Shah Abdul Hannan
The two greatest problems of the present world are the spread of immorality and poverty of a great number of people. The reason of immorality is lack of faith in the Creator or its absence in practice. Morality does not come from nature. It does not come from atheism also because atheism does not believe in accountability after death.Following are different aspects of immorality.
Immorality is the main reason behind wars held throughout the world. Morality does not support attacking any state by another. The main reason of war is the occupation of one country by another and subsequent extortion. Many wars were fought only to occupy and extort other lands. Britain, France, Iran, Portugal and the Netherlands occupied many countries and robbed them.
Nowadays wars are held in the name of ‘National Interest’. In the name of national interest in Vietnam, Algeria, Afghanistan and Iraq were attacked. Today national interest is being considered as the basis of international relation rather than justice. Israel is being supported in the national interest. India is holding Kashmir in the national interest.
Another aspect of immorality is corruption. The extortion by bigger nations is also a sort of corruption. These states adopt many techniques to buy raw materials from third world countries at a low rate and sell their products to them at higher rates. Bribe is also high in third world countries. Illegal wealth is accumulated through bribes.
Another aspect of immorality is sexual anxiety. The traditional family of mankind is being diminished. Men and men are living together, women are living with women and are marrying one another. Countries are allowing it.
Another aspect of immorality is the spread of drugs of different kinds. 90% of people in the US use drugs. Wine and Marijuana are widely used.
Humanity is in danger due to immorality. Presently man only sees his own interest and not that of others. Atheism cannot remove immorality. Religion must revive. Islam has an advantage as a religion than others; its sacred book is unadulterated and all details of its apostle’s life are available. As such, its teaching is clear and can be easily materialized. Morality can be revived through Islam. Other religions can partially revive morality.
The second biggest problem of humanity is worldwide poverty. That means the starving of man, one meal a day or half fed. The presence of such a class of man is widely seen in Africa, India, Bangladesh and many other countries. Poor people adopt corrupt means of income, become thieves etc. The world could not alleviate poverty for centuries because of the financial system. Capitalism is controlling the world economy for several centuries and it has no values. They think only of profit and increase the prices. Interest is the basis of capitalism and results in the accumulation of wealth in few hands.
A welfare system can save the world from this situation. The best of them is the Islamic welfare system. In Islam the market is free but not wholly, the Govt. can control it, for the sake of justice and people’s interest Moreover, there is Zakat system that can remove poverty. The Islamic state’s Baitul Maal or treasury is bound to look after the poor. Poverty was fully extinct in an Islamic state in initial centuries. And nobody was there to take Zakat, so Zakat was used in other works.
(The Writer is a Former Secretary, Bangladesh Govt. He writes on Islam, International relations and Economics)
