ISLAM AGAMA SYUMUL

Latest Home Office figures show that one in four British people have been victims of crime.

Crime is at such epidemic levels that Britain’s prisons are at bursting point with the government releasing prisoners early to free up spaces.

British people have the lowest level of confidence in the ability of the Government to get a grip on criminal behaviour, according to a recent poll carried out by Ipsos MORI. Of those questioned, 43% placed crime as their top concern.

Another poll revealed that one in five adults, nearly 10million people, want to move abroad citing crime as a major contributing factor.

These figures are not surprising given the growing lawlessness sweeping Britain especially among its youth. Government incompetence over crime and the diversion of scarce police resources in to clamping down on law-abiding Muslims under the guise of fighting terror is all contributing to this problem.

Although there is more chance of someone winning the lottery than being a victim of terror, £millions is wasted dealing with fantasy terror threats that are more about publicity than security. The botched Forest Gate raid left a law-abiding Muslim family destroyed after their home was raided and one of their sons shot. Their name was rubbished in the media and their family home had to be virtually rebuilt after the police search. According to Scotland Yard the raid cost £2m of taxpayers’ money.

The Terrorism Act 2006 was another government publicity stunt. When this Act was going through parliament and the full implications of some of the clauses became apparent, doubts began to grow over whether this new Act was actually about stopping terrorism or was there some other agenda.

John Falding whose girlfriend Anat Rosenberg died during the 7/7 attacks, told BBC Radio he thought the new laws were a public relations exercise.

“Most of the (new) provisions are covered by existing legislation and my first thought was that this was just a bit of public relations by the government,” he said. “Suddenly we have this grand new anti-terrorism act. But then, when I look more closely at the provisions and see how widely they're drawn, I think there must be another agenda here. It's so catch-all. Ally this to other measures that the government have taken throughout the civil liberties field and I started to get concerned -- and I don't feel reassured that this is going to help us much in the fight against terrorism.”

The government response to this spiralling crime problem has further fuelled people’s disaffection with the whole criminal justice system. Criminals are more and more given non-custodial sentences to ease the prison population, and in the unlikely event that a criminal is actually sent to prison they face being released less than half way through their sentences.

Government policy on crime and terrorism is clearly playing a part in failing to solve the growing crime problem. But it’s the lawlessness and crime culture among the population, especially the youth that is playing the major part.

Researchers for the Institute for Public Policy Research found British youth among the worst behaved in Europe with ABSO’s being seen as badges of honour for many people. Crime, drugs, alcohol abuse, dysfunctional families and sexual promiscuity are plaguing not just Britain but most, if not all western societies.

The culture underpinning this growing lawlessness is rampant individualism due to the society’s belief in freedom and liberalism.

Tony Blair alluded to this at the launch of his 5 year strategy on crime back in July 2004 when he said: “The 1960s saw a huge breakthrough in terms of freedom of expression, of lifestyle, of the individual's right to live their own personal life in the way they choose… But with this change in the 1960s came something else, not necessarily because of it but alongside it. It was John Stuart Mill who articulated the modern concept that with freedom comes responsibility. But in the 1960's revolution, that didn't always happen.”

This often cited doublespeak of ‘freedom with responsibility’ has no reality for most people. Secularism has eroded religious morals of responsibility and as such the growing trend is ‘freedom from responsibility’, where freedom is mandatory and responsibility at best is optional, and at worst totally ignored. Muslims in Britain are not immune from this trend. The call for Muslims to integrate and adopt the secular culture of Britain has led to the same criminal behaviour being found in the Muslim community as found in wider society.

Would a future Caliphate fair any better in its approach to crime or is criminal behaviour just a fact of modern life?

The Islamic Caliphate takes a two pronged approach to crime.

Firstly, it creates a culture of God Consciousness (taqwa) and community responsibility among the society. Even when no police are watching them, Muslims will still obey the law because they know Allah is watching them and will account them for all their actions no matter how small when they die.

Allah (swt) says, "And We are nearer to him than his jugular vein" [TMQ Qur'an 50:16]

Islamic law (shariah) contains many edicts about the rights of neighbours and responsibility to the community at large. There is no concept of turning a blind eye to criminal behaviour or ignoring those in distress.

Prophet Muhammad (saw) said, “On every person's joints or small bones (i.e. fingers and toes), there is charity every day the sun rises. Doing justice between two people is charity; assisting a man to mount his animal, or lifting up his belongings onto it is charity; a good word is charity; every step you take towards prayer is charity; and removing harmful things from pathways is charity.” [Bukhari & Muslim]

Secondly, the Caliphate has a strong and effective criminal justice system. Islam is known for its harsh punishments and these act as a deterrent for those weaker individuals tempted to disobey the law. Those accused are afforded full judicial rights in a court of law. Islamic courts do not accept circumstantial evidence as a legal proof, and only trustworthy witnesses, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, are allowed to give testimony. Confessions extracted under torture or duress are inadmissible.

One of the principles underpinning the judiciary is that it’s better to let a guilty person go free than punish an innocent person. This attitude together with a high burden of proof will minimise miscarriages of justice in the Caliphate.

People in Britain and elsewhere are crying out for a society where people have respect, responsibility and play by the rules. This is evidenced by one in five people thinking of emigrating. As Tony Blair said, “They know there is such a thing as society. They want the society of respect. They want the society of responsibility. They want the community where the decent, law-abiding majority are in charge. Where those who play by the rules do well, and those who don't get punished.”

Secular liberal democracy has not and cannot deliver this. Only the Caliphate can do this as it did for over 1300 years.