Allah (swt) is Al Jabbaar, the real and only supreme authority in the world, and men should not play God on earth! And when ruling men manifest themselves as tyrants over a land, they create havoc in, and precipitate the destruction of such a social order altogether, as often forewarned by Divine servants in history. The Holy Qur’an preserves several examples of lost nations as an enduring lesson for men in every era.
Indeed, power and authority entail responsibility to office and accountability before God. As the ruler for a period, you have the duty to care for the people; to be just and fair in your dealings; show respect to the dignity and rights of fellow beings, and not to abuse the position to promote wrongdoing in the land, for you shall be held accountable before God on how best you discharged your trust. Yet, in these morally darkened times, when fear of God is virtually absent among powerful politicians, our world is in a permanent state of crisis, almost on the brink of an abyss!
In his Friday Sermon of 15 July 2022 ~15 Dhul Hijjah 1443 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius reflects on the contemporary political, economic and social developments in Mauritius against the wider global backdrop of abuse of power by ruling elites and their tyrannical handling of fellow humans. A man inspired by Roohul Quddus [Holy Spirit] to share Divine messages on His behalf in our times, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) cautions against the dire situation being obtained as a consequence of administrative excesses, and reminds about forthcoming accountability before God. A well-wisher and sincere counsellor of people; Hazrat Saheb (aba) warns about the moment of Divine reckoning that awaits all, encouraging them to shun hubris and excesses so as not to attract Divine anger and punishment for their egregious deeds.
Read the Friday Sermon Below:
The Critical Situation of the Country
“Do not spread
corruption in the land after it has been set in order. And call upon Him with
hope and fear. Indeed, Allah’s mercy is always close to the good-doers.” (Al-Arraf
7: 57).
My brothers, sisters and children, currently what is
happening around the world and especially in our small country Mauritius,
incredible! The authorities see themselves as God on earth, do what they want
to do with their people, whether in our island and around the world too, but
today I must say and give a warning to those who take themselves as God on
earth - and as if all this is permitted for them, where they celebrate [indulge
in useless spending] and create great disorder, and excesses against the
people/nation and they have the audacity and the nerve to say that they are
putting order on the earth - and certainly it is God alone, unique and
universal Who has put everything in order and in this verse that I have recited
before you, God the Almighty makes us understand that well and gives a strong
signal [warning] in it because it is a message for humanity in general.
God said don’t mess with the order He has established [on
earth] and He even said these people are liars. All excesses are committed in
this island - Mauritius -where the authorities all together commit excesses. I
don’t really know where to start because there are a lot of these excesses:
police brutality, arrests of the innocent - they are beaten in police cells,
and the innocent are stripped of their clothes and are put naked to that they
say that they are guilty of crimes that they didn’t do. This caused a stir
across Mauritius and even the international press spoke about it. On 21st
May, three people were arrested at Mahebourg Water-front and according to the
police, they were (supposedly) making a mess [manifestation] and when they “protested”,
they did not hold up signs or express any message out loud. They were people
who sat quietly on the waterfront.
The government
presented its budget on Tuesday, 07 June 2022. The country is facing a high
cost of living, a real crisis caused by soaring prices at all levels, in an
extremely difficult economic context, and where there is still some Rs. 50
billion of the gross domestic product [GDP] to catch up since the COVID-19
pandemic crisis. It will be difficult to reach the million tourists this year.
The government is
betting on consumption to revive the economy as we witness the erosion of the
purchasing power of Mauritians. The main threat for Mauritius is the current
global context. Despite an announced growth rate of 8.5%, the whole world is
undergoing a ‘cost of living crisis’, and this represents ‘A major threat for
Mauritius’.
In 2020, Mauritius shed
15% of its gross domestic product (i.e. some Rs. 75 billion) and there was a
positive growth rate last year, not enough to plug the black holes. And the
required sum must be caught up, after having paid our imports and repaid our
debt. So where will the 8.5% growth rate expected by the Minister of Finance
come from?
The economic growth
rate of 8.5% will not be achieved because tourist arrivals will not attain the
million over twelve months - for this, the country would have to attract
550,000 to 650,000 tourists before the end of July. The government is also
focusing on infrastructure development. And he warns that ‘increase in
construction imports prices will hamper value added to GDP’. It will also be
difficult to expect the 8.5% rate for a variety of reasons, including if
commodity and oil prices continue to rise and the exchange rate deteriorates.
The government has no
mercy for its people. The cost of living which continues to increase has fuelled
the prices of cereals, rice, pharmaceutical products which are only increasing
day by day.
So, looking forward,
our medium to long term requirements have not changed. We need to support our
growth - we are not blessed with natural resources - we will need to have the
right wealth and the right people. In the medium to long-term the country will
need for master key demographics to support growth.
If we even look at what is happening in this country. The parastatals take with the state Rs. 2.6 billion. On the other side there are irregularities for more than Rs. 92 million uncovered at the MBC (Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation) singled out for the third year in a row by the Office of the Director of Audit, whose 2020-21 report was tabled in the National Assembly. Once again, the same weakness was highlighted in the accounts of the national radio station and television.
Sherry Sing refused and
he said, “We had a verbal altercation on the phone. He made me understand
that I had no choice and that if I did not comply, he would make arrangements”
and then he specifies that he then chose to resign.
Sherry Sing did not
want to disclose the identity of this ‘third party’ because it would end the
image of Mauritius internationally. Sherry Sing says he has discovered other
facets of the Prime Minister whose behaviour he believes has changed. He said: “After
the 2019 elections, Pravind Jugnauth changed enormously. I discovered a person
with incredible arrogance and a toxic entourage (...).”
The ex-CEO Sherry Sing
of Mauritius Telecom also spoke of requests that he described as ‘far-fetched’.
In particular, he referred to the day when a demonstration was held against
soaring food prices, which was met with criticism against the government.
He further said [in the
context of the grievous accusation launched]: “I received a call and [he]
told me: ‘Sherry, you must slow down the internet [speed]…’”
He (Sherry Sing)
pointed out that it’s not a button he presses and it’s done, making it clear
that even if it had been possible, he wouldn’t have done it. And when Sherry
Sing did not do as he was ordered to do, they [i.e. the Prime Minister and his
entourage] became angry and told him to leave the office which he occupied in
the PMO (Prime Minister Office). 15 years of friendship which there was between
him and the Prime Minister turned into hatred. Now with the allegation of
Sherry Sing, Pravind Jugnauth needs to come forward to give proper explanations
to the population. All political parties, trade unionists, journalists,
religious leaders of all religions and international organizations had insisted
on the danger of such an approach if it were to materialize. The Prime Minister
must answer Sherry Sing’s allegations which are extremely serious. This is indeed
very serious and if everything is true, Pravind Jugnauth is not worthy to lead
the country. He would need to explain on the death of Kistnen as well. The
truth in the Kistnen and Angus Road case will surface. We must now see what the
police or the authorities of this country will do. The police must do their
job. It will then be up to the office of the Director of Political Prosecutions
and the court to decide.
It is easy for a third
party to intercept our communications, if they are given the means. Sherry Sing
is safe if he has proof. It should not be forgotten that a whistleblower is
protected by law.
In parliament, flying to the aid of the Prime Minister, Soorooj Dev Phokeer invented “standing orders” and rewrote the rules of the PNQ, which is one of the last weapons available to the parliamentary opposition to exercise its counter-power work facing an openly absolutist regime.
To the opposition
parliamentarians who rightly revolted against Phokeer’s inadmissible bias and
anti-democratic presidency, he simply showed them the door. We have never
reached such a level of baseness in the National Assembly. In the face of
repeated abuse by the Speaker, what are the Democrats of this country going to
do? It is clear that Phokeer is not going to change and the Prime Minister
seems to be happy with his performance. Moreover, the calm of Pravind Jugnauth
in the face of the question of the leader of the opposition reflected a
strategy already settled with the Speaker. While the Prime Minister has got
into the habit of drowning his interlocutors with endless speeches which often
contain insignificant points, just to save time and reduce the time for
questions, because he knew that the Speaker was going to throw himself between
him and the opposition, like a Goal Keeper who has caught the ball, never to
let go, even if it means ending the game. On this case, however, the list of
questions from deputies and the public to the Prime Minister is long.
For many people, what
happened on 05 July 2022 is the result of a conspiracy between the Speaker and
Prime Minister to cover up the truth about the sniffer equipment affair. They
made the parliament fall to the lowest level. This PNQ was requested by the
people and yet there was a well-calculated strategy to prevent it from being
asked.
It was a Tuesday 05
July 2022 plunged into darkness. On the other hand, fire broke at the central
barracks. Firearms, administrative documents, personal belongings of the police
officers… Almost everything went up in smoke in the wing of the “Special Supporting
Unit” (SSU) No 4, at line Barracks. This historic building, almost three
hundred years old, was the scene of two fires, in the night from Monday to
Tuesday. A crisis unit has been set up. But we learn that the eight ‘barracks’
occupied by the elements of the SSU do not have any fire certificates.
Another mishap, an Imam
and his wife made an appointment to meet the minister of health regarding the
wife’s health, and the secretary of the minister said that only the Imam was
allowed to enter and his smartphone was confiscated beforehand, and when he
entered, according to what the Imam explained, the Minister of Health beat him
and tore his clothes and insulted him and also said words against the Muslim
religion [i.e. Islam], and the Imam then went to the police to give his
statement and the police gave him a “No. 58 Form” [for grievous assault/
injury] to go to the hospital as soon as possible and the minister was not
arrested [by the police]. Surely Allah knows best what happened.
So, O people of Mauritius (Mauritians):
Inni akhaafu ‘alay-kum azaaba yawmin-Azim.
[I
fear for you the punishment of a grievous day].
I bring among you the
message of my Lord. For those who exceed limits on earth, be careful with this
excess that you are doing and I have come to give you good advice and it is the
Almighty God who teaches me and as for you, you are not aware of this. Nobody
on earth is powerful. If people or heads of states or kings think they are
super powerful and think the power lies in their hand and they can do whatever
they want, but let me say that only God the Almighty and the One Who has
created this heaven and the earth and all that exist on earth and in the heaven
and has create you also, it is Him who possesses all power.
In a split second, He
can take you back to zero. And think that someday every one of us has to die
and go back to our Maker. This world [on earth] is temporary. Every day, every
second, every minute, every week, every month, every year, our life time
decrease and no one eternal on this earth. Don’t walk or act like you’re going
to split the earth. Think that there will be a judgment where you will have to
account for your actions before the Creator; it is an appointment where we will
find the reward or the punishment for each of our acts committed on earth. We
will see with our Creator even an atom of good or evil that we had committed.
Reflect on the excesses and harm that you are doing. No one on earth is powerful to do what he wants to do. Only Almighty God Who can make you disappear from these positions (of ministers) that you occupy. Only with prayer, what is impossible becomes possible and the Good Lord listens to those who suffer from injustice. So we must all stand up and pray to this God Who is Almighty and you will see how He will reduce all these excesses and those who do these excesses to dust. Insha-Allah, Ameen Summa Ameen.