So, now it is our turn to turn a new leaf and pace with our other provincial brothers to improve the management of our beloved country Pakistan, believing in “united we stand, divided we fall”. Education has become a question of survival for us; less developed man cannot bring the change in improving the skills that are vital for the uplift of the education.

Irrelevant Induction of Staff:

It has been a dilemma of our educational system that it has embodied irrelevancy in inducting its staff; broadly speaking, I personally have come across enormous experiences in my minute observation, as it has been generally observed that if a person has some specialization in some particular subject but he seems to be teaching something else. More openly, if some one has got his/her masters in English Literature, he seems to be teaching Mathematics to his/her students. The fact remains that students cannot learn first hand and ground information regarding their subjects. Nepotism is kept on priority while inducting staff, the induction of staff on quota system has made impotent the working format of the education system, ministers choose their relatives for induction without thinking that either they could serve better or will create complications for others.

Misconception of Purpose:

It is also a dreadful fact that today’s young ones have changed their motives pertaining to acquiring education. Actually, “the education should be for the purpose of getting education” as it has been wisely said; but, we have changed the slogan, “education should be for the purpose of getting jobs”. If, we keep on remaining this theory in mind then we will be digressed from our way and education will be out of our reach. By getting education we come to the ways that how we could be able to lead our lives in the best and a possible way.

Unemployment:

Unemployment is on full swing throughout the country. Country has been facing huge economical setbacks since its independence. The poor economy of the country cannot meet at once the demand of employment of the countrymen at once. On the one hand the disappointed youth, keeping their degrees in hand, wander the whole day in search of job but ‘No-Vacancy’ sign boards inflate their disappointment on the other. This situation creates negative creation of thoughts in their minds; concluding, they come out as dacoits to waylay and let their names to be enlisted in criminal list; and society faces much more troubles through this kind of misshapenness.

Remedies:

Every one of us takes things differently, so there is a room for different suggestions. All of us should aim at to abreast and pace ahead to take the task of improving the education system in a systematic way by implementation different programmes. Awareness should be created amongst un-aware fellows, the importance of education must be expounded in real terms but in an easy way, different literacy programmes should be commenced throughout the country in order to provide assistance pertaining the impediments faced by the poor. Government should take an active eye and spend much more money for the improvement of primary, secondary and higher education. More schools, colleges and universities, medical and engineering colleges are needed to be opened. Special attention must be paid on the development of scientific and technical education so that the settled trend of people in getting academic education may be diverted to the technical education. Subject relevancy must be paid in mind while induction of staff for the concerned posts. Politics must eliminated from education department. Student should pay attention much more on their studies than chalking walls in propagation of different leaders, by doing so they are just wasting their time; nothing can be got by nefarious means. Honesty of purpose and quality in work should be our motives. Every one of us (parents, students, teachers and the supreme government) should root out the copy culture from top to bottom from educational system that has been eating away the fresh brains of our youth for the times unknown. The education must be got for the purpose of education not for getting jobs. Text books must be updated with current topics and rapidly changing of the scenario of the world must be given in the textual books. These suggestions are not enough but whatever has come in my mind I have honestly jotted down; there is a room for suggestions as already has been mentioned. In the last but not the least let us work together for bringing revolutionary changes for the effective function of educational system in the country. Let us pray to Allah Almighty may He enable us to bring and get our desired results by putting our entire efforts in this respect.

“God helps those who help themselves”

Why our culture is declining, and why we are following western culture blindly, is it good to follow or not?

Why our culture is declining, and why we are following western culture blindly, is it good to follow or not?

Firstly we will look into definition culture:

According to the classic definition of culture given by E.B Taylor

“Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by the man as a member of the society”

The definition states that culture Is that complex whole i-e a whole made up of complicated or interrelated parts…which includes all the knowledge we have in the form of books and literature, beliefs of a person, art and aesthetics including folk tales, handicrafts, all the moral codes norms, values, traditions, ethics and all the abilities of an indigenous individual acquired by him/her as a member of society…. so its clear that every person living in a given society conscious or unconsciously follows some codes of conduct and has a specific way of behavior which is called as culture…

Another definition states that

“Culture is the man-made part of environment”

So we have two types of environment.

1- Natural environment
2- Man made
Natural is the one which is given to us by god…. it includes all naturally occurring resources like water, minerals, fruits vegetables, sunlight, rainfall natural disasters etc.

Now when we talk about man made environment it refers to all those ways, tactics and procedures adopted by man to utilize these resources… e.g

If we take the example of Eskimos….these people have to face hardships, but the way they manage to live is entirely different from those residing in other parts of the world….this is culture, that how they adopt to their environment. The way they cope with the situations…

If we take another small example of Fruits…fruits are a natural blessing of god…its part of nature…. every society and its people are blessed with different sorts of fruits… now the way people make use of these fruits is different…. for example there can be difference in ways of eating, there can be difference in the way they cut it. Like if we take example of typical Punjabi culture…its totally different from the west…. Mango the most popular and most liked fruit is eaten very openly in our culture…many mangoes are placed in a large utensil usually a bucket with lots of ice or cold water…and than without caring about clothes, face and hands it is eaten very frankly…opposite to the west where it is cut with 100’s of styles and placed stylishly served in platter…and after so many steps finally eaten…this is all part of culture….
I will give another example of dress patterns…. The universal phenomena is that all human beings need some thing to protect their bodies. Its natural… but the way people dress is different in all societies…this is culture and cultural differences.

Reasons for decline in culture
Due to shortage of time I will very briefly discuss some reasons which i consider to be responsible for moribund of our culture…

1-) Mass media…
The main factor, which I personally think, is responsible for culture deterioration is Mass Media…. It includes both electronic and print media…. but I think electronic media is more responsible…now a days all the TV channels are promoting cultures of other nations especially Hindu culture…people are so much habitual of it that they are day by day forgetting their own golden culture and cultural values…people are following the dress patterns of the west, food habits are being adopted, lack of respect among the youth for elders, modernism and many other.

2-) Acculturation…
Acculturation is an other cause of cultural decline…. we are borrowing traits of other’s culture so hastily that we are gradually forgetting our original culture…the adaptation rate is very high…merging up of two cultures results in loss of one.

3-) Globalization…Loss in culture is also the outcome of rapid globalization…. its due to the swift transfer of knowledge, technology, manpower, ideas from one country to another country, due to which our culture is fading out.

4-)Lack of ethnocentrism…
I think due shortage of ethnocentric values among the native there is decline in our culture. People are no more ethnocentric…they don’t have much respect for their own culture.

5-) lack of child socialization…
Its due to parents neglect ion that the youth is going towards western culture…parents have given so much freedom to their children that they don’t even know where their children are going…what type of dress they are wearing…what sort of food they are taking…what are there ideas regarding religion and culture? and they don’t even have time to tell their children about their culture…

6-)Lack of transmission of culture from generation to generation…Due to lack of transmission of cultural values by ancestors there is continuous loss in culture and cultural values…. this will also result in further loss when this generation will have nothing to transmit to their own generation except from the artificial culture which they have adopted of the west…but here we cannot give whole blame to the elders because some times it’s the youth who doesn’t want to receive and adopt their own culture willingly…

7-)Notion of Brain drain…I think the notion of brain drain has also some role for decline of our culture and cultural values…. e.g. when the. the cream of the country is taken away by the west…. When these people return back they become a source of inspiration for others…. these young people have some times fully or partially adopted the international cultures…so they become role models for others…resulting in cultural loss…

8-)No conditioning of people…
Due to lack of social conditioning and proper training of natives…we have to face culture deterioration…people are not aware of the importance of their own cultures…there is no training to create awareness among the masses how to safeguard their own culture…

9-)Propaganda by west…
Unhealthy propaganda by the west is also a cause for cultural decline…these people project their own culture in such a way that I seems that there culture is the only best culture of the world…we can see that even they had not left a single chance to hit our food habits too…. opening of international chains of KFC, McDonalds, or pizza hut…is an example…what they are doing is that they are now finishing this junk food in the own countries due to increasing rate of obesity among their youth, and they are throwing away the junk to country like ours…

10-)Elites as role models…There is a trend in our society that people follow the elite class blinding without looking at the consequences…. like if the high gentry is preferring going to KFC, McDonalds, or pizza hut…the lower class will also feel proud and elevated to visit such places even if they couldn’t afford to go there…

11-)Third world….
Another problem of our country is that we are so called third world country and are so much impressed from these developed nations that we always think what they are doing is 100% correct….and we will surely succeed if we follow..

12-)Migration…
Migration to other countries is another cause of cultural turn down…in our country people prefer infact feel superior to work in foreign states…when lot of people move abroad, settle establish there automatically the adopt many of their cultural traits…. apart from adoption they also transfer many of these traits to their native cultures…. resulting in decline of their own culture…

IS IT GOOD TO FOLLOW:
NOW in my opinion its not good to follow the western culture blindly, but yes we can adopt good things, but only to such an extent that we retain our own culture and stop abondoning our own…

Regards,

 

Nausheen Ahmed

A Man Would Do Nothing,
If He Waited Until He
Could Do It So Well
That No One Would Find Fault
With What He Has Done.

PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN UNITE! WHY WE NEED A REVOLUTION:

PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN UNITE !

WHY WE NEED A REVOLUTION:

 

When a people begin to develop a conscious they tend to look at the problems around them search resolutions this search leads to the ultimate solution to the world’s problems revolution. Unfortunately for us our nations people are blinded by false promises and insecurities and even though the time is right with all the ingredients present resentment, poverty, injustice and a well aware middle class we have failed to react, overthrowing the old system of governance and form the true basis of democracy rule of the people, by the people and for the people. The time for a people’s revolution is ‘NOW OR NEVER’.

We need to open or eyes and escape the dilemma of waiting for others to take the step, it is time we correct the mistakes of our forefathers and take responsibility to guide our country even if it has been bestowed upon us by the accident of birth away form the road to inevitable annihilation it has taken. We need to change our prospective, attitude towards this land cause it all we have and try strive for change in ideology and implementation from the roots of our society lying amongst the peasants to the ruling hierarchy. We need a complete over haul of the system because in over half a century of our existence our ruling classes have remained the same as they were during the time of the British Raj under feudalistic control along with much of the land and the peasants making up 70% of the population bound to it. None of the pillars of state besides the military are institutions with a distinguishable stature and codes of conduct. Our states structure has bee amended along with a constitution alien to the masses numerous time by successive governments for their private benefits. Our Youth is a group lacking both purpose and organization; we seem not to choose to be Pakistanis but are forced into it by circumstances. Our geo-political position in the world is a curse causing great interest in us which seems to be causing more damage then benefits. Since the unfaithful moment Muhammad Ali Jinnah passed away in the back of an ambulance we have failed to see the rise of any leader capable of uniting the people. Our people starve on the streets, while our leaders feast.

Necessity is the mother of all inventions and even though we lack leaders and the sprit of nationalism amongst us we need to come with something so as to save ourselves, the fittest will survive but our nation seems to sliding the dark abyss from there is no return and only outcome is ruin. The question is how we can change what we see around us when we live in a embodiment of democracy where 25,000 of the population rules over 160 million and plans to do so without giving up easily. In search for torch bearers this nation has turned everywhere but found none capable of rallying us and moving forward in today’s Pakistan. With such complex issues losing faith is not something that is astonishing what we should do is stick to the principles of our nations father Jinnah ‘Unity, Faith and Discipline’ is the only way forward we need to beginning with changes ourselves and making those around aware of the various issues and arose a sense of patriotism and vengeance against these national issues. The changes will be small and pointless but it is every single drop which eventually adds up into becoming an ocean.

 

Nausheen Ahmed

Team Tension

Team Tension:

Every executive is thrilled to be working on a big project. Initially everything goes well with your team backing you to the hilt but suddenly things turn sour. What might start off as a small difference of opinion between team members blows into a major hassle. Tempers flay and everyone is filled with negativity. It is a case of team tension. The team tension arises because different team members bring varied experience, training and points of view to their work. So, how does one identify and solve the situation?

 

Recognize the symptoms: * Team members repeat ideas or points but no one seems to suggest anything new.
* Discussions are heated and arguments ensure.
* Team remembers start work on their ideas without informing others
* Some of them threaten to quit or refuse to come to an agreement.
* Team members use documentation for very little matter. They take everything in writing though documentation is useful it’s doesn’t really solve unresolved differences. Solving it:

 

Acknowledge it. The first step towards solving team tension is to acknowledge it. You can’t pretend that everything is hunky dory with your team. This will take some bravery as you just have to state plainly to your team that something is wrong with the team some where. Take a break: Allow the situation to rest. Sleep on it. You can share your ideas with a colleague outside your department or with a senior professional. On many occasions team tensions are not resolved easily so be patient. Involve a mediator: You run the risk of being partial while solving team crisis. Hence it is better to review the situation by a third party. Present the situation before him/her in an objective manner and let the person suggest solutions. Decide on what really matters: There has to be a reason why you are keen to sort out an issue. If it doesn’t make a qualitative difference to the end result, then let it go. Or else, you review your goal with your team and get them to re-focus on the long term benefits.Be a Patient Listener: Have you really bothered to listen to both the parties? Practice active listening. Hear the story in detail rather than chipping in with your ideas or solutions. Discuss the matter with the concerned persons to understand whether you have comprehended the problems objectively. Such a display of empathy may encourage the parties to solve their differences. Compromise: Agree on a middle path. You will be surprised to see how accommodating other parties will be once you concede first. Don’t let your ego prevent you from doing this. List down the Agreements: Take note of all points that the entire team has agreed on. Stress on the core values and common steps. This will spur them to cooperate in a better manner. Apologies: Say sorry for being dominating yelling making accusations or not showing proper understanding, etc. Humility can go a long way healing buried egos. Team tension is a part and parcel of corporate life. When you have a team of strong individuals, tensions are bound to arise. Strive to keep differences minor and temporary. Whenever a senior executive leaves another or a better organization he takes along with him a team of people working with the present employer to the new employer. Looking at the numerous adverse affects of this practice, many organizations are now taking steps to curb it. One such step is putting clauses in the employment contract of senior employees wherein they cannot take their teams along if they are on their way out. Recently we were asked by our investor to put these clauses in the employment contracts. It is fair as the organizations tend to invest heavily to create these teams.Supervising a young team:When we talk teams it can include supervising youngsters to be quite a challenge. Most of them are too aggressive, hyper, excited or nervous for your liking. But it is this dynamic bunch that will the company looks forward in the coming years. Here are few tips that will help you supervise over the youngsters in a better manner. Behave nicely: Though they look chirpy, most youngsters feel; nervous within even what they are asked to do small tasks. Make sure you do not intimidate or demoralize them by any form of aggressive or condescending behavior. Always remember that they are your colleagues and treat them with respect.Always ask for ideas: Young people get a morale booster when their supervisor/ managers take their opinion. It reaffirms his/her faith in their intelligences and capabilities. This motivates them to put on their best show. Like wise when you assign a task to a youngster avoid nitpicking or offer help even when it is not needed. This lowers their self worth as well as ability to make decisions.

 

Do not let them Loose: While it is okay to be friendly with your young team members, it is equally important to stay in authority. It should be made clear that they must consult you for certain matters and follow a certain system of working. Since, you are ultimately responsible for them; it helps to stay in control. H

ave a positive approach: Be cheerful and confident while interacting with your young team. Whining, lack of enthusiasm or negative behavior will dampen their spirits. Criticize constructively rather than for the heck of it.

Give proper instructions: many youngsters are clueless about even the most simplest of tasks. When you just assign a task and move ahead, they start feeling hesitant about approaching you for help. But when you offer instructions or a proper procedure to follow while doing a task, you automatically become more accessible to them.Show recognition: A compliment can go a long way in boosting the morale of a youngster. Recognize the contribution of every young team member and applaud them for for their efforts. This will build better emotional bonds.

Three envelopes >>>>:

A fellow has just been hired as a new CEO of a large high tech corporation The CEO who was stepping down met with him privately and presented him with three numbered envelopes. Open these if you run up against a problem you don’t think you can solve. Well things went along pretty smoothly, but six months later, sales took a downturn and he was really catching a lot of heat. About at his wits end, he remembered the envelopes. He went to his drawer and took out the first envelope. The message read ‘Blame your predecessor’. The new CEO called a press conference and tactfully laid the blame at the feet of the previous CEO. Satisfied with his comments, the press responded positively sales began to pick up and the problem was soon behind him. About a year later, the company was again experiencing a slight dip in sales, combined with serious product problems. Having learned from his previous experience, the CEO quickly opened the second envelope. The message read, Recognize. This he did and the company quickly rebounded. After several consecutive profitable quarters the company once again fell on difficult times. The CEO went to his office closed the door ad opened to third envelope. The message said “Prepare three envelopes”.

Human Rights In ISLAM

by ‘Allamah Abu al-‘A’la Mawdudi

Table of Index: CHAPTER ONE : HUMAN RIGHTS, THE WEST AND ISLAM The Western Approach The Islamic Approach CHAPTER TWO : BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS 1. The Right to Life 2. The Right to the Safety of Life 3. Respect for the Chastity of Women 4. The Right to a Basic Standard of Life 5. Individual’s Right to Freedom The Slave Trade of Western Nations The Position of Slavery in Islam 6. The Right to Justice 7. Equality of Human Beings 8. The Right to Co-operate and Not to Co-operate CHAPTER THREE : RIGHTS OF CITIZENS IN AN ISLAMIC STATE 1. The Security of Life and Property 2. The Protection of Honour 3. The Sanctity and Security of Private Life 4. The Security of Personal Freedom 5. The Right to Protest Against Tyranny 6. Freedom of Expression 7. Freedom of Association 8. Freedom of Conscience and Conviction 9. Protection of Religious Sentiments 10. Protection from Arbitrary Imprisonment 11. The Right to Basic Necessities of Life 12. Equality Before Law 13. Rulers Not Above the Law 14. The Right to Avoid Sin 15. The Right to Participate in the Affairs of State CHAPTER FOUR : RIGHTS OF ENEMIES AT WAR The Rights of the Non-Combatants The Rights of the Combatants 1. Torture with Fire 2. Protection of the Wounded 3. The Prisoner of War Should not be Slain 4. No one Should be Tied to be Killed 5. No Looting and Destruction in the Enemy’s Country 6. Sanctity of Property 7. Sanctity of a Dead Body 8. Return of Corpses of the Enemy 9. Prohibition of Breach of Treaties 10. Rules A bout Declaration of War Conclusion

CHAPTER ONE: HUMAN RIGHTS, THE WEST AND ISLAM Before I discuss the human rights in Islam I would like to explain a few points about two major approaches to the question of human rights: the Western and Islamic. This will enable us to study the issue in its proper perspective and avoid some of the confusion which normally befogs such a discussion.   The Western Approach: The people in the West have the habit of attributing every good thing to themselves and try to prove that it is because of them that the world got this blessing, otherwise the world was steeped in ignorance and completely unaware of all these benefits. Now let us look at the question of human rights. It is very loudly and vociferously claimed that the world got the concept of basic human rights from the Magna Carta of Britain; though the Magna Carta itself came into existence six hundred years after the advent of Islam. But the truth of the matter is that until the seventeenth century no one even knew that the Magna Carta contained the principles of Trial by Jury; Habeas Corpus, and the Control of Parliament on the Right of Taxation. If the people who had drafted the Magna Carta were living today they would have been greatly surprised if they were told that their document also contained all these ideals and principles. They had no such intention, nor were they conscious of all these concepts which are now being attributed to them. As far as my knowledge goes the Westerners had no concept of human rights and civic rights before the seventeenth century. Even after the seventeenth century the philosophers and the thinkers on jurisprudence though presented these ideas, the practical proof and demonstration of these concepts can only be found at the end of the eighteenth century in the proclamations and constitutions of America and France. After this there appeared a reference to the basic human rights in the constitutions of different countries. But more often the rights which were given on paper were not actually given to the people in real life. In the middle of the present century, the United Nations, which can now be more aptly and truly described as the Divided Nations, made a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and passed a resolution against genocide and framed regulations to check it. But as you all know there is not a single resolution or regulation of the United Nations which can be enforced. They are just an expression of a pious hope. They have no sanctions behind them, no force, physical or moral to enforce them. Despite all the high-sounding ambitious resolutions of the United Nations, human rights have been violated and trampled upon at different places, and the United Nations has been a helpless spectator. She is not in a position to exercise an effective check on the violation of human rights. Even the heinous crime of genocide is being perpetrated despite all proclamations of the United Nations. Right in the neighbouring country of Pakistan, genocide of the Muslims has been taking place for the last twenty- eight years, but the United Nations does not have the power and strength to take any steps against India. No action has even been taken against any country guilty of this most serious and revolting crime.   The Islamic Approach: The second point which I would like to clarify at the very outset is that when we speak of human rights in Islam we really mean that these rights have been granted by God; they have not been granted by any king or by any legislative assembly. The rights granted by the kings or the legislative assemblies, can also be withdrawn in the same manner in which they are conferred. The same is the case with the rights accepted and recognized by the dictators. They can confer them when they please and withdraw them when they wish; and they can openly violate them when they like. But since in Islam human rights have been conferred by God, no legislative assembly in the world, or any government on earth has the right or authority to make any amendment or change in the rights conferred by God. No one has the right to abrogate them or withdraw them. Nor are they the basic human rights which are conferred on paper for the sake of show and exhibition and denied in actual life when the show is over. Nor are they like philosophical concepts which have no sanctions behind them. The charter and the proclamations and the resolutions of the United Nations cannot be compared with the rights sanctioned by God; because the former is not applicable to anybody while the latter is applicable to every believer. They are a part and parcel of the Islamic Faith. Every Muslim or administrators who claim themselves to be Muslims will have to accept, recognize and enforce them. If they fail to enforce them, and start denying the rights that have been guaranteed by God or make amendments and changes in them, or practically violate them while paying lip-service to them, the verdict of the Holy Quran for such governments is clear and unequivocal: Those who do not judge by what God has sent down are the dis Believers (kafirun). 5:44 The following verse also proclaims: “They are the wrong-doers (zalimun)” (5:45), while a third verse in the same chapter says: “They are the evil-livers (fasiqun)” (5:47). In other words this means that if the temporal authorities regard their own words and decisions to be right and those given by God as wrong they are disbelievers. If on the other hand they regard God’s commands as right but wittingly reject them and enforce their own decisions against God’s, then they are the mischief-makers and the wrong-doers. Fasiq, the law-breaker,is the one who disregards the bond of allegiance, and zalim is he who works against the truth. Thus all those temporal authorities who claim to be Muslims and yet violate the rights sanctioned by God belong to one of these two categories, either they are the disbelievers or are the wrong- doers and mischief-makers. The rights which have been sanctioned by God are permanent, perpetual and eternal. They are not subject to any alterations or modifications, and there is no scope for any change or abrogation.

CHAPTER TWO: BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS   The first thing that we find in Islam in this connection is that it lays down some rights for man as a human being. In other words it means that every man whether he belongs to this country or that, whether he is a believer or unbeliever, whether he lives in some forest or is found in some desert, whatever be the case, he has some basic human rights simply because he is a human being, which should be recognized by every Muslim. In fact it will be his duty to fulfil these obligations.   1. The Right to Life The first and the foremost basic right is the right to live and respect human life. The Holy Quran lays down: Whosoever kills a human being without (any reason like) man slaughter, or corruption on earth, it is as though he had killed all mankind … (5:32) As far as the question of taking life in retaliation for murder or the question of punishment for spreading corruption on this earth is con- cerned, it can be decided only by a proper and competent court of law. If there is any war with any nation or country, it can be decided only by a properly established government. In any case, no human being has any right by himself to take human life in retaliation or for causing mischief on this earth. Therefore it is incumbent on every human being that under no circumstances should he be guilty of taking a human life. If anyone has murdered a human being, it is as if he has slain the entire human race. These instructions have been repeated in the Holy Quran in another place saying: Do not kill a soul which Allah has made sacred except through the due process of law … (6:151) Here also homicide has been distinguished from destruction of life carried out in pursuit of justice. Only a proper and competent court will be able to decide whether or not an individual has forfeited his right to life by disregarding the right to life and peace of other human beings. The Prophet, may God’s blessings be on him, has declared homicide as the greatest sin only next to polytheism. The Tradition of the Prophet reads: “The greatest sins are to associate something with God and to kill human beings.” In all these verses of the Quran and the Traditions of the Prophet the word ‘soul’ (nafs) has been used in general terms without any distinction or particularization which might have lent itself to the elucidation that the persons belong- ing to one’s nation, the citizens of one’s country, the people of a particular race or religion should not be killed. The injunction applies to all human beings and the destruction of human life in itself has been prohibited. ‘The Right to Life’ has been given to man only by Islam. You will observe that the people who talk about human rights if they have ever mentioned them in their Constitutions or Declarations, then it is clearly implied in them that these rights are applicable only to their citizens or they have been framed for the white race alone. This can clearly be gleaned by the fact that human beings were hunted down like animals in Australia and the land was cleared of the aborigines for the white man. Similarly the aboriginal population of America was systematically destroyed and the Red Indians who somehow survived this genocide were confined to specified areas called Reservations. They also penetrated into Africa and hunted down human beings like wild animals. All these instances go to prove that they have no respect for human life as such and if they have, it is only on the basis of their nationality, colour or race. Contrary to this, Islam recognizes this right for all human beings. If a man belongs to a primitive or savage tribe, even then Islam regards him as a human being.   2. The Right to the Safety of Life Immediately after the verse of the Holy Quran which has been mentioned in connection with the right to life, God has said: “And whoever saves a life it is as though he had saved the lives of all mankind” (5:32). There can be several forms of saving man from death. A man may be ill or wounded, irrespective of his nationality, race or colour. If you know that he is in need of your help, then it is your duty that you should arrange for his treatment for disease or wound. If he is dying of starvation, then it is your duty to feed him so that he can ward off death. If he is drowning or his life is at stake, then it is your duty to save him. You will be surprised to hear that the Talmud, the religious book of the Jews, contains a verse of similar nature, but records it in altogether different form. It says: “Whoever destroyed a life of the Israelite, in the eyes of the Scripture, it is as if he destroyed the whole world. And whoever protected and saved one life of the Israelite, in the light of the Scripture, it is as if he saved the whole world.” Talmud also contains the view that if a non-Israelite is drowning and you tried to save him then you are a sinner. Can it be given a name other than racialism? We regard it as our duty to save every human life, because it is thus that we have been enjoined in the Holy Quran. On the other hand, if they regard it necessary to save the life of a human being at all, it should be the life of an Israelite. As far as other people are concerned, according to this view, they do not seem to be human enough to deserve protection of their persons. In their literature the concept of ‘Goyim’ for which the English word ‘Gentile’ and the Arabic word ummi (illiterate) is used, is that they enjoy no human rights; human rights are reserved only for the children of Israel. The Quran has mentioned this belief of the Israelites and quotes the Jews saying: “There is no blame on us (for anything we may do) with regard to the unlettered folk (i.e. the ummi)” (3:75).   3. Respect for the Chastity of Women The third important thing that we find in the Charter of Human Rights granted by Islam is that a woman’s chastity has to be respected and protected under all circumstances, whether she belongs to our own nation or to the nation of an enemy, whether we find her in the wild forest or in a conquered city; whether she is our co-religionist or belongs to some other religion or has no religion at all. A Muslim cannot outrage her under any circumstances. All promiscuous relation- ship has been forbidden to him, irrespective of the status or position of the woman, whether the woman is a willing or an unwilling partner to the act. The words of the Holy Quran in this respect are: “Do not approach (the bounds of) adultery” (17:32). Heavy punishment has been prescribed for this crime, and the order has not been qualified by any conditions. Since the violation of chastity of a woman is forbidden in Islam, a Muslim who perpetrates this crime cannot escape punishment whether he receives it in this world or in the Hereafter. This concept of sanctity of chastity and protection of women can be found nowhere else except in Islam. The armies of the Western powers need the daughters of their nation to satisfy their carnal appetites even in their own countries, and if they happen to occupy another country, the fate of its women folk can better be imagined than described. But the history of the Muslims, apart from a few lapses of the individuals here or there, has been free from this crime against womanhood. It has never happened that after the conquest of a foreign country the Muslim army has gone about raping the women of the conquered people, or in their own country, the government has arranged to provide prostitutes1for them. This is also a great blessing which the human race has received through Islam.2   4. The Right to a Basic Standard of Life Speaking about the economic rights the Holy Quran enjoins upon its followers: And in their wealth there is acknowledged right for the needy and destitute. (51:19) The words of this injunction show that it is a categorical and un- qualified order. Furthermore this injunction was given in Makkah where there was no Muslim society in existence and where generally the Muslims had to come in contact with the population of the disbelievers. Therefore the clear meaning of this verse is that anyone who asks for help and anyone who is suffering from deprivation has a right in the property and wealth of the Muslims; irrespective of the fact whether he belongs to this nation or to that nation, to this country or to that country, to this race or to that race. If you are in a position to help and a needy person asks you for help or if you come to know that he is in need, then it is your duty to help him. God has established his right over you, which you have to honour as a Muslim.   5. Individual’s Right to Freedom Islam has clearly and categorically forbidden the primitive practice of capturing a free man, to make him a slave or to sell him into slavery. On this point the clear and unequivocal words of the Prophet (S) are as follows: “There are three categories of people against whom I shall myself be a plaintiff on the Day of Judgement. Of these three, one is he who enslaves a free man, then sells him and eats this money” (al-Bukhari and Ibn Majjah). The words of this Tradition of the Prophet are also general, they have not been qualified or made applicable to a particular nation, race, country or followers of a particular religion. The Europeans take great pride in claiming that they abolished slavery from the world, though they had the decency to do so only in the middle of the last century. Before this, these Western powers had been raiding Africa on a very large scale, capturing their free men, putting them in bondage and transporting them to their new colonies. The treatment which they have meted out to these unfortunate people has been worse than the treatment given to animals. The books written by the Western people themselves bear testimony to this fact.   The Slave Trade of Western Nations: After the occupation of America and the West Indies, for three hundred and fifty years, traffic in slave trade continued. The African coasts where the black-skinned captured Africans were brought from the interior of Africa and put on the ships sailing out from those ports, came to be known as the Slave Coast. During only one century (from 1680 to 1786) the total number of free people who were captured and enslaved only for British Colonies amounts, according to the estimate of British authors, to 20 million human beings. Over the period of only one year (1790) we are told that 75,000 human beings were captured and sent for slave labour in the Colonies. The ships which were used for transporting the slaves were small and dirty. These unfortunate Africans were thrust into the holds of these ships like cattle right up to the top and many of them were chained to the wooden shelves on which they could hardly move because these were only eighteen inches apart, kept one on top of the other. They were not provided with suitable food, and if they fell ill or were injured, no attempt was made to provide them with medical treatment. The Western writers themselves state that at least 20% of the total number of people who were captured for slavery and forced labour perished during their transportation from the African coast to America. It has also been estimated that the total number of people who were captured for slavery by the various European nations during the heyday of the slave trade comes to at least one hundred million. This is the record of the people who denounce Muslims day and night for recognizing the institution of slavery. It is as if a criminal is holding his finger of blame towards an innocent man.   The Position of Slavery in Islam: Briefly I would like to tell you about the position and nature of slavery in Islam. Islam tried to solve the problem of the slaves that were in Arabia by encouraging the people in different ways to set their slaves free. The Muslims were ordered that in expiation of some of their sins they should set their slaves free. Freeing a slave by one’s own free will was declared to be an act of great merit, so much so that it was said that every limb of the man who manumits a slave will be protected from hell-fire in lieu of the limb of the slave freed by him. The result of this policy was that by the time the period of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs was reached, all the old slaves of Arabia were liberated. The Prophet alone liberated as many as 63 slaves. The number of slaves freed by ‘Aishah was 67, ‘Abbas liberated 70, ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar liberated one thousand, and ‘Abd al-Rahman purchased thirty thousand and set them free. Similarly other Companions of the Prophet liberated a large number of slaves, the details of which are given in the Traditions and books of history of that period. Thus the problem of the slaves of Arabia was solved in a short period of thirty or forty years. After this the only form of slavery which was left in Islamic society was the prisoners of war, who were captured on the battlefield. These prisoners of war were retained by the Muslim Government until their government agreed to receive them back in exchange for Muslim soldiers captured by them, or arranged the payment of ransom on their behalf. If the soldiers they captured were not exchanged with Muslim prisoners of war, or their people did not pay their ransom money to purchase their liberty, then the Muslim Government used to distribute them among the soldiers of the army which had captured them. This was a more humane and proper way of disposing of them than retaining them like cattle in concentration camps and taking forced labour from them and, if their women folk were also captured, setting them aside for prostitution. In place of such a cruel and outrageous way of disposing of the prisoners of war, Islam preferred to spread them in the population and thus brought them in contact with individual human beings. Over and above, their guardians were ordered to treat them well. The result of this humane policy was that most of the men who were captured on foreign battlefields and brought to the Muslim countries as slaves embraced Islam and their descendants produced great scholars, imams, jurists, commentators, statesmen and generals of the army. So much so that later on they became the rulers of the Muslim world. The solution of this problem which has been proposed in the present age is that after the cessation of hostilities the prisoners of war of the combatant countries should be exchanged. Whereas Muslims have been practising it from the very beginning and whenever the adversary accepted the exchange of prisoners of war from both sides, it was implemented without the least hesitation or delay. In modern warfare we also find that if one government is completely routed leaving her in no position of bargaining for the prisoners of war and the winning party gets its prisoners easily, then experience has shown that the prisoners of war of the vanquished army are kept in conditions which are much worse than the conditions of slaves. Can anyone tell us what has been the fate of the thousands of prisoners of war captured by Russia from the defeated armies of Germany and Japan in the Second World War? No one has given their account so far. No one knows how many thousands of them are still alive and how many thousands of them have perished due to the hardship of the Russian concentration and labour camps. The forced labour which has been taken from them is much worse than the service one can exact from slaves. Even perhaps in the times of ancient Pharaohs of Egypt such harsh labour might not have been exacted from the slaves in building the pyramids of Egypt, as has been exacted from the prisoners of war in Russia in developing Siberia and other backward areas of Russia, or working in coal and other mines in below zero temperatures, ill-clad, ill-fed and brutally treated by their supervisors.   6. The Right to Justice This is a very important and valuable right which Islam has given to man as a human being. The Holy Quran has laid down: “Do not let your hatred of a people incite you to aggression” (5:2). “And do not let ill-will towards any folk incite you so that you swerve from dealing justly. Be just; that is nearest to heedfulness” (5:8). Stressing this point the Quran again says: “You who believe stand steadfast before God as witness for (truth and) fairplay” (4:135). This makes the point clear that Muslims have to be just not only with ordinary human beings but even with their enemies. In other words, the justice to which Islam invites her followers is not limited only to the citizens of their own country, or the people of their own tribe, nation or race, or the Muslim community as a whole, but it is meant for all the human beings of the world. Muslims therefore, cannot be unjust to anyone. Their permanent habit and character should be such that no man should ever fear injustice at their hands, and they should treat every human being everywhere with justice and fairness.   7. Equality of Human Beings Islam not only recognizes absolute equality between men irrespective of any distinction of colour, race or nationality, but makes it an important and significant principle, a reality. The Almighty God has laid down in the Holy Quran: “O mankind, we have created you from a male and female.” In other words all human beings are brothers to one another. They all are the descendants from one father and one mother. “And we set you up as nations and tribes so that you may be able to recognize each other” (49:13). This means that the division of human beings into nations, races, groups and tribes is for the sake of distinction, so that people of one race or tribe may meet and be acquainted with the people belonging to another race or tribe and cooperate with one another. This division of the human race is neither meant for one nation to take pride in its superiority over others nor is it meant for one nation to treat another with contempt or disgrace, or regard them as a mean and degraded race and usurp their rights. “Indeed, the noblest among you before God are the most heedful of you” (49:13). In other words the superiority of one man over another is only on the basis of God-consciousness, purity of character and high morals, and not on the basis of colour, race, language or nationality, and even this superiority based on piety and pure conduct does not justify that such people should play lord or assume airs of superiority over other human beings. Assuming airs of superiority is in itself a reprehensible vice which no God-fearing and pious man can ever dream of perpetrating. Nor does the righteous have more privileged rights over others, because this runs counter to human equality, which has been laid down in the beginning of this verse as a general principle. From the moral point of view, goodness and virtue is in all cases better than vice and evil. This has been exemplified by the Prophet in one of his sayings thus: “No Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab. Nor does a white man have any superiority over a black man, or the black man any superiority over the white man. You are all the children of Adam, and Adam was created from clay” (al-Bayhaqi and al-Bazzaz). In this manner Islam established equality for the entire human race and struck at the very root of all distinctions based on colour, race, language or nationality. According to Islam,God has given man this right of equality as a birthright. Therefore no man should be discriminated against on the ground of the colour of his skin, his place of birth, the race or the nation in which he was born. Malcolm X, the famous leader of African Negroes in America, who had launched a bitter struggle against the white people of America in order to win civil rights for his black compatriots, when he went to perform the pilgrimage, and saw how the Muslims of Asia, Africa, Europe, America and those of different races, languages and colours of skin, were wearing one dress and were hurrying towards God’s House-the Ka’bah and offering prayers standing in one row and there was no distinction of any kind between them, then he realized that this was the solution to the problem of colour and race, and not what he had been trying to seek or achieve in America so far. Today, a number of non- Muslim thinkers, who are free from blind prejudice, openly admit that no other religion or way of life has solved this problem with the same degree of success with which Islam has done so.   8. The Right to Co-operate and Not to Co-operate Islam has prescribed a general principle of paramount importance and universal application saying: “Co-operate with one another for virtue and heedfulness and do not co-operate with one another for the purpose of vice and aggression” (5:2). This means that the man who undertakes a noble and righteous work, irrespective of the fact whether he is living at the North Pole or the South Pole, has the right to expect support and active co-operation from the Muslims. On the contrary he who perpetrates deeds of vice and aggression, even if he is our closest relation or neighbour, does not have the right to win our support and help in the name of race, country, language or nationality, nor should he have the expectation that Muslims will co-operate with him or support him. Nor is it permissible for Muslims to co-operate with him. The wicked and vicious person may be our own brother, but he is not of us, and he can have no help or support from us as long as he does not repent and reform his ways. On the other hand the man who is doing deeds of virtue and righteousness may have no kinship with Muslims, but Muslims will be his companions and supporters or at least his well- wishers.

CHAPTER THREE: RIGHTS OF CITIZENS IN AN ISLAMIC STATE We have discussed the human rights in general. Now we would like to take up the question of rights of the citizens in an Islamic State. As these rights are more extensive than the general human rights which have been described earlier, they need separate treatment.   1. The Security of Life and Property In the address which the Prophet delivered on the occasion of the Farewell Hajj, he said: “Your lives and properties are forbidden to one another till you meet your Lord on the Day of Resurrection.” God Almighty has laid down in the Holy Quran: “Anyone who kills a believer deliberately will receive as his reward (a sentence) to live in Hell for ever. God will be angry with him and curse him, and prepare dreadful torment for him” (4:93). The Prophet has also said about the dhimmis (the non-Muslim citizens of the Muslim State): “One who kills a man under covenant (i.e. a dhimmi) will not even smell the fragrance of Paradise” (al-Bukhari and Abu Dawud). Islam prohibits homicide but allows only one exception, that the killing is done in the due process of law which the Quran refers to as bi al-haqq (with the truth). Therefore a man can be killed only when the law demands it, and it is obvious that only a court of law can decide whether the execution is being carried out with justice or without justification. In case of war or insurrection a just and righteous government alone, which follows the Shari’ah or the Islamic Law, can decide whether a war is just or unjust, whether taking of a life is justified or not; and whether a person is a rebel or not and who can be sentenced to death as a punishment. These weighty decisions cannot be left in the hands of a court which has become heedless to God and is under the influence of the administra- tion. A judiciary like this may miscarry justice. Nor can the crimes of state be justified on the authority of the Holy Quran or Traditions (hadith) when the state murders its citizens openly and secretly without any hesitation or on the slightest pretext, because they are opposed to its unjust policies and actions or criticize it for its misdeed, and also provides protection to its hired assassins who have been guilty of the heinous crime of murder of an innocent person resulting in the fact, that neither the police take any action against such criminals nor can any proof or witnesses against these criminals be produced in the courts of law. The very existence of such a government is a crime and none of the killings carried out by them can be called “execution for the sake of justice” in the phraseology of the Holy Quran. Along with security of life, Islam has with equal clarity and definiteness conferred the right of security of ownership of property, as mentioned earlier with reference to the address of the Farewell Hajj. On the other hand, the Holy Quran goes so far as to declare that the taking of people’s possessions or property is completely prohibited unless they are acquired by lawful means as permitted in the Laws of God. The Law of God categorically declares “Do not devour one another’s wealth by false and illegal means” (2:188).   2. The Protection of Honour The second important right is the right of the citizens to the protection of their honour. In the address delivered on the occasion of the Farewell Hajj, to which I have referred earlier, the Prophet did not only prohibit the life and property of the Muslims to one another, but also any encroachment upon their honour, respect and chastity were forbidden to one another. The Holy Quran clearly lays down: (a) “You who believe, do not let one (set of) people make fun of another set. (b) Do not defame one another. (c) Do not insult by using nicknames. (d) And do not backbite or speak ill of one another” (49:11-12). This is the law of Islam for the protection of honour which is indeed much superior to and better than the Western Law of Defama- tion. According to the Islamic Law if it is proved that someone has attacked the honour of another person, then irrespective of the fact whether or not the victim is able to prove himself a respectable and honourable person the culprit will in any case get his due punishment. But the interesting fact about the Western Law of Defamation is that the person who files suit for defamation has first to prove that he is a man of honour and public esteem and during the interrogation he is subjected to the scurrilous attacks, accusations and innuendoes of the defence council to such an extent that he earns more disgrace than the attack on his reputation against which he had knocked the door of the court of law. On top of it he has also to produce such witnesses as would testify in the court that due to the defamatory accusations of the culprit, the accused stands disgraced in their eyes. Good Gracious! what a subtle point of law, and what an adherence to the spirit of Law! How can this unfair and unjust law be compared to the Divine law? Islam declared blasphemy as a crime irrespective of the fact whether the accused is a man of honour or not, and whether the words used for blasphemy have actually disgraced the victim and harmed his reputation in the eyes of the public or not. According to the Islamic Law the mere proof of the fact that the accused said things which according to common sense could have damaged the reputation and honour of the plaintiff, is enough for the accused to be declared guilty of defamation.   3. The Sanctity and Security of Private Life Islam recognizes the right of every citizen of its state that there should be no undue interference or encroachment on the privacy of his life. The Holy Quran has laid down the injunction: “Do not spy on one another” (49:12). “Do not enter any houses except your own homes unless you are sure of their occupants’ consent” (24:27). The Prophet has gone to the extent of instructing his followers that a man should not enter even his own house suddenly or surreptitiously. He should somehow or other inform or indicate to the dwellers of the house that he is entering the house, so that he may not see his mother, sister or daughter in a condition in which they would not like to be seen, nor would he himself like to see them in that condition. Peering into the houses of other people has also been strictly prohibited, so much so that there is the saying of the Prophet that if a man finds another person secretly peering into his house, and he blinds his eye or eyes as a punishment then he cannot be called to question nor will he be liable to prosecution. The Prophet has even prohibited people from reading the letters of others, so much so that if a man is reading his letter and another man casts sidelong glances at it and tries to read it, his conduct becomes reprehensible. This is the sanctity of privacy that Islam grants to individuals. On the other hand in the modern civilized world we find that not only the letters of other people are read and their correspondence censored, but even their photostat copies are retained for future use or blackmail. Even bugging devices are secretly fixed in the houses of the people so that one can hear and tape from a distance the conversation taking place behind closed doors. In other words it means that there is no such thing as privacy and to all practical purposes the private life of an individual does not exist. This espionage on the life of the individual cannot be justified on moral grounds by the government saying that it is necessary to know the secrets of the dangerous persons. Though, to all intents and purposes, the basis of this policy is the fear and suspicion with which modern governments look at their citizens who are intelligent and dissatisfied with the official policies of the government. This is exactly what Islam has called as the root cause of mischief in politics. The injunction of the Prophet is: “When the ruler begins to search for the causes of dissatisfaction amongst his people, he spoils them” (Abu Dawud). The Amir Mu’awiyah has said that he himself heard the Prophet saying: “If you try to find out the secrets of the people, then you will definitely spoil them or at least you will bring them to the verge of ruin.” The meaning of the phrase ‘spoil them’ is that when spies (C.I.D. or F.B.I.agents) are spread all around the country to find out the affairs of men, then the people begin to look at one another with suspicion, so much so that people are afraid of talking freely in their houses lest some word should escape from the lips of their wives and children which may put them in embarrassing situations. In this manner it becomes difficult for a common citizen to speak freely, even in his own house and society begins to suffer from a state of general distrust and suspicion.   4. The Security of Personal Freedom Islam has also laid down the principle that no citizen can be imprisoned unless his guilt has been proved in an open court. To arrest a man only on the basis of suspicion and to throw him into a prison without proper court proceedings and without providing him a reason- able opportunity to produce his defence is not permissible in Islam. It is related in the hadith that once the Prophet was delivering a lecture in the mosque, when a man rose during the lecture and said: “O Prophet of God, for what crime have my neighbours been arrested?” The Prophet heard the question and continued his speech. The man rose once again and repeated the same question. The Prophet again did not answer and continued his speech. The man rose for a third time and repeated the same question. Then the Prophet ordered that the man’s neighbours be released. The reason why the Prophet had kept quiet when the question was repeated twice earlier was that the police officer was present in the mosque and if there were proper reasons for the arrest of the neighbours of this man, he would have got up to explain his position. Since the police officer gave no reasons for these arrests the Prophet ordered that the arrested persons should be released. The police officer was aware of the Islamic law and therefore he did not get up to say: “the administration is aware of the charges against the arrested men, but they cannot be disclosed in public. If the Prophet would inquire about their guilt in camera I would enlighten him.” If the police officer had made such a statement, he would have been dis- missed then and there. The fact that the police officer did not give any reasons for the arrests in the open court was sufficient reason for the Prophet to give immediate orders for the release of the arrested men. The injunction of the Holy Quran is very clear on this point. “When- ever you judge between people, you should judge with (a sense of) justice” (4:58). And the Prophet has also been asked by God: “I have been ordered to dispense justice between you.” This was the reason why the Caliph ‘Umar said: “In Islam no one can be imprisoned except in pursuance of justice.” The words used here clearly indicate that justice means due process of law. What has been prohibited and condemned is that a man be arrested and imprisoned without proof of his guilt in an open court and without providing him an opportunity to defend himself against those charges. If the Government suspects that a particular individual has committed a crime or he is likely to commit an offence in the near future then they should give reasons for their suspicion before a court of law and the culprit or the suspect should be allowed to produce his defence in an open court, so that the court may decide whether the suspicion against him is based on sound grounds or not and if there is good reason for suspicion, then he should be informed of how long he will be in preventive detention. This decision should be taken under all circumstances in an open court, so that the public may hear the charges brought by the government, as well as the defence made by the accused and see that the due process of law is being applied to him and he is not being victimized. The correct method of dealing with such cases in Islam is exemplified in the famous decision of the Prophet which took place before the conquest of Makkah. The Prophet was making preparations for the attack on Makkah, when one of his Companions, Hatib ibn Abi Balta’ah sent a letter through a woman to the authorities in Makkah informing them about the impending attack. The Prophet came to know of this through a Divine inspiration. He ordered ‘Ali and Zubayr: “Go quickly on the route to Makkah, at such and such a place, you will find a woman carrying a letter. Recover the letter from her and bring it to me.” So they went and found the woman exactly where the Prophet had said. They recovered the letter from her and brought it to the Prophet. This was indeed a clear case of treachery. To inform the enemy about a secret of an army and that too at the time of a war is a very serious offence tantamount to treachery. In fact one cannot think of a more serious crime during war than giving out a military secret to one’s enemy. What could have been a more suitable case for a secret hearing; a military secret had been betrayed and common sense demanded that he should be tried in camera. But the Prophet summoned Hatib to the open court of the Mosque of the Prophet and in the presence of hundreds of people asked him to explain his position with regard to his letter addressed to the leaders of Quraysh which had been intercepted on its way. The accused said: “O God’s Messenger (may God’s blessings be on you) I have not revolted against Islam, nor have I done this with the intention of betraying a military secret. The truth of the matter is that my wife and children are living in Makkah and I do not have my tribe to protect them there. I had written this letter so that the leaders of Quraysh may be indebted to me and may protect my wife and children out of gratitude.” ‘Umar rose and respect- fully submitted: “O Prophet, please permit me to put this traitor to the sword.” The Prophet replied: “He is one of those people who had participated in the Battle of Badr, and the explanation he has advanced in his defence would seem to be correct.” Let us look at this decision of the Prophet in perspective. It was a clear case of treachery and betrayal of military secrets. But the Prophet acquitted Hatib on two counts. Firstly, that his past records were very clean and showed that he could not have betrayed the cause of Islam, since on the occasion of the Battle of Badr when there were heavy odds against the Muslims, he had risked his life for them. Secondly, his family was in fact in danger at Makkah. Therefore, if he had shown some human weakness for his children and written this letter, then this punishment was quite sufficient for him that his secret offence was divulged in public and he had been disgraced and humiliated in the eyes of the believers. God has referred to this offence of Hatib in the Holy Quran but did not propose any punishment for him except rebuke and admonition. The attitude and activities of the Kharijis in the days of the Caliph ‘Ali are well-known to the students of Muslim history. They used to abuse the Caliph openly, and threaten him with murder. But whenever they were arrested for these offences, ‘Ali would set them free and tell his officers “As long as they do not actually perpetrate offences against the State, the mere use of abusive language or the threat of use of force are not such offences for which they can be imprisoned.” The imam Abu Hanifah has recorded the following saying of the Caliph ‘Ali (A): “As long as they do not set out on armed rebellion, the Caliph of the Faithful will not interfere with them.” On another occasion ‘Ali was delivering a lecture in the mosque when the Kharijis raised their special slogan there. ‘Ali said: “We will not deny you the right to come to the mosques to worship God, nor will we stop to give your share from the wealth of the State, as long as you are with us (and support us in our wars with the unbelievers) and we shall never take military action against you as long as you do not fight with us.” One can visualize the opposition which ‘Ali was facing; more violent and vituperative opposition cannot even be imagined in a present-day democratic State; but the freedom that he had allowed to the opposi- tion was such that no government has ever been able to give to its opposition. He did not arrest even those who threatened him with murder nor did he imprison them.   5. The Right to Protest Against Tyranny Amongst the rights that Islam has conferred on human beings is the right to protest against government’s tyranny. Referring to it the Quran says: “God does not love evil talk in public unless it is by some- one who has been injured thereby” (4:148). This means that God strongly disapproves of abusive language or strong words of condemna- tion, but the person who has been the victim of injustice or tyranny, God gives him the right to openly protest against the injury that has been done to him. This right is not limited only to individuals. The words of the verse are general. Therefore if an individual or a group of people or a party usurps power, and after assuming the reins of authority begins to tyrannize individuals or groups of men or the entire population of the country, then to raise the voice of protest against it openly is the God-given right of man and no one has the authority to usurp or deny this right. If anyone tries to usurp this right of citizens then he rebels against God. The talisman of Section 1444 may protect such a tyrant in this world, but it cannot save him from the hell-fire in the Hereafter.   6. Freedom of Expression Islam gives the right of freedom of thought and expression to all citizens of the Islamic State on the condition that it should be used for the propagation of virtue and truth and not for spreading evil and wickedness. This Islamic concept of freedom of expression is much superior to the concept prevalent in the West. Under no circumstances would Islam allow evil and wickedness to be propagated. It also does not give anybody the right to use abusive or offensive language in the name of criticism. The right to freedom of expression for the sake of propagating virtue and righteousness is not only a right in Islam but an obligation. One who tries to deny this right to his people is openly at war with God, the All-Powerful. And the same thing applies to the attempt to stop people from evil. Whether this evil is perpetrated by an individual or by a group of people or the government of one’s own country, or the government of some other country; it is the right of a Muslim and it is also his obligation that he should warn and reprimand the evil-doer and try to stop him from doing it. Over and above, he should openly and publicly condemn it and show the course of righteousness which that individual, nation or government should adopt. The Holy Quran has described this quality of the Faithful in the following words: “They enjoin what is proper and forbid what is improper” (9:71). In contrast, describing the qualities of a hypocrite, the Quran mentions: “They bid what is improper and forbid what is proper” (9:67). The main purpose of an Islamic Government has been defined by God in the Quran as follows: “If we give authority to these men on earth they will keep up prayers, and offer poor-due, bid what is proper and forbid what is improper” (22:41). The Prophet has said: “If any one of you comes across an evil, he should try to stop it with his hand (using force), if he is not in a position to stop it with his hand then he should try to stop it by means of his tongue (meaning he should speak against it). If he is not even able to use his tongue then he should at least condemn it in his heart. This is the weakest degree of faith” (Muslim). This obligation of inviting people to righteousness and forbidding them to adopt the paths of evil is incumbent on all true Muslims. If any government deprives its citizens of this right, and prevents them from performing this duty, then it is in direct conflict with the injunction of God. The government is not in conflict with its people, but is in conflict with God. In this way it is at war with God and is trying to usurp that right of its people which God has conferred not only as a right but as an obligation. As far as the government which itself propagates evil, wickedness and obscenity and interferes with those who are inviting people to virtue and righteousness is concerned, according to the Holy Quran it is the government of the hypocrites.   7. Freedom of Association Islam has also given people the right to freedom of association and formation of parties or organizations. This right is also subject to certain general rules. It should be exercised for propagating virtue and righteousness and should never be used for spreading evil and mischief. We have not only been given this right for spreading righteousness and virtue, but have been ordered to exercise this right. Addressing the Muslims, the Holy Quran declares: You are the best community which has been brought forth for mankind. You command what is proper and forbid what is improper and you believe in God … (3:110) This means that it is the obligation and duty of the entire Muslim community that it should invite and enjoin people to righteousness and virtue and forbid them from doing evil. If the entire Muslim community is not able to perform this duty then “let there be a community among you who will invite (people) to (do) good, command what is proper and forbid what is improper, those will be prosperous” (3:104). This clearly indicates that if the entire Muslim nation collectively begins to neglect its obligation to invite people to goodness and forbid them from doing evil then it is absolutely essential that it should contain at least a group of people which may perform this obligation. As has been said before this is not only a right but an obligation and on the fulfilment of which depends success and prosperity here as well as in the Hereafter. It is an irony with the religion of God that in a Muslim country the assembly and association that is formed for the purposes of spreading evil and mischief should have the right to rule over the country and the association and party which has been formed for propagating righteous- ness and virtue should live in perpetual fear of harassment and of being declared illegal. Conditions here are just the reverse of what has been prescribed by God. The claim is that we are Muslims and this is an Islamic State5 but the work that is being done is directed to spreading evil, to corrupt and morally degrade and debase the people while there is an active and effective check on the work being carried out for reforming society and inviting people to righteousness. Moreover the life of those who are engaged in spreading righteousness and checking the spread of evil and wickedness is made intolerable and hard to bear.   8. Freedom of Conscience and Conviction Islam also gives the right to freedom of conscience and conviction to its citizens in an Islamic State. The Holy Quran has laid down the injunction: “There should be no coercion in the matter of faith” (2:256). Though there is no truth and virtue greater than the religion of Truth-Islam, and Muslims are enjoined to invite people to embrace Islam and advance arguments in favour of it, they are not asked to enforce this faith on them. No force will be applied in order to compel them to accept Islam. Whoever accepts it he does so by his own choice. Muslims will welcome such a convert to Islam with open arms and admit him to their community with equal rights and privileges. But if somebody does not accept Islam, Muslims will have to recognize and respect his decision, and no moral, social or political pressure will be put on him to change his mind.   9. Protection of Religious Sentiments Along with the freedom of conviction and freedom of conscience, Islam has given the right to the individual that his religious sentiments will be given due respect and nothing will be said or done which may encroach upon this right. It has been ordained by God in the Holy Quran: “Do not abuse those they appeal to instead of God” (6:108). These instructions are not only limited to idols and deities, but they also apply to the leaders or national heroes of the people. If a group of people holds a conviction which according to you is wrong, and holds certain persons in high esteem which according to you is not deserved by them, then it will not be justified in Islam that you use abusive language for them and thus injure their feelings. Islam does not prohibit people from holding debate and discussion on religious matters, but it wants that these discussions should be conducted in decency. “Do not argue with the people of the Book unless it is in the politest manner” (29:46)-says the Quran. This order is not merely limited to the people of the Scriptures, but applies with equal force to those following other faiths.   10. Protection from Arbitrary Imprisonment Islam also recognizes the right of the individual that he will not be arrested or imprisoned for the offences of others. The Holy Quran has laid down this principle clearly: “No bearer of burdens shall be made to bear the burden of another” (6:164). Islam believes in personal responsibility. We ourselves are responsible for our acts, and the consequence of our actions cannot be transferred to someone else. In other words this means that every man is responsible for his actions. If another man has not shared this action then he cannot be held responsible for it, nor can he be arrested. It is a matter of great regret and shame that we are seeing this just and equitable principle which has not been framed by any human being, but by the Creator and Nourish- er of the entire universe, being flouted and violated before our eyes. So much so that a man is guilty of a crime or he is a suspect, but his wife being arrested for his crime. Things have gone so far that innocent people are being punished for the crimes of others. To give a recent example, in Karachi (Pakistan), a man was suspected of being involved in a bomb throwing incident. In the course of police investigation he was subjected to horrible torture in order to extract a confession from him. When he insisted on his innocence, then the police arrested his mother, his wife, daughter and sister and brought them to the police station. They were all stripped naked in his presence and he was stripped naked of all his clothes before their eyes so that a confession of the crime could be extracted from him. It appears as if for the sake of investigation of crime it has become proper and legal in our country to strip the innocent women folk of the household in order to bring pressure on the suspect. This is indeed very outrageous and shameful. This is the height of meanness and depravity. This is not a mere hearsay which I am repeating here, but I have full information about this case and can prove my allegations in any court of law. I would here like to ask what right such tyrants who perpetrate these crimes against mankind have to tell us that they are Muslims or that they are conduct- ing the affairs of the state according to the teachings of Islam and their state is an Islamic State. They are breaching and flouting a clear law of the Holy Quran. They are stripping men and women naked which is strictly forbidden in Islam. They disgrace and humiliate humanity and then they claim that they are Muslims.   11. The Right to Basic Necessities of Life Islam has recognized the right of the needy people that help and assistance will be provided for them. “And in their wealth there is acknowledged right for the needy and the destitute” (51:19). In this verse, the Quran has not only conferred a right on every man who asks for assistance in the wealth of the Muslims, but has also laid down that if a Muslim comes to know that a certain man is without the basic necessities of life, then irrespective of the fact whether he asks for assistance or not, it is his duty to reach him and give all the help that he can extend. For this purpose Islam has not depended only on the help and charity that is given voluntarily, but has made compulsory charity, zakat as the third pillar of Islam, next only to profession of faith and worship of God through holding regular prayers. The Prophet has clearly instructed in this respect that: “It will be taken from their rich and given to those in the community in need” (al-Bukhari and Muslim). In addition to this, it has also been declared that the Islamic State should support those who have nobody to support them. The Prophet has said: “The Head of state is the guardian of him, who has nobody to support him” (Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi). The word wali which has been used by the Prophet is a very comprehensive word and has a wide range of meanings. If there is an orphan or an aged man, if there is a crippled or unemployed person, if one is invalid or poor and has no one else to support him or help him, then it is the duty and the responsibility of the state to support and assist him. If a dead man has no guardian or heir, then it is the duty of the state to arrange for his proper burial. In short the state has been entrusted with the duty and responsibility of looking after all those who need help and assistance. A truly Islamic State is therefore a truly welfare state which will be the guardian and protector of all those in need.   12. Equality Before Law Islam gives its citizens the right to absolute and complete equality in the eyes of the law. As far as the Muslims are concerned, there are clear instructions in the Holy Quran and hadith that in their rights and obligations they are all equal: “The believers are brothers (to each other)” (49:10). “If they (disbelievers) repent and keep up prayer and pay the Ipoor-due, they are your brothers in faith” (9:11). The Prophet has said that: “The life and blood of Muslims are equally precious” (Abu Dawud; Ibn Majjah). In another hadith he has said: “The protection given by all Muslims is equal. Even an ordinary man of them can grant protection to any man” (al-Bukhari; Muslim; Abu Dawud). In another more detailed Tradition of the Prophet, it has been said that those who accept the Oneness of God, believe in the Prophet- hood of His Messenger, give up primitive prejudices and join the Muslim community and brotherhood, “then they have the same rights and obligations as other Muslims have” (al-Bukhari; al-Nisa’i). Thus there is absolute equality between the new converts to Islam and the old followers of the Faith. This religious brotherhood and the uniformity of their rights and obligations is the foundation of equality in Islamic society, in which the rights and obligations of any person are neither greater nor lesser in any way than the rights and obligations of other people. As far as the non- Muslim citizens of the Islamic State are concerned, the rule of Islamic Shari’ah (law) about them has been very well expressed by the Caliph ‘Ali in these words: “They have accepted our protection only because their lives may be like our lives and their properties like our properties” (Abu Dawud). In other words, their (of the dhimmis) lives and properties are as sacred as the lives and properties of the Muslims. Discrimination of people into different classes was one of the greatest crimes that, according to the Quran, Pharaoh used to indulge in: “He had divided his people into different classes,” … “And he suppressed one group of them (at the cost of others)” (28:4).   13. Rulers Not Above the Law Islam clearly insists and demands that all officials of the Islamic State, whether he be the head or an ordinary employee, are equal in the eyes of the law. None of them is above the law or can claim immunity. Even an ordinary citizen in Islam has the right to put forward a claim or file a legal complaint against the highest executive of the country. The Caliph ‘Umar said, “I have myself seen the Prophet, may God’s blessings be on him, taking revenge against himself (penalizing himself for some shortcoming or failing).” On the occasion of the Battle of Badr, when the Prophet was straightening the rows of the Muslim army he hit the belly of a soldier in an attempt to push him back in line. The soldier complained “O Prophet, you have hurt me with your stick.” The Prophet immediately bared his belly and said: “I am very sorry, you can revenge by doing the same to me.” The soldier came forward and kissed the abdomen of the Prophet and said that this was all that he wanted. A woman belonging to a high and noble family was arrested in connection with a theft. The case was brought to the Prophet, and it was recommended that she may be spared the punishment of theft. The Prophet replied: “The nations that lived before you were destroyed by God because they punished the common men for their offences and let their dignitaries go unpunished for their crimes; I swear by Him (God) who holds my life in His hand that even if Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad, has committed this crime then I would have amputated her hand.” During the caliphate of ‘Umar, Muhammad the son of ‘Amr ibn al-‘As the Governor of Egypt, whipped an Egyptian. The Egyptian went to Medina and lodged his complaint with the Righteous Caliph, who immediately summoned the Governor and his son to Medina. When they appeared before him in Medina, the Caliph handed a whip to the Egyptian complainant and asked him to whip the son of the Governor in his presence. After taking his revenge when the Egyptian was about to hand over the whip to ‘Umar, he said to the Egyptian: “Give one stroke of the whip to the Honourable Governor as well. His son would certainly have not beaten you were it not for the false pride that he had in his father’s high office.” The plaintiff submitted: “The person who had beaten me, I have already avenged myself on him.” ‘Umar said: “By God, if you had beaten him (the Governor) I would not have checked you from doing so. You have spared him of your own free will.” Then he (‘Umar) angrily turned to ‘Amr ibn al-‘As and said: “O ‘Amr, when did you start to enslave the people, though they were born free of their mothers?” When the Islamic State was flourishing in its pristine glory and splendour, the common people could equally lodge complaints against the caliph of the time in the court and the caliph had to appear before the qadi to answer the charges. And if the caliph had any complaint against any citizen, he could not use his administrative powers and authority to set the matter right, but had to refer the case to the court of law for proper adjudication.   14. The Right to Avoid Sin Islam also confers this right on every citizen that he will not be ordered to commit a sin, a crime or an offence; and if any govern- ment, or the administrator, or the head of department orders an individual to do a wrong, then he has the right to refuse to comply with the order. His refusal to carry out such crime or unjust instructions would not be regarded as an offence in the eyes of the Islamic law. On the contrary giving orders to one’s subordinates to commit a sin or do a wrong is itself an offence and such a serious offence that the officer who gives this sinful order whatever his rank and position may be, is liable to be summarily dismissed. These clear instructions of the Prophet are summarized in the following hadith: “It is not permissible to dis- obey God in obedience to the orders of any human being” (Musnad of Ibn Hanbal). In other words, no one has the right to order his subordinates to do anything against the laws of God. If such an order is given, the subordinate has the right to ignore it or openly refuse to carry out such instructions. According to this rule no offender will be able to prove his innocence or escape punishment by saying that this offence was committed on the orders of the government or superior officers. If such a situation arises then the person who commits the offence and the person who orders that such an offence be committed, will both be liable to face criminal proceedings against them. And if an officer takes any improper and unjust measures against a subordinate who refuses to carry out illegal orders, then the subordinate has the right to go to the court of law for the protection of his rights, and he can demand that the officer be punished for his wrong or unjust orders.   15. The Right to Participate in the Affairs of State According to Islam, governments in this world are actually representatives (khulafa’) of the Creator of the universe, and this responsibility is not entrusted to any individual or family or a particular class or group of people but to the entire Muslim nation. The Holy Quran says: “God has promised to appoint those of you who believe and do good deeds as (His) representatives on earth” (24:55). This clearly indicates that khilafah is a collective gift of God in which the right of every individual Muslim is neither more nor less than the right of any other person. The correct method recommended by the Holy Quran for running the affairs of the state is as follows: “And their business is (conducted) through consultation among themselves” (42:38). According to this principle it is the right of every Muslim that either he should have a direct say in the affairs of the state or a representative chosen by him and other Muslims should participate in the consultation of the state. Islam, under no circumstance, permits or tolerates that an individual or a group or party of individuals may deprive the common Muslims of their rights, and usurp powers of the state. Similarly, Islam does not regard it right and proper that an individual may put up a false show of setting up a legislative assembly and by means of underhand tactics such as fraud, persecution, bribery, etc., gets himself and men of his choice elected in the assembly. This is not only a treachery against the people whose rights are usurped by illegal and unfair means, but against the Creator Who has entrusted the Muslims to rule on this earth on His behalf, and has prescribed the pro- cedure of an assembly for exercising these powers. The shura or the legislative assembly has no other meaning except that: The executive head of the government and the members of the assembly should be elected by free and independent choice of the people.  The people and their representatives should have the right to criticize and freely express their opinions.  The real conditions of the country should be brought before the people without suppressing any fact so that they may be able to form their opinion about whether the government is working properly or not.  There should be adequate guarantee that only those people who have the support of the masses should rule over the country and those who fail to win this support should be removed from their position of authority.

CHAPTER FOUR: RIGHTS OF ENEMIES AT WAR After dealing with the rights of the citizens of an Islamic State, I would like to briefly discuss the rights which Islam has conferred on its enemies. In the days when Islam came into focus the world was completely unaware of the concept of humane and decent rules of war. The West became conscious of this concept for the first time through the works of the seventeenth century thinker, Grotius. But the actual codification of the ‘international law’ in war began in the middle of the nineteenth century. Prior to this no concept of civilized behaviour in war was found in the West. All forms of barbarity and savagery were perpetrated in war, and the rights of those at war were not even recognized, let alone respected. The laws which were framed in this field during the nineteenth century or over the following period up to the present day, cannot be called ‘laws’ in the real sense of the word. They are only in the nature of conventions and agreements and calling them ‘international law’ is actually a kind of misnomer, because no nation regards them binding when they are at war, unless, of course, when the adversaries also agree to abide by them. In other words, these civilized laws imply that if our enemies respect them then we shall also abide by them, and if they ignore these human conventions and take recourse to barbaric and cruel ways of waging war, then we shall also adopt the same or similar techniques. It is obvious that such a course which depends on mutual acceptance and agreement cannot be called ‘law’. And this is the reason why the provisions of this so-called ‘inter- national law’ have been flouted and ignored in every way, and every time they have been revised, additions or deletions have been made in them. Law of War and Peace in Islam: The rules which have been framed by Islam to make war civilized and humane, are in the nature of law, because they are the injunctions of God and His Prophet which are followed by Muslims in all circum- stances, irrespective of the behaviour of the enemy. It is now for the scholars to find out how far the West has availed of the laws of war given by Islam thirteen hundred years ago; and even after the adapta- tion of some of the laws of Islam how far the West attained those heights of civilized and humane methods of warfare which Muslims reached through the blessings of Islam. Western writers have often asserted that the Prophet had borrowed everything in his teachings from the Jews and the Christians. Instead of saying anything in its refutation I will only recommend the reader to refer to the Bible6 so that he can see which methods of war are recommended by the sacred Book of these Western claimants to civilization and culture. We have examined in some detail the basic human rights that Islam has conferred on man. Let us now find out what rights and obligations Islam recognizes for an enemy.   The Rights of the Non-Combatants: Islam has first drawn a clear line of distinction between the combatants and the non-combatants of the enemy country. As far as the non-combatant population is concerned such as women, children, the old and the infirm, etc., the instructions of the Prophet are as follows: “Do not kill any old person, any child or any woman” (Abu Dawud). “Do not kill the monks in monasteries” or “Do not kill the people who are sitting in places of worship” (Musnad of Ibn Hanbal). During a war, the Prophet saw the corpse of a woman lying on the ground and observed: “She was not fighting. How then she came to be killed?” From this statement of the Prophet the exegetists and jurists have drawn the principle that those who are non-combatants should not be killed during or after the war.   The Rights of the Combatants: Now let us see what rights Islam has conferred on the combatants.   1. Torture with Fire In the hadith there is a saying of the Prophet that: “Punishment by fire does not behove anyone except the Master of the Fire” (Abu Dawud). The injunction deduced from this saying is that the adversary should not be burnt alive.   2. Protection of the Wounded “Do not attack a wounded person”-thus said the Prophet. This means that the wounded soldiers who are not fit to fight, nor actually fighting, should not be attacked.   3. The Prisoner of War Should not be Slain “No prisoner should be put to the sword”-a very clear and unequivocal instruction given by the Prophet (S).   4. No one Should be Tied to be Killed “The Prophet has prohibited the killing of anyone who is tied or is in captivity.”   5. No Looting and Destruction in the Enemy’s Country Muslims have also been instructed by the Prophet that if they should enter the enemy’s territory, they should not indulge in pillage or plunder nor destroy the residential areas, nor touch the property of anyone except those who are fighting with them. It has been narrated in the hadith: “The Prophet has prohibited the believers from loot and plunder” (al-Bukhari; Abu Dawud). His injunction is: “The loot is no more lawful than the carrion” (Abu Dawud). Abu Bakr al-Siddiq used to instruct the soldiers while sending them to war, “Do not destroy the villages and towns, do not spoil the cultivated fields and gardens, and do not slaughter the cattle.” The booty of war which is acquired from the battleground is altogether different from this. It consists of the wealth, provisions and equipment captured only from the camps and military headquarters of the combatant armies.   6. Sanctity of Property The Muslims have also been prohibited from taking anything from the general public of a conquered country without paying for it. If in a war the Muslim army occupies an area of the enemy country, and is encamped there, it does not have the right to use the things belonging to the people without their consent. If they need anything, they should purchase it from the local population or should obtain permission from the owners. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, while instructing the Muslim armies being despatched to the battlefront would go to the extent of saying that Muslim soldiers should not even use the milk of the milch cattle without the permission of their owners.   7. Sanctity of a Dead Body Islam has categorically prohibited its followers from disgracing or mutilating the corpses of their enemies as was practised in Arabia before the advent of Islam. It has been said in the hadith: “The Prophet has prohibited us from mutilating the corpses of the enemies” (al- Bukhari; Abu Dawud). The occasion on which this order was given is highly instructive. In the Battle of Uhud the disbelievers mutilated the bodies of the Muslims, who had fallen on the battlefield and sacrificed their lives for the sake of Islam, by cutting off their ears and noses, and threading them together to put round their necks as trophies of war. The abdomen of Hamzah, the uncle of the Prophet, was ripped open by Quraysh, his liver was taken out and chewed by Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan, the leader of the Meccan army. The Muslims were naturally enraged by this horrible sight. But the Prophet asked his followers not to mete out similar treatment to the dead bodies of the enemies. This great example of forbearance and restraint is sufficient to convince any reasonable man who is not blinded by prejudice or bias, that Islam is really the religion sent down by the Creator of the universe, and that if human emotions had any admission in Islam, then this horrible sight on the battlefield of Uhud would have provoked the Prophet to order his followers to mutilate the bodies of their enemy in the same manner.   8. Return of Corpses of the Enemy In the Battle of Ahzab a very renowned and redoubtable warrior of the enemy was killed and his body fell down in the trench which the Muslims had dug for the defence of Medina. The unbelievers presented ten thousand dinars to the Prophet and requested that the dead body of their fallen warrior may be handed over to them. The Prophet replied “I do not sell dead bodies. You can take away the corpse of your fallen comrade.”   9. Prohibition of Breach of Treaties Islam has strictly prohibited treachery. One of the instructions that the Prophet used to give to the Muslim warriors while sending them to the battlefront was: “Do not be guilty of breach of faith.” This order has been repeated in the Holy Quran and the hadith again and again, that if the enemy acts treacherously let him do so, you should never go back on your promise. There is a famous incident in the peace treaty of Hudaybiyyah, when after the settlement of the terms of the treaty, Abu Jandal, the son of the emissary of the unbelievers who had negotiated this treaty with the Muslims, came, fettered and blood-stained, rushing to the Muslim camp and crying for help. The Prophet told him “Since the terms of the treaty have been settled, we are not in a position to help you out. You should go back with your father. God will provide you with some other opportunity to escape this persecution.” The entire Muslim army was deeply touched and grieved at the sad plight of Abu Jandal and many of them were moved to tears. But when the Prophet declared that “We cannot break the agreement”, not even a single person came forward to help the unfortunate prisoner, so the unbelievers forcibly dragged him back to Makkah. This is an unparalleled example of the observance of the terms of agreement by the Muslims, and Islamic history can show many examples of a similar nature.   10. Rules About Declaration of War It has been laid down in the Holy Quran: “If you apprehend breach of treaty from a people, then openly throw the treaty at their faces” (8:58). In this verse, Muslims have been prohibited from opening hostilities against their enemies without properly declaring war against them, unless of course, the adversary has already started aggression against them. Otherwise the Quran has clearly given the injunction to Muslims that they should intimate to their enemies that no treaty exists between them, and they are at war with them. The present day ‘inter- national law’ has also laid down that hostilities should not be started without declaration of war, but since it is a man-made rule, they are free to violate it whenever it is convenient. On the other hand, the laws for Muslims have been framed by God, hence they cannot be violated.

Conclusion: This is a brief sketch of those rights which fourteen hundred years ago Islam gave to man, to those who were at war with each other and to the citizens of its state, which every believer regards as sacred as law. On the one hand, it refreshes and strengthens our faith in Islam when we realize that even in this modern age which makes such loud claims of progress and enlightenment, the world has not been able to produce juster and more equitable laws than those given 1400 years ago. On the other hand it hurts one’s feelings that Muslims are in possession of such a splendid and comprehensive system of law and yet they look forward for guidance to those leaders of the West who could not have dreamed of attaining those heights of truth and justice which was achieved a long time ago. Even more painful than this is the realization that throughout the world the rulers who claim to be Muslims have made disobedience to their God and the Prophet as the basis and foundation of their government. May God have mercy on them and give them the true guidance.