About this blog

In recent times a plethora of misconceptions, misrepresentation and myths have been forged about Islam
and Muslims. Many western influentials from politicians, policymakers to judges have taken it upon
themselves to undermine the Islamic beliefs, values and rules so to make it palatable to their
egotistic minds and the secular liberal thoughts.

This blog is dedicated:-

1. To argue the point for Islam in its belief and systems and to refute the misconceptions.
2. To expose the weakness and contradictions of all forms of secularism.

12 Sept 2010

Bangladesh: Sold to the Lowest Bidder

Muslims of Bangladeshi origin living in the UK have become a settled community and the degree of their attachment to their ethnic motherland varies. Surveying the attitude of first generation Bengali immigrants would reveal that they regard Bangladesh as their real home even though they have been living here in the UK for many years. The people of this generation yearn for their homeland whilst pondering on many fond memories of their birth place. The latter generations, most of who were born in the UK, at best regard Bangladesh as a holiday destination and at worst see Bangladesh as a place of little interest and significance.

As the new generation become more accustomed to living in the West it is important to remind ourselves that our primary identity - being Muslim – dictates that we should take interest in our Ummah’s affairs or at least seek to be aware of the issues it faces. In the case of the Bangladeshi community the latter generation of Muslims need to open their eyes and ears to the country of their parent’s birth place which at present is being sold to the lowest bidder.

Since its independence from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh has projected itself as being a free, independent, and sovereign nation. But on studying its 39 year history, which has included military rule as well as heralding the Zia and Hasina era, a very different picture emerges with regards to its independence and sovereignty

“Sovereignty ...the belief that states are in every sense quite distinct and separate from one another treating with one another as equals and owing no duty to any outside earthly authority” (Comparative Politics, an Introduction, Peter Calvert)

This question of sovereignty has been a pertinent one ever since the farcical Awami League government came into power in December 2008. Under the present government Bangladesh has been literally selling of its whole infrastructure, natural resources, and political sovereignty to various countries. It is common sense to assume that a seller would seek to secure the best value when putting a product on sale. Anyone who analyses the activities of the recent government will see an administration that is selling the country off to the lowest bidder, India. The relationship with India of late has come under much scrutiny, far from being a mutual one it is clear to see that India benefits more than Bangladesh.

Recently India granted a $1bn loan to Bangladesh which will be used by the government for multiple projects. The loan is the largest India has ever given to any country it comes with a 1.75% interest rate over a repayment period of 20 years. The deal will see India construct a $120m railway bridge on river Titas and the set up of a transnational power gridline between Bahrampur (India) and Bheramara (Bangladesh), costing $158, along with many other projects. It’s quite clear when it comes to energy infrastructure Bangladesh is pretty much reliant and subservient to Indian interests, the list continues as the Awami League government signed a $1.7bn deal to have India build them two coal plants in the south. Bangladesh has allocated $245 Million from its annual budget for constructing the infrastructure necessary to import 500 MW of electricity from India

India hasn’t stopped there, in order to capitalise on its trade it has funded the construction of trade routes from the ports of Chittagong and Ashuganj. In May 2010 India exported 100,000 tons of rice to Bangladesh even though the country is one of the largest producers of rice in the World, Bangladesh also imports sugar from India. In January during her visit to India the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina agreed to the establishment of a railway link between Akhaurah and Agartala which will act as a trade route once again benefitting India. The strong foothold of India is clearer as Indian companies and financial institutions have submitted proposals to the Bangladeshi government amounting to around $1bn.

The influence of foreign subjects on internal policy is quite established as well, the US has recently commended Bangladesh for its anti-terror initiatives. The Awami League recently played a pivotal role in outlawing Islamic based political parties, many of which have been outspoken on the government’s foreign ties, there is no doubt that Indian and western influence has transcended the arena of economy, trade and infrastructure development. Indian security officials have even been training Bangladeshi embassy staff in Kabul.
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USA, China, and the World Bank have also been busy in joining this booming bidding process getting contracts for ports, gas, and yes more loans. From Peter Calvert’s definition of sovereignty it is very clear that Bangladesh, far from being free and sovereign, is not on equal terms with its counterparts but rather subservient towards foreign interests. In the case of India it seems as though the New Delhi government has an ‘access all areas’ pass when it comes to Bangladesh, some may even claim that Bangladesh has become India’s 29th state.

Bangladesh has been a failed state since its inception, it has never been independent, and it has been dictated and controlled by countries like India, China, and the USA. The time has come for the people of Bangladesh to embrace change and ditch the failed parties, and systems that ruined the country and people for decades. What Bangladesh needs is a radical new approach.

Bangladesh needs a system where the ruler will be accountable to the Shariah and the Ummah. Under this system the ruler will look after the affairs of the people and natural resources will be used to benefit the state and not sold cheaply to foreign entities or large business. This system of governance will insure that the internal and foreign policy is based on Islam, people of different faiths will have their rights protected and will not be oppressed and victimised. Most importantly sovereignty will belong to the lord of this glorious universe Allah (swt) and not to whims of foreign entities.

Islam has a bought a complete legislative system that determines the relationships of the state with society, a system that provides solutions in ruling, economics, social, educational, domestic and foreign policy. This system is the Khilafah system.

[Article written by Amad Uddin]
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What they said...

“Islam represented the greatest military power on earth…It was the foremost economic power in the world…It had achieved the highest level so far in human history, in the arts and sciences of civilization...Islam in contrast created a world civilization, poly-ethnic, multiracial, international, one might even say intercontinental.”





[Bernard Lewis, Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Orientalist and Historian, 2001]





"There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world. It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean, and from northern climes to tropics and deserts…the civilization I'm talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600… Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage"





[Carly Fiorina, ex-CEO of Hewlett-Packard, 2001]





"For the first three centuries of its existence (circ. A.D 650-1000) the realm of Islam was the most civilized and progressive portion of the world. Studded with splendid cities, gracious mosques and quiet universities where the wisdom of the ancient world was preserved and appreciated, the Moslem world offered a striking contrast to the Christian West, then sunk in the night of the Dark Ages."





[Lothrop Stoddard, Ph.D (Harvard), American political theorist and historian, 1932]





"Medieval Islam was technologically advanced and open to innovation. It achieved far higher literacy rates than in contemporary Europe;it assimilated the legacy of classical Greek civilization to such a degree that many classical books are now known to us only through Arabic copies. It invented windmills ,trigonometry, lateen sails and made major advances in metallurgy, mechanical and chemical engineering and irrigation methods. In the middle-ages the flow of technology was overwhelmingly from Islam to Europe rather from Europe to Islam. Only after the 1500's did the net direction of flow begin to reverse."





[Jared Diamond, UCLA sociologist and Author, 1997]



"No other society has such a record of success in uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity and endeavour so many and so varied races of mankind. The great Muslim communities of Africa, India and Indonesia, perhaps also the small community in Japan, show that Islam has still the power to reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and tradition. If ever the opposition of the great societies of the East and west is to be replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition."





[Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb, Professor at Harvard University, 1932]





“The Muhammadan Law which is binding on all -- from the crowned head to the meanest subject is a law interwoven with a system of the wisest, the most learned and the most enlightened jurisprudence that ever existed in the world.”





[Edmund Burke, British Statesman and Philosopher, 1789]





"The Exile here is not like in our homeland. The Turks hold respectable Jews in esteem. Here and in Alexandria, Egypt, Jews are the chief officers and administrators of the customs, and the king’s revenues. No injuries are perpetuated against them in all the empire. Only this year, in consequence of the extraordinary expenditure caused by the war against Shah Tahmsap al-Sufi, were the Jews required to make advances of loans to the princes."





[David dei Rossi, Jewish Traveller 17CE, quoted by Norman A. Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands]





"The notable religious tolerance towards Christians and Jew under Muslim rule had given way to the uncompromising zealotry of Spanish Inquisition. Jews and Muslims thus fled Spain with large numbers of Jews immigrating to the Ottoman Empire which was known for its tolerance to the Jews."





[Graham Fuller, Author and former CIA, 1995]





“If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilization owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure, which stems, I think, from the straightjacket of history, which we have inherited. The medieval Islamic world, from central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society, and systems of beliefs, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history”





[Charles Philip Arthur George, HRH The Prince of Wales, 1993]





"...Not being subject to the Sharia, Jews and Christians were free to go to their own religious authorities for adjudication of disputes; but in many cases they went instead to the [Muslim] Qadi"





[Richard W. Bulliet, Professor of History and Author, 2004]





"Here in the land of the Turks we have nothing to complain of. We possess great fortunes; much gold and silver are in our hands. We are not oppressed by heavy taxes and our commerce is free and unhindered. Rich are the fruits of the earth. Everything is cheap and each one of us lives in freedom. Here a Jew is not compelled to wear a yellow star as a badge of shame as is the case in Germany where even wealth and great fortune is a curse for a Jew because he therewith arouses jealousy among the Christians and they devise all kinds of slander against him to rob him of his gold. Arise my brethren, gird up your loins, collect up your forces and come to us."





[In his book 'Constantinople', Philip Mansel quotes a rabbi in Turkey writing to his brethren in Europe where they were facing increasing persecution after 1453]





"Praise be to the beneficent God for his mercy towards me! Kings of the earth, to whom his [the Caliph’s] magnificence and power are known, bring gifts to him, conciliating his favour by costly presents, such as the king of the Germans, the king of the Gebalim, the king of Constantinople, and others. All their gifts pass through my hands, and I am charged with making gifts in return. (Let my lips express praise to the God in heaven who so far extends his loving kindness towards me without any merit of my own, but in the fullness of his mercies.) I always ask the ambassadors of these monarchs about our brethren the Jews, the remnant of the captivity, whether they have heard anything concerning the deliverance of those who have pined in bondage and had found no rest."





[Hasdai Ibn Shaprut (915-990 CE) Jewish physician, chief minister of Islamic Caliphate in Cordova, 'The Jewish Caravan']





"In Baghdad there are about forty thousand Jews, and they dwell in security, prosperity, and honour under the great Caliph [al-Mustanjid, 1160-70 CE], and amongst them are great sages, the Heads of the Academies engaged in the study of the Law…’"





[Benjamin of Tudela, Rabbi in Baghdad in the year 1168 CE, 'The Jew in the Medieval World']





"Those Eastern thinkers of the ninth century laid down, on the basis of their theology, the principle of the Rights of Man, in those very terms, comprehending the rights of individual liberty, and of inviolability of person and property; described the supreme power in Islam, or Califate, as based on a contract, implying conditions of capacity and performance, and subject to cancellation if the conditions under the contract were not fulfilled; elaborated a Law of War of which the humane, chivalrous prescriptions would have put to the blush certain belligerents in the Great War; expounded a doctrine of toleration of non-Moslem creeds so liberal that our West had to wait a thousand years before seeing equivalent principles adopted.





[Leon Ostorog, French Jurist]





"The debt of our science to that of the Arabs does not consist in startling discoveries or revolutionary theories; science owes a great deal more to Arab culture, it owes its existence"





[Robert Briffault, Novelist and Historian, 1928]





"The only effective link between the old and the new science is afforded by the Arabs. The dark ages come as an utter gap in the scientific history of Europe, and for more than a thousand years there was not a scientific man of note except in Arabia"





[Oliver Joseph Lodge, Writer and Professor of Physics, 1893]





“Thus, when Muslims crossed the straits of Gibraltar from North Africa in 711 and invaded the Iberian Peninsula, Jews welcomed them as liberators from Christian Persecution.”





[Zion Zohar, Jewish scholar at Florida International University, 2005]







“Throughout much of the period in question, Arabic served as the global language of scholarship, and learned men of all stripes could travel widely and hold serious and nuanced discussions in this lingua franca. Medieval Western scholars who wanted access to the latest findings also needed to master the Arabic Tongue or work from translations by those who had done so.”





[Jonathan Lyons, Author, Writer and Lecturer, 2009]