ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said that a welfare state on the pattern of the state of Madina would be established in phases and there was a need to ensure social justice in accordance with the principles of Islam.

The premier sought the recommendations from the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) regarding establishment of an Islamic welfare state in Pakistan and assured it that the recommendations would be implemented.

He was discussing the matter with a delegation led by CII Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz. The delegation included Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, special representative of the prime minister on religious harmony, and a member of the CII.

Seeks recommendations from Council of Islamic Ideology

The two golden principles of the state of Madina were justice and public welfare and these could guarantee progress of the nation, the prime minister said.

“The West developed itself by adopting these principles — no one is above the law and justice for all,” he said, adding: “Unfortunately, no leader has ever thought of making Pakistan a true Islamic welfare state.”

PM Khan said he started his politics only to serve the poor by applying the principles of the state of Madina. “It is Islam that empowered the weaker sections and gave rights to women. Only by following the guiding principles of Islam we can get rid of corruption.”

The prime minister asked the CII to find an intellectual solution to the issues of Islamophobia and blasphemy in the West. He stressed the need for finding solutions to problems being faced by modern societies based on the principals of Islam.

The CII chairman said that knowledge regarding social justice in Islam would be spread through Friday sermons and that the CII had finalised 100 topics for a book of Friday sermons.

For establishing an Islamic ideological society, he said, a collection of Friday sermons would be issued to imams of mosques managed by Auqaf departments in the initial stage.

“All the topics are related to building a better society. These sermons will spread the knowledge about social justice as per the principles of Islam,” Dr Ayaz said while talking to reporters after the meeting.

He added that the preliminary draft of all topics had been prepared after consultations with all members of the CII. He said the book of sermons would be finalised soon.

Dr Ayaz said PM Khan was the only head of a government who had raised the issue of Islamophobia and blasphemy at international forums.

“We are working on an intellectual response for the international community and certain parameters that Pakistan would like the West to adopt,” the CII chairman said.

Hafiz Ashrafi said that Pakistan faced a serious issue of misuse of the blasphemy law in the past. “But I can say with confidence and responsibility that not a single case of misuse of this law has been reported in the past six months and at the same time the state will take stern action against those who take the law into their hands to implement their version of Sharia,” he added.

The CII members praised the senior clerics of Gilgit-Baltistan who stopped a possible clash in that region. They termed such conflicts a conspiracy to derail the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The CII members condemned attacks on a school and a mosque in Kabul by the militant Islamic State group. They also expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people and denounced state terrorism by Israel.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2021