I quote some provisions in the preamble of the constitution of Pakistan study what we could have done to make Pakistan a welfare state.
Whereas sovereignty over the entire Universe belongs to Almighty Allah alone and the authority to be exercised by the people of Pakistan within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust.
Wherein the principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam, shall be fully observed;
Wherein shall be guaranteed fundamental rights, including equality of status, of opportunity and before the law, social, economic and political justice, and freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship and association, subject to the law and public morality;
Wherein the independence of the judiciary shall be fully secured;
The foundation of good governance in item no. 3 stated above rests in the principles of freedom of thoughts of speech, persecution, hunger, equality, non-discrimination, justice, honesty, transparency, and accountability. These are the basic needs of a common man, which he has been denied deliberately to keep him uneducated to fulfill the rulers’ lust of power. Since the creation of our beloved country, we have been ruled by military and civilian dictators. The difference between the two is that military dictators take over by force and rule the country according to their whims. To prolong their rule, they become champions of democracy and by manipulated elections, they have been choosing themselves as Presidents o the country. On the contrary, the democratic governments also after being elected act as dictators.
In the current scenario, we have the provincial assemblies, national assembly and senate. Now look at the function of the government, it does not have the required majority in the NA and few members in the senate. It is also not in working terms with the opposition due to its rigid and selfish attitude of accountability. NAB is an independent constitutional authority, not reporting to the PM. NAB should be able to ensure that the accountability process is being carried out evenly and fairly. Unfortunately, NAB has been so controversial that there is hardly any person who does not criticize its working. The government instead of remaining impartial wants to take credit for all actions taken by NAB and hence have been becoming a party to this process, while doing so the government has been labeled as impartial, revengeful, and hostile towards its opponents.
The result of this is that the government is unable to make any legislation. The NA has been made non-functional and the government is forced to implement the laws through the presidential ordinances. And this practice has been so frequent that it violates the provisions of the related clause in the constitution.
The preamble guides the ruler to exercise their authority as per the limits prescribed by Allah the Almighty. Contrary to that the rulers think that they have earned the position and power by their own intelligence, knowledge, efforts and skills. They do not realize that the power that they possess is a gift from Almighty Allah, at the same time it is a test for them as to how they use it.
They are so buffed up with pride that they come to look upon the privileges. They are enjoying their due. They are acting as ‘gods’ for others. The worldly riches and pride which go with the position, have always been one of the primary causes of going astray for all the rulers.
Ruling elite, wealthy people, thinkers, professors, doctors, religious scholars, TV anchors and journalists; hence all follow the same pattern as a result of which the society has become directionless and opportunist. Ethical values have vanished and lying and cheating have become the norms of society.
Their hearts are sealed and they are deprived of spiritual blessings. They have become transgressors with no fear of God. They don’t mind doing any unethical or immoral act to remain in power; they adhere to slandering and lying.
Almighty Allah has given a strong warning to these people. Allah says: On the day when every person will be confronted with all the good he has done, he will wish that there were a great distance between him and his evil. And Allah Himself warns of (His punishment) and Allah is full of kindness to (His slaves). Surah Al-Imran verse no. 30
For liars, Allah says in Surah Ash Shuara:
Shall I inform you (O people) upon whom the Shaitan (devil) descend? (221)
They descend on every lying, sinful person. (222)
And they say what they do not do (226)
About slanderers, Allah says in Surah Al Qalam:
A slanderer, going about with calumnies (11)
Handover of the good, transgressor, sinful.
Woe to every slanderer and backbiters (105-1)
Narrated by Abu Hurairah, Allah’s messenger said, “beware of suspicions for suspicion is the worst of false tales, and do not for other’s fault, and do not spy on one another and do not practice Najsh and do not be jealous of one another and do not hate one another, and do not desert (stop talking to) one another. And O Allah’s worshippers! Be brothers (Sahih Al-Bukhari) Vol 8, Hadith No. 92.
Professor of philosophy at Princeton, Henry Frankfurt in his book “On Bullshit” has made an interesting comparison between bullshit (slander) and a liar. He writes: (Quote) It is impossible for someone to lie unless he thinks, he knows the truth producing slander requires no such conviction. When an honest speaks, he says only what he believes to be true; and for the liar, it is correspondingly indispensable that he considers his statement to be false. For the slanderer, however, all bets are off. He does not reject the authority of the truth, as the liar does and opposes himself to it at all. By virtue of this slanderer is a greater enemy of truth then his lies are. (Unquote)
However, I personally believe that our country will prosper in all fields as for the first time our sacred homeland is being governed by a legally certified Sadiq and Amin Prime Minister and his sacred team. May God give them the wisdom to rule the country as far as the provisions of the constitution, which guarantees the fundamental rights of the citizens. (Ameen) Here I would take the opportunity to share a paragraph from “Kashf Al-Mahjub” chapter 11(46), which explains how corruption flourishes in the society.
It is related that Abu Bakr Warraq said: “There are three classes of men-divines (‘ulama’) and princes (umara) and dervishes (fuqara). When the divines are corrupt, piety and religion are vitiated; when the princes are corrupt, men’s livelihood is spoiled; and when the dervishes are corrupt, men’s morals are depraved.” Accordingly, the corruption of the divines consists of covetousness, that of the princes in injustice, and that of the dervishes in hypocrisy. Princes do not become corrupt until they turn their backs on divines, and divines do not become corrupt until they associate with princes, and dervishes do not become corrupt until they seek ostentation, because the injustice of princes is due to wanting of knowledge, and the covetousness of divines is due to wanting of piety, and the hypocrisy of dervishes is due to wanting of trust in God.
The writer is a British-Pakistani legal scholar and Professor of Islamic Law and International Law at Brunel University.