In The Name Of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatuallahi wa barakatuhu

 

Of oil, gas & electricity

 

By  Sharique Naeem 

 

The prices of oil, electricity, and gas, have shot up frequently. High gas and electricity prices make production expensive. Increased prices of oil, does not only make the daily freight expensive, it has a direct impact on the utility products and things that are requirements of a common man. The recent rise in gas prices, would only add to the misery and hardships of the common citizen, and will have negative impact on the vast majority of the people of Pakistan. It is injustice to the plight of an ordinary Pakistani. The prime reason for high prices of products like oil, gas, electricity etc. is that the government is not only increasingly privatizing such assets, but also seeking to earn large sums of profits from it, thereby, making the sale of such assets a lucrative business. These unfair practices are a direct result of the current flawed capitalist system. Contrary to this, In the Islamic system of Khilafah, assets like gas, oil and electricity are considered a 'public property'. As the people at large, are always dependent on it, therefore, the state cannot earn 'profits' while providing these products/services to the general public and only a 'maintenance charge' can be collected on them. Moreover, these assets, being public property, cannot be privatized. A revival of an Islamic state, i.e Khilafah, would therefore, liberate the common man, from the clutches of the capitalist system.

 

Also Published as: “Public property”-The Post (14^th Jan. 2006); “Public Property”-The Frontier Post (17th Jan. 2006)