Hamzah: Cost of living has been rising since the Prophet's time

UMNO AGM | As rising costs of living continues to bear down on the people, an Umno minister has sought to temper the situation by citing history.

Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Hamzah Zainuddin said "the issue of rising costs of goods has been ongoing since Prophet Muhammad's time."

He cited a hadith recorded by Abu Daud, in which the friends of the Prophet beseeched him to fix the price of goods.

Muhammad then responded: "Allah is the One who decrees prices, Who takes and gives, and He is the provider. I hope that I will meet Allah with no one among you making any claim against me concerning issues of blood or wealth."

Scholars have argued that the hadith means that price of goods should be determined by market forces.

Speaking at the Umno general assembly, Hamzah said the government's actions in not interfering a free market is in line with this tradition.

"However, because of the spirit of caring and justice demanded by Islam, the party president and prime minister (Najib Abdul Razak) has agreed that the price of basic necessities should not be raised," the Umno supreme council member said.

He said these basic goods include rice, flour, cooking oil, and cooking gas.

As for prices of vegetables, fish, meat, poultry and others, Hamzah said the government would be launching a jihad (struggle) against errant middlemen who raise the prices indiscriminately.

A number of Umno delegates had also touched on cost of living issues in the AGM debates yesterday.

[More to follow]

- mkini