Press Release : Oil Price Increase – Yet Another Oppressive Move!

On October the 2nd, the government of Malaysia has suddenly increased the oil price, RON95 petrol and Diesel by 20 cents from the previous price of RM2.10 and RM2.00 per litre to RM2.30 and RM2.20 respectively. As usual, absurd reasons were given by the government to justify this action. Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister, Datuk Seri Hasan Malek said, “We want to reduce leakage and smuggling by irresponsible groups. It is not our intention to cause hardship but we need to strengthen our financial reserves in order to reduce the country’s budget deficit to zero by 2020,”

Whatever the reason, this increment is totally unacceptable. As a matter of fact, it is highly burdensome, not to mention the chain effect of it, that is, the rise in prices of other goods in the market, especially daily groceries that will further increase burden on the people. In terms of Hukm Shari’, this action is clearly contrary to Islam and is therefore prohibited (haram). Oil is part of al-mulkiyyah al-ammah (public property), in other words, it belongs to the people. Thus, the increase in oil price, or for that matter, if the price of oil itself profits only specific individuals, company or government, it is truly an act of oppression and is forbidden in Islam. Any profit from oil revenue must be divided among the people equally and it does not belong to the oil companies nor the government. The people is the owner of all natural resources in the country. The government’s duty is only to manage these resources and to distribute every single cent of the profit to the citizens of the state, who are the owners of these resources, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Hizb ut Tahrir hereby reminds all Muslims that this rise in oil price is merely a manifestation of a more fundamental problem – the implementation of the Capitalist system that creates greedy leaders without consideration of halal and haram. The rise of oil price is just a form of voracity demonstrated by the Capitalistic government. As long as our ruling system is dominated by this Kufr ideology, the people will continue to suffer from the resulting injustice. Worse, when the people protest against this injustice, the government, without the slightest feeling of shame justifies its action – that this is done for the good of the people and the country. It is unquestionably true when Allah (swt) says,

“And when it is said to them, ‘Do not make mischief on the earth’, they say, ‘We are only peacemakers” [Al-Baqarah: 11].

Hizb ut Tahrir hereby reminds the oppressive government of the dua from Rasulullah (saw) over them, «اللَّهُمَّ مَن ْوَلِيَ مِنْ أَمْرِ أُمَّتِي شَيْئًا فَشَقَّ عَلَيْهِمْ فَاشْقُقْ عَلَيْهِ وَمَنْ وَلِيَ مِن أَمْرِأُمَّتِي شَيْئًا فَرَفَقَ بِهِم ْفَارْفُقْ بِهِ» “O Allah whoever is given power to manage my followers and they burden them, please make them suffer. And whoever is given power to manage my followers and they treat them good, please be good to them” [Narrated by Ahmad and Muslim].

Hizb ut Tahrir hereby reminds all Muslims that the only way out of the miseries caused by the Capitalist system is to throw this Kufr system away and return to the complete system of Islam under the shade of the Khilafah State which will implement the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger in their entirety.

Abdul Hakim Othman
Head of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
in Malaysia