A Reminder for the Egyptians and the Arabs: "Do not give the immature your money..." (Quran 4:5)
Published in September 20, 2019
Translated by: Ahmed Fathy
Introduction:
1- In our previous article titled "The Mountain Named Gamal Abdel-Nasser Gave Birth to a Rat Named Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi!" (found in English on this link: http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=19924), we evaluate the military rule in Egypt and the dwarf of a president who rules Egypt now; the general named Al-Sisi is an arrogant tyrant who exalted himself in the land; he assumes to own Egypt with its Egyptians and its wealth; he is an extravagant man who went into extremes in spending lavishly though most Egyptian are on the brink of suffering hunger. Yet, Al-Sisi chases and incarcerates opposition figures who dare criticize him openly.
2- Some tyrants have their good deeds or feats/achievements and deal wisely with opposition figures and never persecute them; in contrast, Al-Sisi has no good deeds or feats/achievements; he has created his own foes and enemies inside the Egyptian military armed forces, the cultural elite, businessmen, and politicians of all trends in the political spectra.
3- Al-Sisi has become a burden for his allies outside Egypt. (1) Trump, the chief ally of Al-Sisi, is busy with Iran and the Gulf monarchies; he does not want a war against Iran so as not to lose American influence in the Middle-East; he is busy with 2020 presidential elections; he is bent on winning so as to avoid/postpone more troubles he has to face. (2) Netanyahu, the ally of Al-Sisi, will leave his office soon. (3) Ibn Salman and Ibn Zayed (the allies of Al-Sisi) have their own disputes and feel they are engrossed in many troubles they will have to face soon enough; their future is never certain as it used to be. (4) Khalifa Haftar (the ally of Al-Sisi) has become a burden for Al-Sisi. Of course, we tend to think that Al-Sisi himself has become a burden for the Egyptian military armed forces and for his allies outside Egypt. Many journalists assume that the days of Al-Sisi are about to be over. The stubborn Al-Sisi is quite heedless of his imminent collapse or ouster; his foes are ready and will eat him up in the nearest chance or when the occasion arises.
4- Of course, the military generals are the rulers in Egypt within its deep-state; they have learned a lesson when they helped in the ouster of Mubarak; this lesson is to remove/sacrifice the head of the State to maintain the deep-state controlled by other military generals in power since the 1952 coup in Egypt. This way, they keep their wealth, power, and authority regardless of any presidents. Hence, we assert that there is no hope for the introduction of any political reform in Egypt as long as the military rule continues. The military armed forces which rule a country have betrayed their country and their nation; their original rule is to protect Egypt and its borders and not to rule Egypt. No military generals are fit for ruling Egypt or any other countries because their culture and mentality contradict/oppose the civil rule. Hence, if the Egyptian military armed forces would cause the ouster of Al-Sisi as was the case with Mubarak, nothing will change. The status quo will be maintained: another military general will emerge and rule Egypt as is the case since the 1952 coup.
5- Political reform in Egypt must begin with civil, democratic rule within transparent, fair elections (not rigged, controlled ones) after a phase of democratic transition and legislative reform which would assert free speech (freedom of expression, arts, creativity, and peaceful political opposition) and absolute religious freedom. Such legislative reform will never bear fruit unless reforming public (i.e., state-controlled) education would precede it. Azharite education must be canceled/abolished once and for all. Al-Azhar influence must be curbed and curtailed; Al-Azhar should be turned into an NGO based on donations and it must offer free, unbinding pieces of advice to the government. That is all. Al-Azhar must never interfere in the political life in Egypt. This will pave the way for democracy (i.e., democratic transition and culture), and within two decades, peaceful democracy will be installed without bloody coups or political intrigues/plots; the Egyptian citizens will be prepared and qualified to engage into democratic practices and derive power from them. Strong, powerful nations make their rulers as their civil servants and not as their masters. Rulers, governments, and the Parliament members should fear the nations/citizens and not the other way round.
6- The strong, powerful nations control resources and finances; they have mechanisms of collecting and spending money/wealth; they spend some money on rulers; they can remove, impeach, question, try, and punish rulers. This must be done within binding laws (issued by the Parliament whose members truly represent the citizens) to which all citizens equally submit and within a climate of free speech, transparency, free media, etc. The powerful nations are addressed by the Lord God here: "Do not give the immature your money which God has assigned to you for support. But provide for them from it, and clothe them, and speak to them with kind words." (4:5).
7- In the points below, we provide our own ponderings on the political aspect of the Quranic verse 4:5.
Firstly:
1- As per the Quranic sharia laws, orphans who are to inherit money should have guardians to invest and manage their money; when orphans come of legal age, they must be tested (to see if they are mature and reasonable adults) to be given their due money; if they are found to be immature and irresponsible, the State must invest such inheritance money and spent on such orphans; this money is part of the rights of the nation or society: "Do not give the immature your money which God has assigned to you for support. But provide for them from it, and clothe them, and speak to them with kind words. Test the orphans until they reach the age of marriage. If you find them to be mature enough, hand over their properties to them. And do not consume it extravagantly or hastily before they grow up. The rich shall not charge any wage, but the poor may charge fairly. When you hand over their properties to them, have it witnessed for them. God suffices as a Judge." (4:5-6).
2- The following points here are noteworthy.
2/1: If orphans grow up a mature adults, they should be given their inherence money; if they are deemed immature, the money goes to the nation/society to be invested; some of such money will be spent by guardians on such immature orphans (i.e., to provide for them); they will not be given all this money to waste it.
2/2: The State, when it truly represents the nation, has a mission to invest such money of immature orphans and to spend on them from such money without giving them all of the inheritance money/assets, unlike the case with mature, reasonable orphans. This partial spending on immature orphans is like giving some of the inheritance money to relatives in that case: "If the distribution is attended by the relatives, and the orphans, and the needy, give them something out of it, and speak to them kindly." (4:8).
Secondly:
1- We infer from 4:5-8 that this applies to the wealth of the nations; we must never let a ruler (i.e., one man!) fully control the wealth of the Egyptian nation. Sadly, enthroned tyrants/rulers control such wealth as much as they please; this is the summary of the history of the Muhammadans since the era of the sinful four pre-Umayyad caliphs until our modern times, in contrast to the divine command in the Quranic verse 4:5. The suppressed, oppressed nations did not give up their money willingly to tyrants; yet, they submitted to tyranny and agreed to let tyrants control them and their wealth anyway they liked; this humiliating submission is derived from the fear of death though dying is better than being enslaved by tyrants.
2- In 4:5, the Lord God addresses strong, powerful nations who won their wealth and invest it for the general welfare of all citizens within certain mechanisms (of legislative, executive, and judiciary authorities) serving all the nation and not dominating over citizens. Men of the governments in such cases know that their salaries are paid by taxes imposed on citizens; they must serve the nation honestly and they know they are not masters of citizens but their civil servants. Citizens are their masters in that case.
3- This degree of maturity must be reached by nations who change their submission and passivity and adhere to courage, piety, honor, and cooperation; this way, the Lord God will support and bless their change to the better: "...God does not change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves..." (13:11).
4- Such positive change requires enlightenment leading to political and religious reforms; this is what we write about in our Quranism website. This type of Quranist enlightenment poses a veritable threat to enthroned tyrants and their domineering clergymen; this is why they impose media black-out on our person, and this is not to mention character assassination. Yet, the Quranic Truth will prevail: "He sends down water from the sky, and riverbeds flow according to their capacity. The current carries swelling froth. And from what they heat in fire of ornaments or utensils comes a similar froth. Thus God exemplifies truth and falsehood in this parable. As for the froth, it is swept away, but what benefits the people remains in the ground. Thus God presents the analogies." (13:17).
5- When the nations change themselves to the better, they can cooperate to impose, establish, and uphold/maintain justice, which is the higher purpose of the Lord God's Divine Books/Scriptures: "We sent Our messengers with the clear proofs, and We sent down with them the Book and the Balance, that humanity may uphold justice. And We sent down iron, in which is violent force, and benefits for humanity..." (57:25). If all (fe)male citizens demand justice from rulers, tyrannical rulers will have two options: either to apply/uphold justice or to face wars waged against them by seekers of justice (this war for rights and justice is symbolized by "iron" in 57:25). Tyrants will feel weak before citizens demanding, in unison, their freedom, rights, and justice. Tyrants will either destroy themselves or leave their thrones forever. Later on, the enlightened nations will never allow any rulers in the future to confiscate or monopolize wealth and power so as to avoid repeating grave injustices committed in the past. The enlightened nations will impose mechanisms of democracy and justice within the higher, cherished values of free speech, freedom of expression and thought, (peaceful) political freedom, and absolute religious freedom.
Lastly:
1- Sadly, in contrast, the West countries have reached and applied some facts mentioned by the Lord God in the Quran; the Muhammadans who claim to believe in the Quran never did so; they are still enslaved by rulers. Some Egyptians still vehemently support Al-Sisi.
2- This is the culture of slavery; i.e., when people are slaves and not citizens!
3- The culture of slavery/slaves are deep rooted within the Egyptian nation for thousands of years; in order to remove it, this will require several decades, we think.