Muslim Families Face Anguish in their Eid Celebration Due to the Flawed Economic Development Policy of Capitalist
Governments
This year, up to a week after Eid ul Fitri, 719 people were reported to have died, 1184 seriously injured, and 4326
people slightly injured, due to 3279 transportation accidents during the Eid’s exodus flow of people in Indonesia
travelling to visit their families for the celebration. Each year, in this, the largest Muslim country in the world,
around 40 million residents of big cities in Indonesia make an annual homecoming (locally known as “mudik”) heading to
their hometowns by various modes of transportation. This phenomenon is not much different from other Muslim countries,
although the volumes of migration are different. In Bangladesh, for example, the third largest Muslim country after
Indonesia and Pakistan, more than 12 million Bangladeshi Muslims leave the city of Dhaka for the villages every year at
the time of Eid ul Fitri. At the same time, Bangladesh experiences a high rate of ferry accidents due to poor ship
quality and the number of passengers travelling on them in excess of capacity.
Muslim families in various countries, especially in Indonesia, have a strong annual tradition of visiting and spending
time with their families during the Eid celebration, which originates from the Islamic understanding, as expressed by
Rasulllah (saw);
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“Visit each other [for a short visit] sometimes and love will increase” (HR Ath Thabrani & Al Baihaqi)
Unfortunately, this good tradition costs hundreds of lives each year, caused by the capitalistic economic policies of
governments in the Muslim countries. The phenomenon of huge traffic accidents is actually an indication of ‘a clear
economic gap’ between rural and urban areas, as well as a ‘clear evidence’ of the incompetence of Muslim regimes in
investing in the development of people-oriented infrastructure.
The Poor Development Vision of Capitalist States in Securing Welfare for Its People
In the context of this homecoming phenomenon, there are two strong indications that clearly show that the governments of
Muslim countries do not have any strong vision to seriously secure the welfare of their people:
1. Development Gaps between Urban and Rural Areas
The Capitalistic development model is only growth-oriented, therefore more economic investment is geared to serve the
urban areas that have a relatively rapid growth. Moreover, developing countries like Indonesia, that always swallow the
doctrine of the capitalism economy, only concentrate economic development on the industrial sector that requires
expensive investment in order to pursue growth. As a result, other sectors such as agriculture, are abandoned and
eventually the development itself is concentrated in the cities, without considering the concept of area planning based
on the distribution of welfare for the people in all areas of the country – urban and rural alike. A ridiculous paradox
is present in the fact that despite this poor distribution of welfare affecting many parts of the state, the Indonesian
authorities are still considered to have made a great achievement in the past decade simply due to being one of the top
three countries with the best economic growth in the world. However, almost 90 percent of the villages are poor, and the
economic gap between the rural and the urban areas has continued to widen, alongside increasing poverty levels in many
parts of the country. Ironic!
2. The Lack of State Investment in the Development of Transportation Infrastructure
In the view of the capitalist in the provision of public services such as transportation, the state only serves as a
facilitator, while the operator or executor is left to the market mechanisms, in other words, managed by the private
sector. As a consequence, the price of public transportation tickets are expensive but the service is not good. In order
to pursue profit, it is not uncommon that forms of public transportations that are not roadworthy and prone to accidents
remain in operation, ignoring the safety of passengers. For the reason of limited funds, the infrastructure is left
neglected, while thousands of kilometers of damaged roads, many full of dangerous pot-holes have been left without
repair for many years. Hence this principle of economic development that relies on the private sector, is an invitation
to the economic imperialism of Muslim lands, for it allows foreign corporations to control all strategic investments
including natural resources in the name of ‘aiding investment and development’ in states. Hence the Muslims would be
colonized in their own country.
The Impact of Capitalistic Development on Muslim Families
The homecoming tradition in Indonesia and Bangladesh in itself is actually a reflection of economic inequality and mass
poverty caused by capitalism and its flawed development philosophy and policies which have inevitably impacted the
institution of the Muslim family. Many Muslim families are forced economically to live in the urban areas, struggling to
meet their needs while also being separated from their big families in other parts of the country. This phenomenon
occurs systemically because life facilities and employment opportunities are concentrated in big cities, therefore most
people have to travel far away from their families to meet the needs of daily life, often risking their lives just to
meet their basic needs, or are even forced to migrate hundreds of kilometers away, leaving their family just to earn
crumbs.
The migration from rural to urban areas, from one area to another, as well as migration across national borders of a
country in the context of the growing "global cities" or new urban areas, or buffer areas to support the rapid
industrial urbanization; are all characteristic of capitalistic development. All this would definitely cause a
significant adverse impact on the structure of the Muslim families in the Muslim countries, which is a natural
consequence of Capitalism which inherently puts liberal materialistic values over the harmony of family units in
society.
Among the effects are: First, it separates family members from their family; and the most crucial is if the children are separated from their mother.
It is reflected on the forms of urban families where the husband and wife work in the big city while the children live
with grandparents or relatives in the village. The most frightening consequence is the destruction of future
generations, because instead of attention being placed on the upbringing of their children, the focus of the mothers is
on their jobs that often demands them to be separated from their children. Second, it weakens the institution of Muslim marriages and families as seen from the increasing numbers of divorce, the shifting
role of the mother into breadwinner, the phenomenon of husband and wife living separately, the high rate of single
parent families, and so on.
The Economic Development Principles of the Khilafah: Strengthens the Family Structure
Islam is diametrically different from the capitalist ideology. Islam as an ideology strongly rejects the values of
materialism and hedonism that come from the point of view of Capitalism. The true Islamic society under the Khilafah
system is built purely upon Islam that has a primary focus on the implementation of God's laws, as according to the
Words of Allah (swt):
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“I have only created jinn and men so that they may worship Me.” [TMQ Adz-Dzariyyat: 56]
Islam builds its society upon the foundation of the Islamic Aqeedah. Its view of the purpose of life is to obey the
Commandments of Allah and avoid His prohibitions, and its view of happiness is seeking the Pleasure of Allah (swt). The
Islamic value system creates a distinctive identity in the community, which defines the status of people upon their
taqwa, and not their wealth or any other physical attributes.
Islam also stands in stark contrast to the capitalist system that curbs the role of the state and emphasizes the role of
the market. Islam is precisely the opposite. The state has a major and vital role in Islam in taking care of the needs
of the people. Its main task is to serve and take care of the needs of every citizen, protect the vulnerable, and
prevent any injustice. The Prophet (saw) said,
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“An Imam is a shepherd (ra’in) and he is responsible for those in his care.”
The Khilafah is a state which implements a sound economic system that rejects the flawed capitalist interest-based
financial model, bans hoarding of wealth, and prohibits the privatization of natural resources as well as foreign party
heavy investment in the development of infrastructure, agriculture, industry and technology. The foundation of its
policies are directed to seeking an effective distribution of wealth in order to secure the basic needs of all citizens,
and at the same time it is committed to ensuring the equitable and affordable economic development in all its
territories, so that people do not need travel far just to meet their basic needs.
The blessed, just and prosperous economic development is on the shoulders of the Khalifah. However this development
policy of the state is shaped upon the Islamic Shariah which determines the purpose of economic development in the
Islamic Khilafah, which are:
1. Securing the shar'i rights of the people, i.e. protecting religion, life, honor, mind and property which are considered as adh-Dharuriyat al-Khamsu (five emergency matters) in human life. So if the development policy runs contrary to or undermines the religion, life,
honor, mind and property of the people, then each violation is considered a crime that should be punished by the
established Shariah Law, according to the type of violation.
2. Establishing Islamic societies. Related to this, if the development policy harms or destroys the Islamic thoughts and feelings of the society,
including damaging or harming the Muslim family structure in the society, then the policy is contrary to Islamic Shariah
and declared as flawed and unacceptable economic development.
3. Realizing the individual prosperity of the people. Indicators of prosperity in Islam is first ensuring fulfillment of the basic needs of individuals, so if there is one
person alone who does not have their basic needs met, then the economic development policy would not be considered a
success. Unlike under capitalism, it is not necessary to have millions of poor people before considering the economic
development of a country a failure.
As a consequence, the Muslim family structure is maintained and the religion, life, honor, reason and property of the
people is protected. Masha Allah!
The Khilafah state is Responsible for the Strategic Infrastructure Investment
Imagine the mentality of a great leader like Umar bin Al-Khattab who stated: “I am the Amir Al Muuminin, and I am afraid that if a donkey trips on the road in Iraq, Allah will ask me why I didn’t
fix the road for the donkey”. Such a mindset underlies the Khilafah’s policy in carrying out its strategic infrastructure investment, which can be
explained in the following 3 principle points (as written by Dr. Fahmi Amhar in the Homecoming Technology of the
Khilafah):
1. Firstly, the principle that infrastructure development is the responsibility of the state and should not be handed
over to private investors.
2. Secondly, the principle that good development planning in the regions will reduce transport needs. When Baghdad was
built as the capital city, every part of the city was planned only for a certain population, and there were adequate
mosques, schools, libraries, parks, a wheat industry, and a commercial area for the people, in addition to stopovers for
the wayfarers, and even separate public baths for men and women. Most citizens within the Khilafah should not need to
travel far to meet their daily needs as well as to study or work, because all the necessary facilities for life should
be within a reasonable range of travel distance, and the standard of quality of all such facilities should be of good.
3. Thirdly, the state should build public infrastructure using the latest technological standards in for example
navigation technology, telecommunications, physical road management, up to the transportation equipment itself. Here are
some historical examples of how the Khilafah seriously invested in the cutting-edge technologies of the time:
Navigation is absolutely necessary to ensure safe travel, and avoiding getting lost. For that purpose the Muslims
learned astronomy and compass engineering in China, and developed the science of mapping. Hundreds of geographers
explored all corners of the world and made a reportage of unique countries. As a result, the hajj journey and also
travel for trade - both on land and sea - became more secure.
Technology related to physical road management was also not left behind. Since 950, the roads were paved in Cordoba,
regularly cleaned of dirt, and oil lamps lit in the night. Two hundred years later, ie in 1185, Paris became the first
European city that mimicked Cordoba.
Interestingly, until the 19th century the Khilafah Uthmani was still consistent in developing the transportation
infrastructure. When railway technologies were founded in Germany, the Khalifah immediately made the decision to build a
railway line, with the main purpose to facilitate the Hajj pilgrimage. Hajj is the season that involves the ritual of
the largest movement of Muslims across the world, both to go on the pilgrimage to Mecca and the hajis journey back home
to their hometowns. Therefore there is an exodus of people travelling during this season. In 1900, the Khalifah Sultan
Abdul Hamid II announced the project "Hejaz Railway". This rail line stretched from Istanbul, the capital of the
caliphate to Makkah, passing through Damascus, Jerusalem and Medina. The result of this project is that travel from
Istanbul to Makkah which was initially 40 days, was cut to 5 days. Mashallah!
Thus, the Khilafah will provide a comprehensive guarantee of a blessed, equitable, and prosperous economic development
which will minimize inequality and destruction in the society and at the same time strengthen the Muslims’ family
structure, also benefitting the people. The Khilafah will also provide the safe and adequate transportation
infrastructure with advanced technology so that thousands of Muslims will Insha Allah no longer be victims of
transportation accidents due to neglectful governance.
Fika Komara, M.Si
Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
ENDS