OPINION
P10 – PAKISTAN LINK – JANUARY 30, 2015
The Battle of Words: Why Terminology Matters
Did the Prophet or the Qur’an Say So? n By Dr Aslam Abdullah Los Vegas, Nevada
W
e love the Prophet. We try to follow him in every aspect of our lives. We adore him. We sing praises in his glory. We recite his name in every prayer that we offer. We regard him dearest to us. We give preference to him over our own lives.
But should we kill or insult those who insult him or who are critical of him or who ridicule him? Should we tell the world that if our sentiments are not respected, we would be at war and we would destroy or try to silence everyone who stands in our way? If murder is the answer to every word of criticism, then no one is safe, because we all are critical of each other in one way or the other. We all are disrespectful to each other in one way or the other. We cannot impose our love for our Prophet upon others. We will have to earn that respect for our Prophet through our actions patterned after his life. We cannot expect people to give him the same regard as we do. If some do, we are thankful to them; but if they do not, we cannot complain. Despite all the efforts to project a positive image of our Prophet or Islam, if some people still choose to reject him or insult him, we have to accept the right of the people to do so, because this is the right that has been given to them by the divine. Among Muslims especially among many of their scholars and intellectuals prevails a criticism of
the United States, Europe and what they term as Western thinkers and policy makers that they have double standards towards the principle of free speech. When it comes to criticism of the state of Israel, the West unanimously, prefers to remain silent while when it comes to Islam, the West purses a path of ecstasy. This is a weak and meaningless argument. We follow a principle because we believe in its divine origin and its supremacy. Thus, we respect free speech because it is an essential right in Islam. It is a right that no government or establishment can ever take away. In the Qur’anic phraseology, it is considered one of the worst sins against God. The right to dissent or have a different perspective other than the one that is popular or dominant or acceptable by Muslims is the right that is the essence of Islamic thinking. It is a right that the Prophet secured and stood for. During the endorsement proceedings of the constitution of Medina in the initial stages of the formation of a state in the newly adopted city, four Muslim tribes of Aws refused to sign the treaty. The Prophet never retaliated against them or used violence to bring them in line with his ideals. The Prophet defended the rights of non-Muslims to reject him. He never retaliated against those who were his harshest critics. Many members of the early Arabian society were his worst critics. They were his sworn enemies. They hurled abuses at him. They called him by different derogatory names. They even plotted to kill him. Yet he did not retaliate against them. Rather, he forgave them. What better example of forgiveness one can find than to quote his exemplary behavior after
the opening of Makkah, the city that had persecuted him for 13 years. Did he ask people to slaughter the people of Makkah? No, he offered them general amnesty and embraced his critics. Freedom should not be measured by the behavior and attitude of the West or the East. Freedom, in itself, is the essence of faith. Freedom is absolute and it cannot be sliced by special interest groups. Muslims cannot expect others to respect their freedom without defending the rights of others. Yes, freedom means that people have a right to be critical of Islam and the Prophet. Our love to our Prophet should not prevent others from entertaining their own ideas. It would hurt us, but we cannot silence them using coercion. If we want them to show respect to our Prophet, then we should demonstrate the essential traits of the Prophet’s character in our lives. Those traits are: forgiveness, controlling one’s anger, showing love and respect to others and defending life. When we show these characteristics in our lives, we become the true followers of the Prophet, When we respect the freedom of others to be critical of Islam and its Prophet, we show our highest commitment to him. His personality is powerful. It would not crumble under any criticism of his critics. It would shine in all situations and circumstances. It is through respecting this right of others to practice free speech that we would promote the real dignity of our Prophet. (Dr Aslam Abdullah is the editor of the Muslim Observer and director of the Islamic Society of Nevada)
R
ecently, the White House defended its rejection of terms like “radical Islam,” for better and more specific terminology like “violent extremism.” The reason, explained White House spokesman Josh Earnest, is twofold:
1. Accuracy. What is said at the bully pulpit matters, and as such, if something can be properly and specifically addressed, it should. Those
vague and misleading on ethnic- and religion-based reporting. The AP announced the change in order to provide a more balanced approach without relying on negative generalizations. Terminology is key especially when it comes to countering violent extremism (CVE). In light of the White House’s recent announcement that it will convene a “Summit on Countering Violent Extremism”
We look forward to the White House including the importance of terminology as part of its summit on CVE next month. The conversation around Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) is taking place amongst policy-makers and the media. American Muslims must be an integral part of this conversation who have access to the bully pulpit have the power to change public perceptions and attitudes. For example, in 2013, the Associated Press (AP) announced that it would no longer use certain terminology like Islamist when describing “an advocate or supporter of a political movement.” The AP’s decision to modify its guidelines on the use of the highly charged term is part of a broader effort to rid the AP Stylebook of labels that can be
next month, it is all the more imperative that we understand the nuances of words and how they affect our national security and national resiliency. Furthermore, if we use terms like “radical Islam, Islamic jihad, or jihadists” we make enemies out of an entire faith, rather than a minority group of people who practice a perverted ideology. American Muslims are the WORDS, P29
Pakistan’s Official GDP Figures Exclude Fast Growing Sectors n By Riaz Haq CA
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In terms of LSM growth, a number of sectors that are showing strong performance; (for example, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector; plastic products; buses and trucks; and even textiles), are either under reported, or not even covered. The omission of such important sectors from official data coverage, probably explains the apparent disconnect between overall economic activity in the country and the hard numbers in LSM.” State Bank of Pakistan Annual Report 2014
Economists have long argued that Pakistan’s official GDP figures significantly understate real economic activity in terms of both production and consumption. M. Ali Kemal and Ahmed Waqar Qasim, economists at Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), explored several published different approaches for sizing Pakistan’s underground economy and settled on a combination of PSLM (Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement) consumption data and mis-invoicing of exports and imports to conclude that the country’s “informal economy was 91% of the formal economy in 2007-08”. And now the State Bank of Pakistan has focused on the production side of the economy in its annual report for Fiscal Year 2014. The nation’s central bankers have singled out the economic activity large scale manufacturing sector as its focus. They say that the existing LSM (Large Scale Manufacturing)
Pakistan’s Processed Foods and FMCG Sector Source: BMA Capital
index was based on Census of Manufacturing Industries (CMI) that was conducted in 2006 which included only those sectors which had significant value addition to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the time of census.
It’s one of several major new sectors whose growth is not reflected in the official GDP figures. According to a report by analysts at Pakistan’s Topline Securities that examined 25 con-
Pakistan has changed a lot since 2006 in terms of its economy and demographics. The World Bank moved Pakistan from a lowincome to middle-income country in 2007. Pakistan is much more urbanized and more middle class now than it was in 2006 In the years since 2006 CMI (Census of Manufacturing Industries) census, Pakistan has seen a significant expansion of its middle class along with the rapidly growing consumer demand in sectors such as processed foods and fast-moving-consumer goods (FMCG).
sumer firms in various sectors, the 2012 sales of the FMCG firms increased by 17% to Rs. 334 billion while profits grew by 40% to Rs. 24 billion. In the five years between 2008 and 2012, sales of these companies showed a compounded average growth rate (CAGR) of 18%,
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while profits grew at a CAGR of 20%. Engro Foods, a star performer in the sector, reported 191% increase in profit in 2012 alone, led by the dairy and beverages segment. Other players such as Nestle, Proctor & Gamble and Unilever, have also seen explosive growth with many new plants in production to meet demand. The growth in this sector is not reflected in the LSM component of GDP. The SBP report further explained that the LSM data was not being reported in Pakistan in accordance with the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) of United Nations Statistics Division’s defined 22 broad categories of manufacturing. The reporting of LSM is limited to only 15 sectors identified by the ISIC while data pertaining to manufactures of apparels, publishing, printing products and recorded media, fabricated metal products (except machinery and equipment), office and accounting machinery and computers, medical precision and optical instruments and recycling of metal and non-metal waste scrap, is not included as part of Pakistan’s LSM. Pakistan has changed a lot since 2006 in terms of its economy and demographics. The World Bank moved Pakistan from a low-income to middle-income country in 2007. Pakistan is much more urbanized and more middle class now than it was in 2006. Pakistan’s large scale manufacturing (LSM) sector has changed to respond to the rising new product demands of the country’s growing middle class consumers. It’s time for Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) to conduct a new manufacturing census and Pakistan Census Bureau to do a population census to paint a more accurate picture of the country’s demographics and economy now.