NAI SUBH

Some extracts from my forthcoming book NAI SUBH 6) POVERTY AND CONSUMPTION LEVELS

 a) Muslims face fairly high levels of poverty. On the whole, their condition is only slightly better than that of SCs/STs. When compared to other SRCs, urban Muslims face much higher relative deprivation than Muslims in rural India. (Pg. 153).

b) The fall in poverty for Muslims has been modest during the decade 1993-94 to 2004-05 in urban areas; whereas the decline in rural areas has been substantial. (Pg. 160).

 c) The economic conditions of Muslims in urban areas have not improved as much as of other SRCs.(Pg. 157).

d) For the year 2004-05, the all India average Mean per Capita Expenditure (at current prices) for urban areas was Rs. 1,105. In comparative terms the figures were, upper caste Hindus (Rs.1,469), Other Minorities (Rs.1,485), OBC Hindus (Rs.955), Muslims (Rs. 804) and SCs/STs (Rs. 793). Thus, the MPCE of upper caste Hindus was nearly 80% more than that of Muslims and SCs/STs. (Pg. 153).

e) A substantially larger proprtion of the Muslim households in urban areas are in the less than Rs.500 expenditure bracket. (Pg. 154). --------------------------- 35.

 Some would have us believe that, despite all these, our life is better than that of our detractors. Some believe that poverty is Islamic, sufferings and being oppressed are Islamic. This world is not for us. Ours are the joys of heaven in the afterlife. All that we have to do is to perform certain rituals, wear certain garments and put up a certain appearance.

Our weakness, our backwardness and our inability to help our brothers and sisters who are being oppressed are part of the Will of Allah, the sufferings that we must endure before enjoying heaven in the hereafter. We must accept this fate that befalls us. We need not do anything. We can do nothing against the Will of Allah. 36. But is it true that it is the Will of Allah and that we can and should do nothing? Allah has said in Surah Ar-Ra'd verse 11 that He will not change the fate of a community until the community has tried to change its fate itself. ---------------------------

Total Fertility Rates [TFR] indicate children per mother and may be defined roughly as the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime. Table 16 presents a reality-check on the TFR of the women of OIC countries and then compares this data with that of some developed countries. A general pattern that emerges unmistakably is that higher TFR goes hand in hand with poverty. ----------------------

 Or when Muslim girls from Dhaka and Chittagong engage in prostitution in Mumbai, does population symbolize strength? Notice, too, that while poverty leads them to prostitution, Bangladeshi customer’s poor paying capacity brings these hapless girls to Mumbai for better ‘fees’! -------------------------

Please forgive this 'promotion'. But a clarification: no royalty of my books accrues to me; all of it goes to charity.

Islam’s Universal Economic Failure | FrontPage

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