PTI-The New ‘Islamic Party’ on the Block?
“And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient.” (Holy Quran 5: 47)
Imran Khan’s PTI Flight has finally received the green signal from the masses & is ready for take-off after a long stay at the runway.
Following are some quotes from the great man himself:
“If elected, we’ll create an ISLAMIC welfare state”
“The failure of Pakistan becoming an ISLAMIC welfare state will be a deception for all Muslims residing in India, because Pakistan was formed on the very basis of becoming an ISLAMIC welfare state.”
“They formed all the Scandinavian states based on this concept. They call it (Hazrat) Omar’s law there. We need to bring our culture back to our own land.”
And similar phrases have been quoted in the mammoth rallies at Lahore by him & his supporters.
Just recently Madina Model State has been placed on top of the PTI Manifesto which strongly gives intention of an ISLAMIC welfare state.
‘Uttay Allah, thallay Ballah’ (Above is Allah, Below is the bat); meaning the election symbol of PTI. This was a slogan engineered by Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the current Vice Chairman of PTI, with critics saying ‘he was using religion for political mileage’.
At the moment we perhaps should not doubt the intentions of Imran Khan & his colleagues, for as critics are saying that many political parties have used & continue to use ‘Islam’ for winning the hearts of the masses, and Imran Khan is just doing the exact same thing.
They remind us by stating: “Remember Musharraf’s ‘enlightened moderation’ version of Islam” which won many a hearts for Musharraf”?
But at the same time PTI, its leaders & workers should clean their hands and distance themselves from fascist liberals & others who keep on insisting that religion should be kept separate from politics i.e. believe in a SECULAR Pakistan rather than ISLAMIC Pakistan which Imran Khan & his colleagues have promised us.
And then other critics state that isn’t the Jamati Islami striving for an ISLAMIC government for the last 70 years or so? What’s the difference in the manifesto of PTI & JI if they both are aiming for an ISLAMIC government?
So much so that people got scared that Taliban were coming to Pakistan and wrongly started calling him ‘Taliban Khan’.
So what makes Imran Khan & PTI different from other ISLAMIC Parties? I stress on the word ISLAMIC because Imran Khan has promised us an ISLAMIC Welfare State. But critics are telling us that he will only bring a welfare state, NOT an ISLAMIC welfare state. And when asked, even many PTI supporters didn’t know what exactly ISLAMIC welfare state means! And many PTI supporters are very much secular and even proclaim to be so.
I would say that both will have to go together (ISLAMIC & Welfare) for as a Muslim belief, one can never attain a true welfare state without it being an ISLAMIC welfare state.
This means it must include besides a system of justice for all, a system of collection of Zakat as was done at the time of Hazrat Omar (whose example Imran Khan has given above) and also includes abolition of whole system of interest-which makes the rich man richer and the poor man poorer and implementation of other Islamic economical principles. It will also have to slowly absolve itself from central banking cartels to rid the country from the perils & slavery of IMF & the World Bank.
And I pray the proposed ISLAMIC welfare state would rid itself of all other evils in the society contrary to our culture (as promised by Imran Khan above).
And the proposed ISLAMIC welfare state will hopefully implement ALL the laws and regulations laid down in the Holy Quran as was done by our Holy Prophet (PBUH) during his time at Madina. Of course we may not expect all of this to happen all at once except for the ISLAMIC economic rules but at least intentions should be made clear.
It should not be like this:
“So do you believe in part of the Scripture and disbelieve in part? Then what is the recompense for those who do that among you except disgrace in worldly life; and on the Day of Resurrection they will be sent back to the severest of punishment. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.” (2: 85 Holy Quran)
This verse clearly indicates that politically Islam believes in the ALL or NONE law. It is plainly stating that you can’t have your own way in some aspects & have God’s ways in other aspects; One CANNOT believe & implement PART of God’s rule (Islam) and REJECT other parts of God’s Orders (Islam) mentioned in the Book; the party & its followers will be doomed.
Otherwise it would just turn out to be A Welfare State, if such an entity even exists (Not an ISLAMIC Welfare State)! But trust God, it won’t ultimately succeed in the long term as such.
Read following blog on Islam and Secularism:
Difference Between Religion & Deen & the Fault with Secularism
The only politics one should be doing is for establishing Deen Islam.
Whether NayaPakistan (New Pakistan envisioned by PTI), means an ISLAMIC Welfare Pakistan & whether the now PTI-Manifesto promised Madina Model State is imposed and PTI turns out to become the new ‘ISLAMIC Party’on the block remains to be seen…….