Oriental fatalism, of the kind we find in Islam, lets individuals off the hook. In Islam, Allah is all-seeing and all-knowing. We simply have to wait for him to sort things out for his people, the Believers. If we are good Muslims, he will reward us. But if we are bad Muslims in any way, then things will not turn out so well. Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar has just announced to the people of Pakistan, facing the worst financial crisis in their country’s history, not to worry. He says that “If Allah has created Pakistan, then Allah will take care of its development and prosperity.”
Ishaq Dar has long been a controversial figure, with many accusations against him of corruption, and some convictions, but he always seems to land on his feet and not only stay out of prison, but to remain in high office. His son is married to the daughter of the disgraced former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif; Sharif’s brother Shehbaz is Pakistan’s current prime minister. All very cozy. Since September, when Ishaq Dar became Pakistan’s finance minister, the economy has continued to plummet. The government only has enough money in its foreign currency reserves to pay for three weeks of imports. But instead of admitting his own errors, and calling on non-political economic experts to help Pakistan right itself, Ishaq Dar reminds his Muslim countrymen that they have Allah on their side. Since Pakistan (“Land of the Pure”) was created by Allah, surely Allah will not let his creation collapse, or allow true Believers to suffer.
Isn’t it strange, then, that in all the years of Pakistan’s existence, Allah has so often allowed its economy to flounder? And why did Allah, “who created Pakistan” according to Ishaq Dar, allow East Pakistan to break off from West Pakistan in 1971? It was in that year, as a result of the government in West Pakistan mistreating the people in East Pakistan, that East Pakistan sought, fought for, and won, independence, becoming the new country of Bangladesh.
And since Allah “created Pakistan,” why did he allow that country to lose all of its wars with hated, because largely Hindu, India — the war in 1965, the war in 1971, and the war in 1999?
The more Ishaq Dar can shift blame onto to the mighty shoulders of Allah, the less he will have to answer for. “Pakistan finance minister says, ‘If Allah has created Pakistan, then Allah will take care of its development and prosperity,'” OpIndia, January 28, 2023:
As Pakistan struggles with its worsening economic crisis, its finance minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar has put the onus of reviving the economy on Allah. Ishaq Dar said that the government is praying, that Allah will bring prosperity back to Pakistan.
That praying is all that’s left for the hapless Ishaq Dar, the last arrow in his quiver to deliver a better economy. Not just he, but the whole government is apparently “praying that Allah will bring prosperity back to Pakistan.” Yet it hasn’t worked so far. Why would it work now?
The senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader was speaking at the Green Line Express Train service’s inaugural event in Islamabad. He expressed his confidence that Pakistan would advance because it was founded in the name of Islam.
The finance minister said that they are trying their best to improve Pakistan’s condition under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s leadership.
Blaming their predecessors, Ishaq Dar said that the current administration had inherited a number of issues from Imran Khan’s government, adding that it was working around the clock to resolve them.
“The team is trying to improve the situation ahead of the elections”, he said while asserting that the “drama” that began five years ago is still creating problems for the nation. He claimed that the economy was robust during the 2013–2017 administration of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
So the economy, according to the Finance Minister, was doing fine during the administration of Nawaz Sharif. Apparently he’s forgotten that Nawaz Sharif was disqualified from remaining as prime minister because of a massive corruption scandal. Allah disapproves of corruption, doesn’t he? Nawaz Sharif was convicted on corruption charge, and sentenced to seven years in jail and a $25 million fine. Later his sentence was extended to ten years in prison. Surely Ishaq Dar must admit that Allah wouldn’t want a return to power of the corrupt Nawaz Sharif, even were his reappearance to benefit the economy of Pakistan, the country “Allah created”?
According to Dar, the Pakistan Stock Exchange was the best-performing capital market in South Asia and rated fifth globally during the rule of Nawaz Sharif, and international institutions had their eyes on it.
“Pakistan was on the growth track during Nawaz’s tenure, but it was derailed,” he said. “People can see the destruction the country suffered in the last five years, and they know who has delivered in the past,” he added.
What “derailed” the growth track during Nawaz Sharif’s leadership was his own massive corruption that led to his ouster. Sharif, who is one of the richest men in Pakistan, served three non-consecutive terms as prime minister, each time getting involved in scandals. He was sentenced to a long term in prison – initially to seven years, which was extended to ten years — but he soon managed to claim health problems that required him to be treated by doctors in London, and he remains in London still. Meanwhile, since he is disqualified from ever running again, his brother, Shehbaz Sharif, ran in his place, won, and now serves as prime minister. It’s a family affair; behind the scenes, Nawaz Sharif is believed to still be pulling strings.
The comments [about Allah being the guarantee of Pakistan’s prosperity] garnered backlash online as users criticized the finance minister for failing to address the nation’s economic problems.
A Pakistani journalist, Rauf Klasra, asked Dar to owe up to his “utter failure to handle the economy.”
Another Pakistan journalist, Hamid Mir, asked sarcastically who will claim “credit” as the Pakistani rupee depreciated to a historic low against the US Dollar.
Pakistanis are apparently not nearly as sanguine as Ishaq Dar that “Allah will provide,” given that Allah hasn’t been all that diligent about providing for Pakistan’s wellbeing, at least since 1971. They are unwilling to let Ishaq Dar put the whole economic mess on the broad shoulders of Allah. After all, Allah has shown that he is terribly disappointed with the Pakistani people, and especially with their leaders, for being insufficiently Islamic, and therefore he must have wanted them to fail, as a way to punish them and to bring them back to the Straight Path of Islam.
Pakistan is in dire need of a bailout due to its severe balance of payments crisis, as its foreign exchange reserves, which plummeted by USD 923 million to USD 3.68 billion, only cover less than three weeks’ worth of imports.
Instead of relying on Allah to rescue Pakistan from financial collapse, Ishaq Dar will have to admit that he, and others in the current government, must accept their own responsibility for the country’s dire financial straits which, admittedly, are also the fault of the previous administration of Imran Khan. They need to recognize that it is their duty, not Allah’s, to right the listing ship of state. Allah wishes Pakistan well, no doubt, since he created the “Land of the Pure,” but he is not going to be the guarantor of its success today, just as he was not when East Pakistan went its own way in 1971, or when the economy began its inexorable decline two decades ago. Nor has he intervened to help other failing Muslim states, convulsed in civil war, including Libya, Syria, and Yemen. Pray all you want, Ishaq Dar, and attempt to reassure the people that Allah will not allow his creation, Pakistan, to fail, but in the end, what happens to the economy will be up to you.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I think I agree w/ Ishaq Dar. allah has already demonstrated what he thinks of Pakistan, and has rewarded that country accordingly, be it in its foreign wars, economy or domestic law & order
John ..Smith says
+1
John ..Smith says
Don’r rely on old allah to sort the economy out, I don’t believe he could organise a piss-up in a brewery.
P.S. For you Americans a piss-up is British slang for getting drunk.
David M says
Allah wasn’t looking after them recently when half of Pakistan was under water. Allah mustn’t be very happy with Pakistan.
Scotsman48 says
The Founder of Pakistan was a Saville Suit wearing, Dunhill Cigarette smoking, Scotch drinking ”muslim” who didn’t go anywhere near a mosque except on special occasions.
So if their wee allah dude is in charge of the economy of Pakistan then why do they demand the Western non islamic Nations send them food and cash..
Maybe they just don’t think these things through.. Ya thunk ?.
Deodata says
That’s where we have got it all wrong, we should have let Allah take charge. After all, Pakistan is the world leader in economy and the standard of living, well above everyone else.
OLD GUY says
Let’s leave Pakistan in Allah’s hands and not put the hand of our government in our tax payers pocket to bail them out. Why should the American tax payer go deeper in debt to bail out a country who openly hates us and wants to destroy us. Get a clue Washington.