Isn’t It Time to Say ‘Yes’ to Change?

Capitalism is failing – it was always a flawed ideology; benefiting the rich at the expense of the poor or, in other words, keeping a select few healthy and successful through the exploitation of the rest of the world. This hasn’t changed – it’s not going to change. It’s actually getting worse. But it’s also not the reason that I’ve said that Capitalism is failing.

Its failure is in the sense that it’s been exposed - people are aware of its flaws and manipulations. The entire world can see the harm that it causes. In the past, it flourished through its success in manipulating the public and the world. But this time, with Gaza, it has failed to deceive and manipulate us.

We can see the evil that the ideology has allowed. We can see the support that it has given to ‘Israel’; how the USA has yet to be held accountable for their support to ‘Israel’, how the rulers across the world are allowing ‘Israel’ to continue its genocide – despite the fact that their own international law says that they should be stopped. We see how all the international organizations that the world championed prop up the evil within the system. We have seen how the media is a government institution, which aids the rulers in their attempt to hide the truth and focus them on an array of other issues – anything that will give the Jewish entity and the USA the time that it needs to fulfill the goals that they have in the region.

When we sit and think about what’s happened over the last few months – not just in Gaza but across the entire world, we feel hopeless, angry and sick. We can see the failures of Capitalism. We can see that it has never, and will never, bring justice to people or protect them when the interests of Capitalism aren’t aligned with such idealistic goals.

And yet, when we think about an alternative we believe that it’s not possible to bring change.

We say, how can we turn our backs on Capitalism? The world would not be able to function without it.

But we need to take a minute to think about that – why can’t we turn our backs on Capitalism?

As a people, it has failed us.

And as Muslims, it’s forcing us to accept man’s law over Allah’s law.

But putting this aside for the moment. Why do we believe that it’s not practical to bring Islam back to the world?

Have we not lived with two ideologies or more than one Empire in the past?

When we look at history, we see the array of ‘powers’ and ‘empires’ that ruled over areas of land at the same time. We had the Roman and Persian Empire. We had the British, the French, and a whole array of other European Empires that existed at once.

After the Fall of the Empires, we had the Cold War in which two ideologies competed for authority, power and influence. Yes, Communism failed. But it existed at the same time as Capitalism for decades. And its failure was more a result of the flaws in the Communist ideology and the choices made by the Soviet Union’s leadership, than it was about the fact that it was impractical to have more than one ideology at one point in time.

So, why do we look at the current situation and say that it’s impossible for the Muslim World to move away from the Capitalist Ideology and move towards a reality where Islam is implemented as an ideology?

A major reason for that is that we have been taught concepts and ideas that make us believe that it’s impossible. Our education system, the media and the political institutions all continuously reinforce the idea that we are living in a world that is interconnected, and the only way to progress is to remain that way – otherwise how would we access all the material benefits that we have been promised by Capitalism? As a nation, we shouldn’t focus on ensuring that we are self-sufficient, we should trade so we can access all the benefits of living within a globalized world.

This is done on purpose, as the continuation of Capitalism as a Global Ideology depends on the support and manipulation of the people. If we become aware, we question. If we question, we think. And if we think, it will lose its support and dominance.

It’s true that the USA, with the support of the nation-states across the world, created a reality where we are all interconnected. They created rules and laws for every nation to abide by and then made sure that they we all saw the consequences of not working within that system. So, if we don’t aid America in their War on Terror, how will we get the loans that we need to prosper? If we speak out against the atrocities that are being committed, private companies will refuse to deal with us. If we try to implement Islamic law, we will be sidelined and vilified by the other nation states.

But this doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to move away from Capitalism – it just means that moving away from Capitalism will change the shape of the international system. That’s been done before, the USA did it after the Empires fell. And if you consider the fact that Communism didn’t fall until the 1980’s/1990’s, Capitalism’s unilateral dominance isn’t even 70 years old.

Then there’s the fact that this interconnectedness can also be the system’s greatest flaw. The Dollar, which is one of the main pillars of Capitalist dominance, relies on trust. Trust in the dollar and trust in the USA. If we lose that trust, and move away from the Dollar, then it loses its value. But to clarify, moving away doesn’t mean adopting another fiat based currency, that’s indirectly tied to the dollar, it means rejecting the fiat based currency altogether and moving towards a Gold and Silver Standard.

Before we stop and say that that’s impossible, consider two things:

1) Who told us that it’s impossible- the same people who benefit from our acceptance of it?

2) Isn’t it only impossible if we wish to stay within this declining system?

A rejection of the Dollar weakens it, and that weakness will be to their detriment not ours- especially as an increasing number of countries across the world are tiring of the Western dominance and wish for a change.

This is just the economic reality – the flaws within the Capitalist System extend beyond that to the military, judicial, political and social spheres. But right now, we are pushed to ignore the facts and focus on the fear. The fear of the ‘what if’s and ‘maybes’ that pushes us to continue to support Capitalism in its reign of terror. It’s a way of Capitalism protecting itself, and ensuring that it remains unchallenged. Because if we reject its rules and laws, and move away from them, it will fail.

So, it pushes us to ignore the harsh reality of the Capitalist world, where some countries are economically advanced simply because they are exploiting the rest of the world; directly, or indirectly killing millions of people in the process.

They are clearly afraid. Because they know that it won’t be just one country or one government that’s rejecting Capitalism. It will be the entirety of the Muslim Ummah. It’s not impossible, it just requires us to think beyond our fear and to remember that as Muslims, we always put our trust in Allah.

Do we believe that the people aren’t ready for change?

The next argument that comes to mind is this – Even if it’s practically possible to implement an Islamic ideology, it will never work because the people aren’t ready.

Looking at the world today, and the fact that public opinion doesn’t favor Capitalism or Western dominance, in and out of the Muslim World, can we really say that that is true?

There is a call for change across the world. A growing acceptance that problems that we are facing are systemic i.e. a result of the Capitalist system. The problem is that they are still, knowing or unknowingly, trying to ‘fix the system’, using the methods and tools that Capitalism has deemed acceptable. When we do this, we protect the system by being trapped within it. Our ‘solutions’ force us to refer back to the laws and rules that caused the problem in the first place and any ‘remedy’ will only act as a temporary band aid.

We can see this with the elections, with the protests, with the boycotts. While the latter two are a good way of displaying our anger towards government and international policy, they will not lead to real change. We are asking the politicians and international bodies, that clearly have a vested interest in the status quo, to change. And they will never make decisions that harm Capitalism’s interests or dominance across the world.

Some say that the only way to change the situation is to fix ourselves as Muslims and move closer to Islam. In response to that we should consider the following, what’s a greater way of moving closer to Islam than re-establishing it as a system on this Earth? And once that’s done will that not aid us in our individual endeavor to become closer to Allah? The Islamic State will be there to educate us, to aid us in our Ibadah (worship), to ensure that every decision we make is one that Allah allows. Can we say that any of that is possible in a Capitalist System, where its sole purpose is to move us away from religion and not closer to it?

People across the world are desperate for a change, for a way to stop the horrors that are taking place in Gaza and across the world. What we need to realise is that changing a law or a few faces will not stop Capitalism’s tyranny – the only way to stop it is to escape it and then challenge it, and that’s only possible if we have another better ideology.

Do we believe that it will put us in more hardship then we are in at this moment?

There is an obvious fear that accompanies the idea of changing the system. It’s natural – human’s generally fear change, they crave control and stay away from uncertainty. When we read about the Islamic System, we know that bringing Islam back to this world will be a huge change.

But will it be any harder than what we are facing at this moment? People are being killed in the instigated conflicts and wars that are being waged across the world. The current situation in Gaza is just one example of many, and they will all continue for as long as it’s needed to secure the interests of the Capitalist states.

And in the parts of the world that are free of war and conflict, Capitalism has given us a false sense of hope. It has taught us that if we keep our heads down, continue to obey the laws that it expounds, and do our fair share for society, we will be fine. But if we sit down for a moment and think about it – do we really have control?

In life, as a Muslim we understand (through the concept of ‘Qadah’) that we can only control our actions. What happens to us, what other people choose to do to us, that is all within the sphere that we have no control over. That sphere includes our death and our rizq (sustenance); so choosing to commit haram – like accepting Riba (interest) or robbing a bank- will not change our rizq. That is written for us, and it will come to us.

So, when Capitalism tells us that we will only get our livelihood if we conform, it is manipulating us into staying loyal to it. The people in this world cannot change our rizq, no matter what they lead us to believe. And if we go through a phase in our lives where we experience economic hardship, that’s a test that Allah has chosen to give us in order to bring closer to him. And nothing that we do will change that. Nothing that the Capitalist System does will change that.

So, going back to the topic of hardship - we will always face tests in this life. That is inevitable. But we have a choice in how we react to the tests. Will our choices bring us closer to Allah so that we may enter Jannah or will we allow Capitalism to use our fear of change and hardship to manipulate us?

But how will Islam work in today’s day and age?

This is something that confuses us – and it was a doubt that was intentionally planted within us. Capitalism- in both its colonial and neo-colonial forms - worked hard to confuse us about Islam. It fed us lies like; ‘we have moved away from religion’, ‘religion has no place in this world’, ‘Islam is a backward religion, and it has no place in the modern world.’ They tell us that the Muslim lands are backward and corrupt – never admitting that that corruption was a result of the ideas and concepts that they fed us over the last few centuries.

Because they know that if we understood and questioned the reality, it would inevitably lead us to a place that they are terrified of – A place where we as an Ummah, say ‘Enough! Islam will