PM reaffirms resolve to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said he wanted to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state based on the concept of the State of Madinah by our Holy Prophet (PBUH).

In an exclusive conversation with Sufi scholar Shaykh Hamza Yusuf on social media, he said, “We want to base this country on two principles. One it should be a welfare state and humane state which takes care of its bottom strata of society and second rule of law.”

Talking about the climate crisis, he said the environment should be treated as sacred. The biggest environmental disaster in the world called climate change was because human beings had moved so far away from the sacred, he said adding, sacred basically meant humane thinking about others.

He said there was a saying of the Prophet (PBUH) that live for the next world as if you would die tomorrow. “So your deeds should be such that if you die tomorrow you stand in front of the Almighty and held accountable but live in this world as if you will live for a thousand years. So whatever you are doing right now you should think of the repercussions you will have on humanity for another thousand years,” he continued.

“So it was a great statement as it completely enveloped everything about environment and how one should be living on earth. The whole environmental movement was sacred,” the PM said. He said if one wanted to get close to the Almighty one had to be humane.

He said the leadership that came up through the political system was just too divorced from faith so they came in for power and they compromised for staying in power and power was for personal benefits for most of the politicians. “I find every few politicians coming with the specific objectives of looking after humanity. In most of the developing world they come in power for self interest and for making money.”

Unfortunately there were very few Mandelas who came in for a higher cause. Our great leader Jinnah who was founder of Pakistan, was someone who came for a great cause, PM Imran noted. Politicians were looked down upon because they say they come in to help the people but they really help themselves, he added.

“Someone who is rich is the one whose conscience has no price,”

Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI, in conversation with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf- the co-founder of @zaytunacollege pic.twitter.com/PwHqq4dPwg

— Prime Minister’s Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) November 21, 2021

The PM said he came into politics because of his faith. “I had everything. I was already a big name in the country as a sports star and I had enough money. So for me struggling for 22 years to become the prime minister made no sense. The only reason was I believed that I had a responsibility towards society because I was given more than others,” he added.

He said the test of a human being according to all religions was that he would be tested according to what he was given. He said, “our God will test us with all the benefits and privileges.” “I came into politics because I had faith and because I had faith I realised I was so blessed that I had responsibility towards society.”

He said he was not in politics to make personal gains or get benefits of power. “God has given us power to struggle. Whether we succeed or not is not within our hands.”

The prime minister said the fundamental principle of a civilised society was rule of law where you bring the powerful under the law. The biggest problem in the developing countries was the absence of rule of law, there was one law for the rich and another for the weak and jails were filled with poor people, he explained.

The prime minister said Pakistan had great potential and people were immensely talented. The problem was the elite capture of resources which deprived the majority of proper healthcare, education and justice, he stressed.

“Lack of rule of law is the reason why Pakistan had not achieved its potential. No society can ever achieve its potential if there is no rule of law. Merit is also associated with rule of law. If you do not have meritocracy in a society you have this elite which is spoiled, rich and which did not strive and struggle and they sit on the main positions.” He added, “Countries disintegrate because of a decadent elite. People do not decay, it is the elite that decays.”

When Prophet (PBUH) set up the state of Madina, he unleashed the potential of the people who all became leaders, he commented. People go outside Pakistan, get a level playing field and they excel, he observed. He said in Pakistan only one percent had access to quality education and others did not have opportunities. “Winning the struggle in the present day Pakistan will unleash the potential of people of Pakistan. And second goal is to lift the people out of poverty.”

He said the government started the greatest welfare programmes in the country’s history. Our objective was to lift people out of poverty, create wealth and spread it around and break the monopoly of the elite and mafias, he added.

He said true faith gave a person dignity and it gave liberation to a human being. Rich person was the one whose conscience could not be bought, he said adding self esteem was the greatest trait of a human being.