AKU, ISLAM, QURAN DAN HADIS

Fakta Akhir Zaman

2012-02-15T09:37:00.001+08:00

Ada tiga tanda fenomena dari tanda-tanda Kiamat yang perlu di ambil perhatian sekarang ini oleh umat manusia pada umumnya dan umat Islam khasnya. Dua di antara tiga tanda itu termasuk dalam kategori tanda-tanda besar Kiamat. Satu lagi termasuk di dalam tanda besar, namun ada pula yang menyebutnya sebagai tanda penghubung antara tanda-tanda kecil Kiamat dengan tanda-tanda besar Kiamat.

Tanda penghubung antara tanda-tanda kecil Kiamat dengan tanda-tanda besar Kiamat ialah diutusnya Imam Mahdi. Imam Mahdi merupakan tanda Kiamat yang menghubungkan antara tanda-tanda kecil Kiamat dengan tanda-tanda besar Kiamat.

Masih ramai yang belum menyadari bahawa keadaan dunia sekarang ini ialah dalam situasi dimana hampir semua tanda-tanda kecil Kiamat telah muncul. Cuba perhatikan beberapa contoh tanda-tanda kecil Kiamat di bawah ini:
1. Perceraian banyak terjadi
2. Banyak terjadi kematian mendadak (tiba-tiba)
3. Banyak Quran diberikan hiasan
4. Masjid-masjid dibangunkan dengan megah
5. Perjanjian dan transaksi tidak dipatuhi
6. Berbagai peralatan muzik dimainkan
7. Berbagai jenis khamr (Arak) diminum manusia
8. Perzinaan dilakukan terang-terangan
9. Para pengkhianat diberi kepercayaan (menjadi pemimpin)
10. Orang yang amanah dianggap pengkhianat
11. Tersebarnya Pena (banyak buku diterbitkan)
12. Pasar-pasar (Mall, Plaza, Supermarket) Berdekatan
13. Penumpahan darah dianggap perkara yang kecil
14. Makan riba

Jadi kalau kita teliti contoh-contoh di atas, jelas kita sudah menjumpai ciri-ciri tersebut di zaman ini. Apabila kita membuka kitab para Ulama yang menghimpun hadits-hadits mengenai tanda-tanda kecil Kiamat, lalu kita baca satu per satu hadits-hadits tersebut hampir pasti setiap satu hadits selesai kita baca kita akan berkata di dalam hati: “Wah, yang ini sudah..!”

Jika tanda-tanda kecil Kiamat sudah hampir muncul kesemuanya, ini bermaksud dunia sekarang ini sedang menunggu kedatangan tanda-tanda besar Kiamat. Oleh itu, dalam waktu terdekat ini kita semua harus bersiap-siap untuk menyambut kedatangan tanda penghubung antara tanda-tanda kecil Kiamat dengan tanda-tanda besar Kiamat, iaitu diutusnya Imam Mahdi.

أُبَشِّرُكُمْ بِالْمَهْدِيِّ يُبْعَثُ فِي أُمَّتِي عَلَى اخْتِلَافٍ مِنْ النَّاسِ
وَزَلَازِلَ فَيَمْلَأُ الْأَرْضَ قِسْطًا وَعَدْلًا كَمَا مُلِئَتْ جَوْرًا وَظُلْمًا

“Aku khabarkan berita gembira mengenai Al-Mahdi yang diutus Allah ke tengah ummatku ketika banyak terjadi perselisihan antara manusia dan gempa-gempa. Ia akan memenuhi bumi dengan keadilan dan kejujuran sebagaimana sebelumnya dipenuhi dengan kesewenang-wenangan dan kezaliman.”
(HR Ahmad)

Muhammad s.a.w mengisyaratkan adanya dua tanda menjelang perutusan Imam Mahdi di tengah ummat Islam. Pertama ialah banyak terjadi perselisihan antara manusia dan kedua terjadinya banayak gempa bumi. Subhaanallah. Jika kita perhatikan keadaan dunia ketika ini, banyak sangat berlaku pergaduhan dan peperangan. Gempa bumi juga silih berganti di serata tempat.

Kedatangan Imam Mahdi merupakan tanda Akhir Zaman yang jelas-jelas harus di ambil berat oleh kita dalam waktu terdekat ini. Kita diperintahkan untuk segera berbai’at dan bergabung ke dalam barisannya sebab episod-episod berikutnya merupakan rangkaian perang yang dipimpin Imam Mahdi untuk menakluk negara-negara yang dipimpin oleh para Mulkan Jabriyyan (Para penguasa yang mengabaikan kehendak Allah dan RasulNya).

فَإِذَا رَأَيْتُمُوهُ فَبَايِعُوهُ وَلَوْ حَبْوًا عَلَى الثَّلْجِ فَإِنَّهُ خَلِيفَةُ اللَّهِ الْمَهْدِيُّ

“Ketika kamu melihatnya (Imam Mahdi) maka ber-bai’at-lah dengannya walaupun harus merangkak-rangkak di atas salji kerana sesungguhnya dia adalah Khalifatullah Al-Mahdi.”
(HR Ibnu Majah)

Imam Mahdi akan mengibarkan panji-panji Al-Jihad Fi Sabilillah untuk memerdekakan negeri-negeri yang selama ini dikuasai oleh para Mulkan Jabriyyan. Beliau akan mengetuai pembebasab dunia dari penghambaan manusia kepada hanya untuk memperhambakan diri kepada Allah semata-mata. Beliau akan memastikan bahawa dunia diisi dengan sistem dan peradaban yang mencerminkan kalimatthoyyibah Laa ilaha illAllah Muhammadur Rasulullah dari timur hingga ke barat.

Ghazawaat (perang-perang) tersebut akan dimulai dari jazirah Arab kemudian Persia (Iran) kemudian Rom (Eropah dan Amerika) kemudian terakhir melawan pasukan Yahudi yang dipimpin langsung oleh puncak fitnah, iaitu Dajjal. Pasukan Imam Mahdi Insya Allah akan diizinkan Allah untuk meraih kemenangan dalam peperangan tersebut.

تَغْزُونَ جَزِيرَةَ الْعَرَبِ فَيَفْتَحُهَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ فَارِسَ فَيَفْتَحُهَا اللَّهُ
ثُمَّ تَغْزُونَ الرُّومَ فَيَفْتَحُهَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ تَغْزُونَ الدَّجَّالَ فَيَفْتَحُهُ اللَّهُ

“Kamu akan perangi jazirah Arab dan Allah akan beri kemenangan kamu keatasnya, kemudian kamu akan menghadapi Persia dan Allah akan beri kemenangan kamu keatasnya, kemudian kamu akan perangi Rom dan Allah akan beri kemenangan kamu keatasnya, kemudian kamu akan perangi Dajjal dan Allah akan beri kemenangan kamu keatasnya.”
(HR Muslim)

Lalu Nabiyullah Isa ’alihis-salaam akan turun dari langit dihantar oleh dua malaikat di kanan dan kirinya. Menurut hadits-hadits yang ada, Nabi Isa putra Maryam ’alihis-salaam akan datang sesudah pasukan Imam Mahdi selesai memerangi pasukan Rom menjelang menghadapi perang berikutnya melawan pasukan Dajjal. Pada waktu itulah Nabi Isa a.s akan Allah takdirkan turun ke muka bumi untuk bergabung ke dalam pasukan Imam Mahdi dan membunuh Dajjal dengan izin Allah.

Ketika Imam Mahdi dan pasukannya mendengar khabar bahawa Dajjal telah muncul dan bermerajalela menabur fitnah dan kekacauan di muka bumi, maka Imam Mahdi mengarahkan pasukannya ke kota Damaskus. Ketika pasukan Imam Mahdi menunggu Subuh di sebuah masjid yang terletak di sebelah timur kota Damaskus, tiba-tiba turunlah Nabi Isa a.s dihantar oleh dua malaikat di menara putih masjid tersebut. Maka Imam Mahdi mempersilakan Nabi Isa ’alihis-salaam untuk mengimami sholat Subuh, namun ditolak olehnya dan Nabi Isa ’alihis-salaam menyuruh Imam Mahdi untuk menjadi imam solat Subuh tersebut sedangkan Nabi Isa ’alihis-salaam menjadi makmum di belakangnya. Subhanallah.

Masjid yang dipercayai tempat turunnya Nabi Isa a.s

" ينزل عيسى بن مريم ، فيقول أميرهم المهدي : تعال صل بنا ،
فيقول : لا إن بعضهم أمير بعض ، تكرمة الله لهذه الأمة " .

"Turunlah Isa putra Maryam ’alihis-salaam. Berkata pemimpin mereka Al-Mahdi: "Mari pimpin solat kami." Berkata Isa ’alihis-salaam: "Tidak. Sesungguhnya sebahagian mereka pemimpin bagi yang lainnya sebagai penghormatan Allah bagi Umat ini."
(Al Al-Bani dalam ”As-Salsalatu Ash-Shohihah”)

Saudaraku, marilah kita bersiap-siap akan kedatangan tanda-tanda Akhir Zaman ini. Tanda-tanda yang akan mengubah wajah dunia dari wajah yang penuh kezaliman menuju keadilan di bawah naungan Syariat Allah dan kepemimpinan Imam Mahdi beserta Nabiyullah Isa ’alihis-salaam.

Ya Allah, masukkanlah kami ke dalam barisan pasukan Imam Mahdi yang akan memperoleh satu dari dua kebaikan: ’Isy Kariman (hidup mulia di bawah naungan Syariat Allah) au mut syahidan (atau Mati Syahid). Amin ya Rabb.
Sumber:http://zharifalimin.blogspot.com

Apple

2012-01-26T11:10:00.002+08:00

Alhamdullillah, dah sebulan aku menggunakan iPhone 4S. Benda yang selama ini menjadi idaman aku. Setakat ini boleh dikatakan aku berpuas hati dengan iPhone. Aku dah lama minat dengan barangan keluar Apple. Cuma baru hujung tahun lepas baru aku dapat sambar satu produk Apple. Yes!! at last. Boleh dikatakan aku memang gila dengan barangan Apple. Sebelum ni tak dapat nak beli pasar poket tak kukuh. Barangan Apple memang mahal sikit. Tapi memang puas hati. So, lepas ni aku akan letak apa-apa perkara yang berkaitan dengan produk Apple ni dalam blog aku. Kepada yang tak suka sila jauhkan diri anda dari blog aku ni. Aku pun buat blog ni untuk manfaat aku. Tapi bagi yang nak ambil manfaat, silakan dan tiada halangan. Nak tau lebih lanjut boleh google je kat web. Belambak web tentang Apple. Aku dalam misi kumpul duit nak beli produk lain pulak. InsyaAllah.

Doa

2012-01-18T15:01:00.000+08:00

Doa ini dipetik dari web Rumah Kecil Di Jabal Uhud oleh Puan Roza Roslan
sumber http://muhdkamil.org/rozaroslan/page/2/

"Wahai hati..ringankanlah, biarkan daku menebus semula masa tersisaku yang telah dipersiakan sekian lama. Wahai dada..lapangkanlah agar daku dapat menerima ilmu dari kalam suci Tuhanku. Wahai lidah..lembutkanlah agar dapat daku menyebut sebutan al-quran dengan sempurna. Wahai Tuhanku.. perkenankanlah. Ameen."

Semoga dapat la kita sama-sama manfaatkannya.

Tahun Baru 2012

2012-01-03T10:33:00.002+08:00

Sudah agak lama aku tak update blog ni. Kesibukan akhir tahun menyebabkan banyak benda tertangguh. Disamping perkara yang melalaikan fikiran menyebabkan blog ini terbiar buat sementara waktu.

Pejam celik sudah masuk ke tahun yang baru. Masa yang berlalu seakan lintasan angin yang melintas dihadapan mata. Ada tetapi tidak kelihatan. Kekadang kita terlupa bahawa ianya adalah sesuatu yang amat berharga. Sering kita biarkan ia berlalu tanpa kita menghiraukannya.

Tahun 2012 juga bakal membuka satu lembaran baru buat aku. Tahun ini aku bakal memulakan kehidupan ditempat negeri kelahiran aku. Ketika diimbau kembali masa yang telah pergi, telah banyak yang aku lalui. Apakah ianya sekadar satu kenangan atau satu pengalaman yang sepatutnya aku jadikan pedoman untuk aku meneruskan kehidupan di bumi Allah ini. Aku mohon keampunan Mu. Berikanlah kekuatan untuk aku meneruskan kehidupan ini sebagai seorang hamba yang lebih bersyukur dan taat padaMu. Semoga ditahun yang baru ini aku menjadi seorang yang lebih takut padaMu.

Aku bersyukur kerana masih diberikan tempoh oleh Allah S.W.T untuk terus hidup. Aku harus mensyukuri nikmat yang telah diberikan oleh Allah. Tahun 2011 merupakan tahun yang tidak banyak memeningkan kepala. Dugaan dan ujian dari Allah tetap ada. aku bersyukur kerana aku masih boleh menempuhinya dengan sabar. Aku tahu Allah menguji hambanya sekadar kemampuan kita.

Harapan aku tahun ini, biarlah tahun ini menjadi satu tahun yang akan membuatkan aku berubah menjadi lebih baik dari tahun sebelum. Lebih produktif, bersemangat, berkeyakinan, berdisiplin dan segala yang positif. Semoga Allah membantu aku dan keluarga aku.

Removing back-ups from Apple devices

2011-12-28T09:09:00.000+08:00

APPLE devices iPhone and iPad regularly produce back-ups of their memory when connected to a computer. That is practical if there is a malfunction, but over the long haul, it takes up a lot of hard drive space. No longer necessary backups can be deleted in iTunes settings, according to the German magazine iPhone Welt (iPhone World). The relevant menu can be found under “Devices”. To ease the decision-making process, the records are categorised according to device and date of creation. Thosewho do not want to delete the back-ups but would rather archive themon a separate data store have a somewhat more complicated task. The files are hidden in a different directory depending on the operating system but can be located by searching for “Apple Computer”. The displaying of hidden files must, however, be activated. The individual back-up folders are listed with long, cryptic strings of characters, which is the identification number of the Apple device. The so-called UDID will appear by clicking “Serial number” in the device overview on iTunes. – dpa

source : The Sun, Dec 28, 2011 - page 24

Bedroom Rooms ideas - Bedroom - IKEA

2011-12-06T16:32:00.000+08:00

Bedroom Rooms ideas - Bedroom - IKEA: Bedroom Rooms ideas

Parameter Pelaburan Emas

2011-11-25T20:55:00.001+08:00

http://www.e-fatwa.gov.my/fatwa-kebangsaan/parameter-pelaburan-emas

Keputusan:

Muzakarah Jawatankuasa Fatwa Majlis Kebangsaan Bagi Hal Ehwal Ugama Islam Malaysia Kali Ke-96 yang bersidang pada 13-15 Oktober 2011 telah membincangkan mengenai Parameter Pelaburan Emas. Muzakarah telah membuat keputusan seperti berikut:

Setelah mendengar taklimat dan penjelasan daripada Y. Bhg. Prof. Dr. Ashraf Md. Hashim dan Y. Bhg. Ustaz Lokmanulhakim bin Hussain daripada Akademi Penyelidikan Syariah Antarabangsa Dalam Kewangan Islam (ISRA), Muzakarah bersetuju menerima dan memperakukan Parameter Pelaburan Emas seperti berikut:

Syarat Umum Jual Beli

1. Transaksi jual beli emas mestilah memenuhi semua rukun jual beli yang digariskan oleh Syarak, iaitu pihak yang berakad, item pertukaran, dan sighah menurut ’uruf yang diamalkan. Jika sekiranya suatu transaksi tidak memenuhi salah satu rukun jual beli, transaksi tersebut dikira tidak sah.

Pihak Yang Berakad

2. Pihak yang berakad mestilah orang yang mempunyai kelayakan melakukan kontrak (Ahliyyah al-Ta’aqud) iaitu dengan memenuhi kriteria berikut:

i. Baligh, berakal dan rasyid

Jika sekiranya pihak yang berakad seorang yang gila atau kanak-kanak samada mumayyiz atau tidak mumayyiz, maka jual belinya adalah tidak sah. Akad oleh kanak-kanak yang mumayyiz adalah tidak sah kerana jual beli ini melibatkan barang yang tinggi nilainya.

ii. Keredhaan

Akad jual beli mestilah dimeterai oleh dua pihak yang saling reda-meredhai, tanpa ada unsur paksaan, tekanan dan eksploitasi.

Harga Belian (al-Thaman)

3. Harga belian (al-Thaman) hendaklah diketahui dengan jelas oleh kedua-dua pihak yang berakad ketika sesi jual beli.

Barang Belian (al-Muthman)

4. Barang belian (al-Muthman) hendaklah suatu yang wujud, dan dimiliki sepenuhnya oleh pihak yang menjual ketika berlangsungnya kontrak jual beli. Oleh itu, jual beli suatu yang tidak wujud secara fizikalnya dan juga jual beli suatu yang tidak dimiliki oleh pihak yang menjualnya adalah tidak sah.

5. Barang belian (al-Muthman) hendaklah suatu yang boleh diserahkan kepada pembeli atau wakilnya. Jika barang belian tidak dapat diserahkan kepada pembeli, ataupun penjual mensyaratkan tidak menyerahnya kepada pembeli, maka akad tersebut tidak sah.

6. Barang belian (al-Muthman) hendaklah suatu yang diketahui oleh kedua-dua pihak yang berakad ketika sesi jual beli. Ia boleh terlaksana melalui kaedah-kaedah di bawah:

i. Melihat sendiri barangan yang hendak dibeli ketika akad jual beli, atau sebelum akad jual beli dalam tempoh yang tidak menjejaskan sifat-sifatnya.

ii. Melihat sampel barangan yang hendak dijual beli. Ini biasanya berlaku semasa proses pemesanan sebelum akad dilaksanakan.

iii. Menentukan sifat-sifat dan kadar barang belian secara terperinci yang secara urufnya tidak menimbulkan pertikaian. Dalam konteks emas, penentuannya adalah dengan mengenalpasti tahap ketulenan emas samada mengikut standard lama berasaskan karat (seperti emas 24 karat), atau standard baru berasaskan peratusan (seperti emas 999). Penentuan sifat juga mestilah mencakupi bentuk emas, samada dalam bentuk syiling, wafer, jongkong dan sebagainya. Timbangan emas secara tepat juga adalah suatu yang disyaratkan dalam penentuan sifat emas.

Sighah

7. Sighah dalam jual beli adalah suatu yang menunjukkan kepada keredhaan kedua-dua pihak untuk memetrai kontrak jual beli. Ia boleh berlaku samada melalui pertuturan, atau suatu yang boleh mengambil hukum pertuturan seperti tulisan dan seumpamanya. Manakala jual beli secara Mu’ataah (serah-hulur) juga adalah dikira sebagai sighah yang muktabar oleh sebahagian fuqaha’.

8. Di dalam sighah jual beli tidak boleh dimasukkan unsur penempohan. Contohnya, seseorang mengatakan, ” Saya menjual barangan ini kepada kamu dengan harga RM100 untuk selama tempoh setahun”.

9. Ijab dan qabul mestilah bersepadanan dan menepati antara satu sama lain dari sudut ciri-ciri dan kadarnya.

Syarat Khusus Jual Beli Emas Yang Bercirikan Item Ribawi

10. Oleh kerana emas dan wang adalah dua item ribawi yang mempunyai illah yang sama, maka syarat tambahan bagi transaksi pembelian atau penjualan emas mestilah memenuhi syarat berikut:

i. Berlaku taqabudh (penyerahan) antara kedua-dua item yang terlibat dalam transaksi sebelum kedua-dua pihak bertransaksi berpisah daripada majlis akad.

ii. Jual beli emas hendaklah dijalankan secara lani, dan tidak boleh berlaku sebarang penangguhan.

Syarat-syarat tersebut adalah khas bagi emas yang bercirikan item ribawi, seperti emas jongkong dan syiling emas. Syarat ini tidak termasuk barang perhiasan emas kerana ia telah terkeluar daripada illah ribawi.

Perincian taqabudh dan urusniaga lani adalah seperti berikut:

Syarat Pertama: Taqabudh

11. Taqabudh (penyerahan) hendaklah berlaku terhadap kedua-dua item jual beli iaitu harga dan juga barang belian (emas), dan ia hendaklah terlaksana sebelum kedua-dua pihak berpisah daripada majlis akad.

12. Penyerahan harga boleh dilakukan melalui kaedah-kaedah berikut:

a. Pembayaran secara tunai
b. Pembayaran secara cek yang diperakui (seperti banker’s cheque)
c. Pembayaran secara cek peribadi
d. Pembayaran secara kad debit
e. Pembayaran secara kad kredit
f. Pemindahan wang daripada akaun simpanan atau semasa.

Secara urufnya, kesemua bentuk bayaran di atas kecuali (c) adalah dianggap sebagai pembayaran tunai oleh penjual. Pembayaran melalui kad kredit masih lagi dianggap tunai kerana pihak penjual akan mendapatkan harga jualan secara penuh dari pihak yang mengeluarkan kad kredit tersebut. Hutang yang berlaku, jika ada, adalah di antara pemegang kad dengan pengeluar kad dan bukannya dengan penjual barangan.

Status tunai ini masih lagi diterima secara urufnya oleh penjual walaupun pada hakikatnya pihak penjual akan menerima secara fizikal atau dimasukkan ke dalam akaunnya beberapa hari selepas transaksi berlaku.

13. Penyerahan barang belian (emas) hendaklah berlaku secara penyerahan hakiki ataupun kaedah muktabar yang boleh menggantikan penyerahan hakiki. Penyerahan barang belian yang muktabar akan membawa kesan sama seperti penyerahan hakiki, iaitu:

a. Berpindah dhaman (tanggungjawab jaminan) daripada penjual kepada pembeli.
b. Kemampuan pembeli untuk mendapatkan barang beliannya pada bila-bila masa tanpa ada halangan.

14. Majlis akad di dalam transaksi jual beli boleh berlaku dengan pertemuan secara fizikal, ataupun secara maknawi. Contoh majlis akad secara maknawi ialah ijab dan qabul melalui telefon, sistem pesanan ringkas (sms), emel, faksimili dan lain-lain. Tetapi disyaratkan dalam semua bentuk majlis akad tersebut, hendaklah berlaku taqabudh ketika majlis akad, contohnya melalui penyerahan secara wakalah.

Perlu diberi perhatian bahawa majlis akad secara bertulis akan hanya bermula apabila ianya diterima oleh pihak yang berkontrak. Contohnya, pembeli menandatangani akad jual beli dan kemudian menghantarnya melalui pos kepada penjual. Selepas tiga hari, akad tersebut sampai ke tangan penjual. Maka majlis akad bermula pada waktu tersebut, jika pihak penjual bersetuju, maka akad tersebut perlu disempurnakan oleh penjual dengan menandatanganinya, dan barang belian hendaklah diserahkan kepada pembeli secara hakiki atau hukmi.

Syarat Kedua: Secara Lani

15. Transaksi jual beli emas hendaklah berlaku secara lani dan tidak boleh dimasuki sebarang unsur penangguhan, samada dalam penyerahan harga atau dalam penyerahan emas.

16. Penangguhan penyerahan harga yang tidak dibenarkan adalah meliputi pembelian secara hutang secara keseluruhannya atau pembelian secara bayaran ansuran.

17. Kelewatan penyerahan emas yang melebihi tempoh tiga hari selepas akad jual beli dimeterai adalah tidak dibenarkan sama sekali.

Manakala bagi kelewatan penyerahan emas dalam tempoh kurang daripada tiga hari, Muzakarah mengambil maklum bahawa terdapat perbezaan pandangan ulama di dalam hal ini. Namun Muzakarah lebih cenderung untuk mengambil pakai pendapat yang tidak membenarkan berlakunya kelewatan walaupun tempohnya kurang daripada tiga hari. Dengan kata lain, penyerahan emas mestilah di lakukan di dalam majlis akad tanpa ada penangguhan. Ini adalah kerana di dalam urusniaga emas, kelewatan tiga hari bukanlah suatu uruf, berbeza dengan isu tukaran matawang asing.

Di dalam pertukaran mata wang asing, tempoh T+2 diperlukan kerana ianya melalui proses tertentu yang melibatkan tempoh masa bekerja yang berbeza antara negara, perpindahan wang elektronik, clearing house dan lain-lain lagi. Proses-proses yang disebutkan ini tidak terdapat di dalam perniagaan jual beli emas fizikal. Maka adalah tidak tepat untuk membuat qiyas ke atas proses pertukaran matawang asing.

Namun secara praktikal, pihak penjual akan menyerahkan emas selepas amaun bayaran yang dibuat melalui cek dan sebagainya dikreditkan ke dalam akaunnya. Proses ini biasanya akan mengambil masa tiga hari bekerja. Di dalam menangani tempoh antara penyerahan cek dan penerimaan emas, maka pihak penjual dan pembeli bolehlah mengambil pakai aturan berikut:

Pihak pembeli akan hanya membuat pesanan (order) kepada penjual dengan dinyatakan jenis dan berat emas yang ingin dibelinya. Pesanan ini akan disertai dengan pengiriman wang ke akaun penjual. Pada tahap ini, perkara berikut perlu diberi perhatian:

i. Pada peringkat ini, akad jual beli emas masih belum berlaku.

ii. Wang yang berada di dalam akaun penjual masih lagi bukan milik penjual tersebut. Ianya masih milik pembeli dan disimpan sebagai amanah oleh penjual. Di dalam hal ini, adalah lebih baik jika satu akaun khas yang bersifat amanah (trust account) dibuka oleh penjual.

iii. Emas masih lagi kekal menjadi milik penjual dan ia bertanggungjawab penuh ke atas emas milikannya itu.

iv. Di dalam peringkat ini, pembeli masih boleh membatalkan pesanan yang dibuat dan penjual hendaklah memulangkan wang kepada pembeli. Namun, jika berlaku kerugian sebenar disebabkan pembatalan tersebut, bolehlah dibuat syarat bahawa ia perlu ditanggung oleh pembeli. Contohnya, pembeli membuat pesanan 100gm emas 999 dengan harga RM20,000. Ketika ini, pihak penjual telah menyimpan emas tersebut dan tidak menjualkannya kepada pihak lain yang telah bersedia untuk membelinya. Selepas tiga hari, apabila penjual bersedia untuk membuat akad jual beli dan seterusnya menyerahkan emas tersebut kepada pembeli, pembeli membatalkan pesanannya. Pada hari tersebut harga emas telah jatuh kepada RM19,000. Dengan kata lain, penjual akan kerugian RM1,000 jika menjualnya kepada pihak lain. Di dalam hal ini, kerugian sebenar adalah sebanyak RM1000.

Apabila wang pesanan sudah diberi clearance oleh bank, maka akad jual beli perlu dilakukan. Wang di dalam trust account (jika ada) bolehlah dipindahkan ke akaun penjual dan emas hendaklah diserahkan kepada pembeli.

Akad Dan Unsur Sampingan

18. Penglibatan hibah dalam transaksi jual beli samada hibah dalam bentuk barangan ataupun wang tunai adalah dibenarkan jika mencukupi syarat-syarat hibah, dan tidak melibatkan unsur-unsur yang bercanggah dengan syarak. Perlu diberi perhatian bahawa hibah secara hakikatnya adalah akad sukarela dan ia bukanlah di dalam bentuk lazim. Dengan kata lain, jika janji hibah ini tidak ditunaikan oleh penjual, maka pembeli tidak boleh memaksanya memberi hibah tersebut.

19. Penglibatan wadiah dalam pelan pelaburan emas hendaklah menepati hukum hakam wadiah, yang antara lain ialah pegangan wadiah adalah berasaskan kepada Yad Amanah.

20. Seseorang yang membeli emas bebas mengendalikan (tasarruf) emasnya, termasuklah memberi pinjaman (qardh) kepada orang lain. Tetapi hendaklah memenuhi kriteria qardh yang dibenarkan syarak, yang antara lain tidak boleh membawa unsur faedah, tidak wujud unsur ”salaf wa bay” iaitu hutang yang diikat bersama dengan jual beli.

21. Seseorang yang membeli emas bebas mengendalikan (tasarruf) emasnya termasuk menjadikannya sebagai pajakan untuk wang secara hutang, selagi konsep al-Rahn yang digunakan adalah bertepatan dengan hukum syarak. Namun secara teorinya, perkara ini seharusnya tidak digalakkan kerana secara tidak langsung ia menggalakkan aktiviti berhutang di dalam keadaan yang tidak perlu.

22. Wa’d boleh dimasukkan dalam pelaburan emas, selagi mana ia adalah wa’d dari sebelah pihak dan bukannya muwa’adahdari kedua-dua belah pihak. Contoh aplikasi wa’d dalam konteks ini ialah membuat purchase order, iaitu pelanggan membuat perjanjian untuk membeli emas dengan harga tertentu. Perjanjian pembelian ini dinamakan ’kunci harga’. Sekiranya proses kunci harga adalah menyamai proses akad jual beli, ia tidak dibenarkan kerana akan berlaku penangguhan.

23. Transaksi jual beli hendaklah bebas daripada unsur-unsur riba, perjudian, gharar yang berlebihan, dan kezaliman. Jika sekiranya terdapat unsur-unsur tersebut, transaksi jual beli adalah dikira tidak memenuhi kriteria syarak.

EMAS dan permasalahannya..

2011-11-25T20:09:00.001+08:00

Sumber: http://www.zaharuddin.net/hal-ehwal-riba/286-hukum-beli-emas-secara-ansuran-a-trade-in.html#comment-30558

#62 Minta penjelasan penuh. — Masih tak faham 2011-10-13 11:22

Quoting asrulasmah:

Ada teknik baru jual beli emas tapi saya tak dapat detect hukumnya adakah secara ansuran atau bagaimana.

Penjual memiliki 100gm emas. Harga semasa RM11k.Pembeli boleh dapatkan emas tersebut dengan hanya membayar kepada penjual RM 4000. Bakinya RM 7000, penjual akan dapat dengan menggadaikan di al-rahn (65% dari harga emas 100gm). Gadaian tersebut atas nama pembeli.

Adakah ini termasuk membeli secara ansuran?

UZAR : Ia adalah haram dan riba. kerana rahn itu sebanrnya berfungsi sebagai collateral untuk baki bayaran RM 7K yang tertangguh.

To blog or not to blog

2011-11-21T10:20:00.001+08:00

Tiba-tiba selepas membaca laman blog Prof MKI, aku terfikir tentang ber'blog' ni. Timbul persoalan dalam minda aku ni, adakah aku nak berblog ni kerana nak buat duit atau kerana minat.

Aku pun tak tau jawapan kepada persoalan tersebut. Niat asal aku adalah nak gunakan blog ni sebagai tempat aku simpan maklumat yang aku jumpa kat internet ni. At the same time, share dengan orang ramai tentang apa-apa yang aku paparkan.

Aku suka baca blog Prof. MKI kerana aku suka dengan penulisan beliau yang banyak menyentuh realiti kita sebagai manusia yang beragama Islam. Betapa kita ni susah nak bersyukur dengan nikmat yang telah Allah beri. Dalam masa yang sama timbul minat nak jadi penulis jugak. Hehehe.. cam best je jadi penulis.Tapi tu semua keinginan je. Nafsu yang ada. Tak pe la aku akan belajar sikit-sikit. Lama lama jadi bukit.

Aku ada terjumpa dengan laman blog yang mana penulis blog tersebut boleh buat dengan dengan berblog ni. Timbul pula niat nak buat perkara yang sama. Nafsu lagi. Memang betul la manusia ni penuh dengan nafsu. Kalau boleh semua benda kita nak buat. Tapi satu pun tak datang hasil (betul tak???).

Jadi, aku rasa sepatutnya aku lebih fokus kepada apa yang telah aku tetapkan untuk dicapai dalam hidup aku yang sementara ini iaitu....

Menjadi seorang mukmin profesional yang kaya.. amin.

Aku harap misi aku ni dapat dicapai. Ya Allah, aku mohon keampunan dariMu, bantulah aku untuk mencapai mission possible aku ini. Tiadalah aku berkemampuan untuk mencapainya melainkan dengan izin dan bantuan dariMu. Amin.

Khutbah Terakhir Nabi Muhammad S.A.W

2011-11-14T08:23:00.001+08:00

Wahai Manusia, dengarlah baik-baik apa yang hendak ku katakan. Aku tidak mengetahui apakah aku dapat bertemu lagi dengan kamu semua selepas tahun ini. Oleh itu dengarlah dengan teliti kata-kataku dan sampaikanlah ia kepada orang-orang yang tidak dapat hadir disini pada hari ini.

Wahai manusia, sepertimana kamu menganggap bulan ini dan kota ini sebagai suci, maka anggaplah jiwa dan harta setiap orang Muslim sebagai suci. Kembalikan harta yang diamanahkan kepada kamu kepada pemiliknya yang berhak. Janganlah kamu sakiti sesiapa pun agar orang lain tidak menyakiti kamu lagi. Ingatlah bahawa sesungguhnya kamu akan menemui Tuhan kamu dan Dia pasti membuat perhitungan diatas segala amalan kamu. Allah telah mengharamkan riba,oleh itu segala urusan yang melibatkan riba dibatalkan mulai sekarang.

Berwaspadalah terhadap syaitan demi keselamatan agama kamu. Dan dia telah berputus asa untuk menyesatkan kamu dalam perkara-perkara besar, maka berjaga-jagalah supaya kamu tidak mengikuti nya dalam perkara-perkara kecil.

Wahai manusia, sebagaimana kamu mempunyai hak ke atas isteri kamu , mereka juga mempunyai hak di atas kamu. Sekiranya mereka menyempurnakan hak mereka ke atas kamu maka mereka juga berhak untuk diberi makan dan pakaian dalam suasana kasih sayang. Layanilah wanita-wanita kamu dengan baik, berlemah-lembutlah terhadap mereka kerana sesungguhnya mereka adalah teman dan pembantu yang setia. Dan hak kamu atas mereka ialah mereka sama sekali tidak boleh memasukkan orang yang kamu tidak sukai ke dalam rumah kamu dan dilarang melakukan zina.

Wahai manusia , dengarlah bersungguh-sungguh kata-kata ku ini:-

1) Sembahlah Allah

2) Dirikanlah solat lima kali sehari

3) Berpuasalah di Bulan Ramadan

4) Tunaikanlah Zakat dari harta kekayaan kamu

5) Kerjakanlah ibadat Haji sekiranya kamu mampu

Ketahuilah bahawa setiap Muslim adalah bersaudara kepada Muslim yang lain. Kamu semua adalah sama, tidak seorang pun yang lebih mulia dari yang lainnya kecuali dalam Taqwa dan beramal soleh.

Ingatlah, bahawa kamu akan menghadap Allah pada suatu hari untuk dipertanggungjawabkan diatas segala apa yang telah kamu kerjakan. Oleh itu awasilah agar jangan sekali-kali terkeluar dari landasan kebenaran selepas ketiadaanku.

Wahai manusia, tidak ada lagi Nabi atau Rasul yang akan datang selepasku dan tidak akan lahir agama baru. Oleh itu wahai manusia,nilailah dengan betul dan fahamilah kata-kataku yang telah aku sampaikan kepada kamu.

Sesumgguhnya aku tinggalkan kepada kamu dua perkara, yang sekiranya kamu berpegang teguh dan mengikuti kedua-duanya , nescaya kamu tidak akan tersesat selama-lamanya. Itulah Al-Quran dan Sunnahku.

Hendaklah orang-orang yang mendengar ucapanku menyampaikan pula kepada orang lain.Semoga yang terakhir lebih memahami kata-kataku dari mereka yang terus mendengar dari ku. Saksikanlah Ya Allah bahawasanya telah aku sampaikan risalah Mu kepada hamba-hamba mu.

Food of the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W

2011-11-08T16:09:00.000+08:00

Barley (Jau)

Good in fever while in a soup form

Dates

The Prophet Muhammad SAW said, a house without dates has no food. It should also be eaten at the time of childbirth.

Figs

It is a fruit from paradise and a cure from piles.

Grapes

The Prophet Muhammad SAW was very fond of grapes - it purifies the blood, provided vigour and health, strengthens the kidneys and clears the bowels.

Honey

Considerred the best remedy for diarrhoea when mixed in hot water. It is the food of foods, drink of drinks and drug of drugs. It is used for creating appetite, strengthening the stomach , eliminating phlegm: as a meat preservative, hair conditioner, eye soother and mouthwash. It is extremely beneficial in the morning in warm water.

Melon

The Prophet Muhammad SAW "none of your women who are pregnant and eat of melon will fail to produce off spring that is good in countenance and good in character"

Milk

The Prophet Muhammad SAW said that milk wipes away heat from the heart just as the finger wipes away sweat from the brow. it strengthens the back, improves the brain, renews vision and drives away forgetfulness.

Mushrooms

The Prophet Muhammad SAW said that mushroom is a good cure for the eyes; it also serves as a form of birth control and arrest paralysis.

Oilve oil

Excellent treatment for skins and hair, delay old age, and treats inflammation of the stomach.

Pomegranate

The Prophet Muhammad SAW said it cleanses you from satan and evil aspirations for 40 days.

Vinegar

As Prophet Muhammad SAW used to eat with olive oil. [That's now a fashion in elite Italian Restaurants]

Water

The Prophet Muhammad SAW said the best drink in this world is water, when you are thirsty drink it by sips and not gulps, gulping produce sickness of the liver."

ISLAM DAN EMAS

2011-11-08T12:30:00.000+08:00

Terbaca satu iklan di laman yang biasa aku pergi setiap hari. Iklan tersebut mengajak orang orang membeli dinar, simpan dan buat untung bla bla bla... apa yang aku nak cakap ialah, aku ni bukan nya expert pun dalam bidang kewangan. Ada la sikit-sikit buat study and research sikit pasal kewangan ni. Bercerita tentang pelaburan emas ni, kita perlu faham dulu apa hukum-hakam berkaitan dengan emas ni. Kena kaji secara mendalam sebelum main terjun je dalam pelaburan emas ni. Bukan apa, perkara yang aku paling concern sekali ialah tentang berkat dan dosa pahala. Siapa yang tak nak jadi kaya. Islam pun tak suruh umatnya jadi miskin, malah kalau kita rajin pergi kuliah sure kita dapat rumuskan Islam menyuruh umatnya jadi kaya. Nanti aku sentuh bab kenapa atau apa kelebihannya jadi muslim kaya.

Ok, balik pada topik pelaburan emas, ramai yang mungkin berminat dan tertarik dengan pelaburan emas ini dengan anggapan bahawa mereka boleh buat duit. Memang betul kalau kena caranya boleh buat duit. Cuma aku nak berpesan, kalau duit banyak pun tapi tak berkat tak guna pun. Kena ingat, satu hari nanti kita akan pergi jugak mengadap Allah. Takut aku bila kenangkan balasan yang akan dikenakan. Pelaburan emas ni akan menyebabkan kita terbabit dengan dosa riba kalau tak dibuat dengan cara yang betul. Jadi fahamkan la dulu hukum hakan yang terlibat. Cuba rujuk kat laman web Ustaz Zaharuddin aku rasa ada artikel berkaitan dengan hukum pelaburan emas ni. Jadi cuba la faham kan dulu. Jangan dok fikir nak jadi kaya aje.

Satu lagi, aku nak sentuh tentang pelaburan emas ni ialah bab "buat untung". Setakat yang kau faham la. Kalau dari segi financial, kekayaan adalah diukur dengan menilai kita punya "Net Worth". Senang cite, kedudukan kewangan kita apabila dinilai dengan mengambil kira kita punya hutang piutang dan harta sebenar atau tunai yang kita miliki. Susah nak buat orang faham. Contoh la, Mr.A ada rumah sebiji harga Rm350k, kereta sebiji, RM100k. Rumah dan kereta hutang dengan bank 30 tahun dan 9 tahun. Mr. A tiada saving @ simpanan cash. Cuma harapkan KWSP je. Gaji tiap-tiap bulan habis dibelanjakan. Bagi orang macam Mr A ni, dia dianggap miskin. Pasal apa rumah dan kereta tu masih hutang dan belum menjadi hak milik mutlak beliau. So, kaitannya ialah kalau kita nak melabur dalam emas, pandangan aku baik beli dan simpan aje. Baru la ianya menjadi harta. Orang kaya ialah orang yang tiada hutang dan mempunyai harta. Jadi buatlah research dulu sebelum main terjun je dalam pelaburan emas. Satu lagi nasihat aku buat diri aku sendiri jangan beli emas cara berhutang.

TOO MUCH MATHS, NOT ENOUGH HISTORY

2011-10-31T11:53:00.001+08:00

Lama tak berblog. Berkursus, so lama la tak bukak email. Bukan apa, punya la lembab celcomnya line, sakit gak hati bila mengenangkan aku dah bayar RM50.00 yuran langganan tapi macam tak berbaloi je. Nak terminate line tu pulak, sayang la pulak rasanya. Pendam je la. Enought with that. Aku baru baca emel yang berlambak dalam inbox. Hari ini terajin la pulak nak baca emel dari Azizi Ali. Aku tertarik la pulak dengan apa yang dia tulis. Jadinya, aku lampirkan untuk renungan diriku dan sesiapa yang nak baca.

Menarik kerana menyentuh bab kewangan. Terus terlintas dalam kepala otak aku pasal apa pelaburan emas yang TO (training officer) aku cakap masa attend kursus baru-baru ni tentang pelaburan emas menggunakan perkhidmatan Ar-Rahnu. Aku setuju dengan pendapat Azizi Ali. Aku pernah dengar pasal satu skim pelaburan emas ni dimana kita gadai emas kemudian dapat duit dari gadaian yang mula-mula sekali tu, gunakan duit tu untuk beli emas. So, bila dah dapat emas, gadaikan pulak emas yang baru dibeli tu untuk dapatkan cash dan kemudian repeat proses yang sama. Lepas tu tunggu masa yang sesuai, tak salah aku masa harga emas naik, jual dan tebus balik. Lebih kurang cam tu la. Nak explain tak pandai tapi aku faham apa yang dimaksudkan. Cumanya bak kata Azizi Ali, apa yang presented atas kertas ni nampak cantik, tapi bukan semua nya boleh diikut kerana situasi dalam dunia sebenar bukannya selalu akan berlaku seperti atas kertas. So, nasihat aku, berhati-hati dan lu pikir la sendiri. Baca dan fahamkan apa yang Azizi Ali cuba sampaikan. Happy reading.

A new coaching client of mine was thinking of remortgaging her current house. She bought the house more than 10 years ago, the amount of her mortgage has dropped while the market value of the property has risen considerably. So now, she wants to take advantage of the situation by taking on a higher loan from another bank, paying off the original loan and yes, have the balance at her disposal. “I can use the extra money as capital for investments so I make more money,” she added gleefully.

“Where did you get the idea of remortgaging the house?” I asked her.

She then showed me a three page worksheet that was given to her at a property seminar she attended. Basically, the numbers in the worksheet illustrated how one can take out the equity from an existing property and then use that money to buy more properties. In summary, she would be able to sail on to financial freedom by taking on multiple loans to buy more and more properties. What’s even more bewitching is that there appears to be no risk at all from the exercise. As she currently lacked capital, she is naturally very excited about the idea as that would give her not only the capital to buy more properties, but also some extra pocket money!

Fortunately, despite her excitement, my client also realized that it was a big move and so wanted to hear my thoughts about the worksheet and the idea behind it.

I took a quick look at the worksheet and saw a couple of errors instantly. In order to develop the worksheet, the author obviously had to make some data assumptions, which by the way is normal when making projections. Unfortunately, in this case, the author assumed a 6 percent mortgage interest for the next 30 years! That’s not all. He also assumed that all the properties would be rented out 12 months each year for the next 30 years! Whoa Nelly! Those are mighty generous assumptions.

We’ve all heard the term ‘garbage in, garbage out.’ Well, this is an example of the term in action. First, anyone can develop such worksheets. Even a kid in school can take out his laptop, run Microsoft Excel, punch in some figures and then dish out some impressive numbers. However, it does not mean the data is correct and more importantly, useful.

It is easy to come out with impressive data that shows the client will make money. To the uneducated and the novices, the data may look impressive, intimidating even. But once you look a little bit deeper, then cracks begin to appear.

For starters, is it sensible that interest rate would remain at a generous 6 percent for 20 years, let alone 30 years? While that figure may sound reasonable today, let me point out that the interest rate for a mortgage 20 years ago was 9.5 percent. Furthermore, the 6 percent figure will look even more absurd once we take into account of the current shaky situation of the world’s financial system and markets.

Coming back to the worksheet, I told my client the truth: Yes, she can make money from taking out the equity from her present house. The idea does hold water but, and this is a big but, it does not necessarily mean that she should do it. Remortgaging the property is the easy part because banks will be more than happy to lend her money. (One of the easiest things to do today is to borrow money – there are plenty of people are out there who are looking for people who want to get into debt!) But she has to be careful when doing so. First, she has to make sure that she can afford to pay off the higher mortgage. Next, she must ensure that she can still do this even when interest rate rises – and they will rise. Third, she has to make sure that she can put the excess money into an investment that will pay a higher return than the interest charged. In short, she has to find an investment that will give her about 10 percent annual return for the next 30 years! As you can see, it is not so easy to find such an investment.

Incidentally, I have seen such worksheets before. Some guy wakes up with a grand idea in his head and then starts punching in data into a table. He enters some formulas, press a button and hey presto, the result is better than what he thought it would be. So, there is a simple way to make money; after all, the table confirms it in black and white.

To be fair, it is not just the average Joe who falls into this trap. Let me bring you back to 1998 when a high-flying firm called Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) dominated the airwaves. LTCM was founded four years earlier by mathematical geniuses and economics Nobel Prize winners, and ran by John Meriwether, a former head of the bond arbitrage group at Salomon Brothers. The firm came up with complex mathematical models that made money by exploiting price discrepancies in multiple-markets: bonds, residential mortgages, interest rate swaps and options. Best of all, their models said that their risk was minimal as the chances of multiple markets failing at the same time was close to zero.

The firm did extremely well in the first two years, posting returns of 43 and 41 percent. In fact, by April 1998, their balance sheet had reached $134 billion!

And then out of the blue, the Russian capital system collapsed in mid-August, causing the government to default on its debts. This caused chaos in the world’s financial markets: stock markets collapsed, credit spreads spiked and equity volatility shot up. This wasn’t supposed to happen according to the models at LTCM. But it happened anyway and in the process, took out LTCM. By the end of August, the firm lost $1.8 billion or 44 percent of its capital. In fact, things went from bad to worse, to the extent that the Federal Reserve Bank quickly organized a bail-out of the firm by 14 Wall Street banks to prevent further meltdowns.

The point of the story is to be careful of fancy mathematical models, charts, tables and worksheets that show how you will be making tons of money while taking minimal risks. The calculations may be correct. However, real life markets do not necessarily behave like in the mathematical models as the brilliant economists at LTCM found out the hard way. It turned out that the models at LTCM were working with just five years of data. If the firm had gone back to 1987 when the world’s stock markets crashed, it would have given them a different answer. So this was a case of too much maths and not enough history.
The lesson for this month? Be careful of tables, charts, worksheets and projections – they can be bad for your financial health

Copyright © Azizi Ali 2011

Note : Artikel diatas adalah hak milik tuan empunya dan diambil dari langganan percuma 'MILLIONAIRESPLANET E-ZINE.' ISSUE #111 - November 2011

LOVE IKEA'S Swedish Meatballs? Here's the Recipe!

2011-10-22T16:58:00.002+08:00

Hari ini aku tiba-tiba je teringat kat meatball IKEA. Aku memang favorite la dengan meatball IKEA ni. Anak aku yang umur 4 tahun pun suka. Dia sorang boleh makan 4 - 5 ketul. Aku memang suka window shopping kat IKEA. Lepas tu makan time memang tak miss dengan meatball ikea.

Aku pun try la cari resipi nak buat meatball IKEA ni. Alih-alih jumpa pulak dengan original resipi. Aku tak tau la sahih ke ke tak resipi ni. Tapi boleh la pakai. Kata blogger tu resipi ni diambil dari cookbook IKEA. So, kat bawah aku cut n paste je la cara masak. Jimat masa sikit. Cuma nak beritahu, dalam resipi tu ada guna PORK, so, pandai-pandai la modified sikit resipi tu. Jangan la ikut pulak bab tu. kalau nak ikut juga. Lu pikir la sendiri.

Aku pun belum cuba lagi. Nanti ada masa boleh la aku cuba. Okay la, selamat mencuba.

IKEA: Swedish Meatball Recipe

(Adapted and re-written from IKEA’s Real Swedish Food Book)

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2/3 lb lean ground beef
• 1/3 lb ground lean pork
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (for frying)
• 1 (10 ounce) can beef gravy
• 1/2 cup 10% cream

Directions:

Sauté onions in first tablespoon of oil until translucent. Set aside and let cool.
Combine breadcrumbs and milk, let soak for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine onions, breadcrumbs, milk egg, meat and seasonings. Mix thoroughly. Form tablespoon of the meat mixture into balls (size of golf-balls).
Over medium heat, fry meatballs in second tablespoon of oil until brown on all sides.
In a small saucepan, combine gravy and cream; heat through but do not boil.
Serve meatballs with gravy, boiled potatoes and Lingonberry preserves.

2011-10-11T10:01:00.000+08:00

Tertarik dengan satu frasa yang aku baca dalam akhbar online,

"Sejarah memberi tahu kita bahawa tamaddun-tamaddun besar dunia – Greek, Farsi, kaum Ad, Thamud, Lut, Firaun dan lain-lain – ranap kerana keruntuhan akhlak."

Aku pun heran la dengan dorang ni, kata nak jadikan subjek sejarah sebagai satu subjek teras/wajib tapi tak nak pulak belajar ikhtibar dari sejarah yang berlaku. Aku tak kata yang aku ni akhlak baik sangat tapi apa yang mampu aku katakan, aku cuba memperbaiki akhlak aku. Teringat aku dengan apa yang pernah aku belajar, salah satu tugas Nabi Muhammad S.A.W dibangkitkan untuk mengajar manusia tentang akhlak. Baik akhlak seseorang tu, maka insyaAllah baik juga la perkara lain.

Jadinya aku nak share satu ilmu yang aku baca melalui buku ni "40 Hadis - Peristiwa Akhir Zaman" susunan Abu Ali Al-Banjarai An-Nadwi. Hadis ke-12. Aku rasa ada kaitan dengan apa yang berlaku dengan keadaan sekarang ni. Aku recommend la pada semua untuk beli dan jadikan rujukan untuk diri sendiri. Tak mahal pun, baru RM6.00 aje. Aku rasa kat kebanyakan kedai buku mesti ada jual. Semoga kita dapat mengambil manfaat darinya.

SIFAT AMANAH AKAN HILANG SEDIKIT DEMI SEDIKIT

H.R. BUKHARI MUSLIM

Daripada Huzaifah bin Al-Yaman ra katanya :"Rasulullah SAW pernah memberitahu kami dua buah hadis (mengenai dua kejadian yang akan berlaku). Yang pertama sudah saya lihat sedang yang kedua saya menanti-nantikannya. Rasulullah SAW memberitahu bahawasanya amanat itu turun ke dalam lubuk hati orang-orang yang tertentu. Kemudian turunlah al-Quran. Maka orang-orang itu lalu mengetahuinya melalui panduan al-Quran dan mengetahuinya melalui panduan as-Sunnah. Selanjutnya Rasulullah SAW menceritakan kepada kami tentang hilangnya amanah, lalu baginda bersabda, "Seseorang itu tidur sekali tidur, lalu diambillah amanah itu dari dalam hatinya, kemudian tertinggallah bekasnya seperti bekas yang ringan sahaja. Kemudian ia tertidur pula, lalu diambillah amanah itu dari dalam hatinya, maka tinggallah bekasnya seperti lepuh di tangan (menggelembung di tangan dari bekas bekerja berat seperti menggunakan kapak atau cangkul). Jadi seperti bara api yang kau gilingkan dengan kaki mu, kemudian menggelembunglah ia dan engkau melihat ia meninggi, padahal tidak ada apa-apa". Di ketika Rasulullah SAW menceritakan hadis ini baginda mengambil sebiji batu kecil (batu kerikil) lalu menggilingkannya dengan kaki baginda.

"Kemudian berpagi-pagi (jadilah) orang ramai berjual beli, maka hampir sahaja tiada ada seorang juga pun yang suka menunaikan amanah, sampai dikatakan orang bahawasanya di kalangan Bani Fulan (di kampung yang tertentu) itu ada seorang yang sangat baik memegang amanah, sangat terpercaya dan orang ramai mengatakan, "Alangkah tekunnya dalam bekerja, alangkah indahnya pekerjaannya, alangkah pula cerdik otaknya. Padahal di dalam hatinya sudah tiada lagi keimanan sekalipun hanya seberat timbangan biji sawi".

"Maka sesungguhnya telah sampai masanya, saya pun tidak memperdulikan manakah di antara kamu semua yang saya hendak bermuhaya'ah (berjual beli). Jikalau ia seorang Islam, maka agamanyalah yang akan mengembalikan kepada ku (maksud agamanyalah yang dapat menahannya dari khianat). Dan jikalau dia seorang Nasrani atau Yahudi, maka pihak yang bertugaslah yang akan mengembalikannya kepada ku (maksudnya jika dia seorang Nasrani atau Yahudi maka orang yang memegang kekuasaan/pemerintahlah yang dapat membantu aku untuk mendapatkan semua hak-hak ku daripadanya). Ada pun pada hari ini maka saya tidak pernah berjual beli dengan kamu semua kecuali dengan Fulan dan Fulan (orang-orang tertentu sahaja)".

Keterangan Hadis

Hadis ini menunjukkan bahawa sifat amanah akan hilang secara beransur-ansur dari kalangan kaum Muslimin, sehinggalah sampai suatu saat nanti orang yang dianggap baik untuk menjaga amanah pun telah khianat juga.

Begitulah gambaran masyarakat kita hari ini. Ramai daripada kita terpedaya oleh seseorang yang pada zahirnya nampak boleh memikul amanah, tetapi sebenarnya ia juga telah berlaku

Steve Jobs, in his own words

2011-10-06T11:41:00.000+08:00

Resources : http://gizmodo.com/

NEW YORK, Oct 6: Apple co-founder and innovator Steve Jobs died after a battle with cancer. Here are some of his most memorable quotes on work and life.

On Apple:

"We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas."

—PBS Documentary, Triumph of the Nerds, 1996

"It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."

—BusinessWeek, 1998

"If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it's worth — and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago."

—Fortune, 1996

"The products suck! There's no sex in them anymore!"

—BusinessWeek, 1997

"Nobody has tried to swallow us since I've been here. I think they are afraid how we would taste."

—Shareholder meeting, 1998

"Pretty much, Apple and Dell are the only ones in this industry making money. They make it by being Wal-Mart. We make it by innovation."

Apple's market share is bigger than BMW's or Mercedes's or Porsche's in the automotive market. What's wrong with being BMW or Mercedes?

—Macworld, 2004

"And boy, have we patented it!"

—Macworld, 2007 (iPhone introduction)

On Bill Gates:

"I wish him the best, I really do. I just think he and Microsoft are a bit narrow. He'd be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger."

—The New York Times, 1997

On PCs:

Playboy: Are you saying that the people who made PC don't have that kind of pride in the product?

"If they did, they wouldn't have made the PC

—Playboy, 1987

On Life:

"I would trade all of my technology for an afternoon with Socrates."

—Newsweek, 2001

"My sex life is pretty good these days, Walt. How's yours?

-AllThingsD D8, 2010

"That's the kind of Porsche that dentists drive"

—As said to Kati Hafner of BusinessWeek when they walked through the Next parking lot, 'The Second Coming of Steve Jobs'

On design:

"The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste. And I don't mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don't think of original ideas, and they don't bring much culture into their products."

—PBS Documentary, Triumph of the Nerds, 1996

"In most people's vocabularies, design means veneer. It's interior decorating. It's the fabric of the curtains of the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service."

When you're a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you're not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You'll know it's there, so you're going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.

—Playboy, 1987

Advice:

"You make some of the best products in the world — but you also make a lot of crap. Get rid of the crappy stuff." to Nike

—As said to Mark Parker, 'The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs'

"Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?"

—As said to John Sculley, 'Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple'

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

—Stanford Commencement Speech, 2005

Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me ... Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful... that's what matters to me.

—The Wall Street Journal, 1993

"I want to put a ding in the universe."

Can you afford it?

2011-10-06T09:59:00.000+08:00

Sources :
Posted on 6 October 2011 - 03:17am

Natalie Shobana Ambrose
INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed Suzie Ormon’s interactive TV segment Can I afford it? is hard hitting. A woman who doesn’t mince words, Suzie will tell participants who have been dreaming of doing or owning something if they can afford it or not. Expenses detailed, savings listed, the dream stated – and within minutes Suzie will scream DENIED, tell you off for lousy budgeting habits or reward you accordingly.

So in Suzie Ormon fashion and in view of tomorrow’s budget revelation, let’s see if Adam, a 25-year-old engineer living at home with his parents, can afford to live independently in Kuala Lumpur.

Adam earns RM5,000 a month. Once he is done with the basic contributions – tax and EPF – our version of superannuation, Adam’s take-home pay a month is slightly more than RM4,000. Now out of that, he needs to eat, clothe and house himself before he sorts out his wheels – just the bare necessities. Will Adam make ends meet?

Now this is a modest budget for someone like Adam who grew up in a middle-class family, enjoyed meals at restaurants, satellite TV, the comforts of living in a house with a small garden and not just room. On his salary and based on this modest budget, Adam lives in continual rising debt each month and has zero savings – nor can he afford a holiday, buy a computer or meet with any accident – hospital bills and car repairs would cost too much.
Furthermore, in order to afford property and the mortgage, he would not be able to eat in order to save for the 10% down payment and lawyer’s fees. With banks offering 30-40 year loans, Adam at 25 should already have a home loan with a 35-year tenure, meaning he would have to work until he was 60 to pay off that loan.
It’s proven that single people end up paying substantially more proportionally towards basic living costs compared to married people. So what happens if Adam gets married, has a child and his wife becomes a homemaker? How will he afford to feed two more mouths, milk formula, diapers, baby clothes, insurance, save for the child’s education, maternity care and the list does go on.

The face of Malaysia’s urban poor has evolved and now includes different segments of society. Imagine if Adam were on a tight budget, what other Malaysians earning less are living without. The experts and politicians say we need to live within our means and save 30% of our income. In Adam’s case, saving RM1,500 is next to impossible unless we cook the books and he stops eating. We can argue that he should take public transport – but our public transport system is not very reliable nor does it connect well – so Adam will be spending more time waiting for the bus that is either too packed or has missed a stop, then heading to the train station, and then taking a cab to work – all of which will cost quite a bit in time also. If Adam works late, or if torrential rains hit, he will be stuck.

Adam should live closer to his office, but the cost of real estate in the city is not at all affordable. We haven’t even discussed issues of safety, work-life balance and the occasional splurge, or say McDonalds.

If we do basic calculations – the cost of a Double Cheeseburger in Malaysia is RM6.55, while it costs US$1 (RM3) in the States. The cost of a whole uncooked chicken in England is £4 (RM20) compared to RM15 here. Now if we take the percentage of wage earned to cost of living, Malaysians bear a very high cost of living. The 2010 Prices and Wages report by Swiss Bank UBS AG states that Malaysians have 33.8% purchasing power compared to New York, and 42% that of London, 31.6% that of Zurich and 33.7% of Sydney. Imagine how much better Adam’s classmates working overseas are doing – and we wonder why the brain drain figures are so high in this country.

Now, how much more can Adam tighten his belt and live within his means if his salary doesn’t allow him to live independently. In the words of Suzie Ormon, Adam has been DENIED living on his own.

Who knows when Adam will be able to afford to live independently, provide for a family and look after his parents. Instead his aging parents who paid for his education so that he wouldn’t have a study loan to service, will have to continue supporting him if the cost of living continues to head upwards and salaries remain as they are.

In view of tomorrow’s budget, I’m glad it’s touted to be one that cares for the people. I would also hope that instead of just pumping more and more money from a deficit budget, greater efforts are concentrated on curbing corruption and frivolous spending, so that the real benefactors of the budget would be the people.

Natalie hopes this budget will live up to its promises and that Adam’s generation will be able to provide like their parents did.

Pandangan aku la kan, taraf hidup kat Malaysia ni memang tinggi. Gaji tak setimpal. Dan paling penting sekali, kekayaan hanya berlegar antara golongan tertentu sahaja. Renung-renungkan la..

Belanjawan 2012: Kesejahteraan Untuk Semua

2011-10-05T17:18:00.000+08:00

Ucapan Ketua Pembangkang

MUQADDIMAH

1. Terima kasih dan tahniah kepada pasukan belanjawan Pakatan Rakyat yang berjaya menghasilkan sebuah dokumen yang lengkap dan menyeluruh, walaupun mereka tidak dibantu oleh perunding dan firma media antarabangsa yang mahal.

2. Keupayaan Pakatan Rakyat menghasilkan sebuah belanjawan menyeluruh yang berlandaskan semangat reformasi rakyat adalah satu mercu tanda kematangan dan kesediaan Pakatan Rakyat menjadi kerajaan persekutuan yang baru. Belanjawan yang bertemakan “Kesejahteraan Untuk Semua” ini lengkap mencerakinkan dengan terperinci unjuran pendapatan, perbelanjaan dan peruntukan untuk program-program nasional yang meniupkan roh kebajikan seperti yang diperjuangkan oleh Pakatan Rakyat.

3. Belanjawan ini akan menjadi penanda aras dan penimbal balik kepada belajawan yang akan diumumkan oleh Perdana Menteri pada 7 Oktober ini. Saya yakin rakyat yang serba matang dan mahir menilai akan membandingkan kedua-dua dokumen dan Insya Allah menguatkan lagi iltizam rakyat menuntut perubahan di negara yang kita cintai.

BAB 1: MAQASSID BELANJAWAN MENGANGKAT KEPERLUAN RAKYAT

4. Proses pembentangan dan meluluskan belanjawan setiap tahun hanya dijadikan rutin oleh Barisan Nasional hingga mengenepikan matlamat sebenar sebuah kerajaan merangka dan membentangkan belanjawan kepada rakyat.

5. Apakah wajar belanjawan hanya dilihat sebagai satu senarai gula-gula yang hendak ditawarkan kepada rakyat beberapa bulan sebelum pilihanraya umum, sedangkan bertahun-tahun sebelum itu rakyat ditindas? Di mana kewarasan sebuah kerajaan apabila fokus setiap belanjawan hanyalah kepada perkara-perkara yang penting kepada golongan kecil niagawan kaya dan kroni-kroni mereka, sedangkan kebajikan rakyat diketepikan?

6. Sebab itu Belanjawan 2012 oleh Pakatan Rakyat mengambil pendekatan yang sangat berbeza. Sementara kita memberi perhatian kepada perkara-perkara makro ekonomi (baik persoalan defisit, pelaburan swasta, angka-angka pertumbuhan, keberdayasaingan ekonomi negara), kita jangan sekali-kali alpa bahawa maqassid perancangan belanjawan adalah untuk mengangkat keperluan rakyat mengatasi yang lain.

7. Makanya, prinsip asas yang menjadi teras kepada Belanjawan 2012 oleh Pakatan Rakyat adalah seperti berikut:

a. Membantu rakyat dalam masa terdekat untuk mengharungi suasana ekonomi yang semakin terhimpit;

b. Menjamin kelangsungan kewangan negara dengan tumpuan khusus untuk mengurangkan defisit;

c. Menambahnilai perbelanjaan negara agar peruntukan benar-benar sampai kepada rakyat dengan memerangi rasuah dan penyelewengan;

d. Memperkasakan keupayaan ekonomi rakyat dalam jangka masa sederhana dan panjang melalui rekayasa latihan teknikal, vokasional dan penggajian yang memartabatkan rakyat; dan

e. Mengukuhkan lagi arus reformasi politik yang menjadi prasyarat dan pendinding dari anasir-anasir yang mahu membolot kekayaan negara untuk mereka dan kaum kerabat mereka sahaja.

8. Oleh yang demikian, Belanjawan 2012 oleh Pakatan Rakyat akan memperuntukkan RM220 bilion berasaskan kepada sasaran untuk mengekang defisit pada kadar 4.4% daripada KDNK. Walaupun jumlah ini melibatkan penjimatan perbelanjaan sebanyak RM14 bilion dari kadar yang dibelanjakan oleh Barisan Nasional, kita yakin melalui pengurusan wang negara yang lebih berhemah, telus, bertanggungjawab dan berkesan, jumlah RM220 bilion ini akan memberi 20% nilai tambah kepada rakyat, berbanding apa yang dibelanjakan oleh Barisan Nasional selama ini.

9. Keseluruhan RM220 bilion ini akan digunakan sebaiknya untuk mengimbangi keperluan membaiki kerangka ekonomi negara yang kian punah di bawah Barisan Nasional dan membela rakyat dalam suasana yang semakin mendesak.

10. Defisit tahun 2011 yang diunjurkan mencecah 6% dari KDNK membayangkan kegagalan Barisan Nasional menghentikan langkauan defisit belanjawan selama 13 tahun berturut-turut akibat ketirisan, rasuah dan penyelewengan. Oleh itu, fokus untuk mengurangkan defisit kepada angka 4.4% telah menjadi satu keperluan mutakhir demi kelangsungan kewangan negara di masa akan datang.

BAB 2: KESEJAHTERAAN UNTUK SEMUA MELALUI PEMBELAAN RAKYAT TERBANYAK

11. Merujuk kepada angka-angka pendapat isi rumah yang terkini, seharusnya kita menginsafi ingatan Allah SWT yang cukup jelas di dalam Surah Al-Hasyr ayat 7 yang bermaksud: “Apa yang Allah kurniakan kepada RasulNya (Muhammad) dari harta penduduk negeri, bandar atau desa dengan tidak berperang, maka adalah ia tertentu bagi Allah, dan bagi Rasulullah, dan bagi kaum kerabat (Rasulullah), dan anak-anak yatim, dan orang-orang miskin, serta orang-orang musafir (yang keputusan). (Ketetapan yang demikian) supaya harta itu tidak hanya beredar di antara orang-orang kaya dari kalangan kamu.”

12. Realitinya di Malaysia sudah jauh menyimpang dari ketetapan ini. Walaupun ada pihak yang mendakwa satu Malaysia ini serupa, hakikatnya negara kita adalah negara yang majmuk kelas ekonominya.

13. Golongan mahakaya (super rich) membolot kekayaan negara dan dipisahkan dari golongan pesara tua dan warga emas yang dihimpit kenaikan harga walhal pencen dan pendapatan mereka semakin mengecil. Anak-anak muda yang memasuki alam pekerjaan terpaksa bertungkus lumus berkongsi rumah dan mengikat perut, sedang anak-anak golongan mahakaya ini seronok melancong dan berbeli belah beg-beg tangan mahal dan cincin permata.

14. Golongan pekerja masih memperjuangkan hak untuk dibayar upah yang bersesuaian dengan kos sara hidup kini dan masih ramai yang upahnya lebih kecil dari garis kemiskinan yang ditetapkan. 35% dari rakyat kita bekerja dalam sektor tidak formal seperti menjaja dan berniaga kecil-kecilan yang tidak mempunyai perlindungan kerja dan imbuhan sosial yang memadai.

15. Statistik-statistik rasmi dari Kerajaan sendiri1 jelas menunjukkan satu Malaysia yang caca merba dan tidak sekata agihan kekayaannya.

16. 40% dari rakyat Malaysia datang dari isi rumah yang pendapatannya kurang dari RM1,500 sebulan. ¾ dari golongan ini adalah Melayu/Bumiputra yang kononnya dibela oleh pemerintah. Lebih mendukacitakan, golongan 20% terkaya di dalam negara (termasuklah golongan mahakaya dan kaum kerabat mereka) membolot 50% kekayaan negara, sedang 40% golongan terbawah hanya menikmati 15% dari kekayaan negara.

17. Semua ini melambangkan kegagalan sebuah pentadbiran yang memusatkan kekayaan kepada segelintir kecil kroni dan kaum kerabat mereka, bertentangan dengan peringatan Allah SWT di dalam Surah Al-Hasyr tadi.

18. Kegilaan itu semakin menjadi-jadi. Terkini kita disajikan dengan berita-berita pengambilan aset-aset syarikat awam oleh entiti yang dikawal oleh beberapa kerat mahakaya dan kaum kerabat mereka, seolah-olah kekayaan sedia ada masih belum mencukupi. Jangan kita lupa bahawa senarai orang-orang terkaya di Malaysia dihiasi dengan kaum-kerabat pemerintah, baik anak-anak mantan mahupun adik kepada Perdana Menteri sedia ada.

19. Kalau anak mantan Perdana Menteri memiliki syarikat perkhidmatan petroleum yang kelima terbesar di dunia selepas penggabungan Kenchana Petroleum dan SapuraCrest yang melibatkan RM12 billion2, apakah tiada anak Malaysia yang cemerlang di dalam bidang-bidang ini selain dari anak mantan Perdana Menteri?

20. Tidak cukup seorang anak mantan Perdana Menteri itu menguasai industri huluan petroleum, anaknya yang seorang lagi pula mahu menguasai industri hilirian petroleum melalui konglomerat San Miguel yang membina kekayaan hasil dari perniagaan arak3.

21. Kebejatan ekonomi sebeginilah yang menyebabkan RM52 bilion saham yang diberikan kepada golongan-golongan atasan Melayu akhirnya hilang begitu sahaja. Sedang mereka bergembira dengan kekayaan mereka, rakyat di bawah merempat mencari sesuap rezeki.

22. Tatkala kadar inflasi terus kekal pada kadar sekitar 3% seperti sekarang, rakyat akan terus terbeban dengan harga barang yang menjadi jenama paling unggul Barisan Nasional.

23. Angka-angka ekonomi negara semuanya rendah-rendah belaka, kecualilah angka-angka kenaikan harga barang. Perbandingan harga barang di antara tahun 2008 dan 20114 menunjukkan bahawa harga gula telah melonjak sebanyak 66%, diikuti dengan harga 1 kilogram ayam bersih yang melonjak 37%, seterusnya harga susu bayi 1.8 kilogram mencecah kenaikan 26%, teh tarik mengalami kenaikan harga 25% dan sebungkus roti putih naik harganya sebanyak 20%.

24. Unjuran angka inflasi5 membayangkan sekiranya keadaan ini berterusan sehingga tahun 2015 akibat kegagalan Barisan Nasional mengawal harga barang, rakyat Malaysia akan menanggung kos barangan harian yang telah melonjak naik 50% lebih mahal dalam tahun 2015 berbanding tahun 2005, sedangkan purata kenaikan gaji dalam masa satu dekad hanyalah 2.6%6.

25. Makanya, tema “Kesejahteraan Untuk Semua” adalah sangat bertepatan kerana Belanjawan 2012 oleh Pakatan Rakyat akan melaksanakan bantuan-bantuan berikut untuk mengalihkan sumber kekayaan negara dari golongan mahakaya kepada program khusus untuk mengurangkan bebanan rakyat:
a. Peruntukan subsidi sebanyak RM22 bilion dikekalkan dengan mengambil kira unjuran harga minyak mentah terkini. Ini dijangka akan mengelakkan sebarang kenaikan harga minyak di dalam tahun 2012.
b. Tumpuan khusus akan diberikan untuk menambahbaik sistem penyampaian subsidi agar ia sampai terus kepada rakyat yang memerlukan, bukannya ditadbir dan tersekat di pertengahan akibat monopoli yang diberikan kepada syarikat tertentu. Ini termasuklah penghapusan subsidi korporat yang selama ini menguntungkan golongan mahakaya dan kroni mereka seperti pemilik-pemilik penjana bebas (IPP), monopoli beras oleh BERNAS, monopoli lesen teksi oleh golongan berkepentingan dan lain-lain.

c. Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat akan melaksanakan bayaran bonus warga emas sebanyak RM1,000 setahun kepada warga emas yang layak, berdasarkan pendapatan kurang dari RM18,000 setahun. Ia dijangka akan menelan belanja RM1.7 bilion setahun tetapi difikirkan perlu untuk membantu golongan warga emas dan pencen yang kuasa beli mereka semakin terhakis akibat kenaikan harga barang.

d. Pakatan Rakyat akan melaksanakan bayaran suri rumah sebanyak RM1,000 dalam tahun 2012 kepada mereka yang layak, untuk mengurangkan bebanan keluarga dan menggalakkan suri rumah menabung melalui Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja. Ini akan membabitkan peruntukan RM2 bilion.

e. Bayaran tambahan (top up payment) kepada isi rumah di dalam kategori miskin tegar untuk memastikan pendapatan bulanan mencecah sekurang-kurangnya RM550. Ini difikirkan wajar sebagai langkah segera membantu golongan terbawah di dalam ekonomi negara.

f. Pada masa yang sama, mengambil kira faktor semasa dan kenaikan harga mutakhir, bayaran kepada penerima bantuan dari Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat akan diselaraskan kepada RM550 sebulan, dari kadar sedia ada sebanyak RM300 sebulan.

BAB 3: MENGEMBALIKAN MARTABAT RAKYAT

26. Pemerintah sedia ada sering berkelakuan angkuh apabila berhadapan dengan kesusahan rakyat. Apabila harga minyak naik mendadak, Perdana Menteri meminta rakyat mengubah gaya hidup sedangkan beliau dan keluarga menghabiskan lebih banyak masa di luar negara atas pelbagai urusan7.

27. Barisan Nasional juga menyalahkan segala-galanya kepada rakyat. Hutang negara yang mencecah kadar tertinggi dalam sejarah pun dek kerana rakyat, ekonomi yang tidak dapat dipulihkan pun kerana rakyat yang kononnya mahu bertongkat. Malah, pengangguran anak-anak kita sekali pun ditohmahkan kepada sikap anak-anak muda yang kononnya terlalu memilih, sedangkan ramai pula yang tidak malu melakukan kerja-kerja bawahan walaupun berijazah.

28. Hubungan rakyat dengan pemerintah sedia ada umpama khadam dengan tuan. Kalau tidak kerana puluhan ribu rakyat turun membanjiri Kuala Lumpur bersama-sama BERSIH2.0, warna kuning sekali pun hendak diharamkan; apatah lagi menerima dengan terbuka tuntutan agar reformasi pilihanraya dijalankan.

29. Hakikatnya, masih ramai rakyat Malaysia yang hidup umpama melukut di tepi gantang. Anggaran Bank Dunia meletakkan bahawa 34% daripada tenaga kerja masih dibayar di bawah kadar RM700 sebulan, bermakna satu pertiga daripada tenaga kerja Malaysia berada di bawah paras kemiskinan.

30. Persoalan gaji juga menjadi isu yang mahu dipadamkan oleh pemerintah sedia ada. Gaji yang bermaruah dan bertepatan dengan keperluan kewangan menampung hidup mengikut kos semasa bukanlah keistimewaan atau kemewahan yang dituntut oleh rakyat. Ia adalah satu konsep hak asasi manusia yang diterima pakai di seluruh dunia; bahawa setiap manusia wajar menerima upah yang membolehkan dia menampung kos asas kehidupan seperti kediaman, makanan, pendidikan dan perubatan.

31. Oleh yang demikian, kemelut tuntutan gaji minima yang berpanjangan dan tidak berkesudahan melambangkan persepsi pemerintah yang memandang rendah kepada rakyat, seolah-olah rakyat menagih dan meminta sedekah. Kuasa untuk menentukan gaji minima terus dipusatkan di tangan Menteri, justeru Akta Majlis Rundingan Gaji Kebangsaan yang dibentangkan baru-baru ini tidak lebih dari helah untuk menutup keengganan Barisan Nasional melaksanakan gaji minima.

32. Tabiat merendah-rendahkan martabat rakyat ini semakin berleluasa sehingga mengenepikan kakitangan perkhidmatan awam. Umum mengetahui bahawa pentadbiran Perdana Menteri lebih gemar menggunakan khidmat perunding luar atau mereka yang dibawa masuk dan dibayar gaji besar daripada tenaga pakar sedia ada di dalam perkhidmatan awam. Kerajaan mengeluh apabila berhadapan dengan masalah gaji perkhidmatan awam, tetapi kontrak ratusan juta kepada perunding asing diluluskan dengan sewenang-wenangnya.

33. Beberapa dasar pemerintah sekarang juga tidak membantu memperkasakan rakyat meningkatkan keupayaan ekonomi mereka. Kegagalan membina sistem latihan teknikal dan vokasional yang baik dan ketiadaan universiti-universiti berorientasikan teknikal yang menekankan kepada skim perintis dengan industri menyebabkan wujudnya jurang di antara kehendak industri dan kemahiran tenaga kerja.

34. Mengambil kira perkara-perkara ini, untuk mengembalikan martabat rakyat dan menghentikan pendekatan yang meremeh temehkan rakyat seperti yang diamalkan pemerintah sedia ada, Belanjawan 2012 oleh Pakatan Rakyat memperuntukkan perkara-perkara berikut:

a. Gaji minima akan diperkenalkan dan dikuatkuasakan. Pakatan Rakyat akan menggunapakai mekanisme penetapan gaji yang terbukti berkesan di negara-negara lain dengan meminda semua akta sedia ada. Gaji minima sebanyak RM1,100 akan disyorkan untuk diangkat dan dikuatkuasakan;

b. Pengenalan gaji minima dijangka akan memanfaatkan 300,000 orang kakitangan awam yang berada di bawah RM1,100;

c. Tangga gaji kakitangan awam akan diselaraskan berikutan pengenalan gaji minima dan melibatkan kenaikan gaji kakitangan awam yang lain mengikut tangga gaji masing-masing;

d. Pakatan Rakyat akan melaksanakan pembayaran elaun pendidik sebanyak RM500 sebulan bagi setiap orang guru seperti yang dijanjikan di dalam Buku Jingga;

e. Penyelarasan gaji kakitangan awam berikutan pengenalan gaji minima dan janji Buku Jingga akan melibatkan peruntukan tahunan sebanyak RM5.9 bilion;

f. Pakatan Rakyat akan menghentikan serta-merta kecenderongan dan amalan menggunapakai tenaga perunding dalam proses keputusan kerajaan seperti amalan sekarang dan mengembalikan pengaruh dan kedudukan kakitangan awam dalam proses kerajaan;

g. Peruntukan tambahan RM1.3 bilion untuk menambahbaik skim latihan vokasional dan teknik di semua peringkat termasuk naiktaraf kursus ijazah sedia ada supaya berorientasikan pendidikan universiti teknikal;

h. Peruntukan tambahan RM1 bilion untuk perumahan awam yang akan dipacu melalui perkongsian pintar bersama-sama dengan kerajaan-kerajaan negeri;

i. Pelaksanaan skim “Bina dan Jual” secara berperingkat bermula dengan skim perumahan awam untuk memastikan tiada rakyat Malaysia yang teraniaya akibat projek perumahan terbengkalai; dan

j. Penganugerahan lesen-lesen secara terus kepada rakyat dan pemohon dengan membatalkan sistem payung dan konsesi yang digunapakai; bermula dengan pemberian lesen teksi secara terus kepada pemandu-pemandu teksi.

BAB 4: MENJAMIN KELANGSUNGAN KEWANGAN NEGARA

35. Laporan Bank Negara Malaysia yang terkini bertarikh 30 September 2011, berdasarkan angka hutang negara setakat suku kedua 2011 menunjukkan jumlah hutang negara telah mencecah RM437 bilion. Jika unjuran KDNK bagi 2011 dibuat berdasarkan pertumbuhan 5%, maka kadar keberhutangan negara telah mencecah 53% dari KDNK negara. Pada tahun 2007, kadar ini hanyalah 42% dari KDNK negara.

36. Kadar keberhutangan rakyat Malaysia juga merunsingkan. Jumlah hutang oleh isi rumah Malaysia telah mencecah RM577 bilion pada akhir 2010, iaitu 77% dari KDNK sedangkan pada tahun 1997, ia hanyalah 33% dari KDNK. Maknanya, di bawah pentadbiran Menteri-menteri Kewangan yang kebetulannya semuanya Perdana Menteri sejak tahun 1998, rakyat Malaysia terpaksa berhutang lebih sehingga kadar keberhutangan meningkat sekali ganda dalam masa 13 tahun sahaja.

37. Keadaan diburukkan lagi dengan kadar defisit yang berpanjangan sejak mantan-mantan Perdana Menteri dan Perdana Menteri sekarang memegang tampuk perbendaharaan negara. Defisit negara diunjurkan mencecah 6% bagi tahun 2011, jauh tersimpang dari janji Perdana Menteri untuk mengurangkan defisit ke kadar 5.2% seperti yang dibentangkan di dalam belanjawan dan Rancangan Malaysia Kesepuluh.

38. Malaysia tidak memerlukan perunding ekonomi antarabangsa yang mahal-mahal untuk memahami ancaman defisit dan hutang kepada kelangsungan kewangan dan kestabilan negara.

39. Rentetan krisis kewangan di Eropah dan Amerika Syarikat secara jelas mengajar kita bahawa negara-negara yang tata kelolanya lemah, berbelanja berlebihan melalui hutang dan disalahtadbir ekonominya adalah negara-negara yang paling terkesan apabila berlaku kejutan ekonomi dunia.

40. Malangnya, apabila ini berlaku, rakyatlah yang menjadi mangsa dan terpaksa menanggung beban pelbagai tindakan susulan yang diambil.

41. Oleh yang demikian, tumpuan untuk mengekang defisit sewajarnya menjadi tumpuan utama agar kita berjaya menghentikan kitaran memusnahkan akibat tabiat berhutang yang diamalkan Barisan Nasional selama ini.

42. Saya juga ingin menegaskan bahawa persoalan defisit bukanlah persoalan melebarkan jaringan percukaian agar lebih ramai rakyat membayar cukai. Usaha mengekang defisit perlu ditumpukan kepada usaha mengawal perbelanjaan dan mewujudkan tata kelola kewangan terlebih dahulu; berbanding sikap Barisan Nasional yang cepat melatah untuk mengenakan cukai baru seperti Cukai Barangan dan Jualan (GST).

43. Mengambil kira keperluan untuk memulihkan asas kewangan negara dan menjamin kelangsungan kewangan negara, Belanjawan 2012 oleh Pakatan Rakyat akan melaksanakan perkara-perkara berikut:

a. Memotong belanjawan Perdana Menteri sebanyak RM10 bilion dengan mengembalikan peruntukan ini kepada kementerian-kementerian yang berkenaan dan mengurangkan kecenderongan berbelanja berlebihan oleh Perdana Menteri;

b. Sasaran mengekang defisit yang drastik iaitu pada kadar 4.4% bagi tahun 2012, berbanding sasaran-sasaran yang menyimpang sebelum ini;

c. Dividen dari PETRONAS diunjurkan pada kadar RM26 bilion sahaja, iaitu RM4 bilion lebih rendah dari amalan semasa Barisan Nasional walaupun keuntungan PETRONAS dijangka melonjak naik dalam tahun 2012 akibat harga minyak mentah yang tinggi. Ini bertujuan memastikan PETRONAS mempunyai sumber yang mencukupi untuk berkembang dan menjamin masa depan negara;

d. Penjualan lesen import (AP) akan dibuat melalui proses lelongan yang dijangka akan menambah pendapatan negara sebanyak RM1.2 bilion;

e. Pendekatan perolehan kerajaan akan dipinda untuk mengamalkan tender terbuka dengan jaminan skim-skim khas untuk Melayu/Bumiputra dan golongan-golongan yang memerlukan diperkenalkan bagi melatih usahawan-usahawan baru berteraskan kebolehan dan merit;

f. Menyemak kembali kontrak-kontrak pembelian senjata oleh Kementerian Pertahanan untuk memastikan nilai tambah kepada strategi dan keperluan pertahanan negara;

g. Tumpuan kepada memaksimakan pendapatan negara dengan mengutip hutang-hutang, tunggakan dan penyelewengan membabitkan dana dan aset negara; dan

h. Mengembalikan cukai-cukai eksais dan duti yang dibatalkan oleh Perdana Menteri ke atas barang-barang mewah seperti beg tangan, seluar dalam berjenama dan lain-lain atas pertimbangan kategori barangan ini hanya digunakan oleh golongan mewah. Maka sewajarnya cukai yang berpatutan disumbangkan untuk memperkemaskan kewangan negara.

BAB 5: MEMBINA KEANJALAN DAN DAYA SAING EKONOMI

44. Ekonomi negara perlu beralih kepada sektor bernilai tinggi untuk menambah pendapatan rakyat dan negara. Model ekonomi kos rendah yang banyak menggunapakai tenaga asing yang murah sebenarnya merompak rakyat Malaysia dari segi peluang ekonomi. Saban tahun, pekerja-pekerja asing juga menghantar puluhan bilion wang ringgit keluar dari Malaysia.
45. Niagawan-niagawan yang terlalu mempertahankan model ekonomi seperti ini sebenarnya mengambil subsidi dari rakyat Malaysia kerana keuntungan mereka adalah hasil dari menidakkan rakyat Malaysia dari peluang pekerjaan pada gaji yang munasabah
46. Daya saing ekonomi negara juga memerlukan penglibatan lebih tinggi golongan wanita untuk merealisasikan potensi ekonomi mereka. Pakatan Rakyat mensasarkan penglibatan wanita dalam tenaga kerja mencecah 55% menjelang 2015, berbanding kadar 43% sekarang.
47. Kita juga perlu merubah struktur ekonomi yang mempertahankan dan mengkayakan beberapa kerat mahakaya melalui konsesi-konsesi yang meningkatkan kos operasi dan perniagaan. Pertembungan di antara sektor swasta dan syarikat milik kerajaan juga perlu dikurangkan untuk mengembalikan kerancakan pelaburan swasta dalam ekonomi negara.

48. Oleh yang demikian, Belanjawan 2012 oleh Pakatan Rakyat mencadangkan perkara-perkara berikut:

a. Menubuhkan Suruhanjaya Perjanjian Awam Negara untuk menilai kembali konsesi-konsesi yang tidak adil untuk menghentikan herotan kos operasi dan perniagaan yang ditanggung oleh rakyat dan niagawan;

b. Meminda Akta Persaingan 2011 supaya turut meliputi sektor-sektor penyiaran, telekomunikasi, tenaga dan sektor bermonopoli lain untuk memecahkan monopoli;

c. Sasaran pengurangan pekerja asing yang jelas menjelang 2015 mengikut sektor ekoran pengenalan gaji minima; dan

d. Elaun penjagaan anak sebanyak RM1,000 setahun kepada ibu-ibu yang layak untuk menggalakkan penyertaan lebih ramai wanita di dalam tenaga kerja; dipadankan dengan pelaburan kerajaan untuk membina pusat penjagaan kanak-kanak yang menepati piawaian.
BAB 6: KESEJAHTERAAN SEKATA DAN SEADILNYA

49. Pemusatan sumber dan kawalan kewangan yang keterlaluan kepada Kerajaan Pusat menindas kerajaan-kerajaan negeri sehingga mewujudkan jurang ekonomi yang luas dintara wilayah-wilayah, terutamanya di antara Sabah, Sarawak dan negeri-negeri di Pantai Barat.

50. Oleh yang demikian, tumpuan yang jelas perlu diberikan untuk mempercepatkan pembangunan di wilayah-wilayah ini terutamanya pembinaan infrastruktur termasuklah jaringan lebuhraya-lebuhraya yang menghubungi seluruh Sabah dan Sarawak.

51. Konsep perkongsian sumber dan tanggungjawab kerajaan persekutuan dan negeri-negeri juga perlu dikaji semula untuk memastikan kebertanggungjawaban dan kepakaran pentadbiran dipadankan dengan sumber kewangan yang bertepatan.

52. Mengambil kira perkara-perkara ini, Belanjawan 2012 oleh Pakatan Rakyat memutuskan perkara-perkara berikut:

a. Pindaan kepada Akta Geran Kapita 2002 untuk beralih dari mekanisme bayaran tetap seperti sekarang kepada prinsip formula berdasarkan faktor-faktor seperti sumbangan ekonomi, keperluan pembangunan, pendapatan rakyat dan kedudukan sosio ekonomi setiap negeri;

b. Peruntukan tambahan sebanyak RM3.6 bilion untuk pembangunan luar bandar; dan

c. Peruntukan khas sebanyak RM100 juta untuk program-program pembersihan dan pengindahan desa di seluruh negara.

BAB 7: MENGUKUHKAN ARUS REFORMASI RAKYAT

53. Semua perancangan ekonomi yang dibuat hanyalah kekal menjadi diskusi akademik kecuali disertakan dengan iltizam untuk melaksanakan reformasi politik dan pentadbiran.

54. Suasana yang kondusif akan diwujudkan yang secara langsung membolehkan perubahan-perubahan ekonomi berlaku bila mana sistem pentadbiran dan dokongan adalah telus, amanah, bertanggungjawab dan berasaskan kerangka tata kelola yang baik.

55. Akhirnya, perbezaan ketara di antara Belanjawan 2012 oleh Pakatan Rakyat yang mengangkat Kesejahteraan Untuk Semua, dengan belanjawan yang akan diumumkan oleh Perdana Menteri adalah dari segi siapa yang boleh melaksanakan reformasi-reformasi ekonomi ini dengan berkesan.

56. Sebab itu kita tidak boleh lari dari pengajaran Kitab al-Muqaddimah oleh Ibn Khaldun, yang antara lain menggambarkan kemusnahan apabila pimpinan kerajaan bergelumang dengan “salah laku, buruk akhlak, ketidakikhlasan dan tipu daya untuk mengaut kekayaan. Hati mereka memikirkan dan mencari jalan untuk menggunakan semua helah bagi tujuan itu. Akibatnya rakyat pun turut terheret dengan penipuan, perjudian, kecurian dan riba”.

57. Rakyat berhak mempersoalkan keikhlasan dan komitmen Barisan Nasional untuk menjalankan reformasi – baik reformasi politik, ekonomi atau sosial kerana rekod caca merba dan tipu daya mereka yang bergantung sepenuhnya kepada kepercayaan mereka bahawa rakyat mudah lupa. Sebab itu Perdana Menteri mengumumkan pemansuhan Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri tetapi kemudiannya menyebut pula akta gantian – maknanya perkara yang sama, Cuma sanggul dan cincin yang berbeza sebagai hiasan.

58. Dalam kehangatan menghadapi Pilihanraya Umum ke-13, rakyat juga tidak boleh alpa dengan pelbagai laporan dan bukti yang mempersoalkan ketulusan dan integriti daftar pemilih. Kalau selama ini kita percaya pelbagai helah digunakan untuk membenarkan pengundi hantu merosakkan amalan demokrasi di negara ini, pengesahan terbaru mengenai pemberian hak mengundi kepada warga negara Bangladesh mengukuhkan lagi persepsi rakyat bahawa Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya adalah tidak telus.

59. Oleh yang demikian, seluruh rancangan ekonomi perlu dijalankan seiringan dengan proses reformasi politik dan pentadbiran. Belanjawan 2012 oleh Pakatan Rakyat akan melaksanakan perkara-perkara berikut untuk mengukuhkan lagi arus reformasi rakyat:

a. Melaksanakan sepenuhnya janji-janji di dalam Buku Jingga termasuk pemansuhan Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri, akta-akta bersabit media dan percetakan, Akta Rahsia Rasmi dan Akta Universiti dan Kolej Universiti;

b. Membentangkan Akta Pemulihan Demokrasi seperti yang dicadangkan Pakatan Rakyat dalam tahun 2011 untuk memansuhkan semua peruntukan undang-undang yang bertentangan dengan amalan demokratik;

c. Melaksanakan serta-merta semua tuntutak BERSIH 2.0;

d. Merombak Jabatan Perdana Menteri dengan menaiktaraf jabatan-jabatan bersabit tata kelola dan pertanggungjawab nasional seperti SPR, SPRM, Biro Pengaduan Awam dan lain-lain supaya bertanggungjawa terus kepada Parlimen;

e. Pengenalan laporan setengah tahun perbelanjaan dan prestasi kewangan negara yang dibentangkan ke Parlimen bersama-sama dengan laporan Ketua Audit Negara; dan

f. Pembentukan tujuh Jawatankuasa Parlimen untuk membahaskan belanjawan di peringkat Jawatankuasa secara terperinci.

PENUTUP

60. Malaysia adalah sebuah negara yang dirahmati dan diberkati. Rakyatnya telah membuktikan bahawa semua cabaran yang getir boleh diatasi bersama melalui muafakat, persefahaman dan hormat-menghormati.

61. Belanjawan 2012 oleh Pakatan Rakyat melihat rakyat sebagai aset pertama negara dan sewajarnya diangkat martabat rakyat untuk sama-sama menyumbang kepada kesejahteraan semua. Rakyat adalah tuan punya negara ini, rakyat bukannya khadam atau pekerja yang membanting tulang menagih ehsan pemerintah atau golongan mahakaya.

62. Belanjawan 2012 ini juga memberi gambaran sebuah negara yang berbeza di bawah Pakatan Rakyat. Berbeza ekonominya, rancak proses demokrasinya dan telus pentadbirannya.

63. Saya memohon doa supaya Belanjawan 2012 ini memberi peluang untuk semua pihak memainkan peranan bersama-ama membawa Malaysia ke tempat yang lebih sejahtera, lebih aman dan lebih adil.

64. Sekian, terima kasih.

Suami dan facebook isteri

2011-10-04T09:20:00.001+08:00

Suami dan facebook isteri

http://ilmudanulamak.blogspot.com

Soalan: Salam ustaz, saya seorang suami. Saya amat berbesar hati sekiranya ustaz dapat memberikan saya jawapan dan penjelasan atas soalan-soalan saya di bawah:

1. Sekiranya seorang isteri mempunyai akaun jaringan sosial seperti facebook, yahoo messenger, email peribadi dan seumpamanya, patutkah seorang isteri tersebut memberikan akses kepada akaun akaun tersebut kepada suaminya agar dapat berkongsi sama melihat kandungan, rakan, gamabr, nota, korespondences yang terdapat di dalamnya?

2. Haruskah seorang isteri berkongsi alamat email peribadi kepada lelaki lain yang bukan muhrim walaupun atas dasar berkawan?

3. Haruskah seorang isteri menerima tawaran atau panggilan untuk mejadi kawan/sahabat dari lelaki yang bukan muhrim melalui jaringan social atau email seperti diatas?

4. Salahkah seorang suami meminta seorang isteri meberitahu suaminya sekiranya si isteri ada menerima panggilan atau tawaran dari lelaki lain untuk menjadi sahabat atau rakan dari jaringan social atau email?

5. Sekiranya si isteri tidak bersetuju dengan nasihat dan pandangan suami atas perkara-perkara diatas, apakah yang patut dilakukan oleh si suami?

6. Adakah seorang suami itu bersikap terlalu cemburu kepada isterinya sekiranya si suami berpandangan sedemikian?

Wassalam

Jawapan:

1. Wajib suami menjaga ahli keluarga (isteri dan anak-anak) dari perkara yang boleh memabawa mereka kepada dosa yang akhirnya membawa ke neraka. Firman Allah; “Wahai orang-orang beriman, selamatkanlah diri kamu dan ahli keluarga kamu dari api neraka” (Surah at-Tahrim, ayat 6). Di antara yang dipesan oleh Rasululllah ialah berhati-hati dalam memilih kawan sebagaimana sabda baginda ; “Seseorang itu berada di atas agama kawannya, maka hendaklah setiap dari kamu memerhati dengan siapa dia berkawan” (HR Imam Abu Daud dan at-Tirmizi dari Abu Hurairah. Menurut at-Tirmizi; hadis ini hasan). Facebook adalah jaringan kawan-kawan dan kenalan, maka suami mempunyai hak untuk memantau dengan siapa isteri dan anak-anaknya berhubungan demi membolehkannya melaksanakan kehendak ayat dan hadis tadi.

2. Suami tidak boleh terlalu menyekat isteri dari bergaul dengan orang sekeliling terutama berhubungan dengan keluarga dan rakan-rakan wanita yang solehah. Namun suami wajib menegah isteri dari terlibat dengan hubungan yang dilarang agama seperti hubungan dengan lelaki yang bukan mahram tanpa ada keperluan, bergaul denagn wanita-wanita fasik (yang tidak menjaga agama), bertandang ke tempat maksiat atau yang mendorong kepada maksiat. Suami mempunyai hak untuk menegah isteri dari terlibat dalam pergaulan sedemikian dan ia termasuk dalam kewajipan mencegah munkar (atau menutup ruang kepada mungkar) dengan kuasa yang dimiliki. Sabda Nabi; “Sesiapa dari kamu melihat kemungkaran, hendaklah ia mengubahnya dengan tangannya. Jika tidak mampu, dengan lidah. Jika tidak mampu, dengan hati dan ia adalah selemah-lemah iman” (HR Imam Muslim dari Abi Sa’id al-Khudri). Menurut ulamak; antara maksud mencegah dengan tangan ialah menggunakan kuasa yang ada untuk mengubah kemungkaran. Dinisbah kepada keluarga, bapa atau suami adalah orang yang berkuasa ke atas ahli-ahli keluarga.

3. Syariat Islam amat mengambil berat hubungan antara lelaki dan perempuan yang ajnabi (yakni yang tiada hubungan mahram atau hubungan suami-isteri) di mana ia menyempitkan hubungan dan pergaulan antara keduanya hanya kepada keperluan sahaja (bukan kebebasan). Ini kerana kebebasan akan mendorong kepada zina. Ini sebagaimana kata Nabi; “Tidak berduaan seorang lelaki dan seorang wanita melainkan syaitan akan menjadi orang ketiga” (HR Imam at-Tirmizi dari Ibnu ‘Umar). Jadi, apabila seorang lelaki dan wanita bebas berhubung dan bercating, syaitan akan membisikkan kepada setiap mereka dan menimbulkan ghairah dan seronok, lalu ingin bertemu dan akhirnya terjerumuslah ke dalam maksiat sekalipun telah bersuami. Kejadian ini tidaklah asing lagi hari ini.

4. Islam tidaklah menyekat kebebasan umatnya, namun Islam memberi peringatan; kebebasan yang terlalu luas akan menjahanamkan. Oleh itu suami perlu mengimbangi kehidupan keluarganya antara kebebasan dan sekatan. Jangan memberi kebebasan tanpa batasan dan jangan pula terlalu mengongkong. Terbaik ialah pertengahan. Suami boleh membenarkan, tetapi pada masa yang sama perlu bertegas dalam perkara tertentu. Sebagai contoh, bila isteri minta nak berlaman sosial, suami menjawab; “Boleh, tetapi saya hanya benarkan dengan wanita sahaja dan jika lelaki, saya hanya benarkan dengan keluarga sahaja”.

5. Sikap cemburu suami jika berasas, itu adalah tanda iman. Namun cemburu tanpa berasas, itu adalah tanda penyakit hati. Sabda Nabi –sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam-; “Cemburu ada dua; satunya disukai Allah dan satu lagi dibenci Allah. Cemburu jika berpunca dari keraguan/kegusaran, ia disukai Allah. Namun jika tidak datang dari sebarang keraguan, ia dibenci Allah” (HR Imam Ahmad, at-Thabrani dan al-Hakim dari ‘Uqbah bin ‘Amir. Menurut as-Suyuti; hadis ini soleh. Lihat; al-Jami’ as-Saghier, hadis no. 5783). Menurut ulamak; maksud cermburu tanpa keraguan ialah cemburu buta, yang timbul dalam hati tanpa sebarang sebab iaitu semata-mata buruk sangka dari suami terhadap isteri atau dari isteri terhadap suami (Faidhul-Qadier).

Di dalam hadis, Rasulullah bersabda; “Tidak akan masuk syurga lelaki yang dayus” (HR Imam at-Tayalisi dari ‘Ammar). Maksud dayus ialah; lelaki yang hilang perasaan cemburu terhadap nilai dirinya di mana ia tidak kesah siapa lelaki yang bersama dengan isteri atau anak perempuannya, dengan siapa mereka keluar dan ia tidak mengambil berat akhlak dan tingkah laku mereka (al-Fiqh ‘Ala al-Mazahib al-Arba’ah). Sabda Nabi juga; “Tiga manusia akan diharamkan Allah dari syurga:

1. Orang yang ketagih arak

2. Orang yang menderhakai dua ibu-bapanya

3. Lelaki yang dayus, iaitu yang berdiam diri atau menyetujui perbuatan zina yang di kalangan ahli keluarganya.

(HR Imam Ahmad dari Ibnu ‘Umar. Hadis Soheh. Al-Jami’ as-Saghier, no. 3503)

Wallahu a'lam.

Rujukan:

1. Faidhul-Qadier, Imam an-Minawi, Syarah hadis no. 5783.

2. Fatawa Dar al-Ifta’ al-Misriyyah, 10/172.

3. Al-Fiqh ‘Ala al-Mazahib al-Arba’ah, Syeikh Abd Rahman al-Jazairi, juz. 5.

Don’t let revenue-generating taxes affect business activities, investment

2011-09-26T09:05:00.001+08:00

Monday September 26, 2011
Comment by Kang Beng Hoe

WHEN Jean Baptist Colberg, the Finance Minister in the reign of Louise XIV remarked “The art of taxation consist in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing,” he could hardly have been more prescient.

His modern day contemporaries are indeed finding that the practice of the art is infinitely more challenging than it was to him then.

What we find today is an unprecedented display of fiscal malaise spread across the western world's erstwhile “advanced” economies all grappling with large deficits, steep debts, wide unemployment and struggling businesses.

Some are tottering; the whole eurozone, as the Economist puts it, is in “intensive care.”

In the midst of all these, policy makers of all political hues are unable to agree on whether to cut spending, reign in borrowings or raise taxes. None are obvious choices but all are difficult and unpleasant ones.

Raising taxes on unlikely constituents appears to be among the few remaining options being considered.

Thus President Obama's quest to raise taxes by curtailing existing tax breaks, is strictly not plucking new feathers but it has not precluded considerable “hissing” from his opposition Republican lawmakers. His recent proposal to impose the “Buffet Tax,” after Warren Buffet suggested it on those earning US$1mil or more is a prime example of specific constituent, targeting, on those able to pay without undue hissing.

In the United Kingdom, David Cameron continues to be criticised for retaining the 50% rate for top earners; the voices of dissent include those of his senior colleagues from his own party.

Tobin Tax

More worrying for Cameron is the proposal by France and Germany to introduce a tax on financial transactions. This “Tobin Tax,” to be voted on in 2012, if passed will hit all banks in the European Union (EU) with the greatest burden falling on London, the leading global financial centre. Will banks there move out since they would be unable to compete with those in say Hong Kong or Tokyo? That would be the major concern.

Italy has been criticised by the EU Commission for not coming out with new taxes to reduce its deficit; its proposal to put more efforts into combating tax avoidance and evasion is not considered appropriate.

Against this backdrop, what options are available to our Finance Minister as he ponders his budget strategy to be revealed soon?

While the Malaysian economy is not in the same dire state as those mentioned, the Government's commitment to further reducing its deficit position means that finding ways to raise taxes remains a relevant policy objective. However raising taxes is not without its constraints; can those called upon to pay bear the burden without hardship? Will businesses continue to operate profitably and grow? These are legitimate concerns of the Government.

Prepaid saga

We have just seen an instance of this exemplified by the recent saga involving service tax on pre-paid cards. Here the Government has urged the telcos to defer passing the tax to consumers even though the move will result in an additional RM250mil going into the tax coffers. This is because by bearing the tax, the telcos had treated the 6% tax as their operating cost and since the corporate tax rate is 25%, the tax effect of this cost is a quarter of 6%. The service tax paid on the pre-paid cards amounts to a billion ringgit.

It is not difficult to surmise that indirect tax increases are unlikely to be on the cards if the plight of the consuming public is a concern. The exception could be the sin taxes (levies on tobacco and alcoholic products); but here industry sources will point to the fact that higher taxes would exacerbate smuggling and criminal activities. Then again with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) pending, increasing indirect taxes would be moving in the wrong direction.

In the area of corporate tax, the expectation is for the rate to be lowered to remain competitive. But this can only happen when GST comes on stream. We collect more from corporate taxes and considerably less from taxes on individuals. This is in contrast with the developed economies where tax collected from individuals far exceeds that of companies.

Will our Finance Minister do what Obama tried to do by scaling back tax breaks or incentives? This is certainly an option but one which is not open ended. In other words, the attempt to claw back tax revenue should not be at the expense of dampening business activities or investments.

Here is where the problem lies. Perversely, the most amount of tax will come from incentives which are popular and widely used. The reinvestment allowance incentive is a case in point. Any move to withdraw this must take into account the potential loss of further investments and their multiplier effect.

One tax, which seems to be an aberration in its current state, is the Real Property Gains Tax. It started life not as a revenue generating tax but as a measure to curb speculation. It is doing neither and it may be timely to call on its tax-generating function once more.

● The writer is executive director of TAXAND MALAYSIA Sdn Bhd, a member firm of TAXAND, the first global organisation of independent tax firms.

Taxes – between idealism and realism

2011-09-26T09:02:00.003+08:00

Saturday September 24, 2011

By CECILIA KOK
cecilia_kok@thestar.com.my

Deficits mean future tax increases, pure and simple US politician and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul

DON'T worry, that's unlikely to be the case for Malaysia yet, at least not in Budget 2012.

It is just part of an annual ritual to put the country's tax system under scrutiny, as the budget season approaches. Tax, after all, is a constant struggle between the Government and its people and private businesses operating in its economy, as the Governments always seek to grow its income, and most of the time, it will be at the expense of the latter group.

With expectations running high for “populist” measures in the upcoming budget, the question in many people's mind is whether a reduction in income tax is in the offing. If not, what other goodies could the Government possibly offer vis-vis its need to raise revenue and cut expenses in order to trim its deficits?

Tax experts share their views with StarBizWeek on what is to be expected in the budget and what elements within the current tax system need to be revised.

Simplify, simplify, simplify

First things first simplifying the country's tax system should be a top priority of the Government, according to tax consultants. The purpose is to improve revenue collection.

“There is an urgent need to conduct a comprehensive review of existing tax laws with simplification of the legislation as the basic objective,” argues PricewaterhouseCoopers Taxation Services Sdn Bhd (PwC) tax leader and senior executive director Khoo Chuan Keat.

“Complex tax laws always lead to higher compliance costs. And the more complex the tax system, the higher the incentive for taxpayers to resort to tax-evasion schemes,” Khoo explains.

KPMG Tax Services Sdn Bhd executive director Nicholas Crist concurs. He says a simplification of the tax system would not only help reduce compliance costs, but also promote administrative efficiency, while allowing the Government to focus on enforcement activities to enhance revenue collection.

Among the areas that need to be simplified, according to Crist, are the criteria for corporations to qualify for group loss relief and capital allowances claim, and the filing of tax return by individuals.

Crist also thinks that it is timely for the Government to consider redrafting old tax legislations such as the Malaysian Stamp Act 1949.

“The language used when drafting the original legislation over 60 years ago may not be so relevant in today's context and may consequently lead to confusion in interpretation,” he explains.

BDO Malaysia head of tax advisory David Lai, on the other hand, hopes there will be a convergence of accounting and tax treatments.

“Currently, some companies have to deal with many adjustments in the tax computation as tax is calculated based on historical cost, while IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) require the application of fair value,” he says.

Malaysia's corporate tax rate currently stands at 25%, which is on the high side compared with Hong Kong's 16.5% and Singapore's 17%, but more competitive compared with the Philippines, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand's corporate tax rates of around 30%.

While a cut in corporate tax rate is desired to further enhance Malaysia's competitiveness, tax experts concur that such measure is unlikely to be introduced in the upcoming budget, given the Government's commitment to cut its fiscal deficit, amid an absence of new sources of revenue such as the goods and services tax (GST)

Corporate tax to remain status quo?

Lai hopes there will be a
convergence of accounting
and tax treatments.

“Corporate tax represents over 30% of tax revenues. Any reduction will definitely have a significant impact if there were no new sources of income for the Government,” Lai explains.

Lai hopes there will be a convergence of accounting and tax treatments.

In such a scenario, Ernst & Young (E&Y) Malaysia partner and tax leader Yeo Eng Ping points out that the Government's coffers will come under tremendous pressure. Hence, any change in income tax, she argues, will only materialise when the Government implements the long-awaited GST.

All is not lost, however, if the Government could extend further incentives and reliefs to businesses to reduce their burden. And that could well turn out to be a win-win situation, as a “lower effective tax rate”, says Crist, will improve business competitiveness and encourage the private sector to continue investing in the economy.

Tax experts, nevertheless, emphasise that tax incentives given to businesses should be more focused on activities that can help Malaysia move towards a high-income and knowledge-based economy by 2020. These include key industries targeted in the National Key Economic Areas such as oil and gas, palm oil, financial services, tourism, communication, content and infrastructure, education and healthcare services.

“Incentives and reliefs should be extended to research and development activities and acquisition of intellectual property, for instance, as well as to multinational corporations to set up businesses in our country as that would help expand our skilled workforce and facilitate the transfer of knowledge,” Lai says.

“Revamping our tax incentive regime by curtailing incentives given to lower value-added activities would generate additional tax revenue, while promoting high value-added activities that would create profound economic spin-offs and eventually result in higher tax revenue for the Government,” Deloitte KassimChan Tax Services Sdn Bhd managing director Yee Wing Peng says.

Less burden on individuals?

Even as the Government has promised a budget that will help reduce the financial burden of the rakyat, tax experts do not think it signals a significant change to the progressive tax rates on individual income.

The highest income bracket group, though, would likely see its tax rate reduced from the present 26% to 25% to be in line with the prevailing corporate tax rate in the country.

Over time, Malaysia's individual income tax structure still needs to be revised.

PwC's Khoo laments that the current structure has narrow tax bands and steep increases between each progressive rate. “The increase in each tax rate should be more gradual and the band should be considerably broadened to make our personal taxes more competitive in attracting talents,” he argues.

While any significant change in the personal income tax rate is not expected to take place, tax experts believe the Government would compensate individual taxpayers through higher reliefs.

“From the perspective of the man on the street, the expansion of individual tax reliefs will be heartening news as that could help alleviate the burden of rising living costs,” Crist says.

Experts argue that increasing individual tax reliefs is justified as the current allowances have generally failed to keep pace with rising inflation in the country.

“Inflation has over the years eroded the disposable income of taxpayers, yet personal reliefs have not changed much. So, I think it's high time for personal reliefs to be automatically index-linked to take into account the average inflation of the country each year,” PwC's Khoo argues.

Deloitte's Yee concurs, saying: “With the rising cost of living, an increase in personal relief, for one, from the present RM9,000 to, say, RM10,000, can make a difference.”

Indeed, the list of individual tax reliefs that need to be revised is long. From the amount allowable per child to personal expenditure on education and healthcare to purchases of IT gadgets and sports/fitness equipment and expenses incurred on domestic helper, all measures will help the rakyat and ultimately benefit the country's economy directly or indirectly.

For instance, a relief for the purchase of a personal computer, Crist explains, could promote IT literacy, while that for sports/fitness equipment could promote better health among Malaysians.

Yee, on the hand, thinks relief for expenses incurred to hire a maid will encourage more women to participate in the workforce and hence improve productivity of the country.

Go GST

There's consensus among tax experts that GST should be introduced in Malaysia to broaden the tax regime and increase the Government's revenue, which has remained pretty stagnant over the last few years.

Direct taxes, comprising mainly corporate tax, individual income tax and petroleum income tax, represent the biggest contributor to the Government's revenue each year at around 50%. To understand the weakness of the system, the Government recently revealed that for personal income tax, only 1.7 million of the 12 million country's workforce is actually paying tax.

“The Government has to diversify its revenue stream by introducing GST, which is a fairer tax system on a simple logic that the rich consume more, particularly on pricier items and will have to pay more tax, while many essential goods and services consumed by the lower income group will be GST-exempt. It is also more efficient with less inclination for tax evasion, as businesses merely levy GST on their supply to customers and collect tax on behalf of the Government,” Yee says.

While GST is an eventuality, it is unlikely to be announced in the upcoming budget, with an impending general election. GST, being an extremely unpopular (although beneficial over the long run) measure, will likely be announced only after the general election based on indications given by the Government so far.

“Efforts are already under way to create awareness among the rakyat on GST implementation and that has been a challenging move,” E&Y's Yeo says.

“At present, the primary concern of governments around the world is whether taxes collected are sufficient to fund their nation's expenditure and development amid the current global economic uncertainty. Many governments are already considering increasing tax rates to boost revenue. Malaysia needs to address the same issue as well, and the introduction of new taxes such as GST has to be considered,” she explains.

GST is widely seen as the key towards a more sustainable and efficient system for revenue collection by the Government. It is only with GST, that the Government can have room to cut corporate and personal income tax.

2011-09-13T17:25:00.000+08:00

"In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity."

Albert Einstein

Sedang surf web terjumpa pulak kata-kata mamat ni. Walaupun dia ni Yahudi tapi tak salah kita manfaatkan ilmu dia. Kata-kata dia menarik perhatian aku. Kalau nak terjemah lebih kurang maksudnya, "disebalik setiap kesukaran, terdapatnya peluang." Teringat pulak aku dengan ajaran Islam, setiap perkara atau kejadian itu, ada hikmahnya. Jadinya aku ingatkan diri aku sendiri, cari la peluang atau hikmah atas setiap apa yang berlaku kat diri aku ni. InsyaAllah jiwa akan menjadi lebih tenang. AMIN.

INDEX HARGA BARANG

2011-09-09T17:55:00.000+08:00

Hari ni dengan rasminya aku melancarkan satu agenda perkongsian maklumat yang telah aku cakapkan dalam post yang lepas. Tetiba semangat pasal baru ni aku pergi kedai nak beli keperluan rumah, agak terperanjat beruk gak la dengan harga barang. Pehhh!!! makin kecil nilai harta tunai aku.

Semalam 09/09/11, beli benda ni, berat bersih 225 gram. Terkejut aku dengan harga RM6.50 setin. Bulan lepas setin 650 gram harga baru RM10.90, bulan ni harga dah naik ke RM11.90 la pulak. Nampaknya nilai RM semakin merosot. Nanti aku update dengan harga barang-barang lain pulak.

TAX @ Cukai Vs. ZAKAT

2011-08-25T09:42:00.000+08:00

Source : http://www.thesundaily.my/news/122661

Injecting equity into our tax system

Posted on 25 August 2011 - 03:18am

Natalie Shobana Ambrose

"STOP coddling the super rich", billionaire Warren E. Buffett's Op-ed piece last week hit a few raw nerves especially its timing after a tug-of-war for an increased US debt approval that has made many nervous.

Buffett who is estimated to be worth US$47 billion is of the opinion that he and his super rich friends should pay more taxes as their taxable income is half of what the average middle-class wage earner pays. That is because most of Buffett's taxable income goes through the capital gains tax sieve which is at a much lower rate than what typical wage earners are taxed.

If Buffett was Malaysian he'd have paid next to nothing as our capital gains tax is 0% for equities and 5% for real property gains. What does all this mean to the layperson? Clearly, those with a disposable income surplus have the luxury of dabbling in capital gains activities and even when they do make a profit no matter how big or small, no Malaysian is taxed.

Now to naively put it, the more loose change you have, the more you've got to play with, and so potentially, the more you're going to make (or lose).

Come April when tax forms are due, you'd have made more money in a year than the wage earner who is dependent on a salary, yet you will not be taxed for any of the money you made at the stock market even if you made a million bucks.

Now we take that un-taxable profit and invest part of it in a few condos, and a few friends do the same which then causes the prices of property to sky rocket like it has. Some already own houses and investments and yet get a discount on all the newly-acquired property including luxury homes.

It doesn't matter that this discount was put in place to balance out socio-economic disparity many years ago, but has now translated into assisting lavish lifestyles inevitably raising the cost of living for those paying more taxes and living from hand to mouth.

If you were to sell any one of these newly acquired property within five years of purchase, you pay a 5% real property gains tax on what you made and still get a RM10,000 discount.

However if you decide to hold on to the property (noting that prices generally appreciate) and sell it after five years, you make a clean profit – that's right, not taxable.

Now compare that to what your friends made – some still made more thanks to the 5%-7% discount. What if the profit was RM100,000 or RM1 million?

We may not have Buffet magnitude billionaires just yet but according to the Malaysian Business we have companies paying RM455.6 million in a board payout with one director being paid RM106 million making all the other high earners look like paupers with RM12 million payouts. Imagine if they invested their bonus in equities without having to pay tax or bought multiple property at a discount.

Our tax systems need to focus on narrowing budget deficits and looking out for the wellbeing of every Malaysian citizen not just a select few.

Our country's affirmative action needs to evolve. Instead of a quota system based on race, it needs to be based on alleviating poverty and income levels. This does not mean wealth is being taken away – it means that wealth can now be distributed equally.

In the long run, looking after the wellbeing of those that need help will benefit everyone. Having a layer of super rich, does not translate into a community of high earners. It just means a select few are growing their wealth faster by taking advantage of a lopsided tax system and other biased mechanisms.

In order to have a united Malaysia, we need reforms that view citizens as Malaysians first, promoting equality across the board. We can start with revamping our tax system and include good governance in that equation. Maybe then we can truly say we are headed towards a 1Malaysia.

Natalie thinks that our tax system needs to be revamped into a progressive tax system. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

PENDAPAT PERIBADI :

Itulah yang manusia sering lupa. Sesungguhnya Islam adalah indah. Islam telah mewajibkan zakat keatas umatnya. Islam tidak menindas manusia. Untuk kes diatas, orang yang kaya makin kaya. Tu salah satu tanda akhir zaman la tu. Harta berlegar dikalangan orang tertentu je. Dah la kaya, tak perlu keluar cukai. Sistem tu, kafir yang buat terutama orang yang ada kuasa untuk menentukan polisi. Biasanya pemerintah la. Mereka buat polisi tu kelihatan macam best je tapi hakikatnya siapa yang mampu nak invest dalam property ni? tentu la orang yang kaya. Jadi kembalilah kepada QURAN & HADIS. Kesimpulannya, Islam adalah jalan penyelesaiannya..

Perkongsian Pengalaman & Maklumat

2011-08-22T16:42:00.000+08:00

Lama juga tak ber'blog' ni.. Tak de perkara menarik dan kekangan masa menyebabkan tak boleh nak 'update' blog. Cumanya hari ni teringat dengan satu seruan dari Ustaz Zaharuddin tentang PERKONGSIAN PENGALAMAN & MAKLUMAT. Maksudnya, kita berkongsi dua perkara tersebut sama ada dari segi perkhidmatan, barangan atau apa sahaja yang sesuai. Sebagai contoh yang paling senang, kalau kita ada membeli satu hanphone baru seperti iPhone, jadinya kita bagi la 'review' tentang handphone tersebut melalui pengalaman sendiri menggunakannya. Budaya ni dah memang menjadi kebiasa bagi mat salleh. Bagi orang Malaysia, ianya masih baru dan tak ramai yang berminat hendak buat perkara ni. Jadinya datang satu idea nak buat satu perkara yang hampir sama tetapi berbeza sedikit ianya berkaitan harga barang dan perkhidmatan yang ada ditawarkan kat Malaysia ni. Idea ini timbul selepas saya amat terasa dengan kenaikan harga barangan sekarang ni. Bolehlah ianya menjadi rujukan untuk untuk diri sendiri dan sesiapa saja la. Jadinya bila nak mula? InsyaAllah, semoga Allah beri keluangan masa dan tenaga untuk projek ini bermula. Amin..

Jawatan Kosong

2011-08-09T09:24:00.000+08:00

Sekadar ingin membantu saudara-saudari sekalian. Seorang kawan aku ada forwardkan info ni. Jadinya aku nak share la dengan sahabat-sahabat sekalian yang sedang mencari kerja. Ni bukan kerja sambilan. Lumayan tuuuu... Jangan marahhhh aaaaa.. nanti kena jual.

Nak cari kayu, nak cari kayu..

2011-08-09T08:49:00.002+08:00

Selepas membelek surat khabar pagi ini aku teringat akan cerita lakonan Allahyarham P.Ramlee cerita LABU-LABI. Babak si Labu masa nak tidur kat beranda. Sebelum tertidur tu si Labu ni asyik menyebut kata-kata tersebut. Si Labu nak cari kayu, aku perlu cari apa ek???

Aku rasa dunia sekarang ni sedang mengalami situasi kemerosotan ekonomi. Aku pun bukan ikut sangat perkembangan ekonomi sekadar ambil tahu sedikit. Takde la jadi katak bawah tempurung lak nanti. Disebabkan pasaran saham kat US sedang menghadapi masalah, habis satu dunia kena tempias. Kesannya pasaran saham agak terjejas. Dalam surat khabar ada tulis, pasaran saham di negara Japan, Korea, Taiwan dan China ditutup rendah. Aku bukan pandai sangat bab saham ni. Tapi ini menunjukkan pasaran dunia tak menentu. Ini menguatkan teori yang aku jumpa sendiri, aku kena melabur lebih banyak dalam EMAS Itu la kayu yang aku kena cari lebih banyak. Sebagai simpanan masa depan. Aku dah buat keputusan, biar apa pun orang nak cakap, aku tetap pilih pelaburan EMAS. Aku bukan pandai sangat tapi ada la sedikit pengalaman semasa kerja dengan Maybank dulu dicampur pulak dengan sedikit pengalaman sendiri yang pernah jatuh merudum akibat kesilapan sendiri. Jadi pengajaran buat aku. Sekarang ni aku janji dengan diri aku, takkan aku ulangi kesilapan aku yang dulu. Cukuplah ia menjadi Ya Allah, bantu la aku hambaMu ini yang lemah. Kuatkan la semangat aku untuk berpegang pada janjiku ini. Amin. InsyaAllah, Moga-moga Allah bantu. Aku percaya Allah akan bantu kerana itu janjiNya.

I LOVE BUKU

2011-08-01T11:41:00.018+08:00

Baru-baru ni aku ada pergi/surfing satu blog yang sering aku lawati. Blog yang kerap dilayari sejak tiga bulan kebelakangan ni. Blog Prof Muhd Kamil Ibrahim. Dalam sibuk-sibuk click sana click sini, baca sana baca sini, akhir aku terminat la pulak nak baca buku yang ditulis oleh isteri Prof Muhd Kamil. Macam menarik je kandungan buku isteri dia ni. Aku pun memang suka beli buku. Banyak dah buku yang aku beli, Baru beberapa aje yang habis baca, Alasan terbaik, tak cukup masa J J Jadinya, aku berkesempatan selepas menunaikan sembahyang Jumaat kat Masjid Shah Alam yang lepas aku pun belek-belek kat Booth satu brother ni. Dia memang jual banyak buku. Jumpa juga dengan buku yang aku cari. Last sekali, fikir punya fikir aku pun buat keputusan beli dua buah buku sekali. Asalnya aku beli nak hadiah kat isteri aku. Tapi aku rasa aku nak baca dulu. Nanti la aku dah abis baca boleh la aku bagi review. Doakan la aku sempat baca hehehe..

Aku beli dua buah buku. Investment baru RM38.00 Travel: Cinta Abadi, masa yang berlalu.... dan Travelog: Impian Abadi, itu yang tertulis... Yang sedihnya, aku tanya brother yang jual buku tu "Bang, keluar resit boleh?" dia macam mengangguk tapi aku tengok dia sibuk layan customer dia yang datang. Buat tak tahu je kat aku. Aku rasa dia main angguk je masa aku hulur duit kat dia. Tak pe la aku pun kena balik ke ofis. Masa dah nak time dah heheheh.. Aku perlukan resit untuk claim pelepasan cukai. Takpe la, nanti kalau LHDNM nak tengok resit, aku bawa buku tunjuk bukti.

2011-08-01T10:40:00.000+08:00

Tuesday January 18, 2011

Don: Use paper currency, not gold dinar

KUALA LUMPUR: Islamic countries should continue to use paper currency instead of gold dinar, said professor of comparative economic history at International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance Dr Murat Cizakca.

History had shown that the return to coinage system could increase interest rates and inflation would be difficult to control, he said.

Speaking at a public lecture on Islamic Gold Dinar: Myths and Reality organised by Association of Chartered Islamic Finance Professionals and Inceif yesterday, he said money should serve as a medium of exchange, not as a commodity.

“We need to continue with paper currency, and the central banks controlling paper currency should have full autonomy,” he said.

He added that gold supply was dominated by non-Islamic countries.

“The gold dinar will be exposed to speculation as the gold price also has its ups and downs. Islamic countries should continue to use paper currency and increase trade among each other,” he said. - Bernama

Pandangan aku, Profesor tu macam tak percaya dengan kata-kata Nabi aje. Memang betul penggunaan emas akan terdedah pada spekulasi macam duit kertas tapi setidak-tidak nya aku percaya emas akan kekal sampai kiamat. Nak mudah faham cam ni la, aku berani gerenti emas akan wujud sampai kiamat. Pasal apa? Emas disebut dalam Al-Quran. So, mesti kekal la, kalau tidak generasi akan datang tak kenal rupa emas. Sama juga dengan binatang yang disebut dalam Al-Quran mesti takkan "extinct", nanti orang yang baca Al-Quran tak faham pulak binatang apa yang disebut oleh Allah dalam Quran. Contohnya tak salah aku ialah Nyamuk, lebah, ikan paus, lembu etc. So, berbalik pada penggunaan dinar & dirham. Dua logam ni dalam Islam memang diberi penekanan keatas dua logam ni. Siap ada zakat keatas logam emas yang disebut dengan jelas dalam Quran. So, tak rugi kot kalau simpan dinar & dirham. Kalau simpan duit kertas, silap haribulan kena makan dek cik Lipas. So, aku rasa aku lebih prefer simpan emas dan simpan duit kertas.

Pengubat Rindu

2011-07-06T09:16:00.000+08:00

“Jika kita rindukan Mekah dan Madinah, kedua-duanya tiada di Malaysia. Kumpul duit dan InsyaAllah pergilah lagi menunaikan umrah. Terubatlah rindu pada Kaabah dan Masjid Nabawi. Jika rindu dengan amalan kita di sana – rindu pada Allah -, marilah kita solat berjemaah di masjid. Itulah rumah Allah yang ada di Malaysia. Marilah kita solat malam….”.

Kata-kata yang dipetik dari seseorang yang saya kagumi. Beliau merupakan seorang yang amat dikenali di Malaysia kerana telah menulis sebuah buku yang "top seller" - Travelog Haji, Mengubah Sempadan Iman -

Beliau bukan seorang Ustaz, namun penulisan beliau amat mudah diikuti dan senang difahami. Amat santai dan bersahaja. Penulisan beliau berjaya memberikan kesan buat diri ini yang masih lemah imannya. Ianya sebuah buku yang saya rasakan amat perlu dibaca buat semua orang bagi mengenali diri sendiri. Banyak kandungan yang secara tidak langsung amat hampir mengambarkan diri saya dan pengalaman yang hampir serupa walaupun bulkan 100% sama namun sedikit sebanyak kena pada diri ini. Sememangnya sikap kita takkan lari dari apa yang diperkatakan oleh Prof. Mohd Kamil. itu la fitrah dan sifat manusia yang telah ditetapkan oleh Allah SWT. Tidak dapat lari kerana semua sifat mahupun positif atau negatif tentu ada dalam diri manusia. Cuma pembawakan yang akan menentukan identiti kita.

Okay lah. Cuma hari ini rasa bersemangat nak memulakan sesuatu. Telah agak lama saya memulakan blog ini cuma tak tau apa nak diisikan. Bacaan saya dalam satu entry Usaz Zaharuddin menjadi pencetus buat diri ini nak memulakan sesuatu yang mungkin agak kurang diambil peduli oleh masyarakat @ pengguna internet di Malaysia ni. Insya Allah saya akan story sikit dalam post yang lain.

Kunci Syurga - Kisah Pemuda Islam dan Paderi

2011-07-04T11:58:00.000+08:00

Posted by blitzkrieg

Ada seorang pemuda Arab yang baru saja menyelesaikan pengajiannya di
Amerika. Pemuda ini adalah salah seorang yang diberi nikmat oleh Allah
berupa pendidikan agama Islam bahkan dia mampu mendalaminya.
Selain belajar, dia juga seorang juru dakwah Islam.
Ketika berada di Amerika, dia berkenalan dengan salah seorang Nasrani.
Hubungan mereka semakin akrab, dengan harapan semoga Allah s.w.t.
memberinya hidayah masuk Islam.

Pada suatu hari mereka berdua berjalan-jalan di sebuah perkampungan di
Amerika dan melintas dekat sebuah gereja yang terdapat di kampung
tersebut. Temannya itu meminta agar dia turut masuk ke dalam gereja.
Mula mula dia keberatan, namun karena desakan akhirnya pemuda itu pun
memenuhi permintaannya lalu ikut masuk ke dalam gereja dan duduk di
salah satu bangku dengan hening, sebagaimana kebiasaan mereka.

Ketika paderi masuk, mereka serentak berdiri untuk memberikan
penghormatan lantas kembali duduk. Di saat itu, si paderi agak terbeliak ketika melihat kepada para hadirin dan berkata, "Di tengah kita ada seorang Muslim. Aku harap dia keluar dari sini."

Pemuda Arab itu tidak bergerak dari tempatnya. Paderi tersebut
mengucapkan perkataan itu berkali-kali, namun dia tetap tidak bergerak
dari tempatnya. Hingga akhirnya paderi itu berkata, "Aku minta dia
keluar dari sini dan aku menjamin keselamatannya. " Barulah pemuda ini
beranjak keluar.

Di ambang pintu, pemuda bertanya kepada sang paderi, "Bagaimana anda
tahu bahwa saya seorang Muslim?"

Paderi itu menjawab, "Dari tanda yang terdapat di wajahmu."
Kemudian dia beranjak hendak keluar.Namun, paderi ingin memanfaatkan
keberadaan pemuda ini dengan mengajukan beberapa pertanyaan,tujuannya
untuk memalukan pemuda tersebut dan sekaligus mengukuhkan ugamanya.
Pemuda Muslim itupun menerima tentangan debat tersebut.

Paderi berkata, "Aku akan mengajukan kepada anda 22 pertanyaan dan anda
harus menjawabnya dengan tepat. "Si pemuda tersenyum dan berkata, "Silakan!"

Sang paderi pun mulai bertanya, "Sebutkan satu yang tiada duanya, dua
yang tiada tiganya, tiga yang tiada empatnya, empat yang tiada limanya,
lima yang tiada enamnya, enam yang tiada tujuhnya, tujuh yang tiada
delapannya, delapan yang tiada sembilannya, sembilan yang tiada
sepuluhnya, sesuatu yang tidak lebih dari sepuluh, sebelas yang tiada
dua belasnya, dua belas yang tiada tiga belasnya, tiga belas yang tiada
empat belasnya."

"Sebutkan sesuatu yang dapat bernafas namun tidak mempunyai ruh! Apa
yang dimaksud dengan kuburan berjalan membawa isinya?

Siapakah yang erdusta namun masuk ke dalam syurga?

Sebutkan sesuatu yang diciptakan Allah namun Dia tidak menyukainya?

Sebutkan sesuatu yang diciptakan Allah dengan tanpa ayah dan ibu!"

"Siapakah yang tercipta dari api, siapakah yang diazab dengan api dan
siapakah yang terpelihara dari api?

Siapakah yang tercipta dari batu, siapakah yang diazab dengan batu dan
siapakah yang terpelihara dari batu?"

"Sebutkan sesuatu yang diciptakan Allah dan dianggap besar! Pohon
apakah yang mempunyai 12 ranting, setiap ranting mempunyai 30 daun,
setiap daun mempunyai 5 buah, 3 di bawah naungan dan dua di bawah
sinaran matahari?"

Mendengar pertanyaan tersebut, pemuda itu tersenyum dengan keyakinan
kepada Allah.

Setelah membaca Basmalah dia berkata,

-Satu yang tiada duanya ialah Allah s.w.t..

-Dua yang tiada tiganya ialah Malam dan Siang. Allah s.w.t. berfirman,
"Dan Kami jadikan malam dan siang sebagai dua tanda (kebesaran kami)."(Al-Isra': 12).

-Tiga yang tiada empatnya adalah kesilapan yang dilakukan Nabi Musa
ketika Khidir menenggelamkan sampan, membunuh seorang anak kecil dan
ketika menegakkan kembali dinding yang hampir roboh.

-Empat yang tiada limanya adalah Taurat, Injil, Zabur dan al-Qur'an.

-Lima yang tiada enamnya ialah Solat lima waktu.

-Enam yang tiada tujuhnya ialah jumlah Hari ketika Allah s.w.t.menciptakan makhluk.

-Tujuh yang tiada delapannya ialah Langit yang tujuh lapis. Allah s.w.t. berfirman, "Yang telah menciptakan tujuh langit berlapis-lapis. Kamu sekali-kali tidak melihat pada ciptaan Rabb Yang Maha Pemurah sesuatu yang tidak seimbang." (Al-Mulk: 3).

-Delapan yang tiada sembilannya ialah Malaikat pemikul Arsy ar-Rahman.
Allah s.w.t. berfirman, "Dan malaikat- malaikat berada di penjuru-penjuru langit. Dan pada hari itu delapan orang malaikat menjunjung 'Arsy Rabbmu di atas (kepala) mereka." (Al-Haqah: 17).

-Sembilan yang tiada sepuluhnya adalah mu'izat yang diberikan kepada
Nabi Musa yaitu: tongkat, tangan yang bercahaya, angin taufan, musim
paceklik, katak, darah, kutu dan belalang.

-Sesuatu yang tidak lebih dari sepuluh ialah Kebaikan.
Allah s.w.t. berfirman, "Barang siapa yang berbuat kebaikan maka untuknya sepuluh kali lipat." (Al-An'am:160).

-Sebelas yang tiada dua belasnya ialah jumlah Saudara-Saudara Nabi Yusuf.
-Dua belas yang tiada tiga belasnya ialah Mu'izat Nabi Musa yang
terdapat dalam firman Allah, "Dan (ingatlah) ketika Musa memohon air
untuk kaumnya, lalu Kami berfirman, 'Pukullah batu itu dengan tongkatmu.' Lalu memancarlah daripadanya dua belas mata air." (Al-Baqarah:60).

-Tiga belas yang tiada empat belasnya ialah jumlah Saudara Nabi Yusuf ditambah dengan ayah dan ibunya.

-Adapun sesuatu yang bernafas namun tidak mempunyai ruh adalah waktu
Subuh. Allah s.w.t. ber-firman, "Dan waktu subuh apabila fajarnya mulai
menyingsing. "(At-Takwir: 18).

-Kuburan yang membawa isinya adalah Ikan yang menelan Nabi Yunus AS.

-Mereka yang berdusta namun masuk ke dalam surga adalah saudara-saudara
Nabi Yusuf , yakni ketika mereka berkata kepada ayahnya, "Wahai ayah
kami, sesungguhnya kami pergi berlumba-lumba dan kami inggalkan Yusuf di dekat barang-barang kami, lalu dia dimakan serigala." Setelah kedustaan terungkap, Yusuf berkata kepada mereka, " tak ada cercaan terhadap kamu semua." Dan ayah mereka Ya'qub berkata, "Aku akan memohonkan ampun bagimu kepada Rabbku. Sesungguhnya Dia-lah Yang Maha pengampun lagi Maha Penyayang." (Yusuf:98)

-Sesuatu yang diciptakan Allah namun tidak Dia sukai adalah suara
Keledai. Allah s.w.t. berfirman, "Sesungguhnya sejelek-jelek suara
adalah suara keledai." (Luqman: 19).

-Makhluk yang diciptakan Allah tanpa bapa dan ibu adalah Nabi Adam,
Malaikat Unta Nabi Shalih dan Kambing Nabi Ibrahim.

-Makhluk yang diciptakan dari api adalah Iblis, yang diazab dengan api
ialah Abu Jahal dan yang terpelihara dari api adalah Nabi Ibrahim. Allah s.w.t. berfirman, "Wahai api dinginlah dan selamatkan Ibrahim." (Al-Anbiya': 69).

-Makhluk yang terbuat dari batu adalah Unta Nabi Shalih, yang diazab
dengan batu adalah tentara bergajah dan yang terpelihara dari batu
adalah Ashabul Kahfi (penghuni gua).

-Sesuatu yang diciptakan Allah dan dianggap perkara besar adalah Tipu
Daya wanita, sebagaimana firman Allah s.w.t.? "Sesungguhnya tipu daya
kaum wanita itu sangatlah besar." (Yusuf: 28).

-Adapun pohon yang memiliki 12 ranting setiap ranting mempunyai 30 daun, setiap daun mempunyai 5 buah, 3 di bawah teduhan dan dua di bawah
sinaran matahari maknanya: Pohon adalah Tahun, Ranting adalah Bulan, daun adalah Hari dan Buahnya adalah Solat yang lima waktu, Tiga dikerjakan di malam hari dan Dua di siang hari.

Paderi dan para hadirin merasa takjub mendengar jawapan pemuda Muslim tersebut. Kemudian dia pun mula hendak pergi. Namun dia mengurungkan niatnya dan meminta kepada paderi agar menjawab satu pertanyaan saja.

Permintaan ini disetujui oleh paderi.

Pemuda ini berkata, "Apakah kunci surga itu?"

Mendengar pertanyaan itu lidah paderi menjadi kelu, hatinya diselimuti
keraguan dan rupa wajahnya pun berubah. Dia berusaha menyembunyikan
kekuatirannya, namun tidak berhasil. Orang-orang yang hadir di gereja
itu terus mendesaknya agar menjawab pertanyaan tersebut, namun dia cuba
mengelak.

Mereka berkata, "Anda telah melontarkan 22 pertanyaan kepadanya dan
semuanya dia jawab, sementara dia hanya memberi cuma satu pertanyaan
namun anda tidak mampu menjawabnya! "

Paderi tersebut berkata, "Sesungguh aku tahu jawapannya, namun aku takut kalian marah."

Mereka menjawab, "Kami akan jamin keselamatan anda. "

Paderi pun berkata, "jawapannya ialah: Asyhadu An La Ilaha Illallah Wa Asyhadu Anna Muhammadar Rasulullah."

Lantas paderi dan orang-orang yang hadir di gereja itu terus memeluk
agama Islam. Sungguh Allah telah menganugerahkan kebaikan dan menjaga
mereka dengan Islam melalui tangan seorang pemuda Muslim yang bertakwa.

source : http://kelakargila.blogspot.com/2010/08/kunci-syurga-kisah-pemuda-islam-dan.html

Gold price to reach $1700/oz by year-end

2011-07-01T16:16:00.000+08:00

Experts say bullion may rise 15% in 6 months
By Shuchita Kapur
Published Wednesday, June 29, 2011

With gold prices hovering around the $1500-per-ounce-mark, experts believe that a surge in prices in the next six months is likely, with prices reckoned to increase by about 15 per cent to reach $1700/oz by the end of the year.

Despite the fact that the price of the yellow metal has gone up by just 5.5 per cent since the beginning of this year, M.R. Raghu, Senior Vice-President-Research at Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz), believes that “gold will have another good year in 2011.” “In my assessment, it is likely to end at $1700 per ounce levels, implying a 20 per cent increase for 2011. It did about 30 per cent for 2010,” he told Emirates 24|7.

With a lacklustre economic recovery in the US and concerns over uncertainty in the European debt markets giving support, gold prices are likely to break previous records, say analysts. The precious metal has immensely gained in popularity as a safe haven investment, and is expected to continue its upward trajectory.
Experts at Standard Bank too are believers in the gold story, and see prices moving up. “We believe gold will continue to push higher in 2011. Our core view on gold is driven not only by our observations in the physical market but also by continued growth in global liquidity, driven not so much by the Fed anymore, but increasingly by government borrowing,” said Walter de Wet, a commodity analyst at the bank.
Experts maintain that the performance of the yellow metal is less volatile as compared to other commodities, giving it more scope to appreciate.

“Unlike silver or oil, gold has a risk-controlled performance so far with low volatility as it has a wider audience (retail, institutional, hedge funds and government treasury). As articulated before, gold will continue its march so long as US economic recovery is hazy, Europe is in doldrums and the inflation monster in Asia is uncontained,” explains Ragu.

In its first quarter report of 2011, The World Gold Council said that gold demand grew 11 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2010, as the average gold price for the quarter rose 25 per cent year-on-year. It’s an as-expected quarter, said the council.

Source: http://www.emirates247.com/business/economy-finance/gold-price-to-reach-1700-oz-by-year-end-2011-06-29-1.405060

Dinar Dirham: KGT sasar 20 ribu kedai

2011-05-29T01:44:00.001+08:00

KOTA BHARU, 28 Mei: Kelantan Golden Trade (KGT) mensasarkan 20,000 peniaga yang berminat menerima urusniaga Dinar dan Dirham bagi menyemarakkan penggunaan mata wang syariah.

Pengarah Eksekutif KGT Nik Mahani Mohamad berkata, tindakan proaktif itu bagi mempopularkan semula penggunaan mata wang syariah di kalangan umat Islam.

“Untuk 2011 kami target pendaftaran 20,000 kedai termasuk kedai kepunyaan non-muslim yang sedia menerima Dinar dan Dirham sebagai mata wang syariah.

“Dan diharap ia menjadi pencetus kepada pembayaran gaji kakitangan kerajaan, pembayaran zakat dan aktiviti jual beli rakyat menggunakan Dinar dan Dirham” katanya pada persidangan media sempena Kempen Dinar Emas Kelantan 2011 di sebuah hotel di sini semalam.

Turut hadir Ketua Pegawai Operasi KGT, Umar Ibrahim Vadillo. Sekarang lebih 2,000 pekedai berdaftar dengan KGT di seluruh Malaysia.

Nik Mahani juga berkata, KGT kini berusaha menyemarakkan lagi penggunaan mata wang syariah, di mana telah dimulakan kempen sejak dua bulan lalu di Kuala Lumpur.

“Di samping mendekati rakyat, program itu juga dilaksanakan sempena pelancaran Projek Printis Pasar Terbuka Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah di Kelantan,” ujarnya.

KGT juga melancarkan Khidmat Sistem Pesanan Ringkas (SMS) bagi memudahkan pengguna mengetahui harga harian Dinar dan Dirham pada sepanjang tahun.

Selain itu KGT turut menyertai Karnival Halal Kelantan 2011 yang akan dirasmikan Tengku Mahkota Kelantan pada 29 Mei di Balai Islam.

sumber :http://bm.harakahdaily.net/index.php/separator-berita-utama/world/83-negeri-kelantan/3520-dinar-dirham-kgt-sasar-20-ribu-kedai-

Utah Legalizes Gold, Silver as Currency, More States to Follow?

2011-05-25T17:05:00.000+08:00

Utah has now made official the use of gold and silver coins as legal tender.

This marks the first time since 1971 that any government entity in the United States has legalized the use of gold and silver as currency.

The law, signed by Governor Gary Herbert, does not require citizens to pay or accept payment in gold or silver, but rather offers an alternative to the fiat-based Federal Reserve note.

The Utah law will also exempt the sale of gold and silver coins from state capital gains taxes, according to the Associated Press.

The idea was developed by Republican state Representative Brad Galvez, who sponsored the bill primarily as a protest against the reckless monetary policies of the Federal Reserve. Rep. Galvez stated that the American people are losing faith in the dollar and a sound monetary alternative is necessary.

“We’re too far down the road to go back to the gold standard,” Galvez contended. “This will move us toward an alternative currency.”

Larry Hilton, a Utah attorney who assisted in the drafting of Utah’s law, asserted that “We view this as a dollar-friendly measure. It will strengthen the dollar by refocusing policy matters in Washington on what led to the phrase, ‘the dollar is as good as gold.’”

Ralph Danker, project director for economics at American Principles in Action in Washington, D.C., which also helped draft Utah’s legislation, stated that ”Making gold and silver coins legal tender sends a strong signal to Congress and the Federal Reserve that their monetary policy is failing. The dollar should be backed by gold and silver, so we have hard money.”

The AP also noted that “Earlier this month, Minnesota took a step closer to joining Utah in making gold and silver legal tender. A Republican lawmaker there introduced a bill that sets up a special committee to explore the option. North Carolina, Idaho and at least nine other states also have similar bills drafted.”

Source: http://www.goldalert.com/2011/05/utah-legalizes-gold-silver-as-currency-more-states-to-follow/

Emas Hong Kong catat rekod tertinggi - Kosmo

2011-04-22T08:18:00.000+08:00

HONG KONG - Emas di Hong Kong mencatat jualan lebih AS$1,500 (RM4,522) satu auns (28.34 gram) semalam kerana para peniaga mencari pasaran selamat di tengah kebimbangan masalah ekonomi global.

Logam bernilai itu mencatat harga pada AS$1,500 hingga AS$1,501 (RM4,525) setiap satu auns beberapa hari selepas Standard & Poor's menurunkan hutang Amerika Syarikat (AS) dari negatif kepada stabil.

Harga emas di negara itu sebelum ini mencatat harga AS$1,495 (RM4,507) hingga AS$1,496 (RM4,510) satu auns

Para penganalisis menyatakan bahawa kesan kenaikan harga emas itu adalah akibat ketegangan yang sedang berlaku di Asia Barat, Afrika Utara dan zon Eropah serta kebimbangan hutang tinggi AS.

Sementara itu di London, harga emas turut melonjak melebihi AS$1,500 satu auns buat kali pertama semasa dolar AS berada dalam keadaan lemah selain kebimbangan inflasi tinggi dan hutang.

Keadaan itu menyebabkan para pelabur beralih kepada emas yang merupakan satu pelaburan yang selamat.

Harga emas mencecah AS$1,505.65 (RM4,539) satu auns di Pasaran Jongkong London sebelum diniagakan pada harga AS$1,503.60 (RM4,533) satu auns. - Agensi

Source: http://www.kosmo.com.my/kosmo/content.asp?y=2011&dt=0421&pub=Kosmo&sec=Dunia&pg=du_03.htm

The best currency is gold and silver, says Marc Faber

2011-04-21T09:40:00.001+08:00

INTERNATIONAL. Marc Faber the Swiss fund manager and Gloom Boom & Doom editor predicted the value of the dollar in the long term will be zero and advised investors to become "their own central banks and gradually accumulate gold reserves as a currency".

Speaking early on Monday to CNBC Asia, Faber said: "We are in a contest for the ugliest currency".

Most investors have at least 70%-80% of their money in US Dollars, he said, adding that occasionally the money speculators may be heavily into the euro and negative about the dollar but "there is a huge overhang of US Dollars globally. If people could sell their dollars and move into something they believed in, they would do it".

"I still believe the best currency is gold and silver, and this is not the perception of most people. They believe gold and silver are speculative investments," Faber added.

In a reply to a question from a viewer, Faber said investors "should be their own central banks and gradually accumulate gold reserves as a currency", rather than speculating in gold.

He recommended holding physical bullion over other gold assets and advised against holding gold assets in the US because of the risk of "expropriation" by US authorities, as they did in the early 1930s.

The price of spot gold jumped closer to US$1500 today, reaching a new all-time high of US$1497 per ounce.

Fear of inflation...the high oil price...extreme financial difficulties [for some] Eurozone nations...the US debt-crisis...problems in the Arab world...and the situation in Japan...There are more than sufficient reasons why the gold price further extended its gains to a new all-time high," writes Wolfgang Wrzesniok-Rossbach in his latest Precious Metals Weekly at German refining group Heraeus.

"The moderate interest-rate hike in Europe has not had the ability to change the trend, nor has the relatively restrained demand for bars and coins, observed not only in Germany but also in Asia."

On the direction of the US Dollar, he told CNBC the greenback may see a temporary rally but he maintained his long term prediction: "The value of the US Dollar will be precisely its intrinsic value, namely zero, precisely zero".

The Gloom Boom & Doom editor has not changed his stance towards gold. In a March 2009 interview he advised to "buy every month a little bit and become your own central bank because you can't trust central banks anymore to act responsibly and maintain the function of paper money as a store for value. So, you want your own reserve".

In a discussion about the US deficit in today's CNBC appearance, Faber said he didn't think it was possible to "reduce the deficit meaningfully unless the US increased taxation significantly and cut spending meaningfully".

He expects "the US government to raise the debt ceiling, but the deficit will stay around US$1.5 trillion for the foreseeable future" because of politics.

The US has the Republicans on one side and the Democrats on the other and I don't think they will compromise, he said.

Note: Dr Marc Faber was born in Zurich, Switzerland. He went to school in Geneva and Zurich and finished high school with the Matura. He studied Economics at the University of Zurich and, at the age of 24, obtained a PhD in Economics. Between 1970 and 1978, Dr Faber worked for White Weld & Co in New York, Zurich and Hong Kong.

Since 1973, he has lived in Asia. From 1978 to February 1990, he was the Managing Director of Drexel Burnham Lambert (HK). In June 1990, he set up his own business which acts as an investment advisor and fund manager.

In 2000 Faber decided to spend more time writing his newsletters as well as growing his advisory business. He moved back to his home in Chiang Mai, Thailand, maintaining only a small administrative office in Hong Kong.

Dr Faber publishes a widely read monthly investment newsletter 'The Gloom Boom & Doom Report' which highlights unusual investment opportunities, and is the author of several books.

Source: http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?id=52224&t=1&cg=4

Gold and currencies: an historical perspective - Mineweb

2011-04-21T09:02:00.005+08:00

Gold was money long before currencies came into the fray but a look at how the world moved from a gold standard to the current situation provides some useful food for thought

Author: David Levenstein

JOHANNESBURG -

s gold continues to make new record highs, there are many analysts scratching their temples trying to understand what is going on. And, as I have mentioned many times in the past, many of these analysts are stock brokers, financial advisors, accountants and other geniuses. Some of them even have a string of academic qualifications behind their name. But, what has this got to with the gold. The answer is absolutely nothing. And, this is one of the problems facing individuals who are interested in investing in precious metals, in particular gold and silver.

Most of these individuals rely to a large extent on the advice given to them by their financial advisors. This is certainly the case in South Africa. Or they watch and listen to the commentators on main stream media. While many of these analysts are brilliant when it comes to evaluating stocks, most of them have no knowledge about the actual physical markets for gold and especially silver. In South Africa, practically every single one these "experts," have denigrated gold as an investment since the price was less than $300. However, they have yet to understand that investing in gold mining shares and accumulating the physical metal is not the same thing. And, yes, I agree, South African gold mining shares have been miserable performers in the current gold bull market. But, in their confused state, these analysts have failed to make the important distinction between gold mining shares and the reason why someone would want to buy physical gold. And, the majority of these advisors are only familiar with the modern day fiat currency system with some vague understanding of gold. Yet, it is these individuals who proffer advice on investing in gold. If you break your leg, do you go to the nearest library and ask the librarian on duty to help you by looking up the relevant procedure from some medical journal? Or do you go to your doctor? The same applies with investing in precious metals. If you want to know more, go the people who are the experts in this field and not someone who has no idea of what is going on. When it comes to understanding gold it is important to have a knowledge and understanding of money.

The emergence of money was perhaps one of the most important events in the history of mankind. Historically many different goods have been used as money including beads, shells, tobacco, copper and sugar etc. Without money there was no medium of exchange and thus the only way people could trade with one another was through a system of barter. However, it was not a practical means of trade because some goods were more widely demanded than others and some were more divisible into smaller units without the loss of value. Some were also more easily transported than others.

But, over centuries gold and silver emerged as the two commodities that offered the best solution. Both these precious metals were uniquely marketable in that they had worldwide acceptance. This allowed for much easier trade transactions, both domestically and internationally, something we now take for granted. And, over the years, silver was used for smaller transactions while gold was used for larger transactions. Then, gold and silver were minted into coins, for smaller, day-to-day transactions, and into large bars for bigger transactions.

As these coins and bars gained wider acceptance, there were other problems such as the supply of money and of course the problem of "fractional reserve banking." In simple terms this came about by banks that were the custodians of gold on behalf of clients. They simply printed more warehouse receipts than the actual quantity of gold that they held. While these pseudo receipts were nothing more than counterfeit documents, governments gave banks their approval. These banks were simply using the gold reserves of their depositors to create new money. And, of course, this new money increased the economy's supply of money without the country having to increase their holdings of gold.

For many years, the world adopted a gold standard or a form thereof. It must be emphasized that gold was not selected arbitrarily by governments to be the monetary standard. Gold had developed for many centuries on the free market as the best money; as the commodity providing the most stable and desirable monetary medium. From 1815 to 1914 the world was on a gold standard, which meant that each national currency (the dollar, pound, franc, etc.) was merely a name for a certain weight of gold. The US dollar was defined as 1/20 of an ounce of gold, the pound ¼ an ounce of gold, and so on. This international gold standard meant that the benefits of having one money medium were extended throughout the world, thus facilitating freedom of trade, investment, and travel throughout that trading and monetary area. But, with the advent of World War I this system broke down, The system itself did not break down, but in order to pay for this disastrous war, governments had to inflate their own supply of money which meant that it was impossible for the warring governments to keep their pledges of seeing that all paper money was redeemable in gold, and so they went off the gold standard.

Then, from 1926 to 1931 the world returned to a gold standard. While the US continued to redeem dollars for gold, England and the other countries of the West returned to somewhat of a pseudo gold standard. British pounds and other currencies were not payable in gold coins, but only in large sized bars, suitable only for international transactions. This prevented the citizens of Britain and other European countries from using gold in their daily life, and this allowed for a wider degree of paper and bank inflation. Furthermore, Britain redeemed pounds not merely in gold, but also in dollars while other countries redeemed their currencies not in gold but in pounds. As sterling balances piled up in France and the US, and when France attempted to cash in its sterling balances for gold, Britain went off the gold standard.

The world was back to the monetary chaos of World War I. International economic and monetary warfare raged between currencies as they devalued against one another. This was followed by exchange controls, and trade barriers until eventually international trade and investment came to a virtual standstill. Sound familiar?

Then, a new international monetary system emerged at a monetary conference held at Bretton Woods in 1944. And, the world returned to another gold exchange standard which lasted from 1945 to 1968. This gold standard was much the same as gold exchange standard of 1920 but now the dollar had taken over from the pound. The other difference was that the dollar was no longer redeemable in gold to American citizens but it was redeemable to foreign governments and their central banks. Under the Bretton Woods system the US pyramided dollars on top of gold while other governments held dollars as their basic reserve. And, since the US had a huge stock pile of gold at the time there was plenty of room to create more dollars. And, as the US government embarked on its post war policy of continual monetary expansion, a policy that it has pursued ever since, by the early 1950's the continuing US inflation began to worry other nations. While the US was expanding money and credit, many of the major European governments (Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy) pursued a more "hard currency" approach. By the late 1950's these countries as well as Japan were getting even more concerned about being forced to pile up dollars that had then become increasingly overvalued. But, Europe still had the option of redeeming dollars for gold at $35 an ounce, and, this is exactly what they did for almost two decades until the US gold stock pile had dwindled from some $20 billion to $9 billion. And, as US dollars kept inflating on a gold stock pile that was gradually declining the system began to unravel in 1968.

As European central banks threatened to redeem as much of their dollars for gold as possible, in August 1971, President Nixon, declared that the US would no longer be part of the gold standard and for the first time in American history, the dollar became a totally fiat currency without the backing of gold in any shape or form. As the dollar declined in value and the West German mark, the Swiss Franc, and the Japanese yen, all soared higher against the dollar, Friedmanite economists hailed this as the monetary ideal. And, since the US went off the gold standard and established the Friedmanite fluctuating rate system of currencies in March 1973, the entire world has suffered some of the worst bouts of inflation in its history. And, in their scorn of gold, Keynesians and Friedmanites, each devoted to the fiat monetary system, predicted that when fiat money was established, the market price of gold would fall to about $8 an ounce.

We are currently in the midst of another monetary crisis brought on by many of the same reasons that brought on previous disasters. While I do not know how this crisis is going to be resolved, I do know that it has the potential to be the worst we have ever experienced. And, the higher gold prices are merely reflecting the deteriorating situation with global currencies. Unfortunately, it seems that this global monetary crisis is only going to get worse before it gets better.

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

The break above $1440 an ounce has set gold up to test $1480 and then $1500 in the short-term. However, the longer-term picture suggests that gold is head to $1600.

Source: http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page103855?oid=125324&sn=Detail&pid=102055

Debunking Anti-Gold Propaganda

2011-04-20T10:25:00.000+08:00

By Doug Casey, Chairman, Casey Research
Monday, April 18, 2011

A memo is now circulating that gold is in a bubble and that it's time for the wise investor to sell. To me, that's a ridiculous notion. Certainly a premature one.

As you listen to the current blather from talking heads about where gold is going, keep in mind most of them are just journalists, reporters that are parroting what they heard someone else say. And the "someone else" is usually a political apologist who works for a government. Or a hack economist who works for a bank, the IMF, or a similar institution with an interest in the status quo of the last few generations.

You should treat almost everything you hear about finance or economics in the popular media as no more than entertainment.

So let's take some recent statements, assertions, and opinions that have been promulgated in the media and analyze them. Many impress me as completely uninformed, even stupid. But since they're floating around in the infosphere, I suppose they need to be addressed.

"Gold is expensive."

This objection is worth considering – for any asset. In fact, it's critical. We can determine the price of almost anything fairly easily today, but figuring out its value is as hard as it's ever been. From the founding of the U.S. until 1933, the dollar was defined as 1/20th of an ounce of gold. From 1933 it was redefined as 1/35th of an ounce. After the 1971 dollar devaluation, the official price of the metal was raised to $42.22 – but that official number is meaningless, since nobody buys or sells the metal at that price.

(More importantly, people have gotten into the habit of giving the price of gold in dollars, rather than the value of the dollar in gold. But that's another subject.)

Here's the crux of the argument. Before the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, a $20 bill was just a receipt for the deposit of one ounce of gold with the Treasury. The U.S. official money supply equated more or less with the amount of gold.

Now, however, dollars are being created by the trillion, and nobody really knows how many more of them are going to be shazammed into existence. It is hard to determine the value of anything when the inch marks on your yardstick keep drifting closer and closer together.

"Gold is risky."

Risk is largely a function of price. And as a general rule, the higher the price, the higher the risk, simply because the supply is likely to go up and the demand to go down – leading to a lower price. So yes, gold is riskier now, at $1,400, than it was at $700 or at $200. But even when it was at $35, there was a well-known financial commentator named Eliot Janeway (I always thought he was a fool and a blowhard) who was crowing that if the U.S. government didn't support it at $35, it would fall to $8.

In any event, risk is relative. Stocks are very risky today. Bonds are ultra risky. Real estate is in an ongoing bear market. And the dollar is on its way to reaching its intrinsic value.

Yes, gold is risky at $1,400. But it is actually less risky than most alternatives.

"High gold prices will bring on huge new production, which will depress its price."

This assertion shows a complete misunderstanding of the nature of the gold market. Gold production is now about 82.6 million ounces per year and has been trending slightly down for the last decade. That's partly because at high prices, miners tend to mine lower-grade ore. And partly because the world has been extensively explored, and most large, high-grade, easily exploited resources have already been put into production.

But new production is trivial relative to the 6 billion ounces now above ground, which only increases by about 1.3% annually. Gold isn't consumed like wheat or even copper. Its supply keeps slowly rising, like wealth in general. What really controls gold's price is the desire of people to hold it, or hold other things – new production is a trivial influence.

That's not to say things can't change. The asteroids have lots of heavy metals, including gold. Space exploration will make them available. Gigantic amounts of gold are dissolved in seawater and will perhaps someday be economically recoverable with biotech. It's now possible to transmute metals, fulfilling the alchemists' dream. Perhaps someday this will be economic for gold. And nanotech may soon allow ultra-low-grade deposits of gold (and every other element) to be recovered profitably. But these things need not concern us as practical matters in the course of this bull market.

"Gold sentiment is at an all-time high."

Although gold prices are at an all-time high in nominal terms, they are still nowhere near their highs in real terms – of about $2,500 (depending on how much credibility you give the government's CPI numbers) – reached in 1980. Gold sentiment is still quite subdued among the public. Most of them barely know it even exists.

Some journalists like to point out that since there are a few (five, perhaps) gold dispensing machines in the world, including one in the U.S., there's a gold mania afoot. That's ridiculous, although it shows a slowly awakening interest among people with assets.

Journalists also point to the numerous ads on late-night TV offering to buy old gold jewelry (generally at around a 50% discount from its metal value) as a sign of a gold bubble. But this is even more ridiculous, since the ads are inducing the unsophisticated, cash-strapped booboisie to sell the metal, not buy it.

You'll know sentiment is at a high when major brokerage firms are hyping newly minted gold products, and Slime Magazine (if it still exists) has a cover showing a golden bull tearing apart the New York Stock Exchange. We're a long way from that point.

***

These are some of the more egregious arguments against gold that are being brought forward today. Most of them are propounded by knaves, fools, or the uninformed.

The bottom line is that gold and its friends are no longer cheap, but they have a long way – in both time and price – to run. Until they're done, I suggest you be right and sit tight.

Good investing,

Doug Casey

Editor's note: Doug Casey, chairman of Casey Research, is a best – selling author, international investor, and entrepreneur. He travels the world looking for the best real estate and natural resource investments. His work is required reading here at DailyWealth.

Source: http://forums.silverstackers.com/message-110195.html

Kewajipan pemilik barang kemas

2011-04-18T17:21:00.006+08:00

Wanita dan emas bagai aur dengan tebing, sukar dipisahkan.

Oleh ZUARIDA MOHYIN
Gambar WAHIDAH ZAINAL

MEMANG fitrah manusia sentiasa tertarik kepada harta dan suka mengumpulnya. Malah manusia tidak pernah puas dalam mengejar harta kekayaan. Hakikatnya, tidak ada sesuatu pun yang dapat menghalang kecintaan dalam mengejar harta kecuali kematian.

Allah turut merakamkan kecintaan manusia kepada harta benda dalam firman-Nya yang bermaksud: Dijadikan indah pada (pandangan manusia kecintaan kepada apa-apa yang diingini, iaitu; wanita-wanita, anak-anak, harta yang banyak dari jenis emas, perak, kuda pilihan, binatang ternak dan sawah ladang. Itulah kesenangan hidup di dunia; dan di sisi Allahlah tempat kembali yang baik (syurga). (ali-Imran: 14).

Hakikatnya ramai yang alpa atau buat-buat terlupa bahawa harta yang dimiliki itu sebenarnya hak Allah SWT. Hak kita hanyalah sebagai 'pengurus' atau 'penjaga' yang pastinya akan ditanya dari mana harta itu dan ke mana ia dibelanjakan.

Oleh itu, janganlah sekali-kali menganggap harta yang dimiliki hak mutlak kita dengan berbelanja sesuka hati termasuk ke jalan kemaksiatan dan kemungkaran.

Islam tidak menganggap kekayaan sebagai penghalang untuk berbakti kepada agama dan meningkatkan mutu ibadat serta mendekatkan diri kepada Allah.

Bahkan, Islam menyuruh umatnya mencari sebanyak mungkin harta. Syaratnya, jangan sampai lalai daripada mengingati Allah SWT.

Malah, dalam al-Quran banyak disebutkan ayat yang menyeru umat Islam untuk mencari rezeki dan berusaha di atas muka bumi ini.

Firman Allah SWT yang bermaksud: Dialah yang menjadikan bumi ini mudah bagi kamu, maka berjalanlah di segala penjurunya dan makanlah sebahagian dari rezeki-Nya. Dan hanya kepada-Nya kamu (kembali setelah) dibangkitkan. (al-Mulk: 15)

Manakala dalam surah al-Jumu'ah ayat 10 pula Allah SWT menuntut kita mencari dan mengumpulkan harta.

Malahan Rasulullah sentiasa berdoa agar dimasukkan dari kalangan orang yang kaya dan dijauhkan daripada kemiskinan dan kefakiran.

Yang pastinya, Islam tidak menyuruh umatnya hidup dalam keadaan miskin dan sentiasa mengharap simpati orang.

Persepsi yang menyebutkan bahawa jika ingin menjadi hamba yang soleh mestilah hidup dalam keadaan miskin bukanlah syiar Islam.

Ini pernah ditegaskan dalam buku karangan ulama terkenal, Prof. Dr. Yusof al-Qaradawi bertajuk Masalah Dalam Kemiskinan dan Cara Islam Mengatasinya.

Dalam buku itu beliau mengatakan kemiskinan boleh membawa seseorang melakukan perkara yang menjejaskan akidah serta merbahaya kepada pemikiran, akhlak, masyarakat dan negara.

Untuk memastikan wujud keadilan antara yang miskin dan kaya, maka terdapat mekanisme zakat yang diwajibkan ke atas umat Islam yang ada kemampuan.

Bagi zakat harta ia turut termasuk zakat emas terutama bagi golongan wanita yang suka berhias dan memakai barangan perhiasan daripada emas dan perak.

Malah ada yang yang menjadikan pembelian perhiasan emas dan perak sebagai satu hobi dan kemestian.

Sedangkan tanpa disedari di sebalik hobi atau kemestian sebenarnya ada kewajipan yang perlu diberi perhatian.

Eksekutif Zakat PPZ-MAIWP, Ahmad Husni Abd. Rahman memberitahu, kesedaran umat Islam di negara untuk mengeluarkan zakat emas dan perak menampakkan peningkatan.

"Ramai yang sudah mula sedar kewajipan berzakat dan menunaikannya. Ini dilihat menerusi statistik dari segi penambahan bilangan pembayar individu, syarikat dan sebagainya serta bilangan kutipan yang meningkat.

"Walaupun ada kesedaran yang baik tetapi masih perlu diusahakan kerana pasaran emas bukan lagi terhad kepada emas perhiasan atau emas yang disimpan dalam bentuk klasik semata-mata bahkan sudah melebar luas kepada emas dalam bentuk perdagangan dan pelaburan," katanya ketika ditemui selepas bengkel Kilauan Firdausi anjuran Pusat Pengutan Zakat, Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (PPZ-MAIWP) dengan kerjasama Felda Holdings Berhad dan Habib Jewels Sdn. Bhd.

Ujar Ahmad Husni, kebiasaannya bagi emas yang disimpan, tidak banyak isu yang dibincangkan.

Perkara yang sering menimbulkan persoalan sama ada wajid berzakat atau tidak ialah yang membabitkan emas yang digadai dan yang dipakai sebagai perhiasan.

Yang pertama terdapat pandangan yang mewajibkan zakat terhadap emas yang dipakai.

Pandangan ini dikeluarkan oleh Umar bin al-Khattab, Abdullah bin Mas'ud, Abdullah bin Abbas, Abdullah bin Amr bin 'Ash, Sa'id bin al-Musayyab, Sa'id bin Jabir, 'Atha', Mujahid dan lain-lain lagi. Mazhab Hanafi, Zahiri dan Zaidiyah juga menyokong pendapat ini.

Kedua, pendapat yang mengatakan tidak wajib zakat ke atas emas yang dipakai sebagai perhiasan sebagaimana yang dikeluarkan oleh Abdullah bin Umar, Aisyah, Jabir bin Abdullah, Anas bin Malik, Asma binti Abu Bakr dan beberapa orang lagi. Mazhab Maliki, Hambali dan pendapat yang ketara daripada Syafie dan Ja'fariyyah juga mendokong pendapat kedua ni.

Kata Ahmad Husni, setelah dilihat dan dikaji, kewajipan zakat emas yang dipakai ini dilihat kepada persoalan uruf (kebiasaan pemakaian) masyarakat setempat.

Jika ia melebihi keperluan, maka dianggap sebagai sesuatu yang bersifat berlebih-lebihan dan keluar dari norma keseimbangan.

Ini berdasarkan firman Allah SWT dalam surah al-Baqarah ayat 219 yang bermaksud: Dan mereka bertanya kepadamu apa yang mereka nafkahkan. Katakanlah: Yang lebih daripada keperluan. Demikianlah Allah menerangkan ayat-ayat-Nya kepadamu supaya kamu berfikir.

Maka lebihan daripada uruf tersebut wajar dizakatkan. Uruf emas perhiasan di Wilayah Persekutuan adalah sebanyak 150 gram.

Isu lain kata Ahmad Husni, adalah berkaitan nilaian untuk kiraan emas, sama ada dinilai secara purata atau mengikut harga semasa.

Perkara ini katanya, masih dalam perbincangan yang akan diumumkan keputusannya.

Melihat kepada nilai emas yang semakin tinggi menyebabkan emas bukan sahaja terhad sebagai barang perhiasan tetapi telah digunakan untuk pelaburan.

Jelas Ahmad Husni, emas pelaburan wajib dizakatkan. Ini berdasarkan kaedah fiqh dalam bab zakat dinyatakan: "Setiap harta yang berkembang atau mempunyai potensi pengembangan dan produktif, maka ia adalah tabungan untuk zakat."

Justeru, kecenderungan menjadikan emas sebagai komoditi harus dilihat kaedah zakatnya. Ia mungkin bukan lagi dalam bentuk emas itu sendiri secara fizikal tetapi lebih kepada pergerakan pelaburan yang mirip kepada zakat perniagaan.

Mengulas tindakan mereka yang lari daripada kewajipan menunaikan zakat, Ahmad Husni berkata, apabila seseorang itu telah mampu dan telah wajib untuknya mengeluarkan zakat tetapi dia melewatkan pengeluaran zakat maka terdapat dua kesan ke atas dirinya:

lBerdosa kerana dia dengan niat sengaja melewatkan pembayaran dan menjadi penghalang orang fakir untuk mendapatkan haknya.

lHak ganti rugi fakir miskin terhadap 'ain harta yang diwajibkan zakat walaupun semua hartanya musnah. Ini kerana dia sengaja melewatkannya tanpa alasan dan dia terpaksa menanggung risiko kelalaiannya demi menjaga kepentingan orang yang berhak.

Dipetik dari Utusan Malaysia bertarikh 01 April 2011
"http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2011&dt=0401&pub=utusan_malaysia&sec=Keluarga&pg=ke_01.htm&arc=hive"

Aku Tak Sembahyang....Tetapi Aku Berjaya... ( Muhasabah )

2011-04-04T15:36:00.001+08:00

by Abu Hanifah on Friday, December 3, 2010 at 5:25pm

Kita tahu bahawa ilmu itu cahaya, dan tidak akan memasuki hati-hati yang gelap, tetapi kita lihat, kawan kita yang berjudi, yang minum arak, boleh berjaya pula, sedangkan kita terkial-kial walaupun sudah berusaha. Kita tahu bahawa, siapa yang berbuat baik, taat kepada ALLAH akan dipermudahkan jalan kehidupannya, tetapi kita lihat, kawan kita ini tidak solat, tetapi bisnesnya menjadi, kita pula hidup dengan penuh cabaran dan duga. Kita juga tahu bahawa, ISLAM ini agama yang benar, tetapi kita sering melihat orang-orang yang bukan ISLAM itu lebih berjaya, dan ummat ISLAM tertindas dalam kehidupan sempit lagi derita.

Orang bertanya kepada saya. Kenapa begitu? Sekarang ini, yang manakah benar? Adakah kita faham selama ini tidak benar?

Maka saya hendak bertanya kepada anda.

Adakah anda tahu apa itu istidraj?

Istidraj ini adalah satu kalimah, yang sering menunjuk kepada keadaan seseorang itu yang terus dilimpahkan rezeki dan kejayaan yang melimpah ruah dalam kehidupannya, walaupun dia bukan hamba ALLAH yang taat, malah seorang pembuat maksiat yang tegar. Kenapa mereka ini dinamakan manusia yang mendapat istidraj? Apakakah maksud istidraj?
Istidraj adalah, apabila ALLAH memberikan kejayaan, harta kekayaan, rezeki yang melimpah ruah untuk manusia itu menjadi lebih jauh dariNya.

Biasanya, manusia yang mendapat istidraj ini adalah mereka yang tidak berusaha menjalankan ISLAM dalam kehidupan, juga tidak berusaha mengenali ALLAH SWT.

Contoh manusia yang mendapat istidraj ini banyak. Kita lihat contoh yang mudah. Qarun. Apakah anda kenal kepada Qarun? Dia ini adalah seorang manusiayang teramat kaya. Diriwayatkan bahawa, kotak yang mengisi kunci kepada gedung-gedung perbendaharaannya tidak mampu diangkat oleh orang-orang yang kuat. Hal ini hendak menyatakan betapa kayanya dia.

Kisah Qarun terdapat di dalam Al-Quran. Hartanya melimpah ruah. Segala perniagaannya menjadi. Segala pelaburannya mengembang. Hartanya makin hari makin bertambah, sedang yang bertambah semalam tidak pula luak digunakan.
Tetapi bila Nabi Musa cuba mengingatkannya berkenaan semua kekayaannya itu datang daripada ALLAH, maka Qarun dengan angkuh menjawab,

“ Tidak, semua ini adalah hasil dari ilmuku”

Lihat. Lihat apa kata Qarun. Tidak, semua ini adalah hasil dari… ILMUKU. Dia nyata semakin jauh dari ALLAH, walaupun kekayaannya menjadi, rezekinya melimpah ruah dan sebagainya. Dia saban waktu memperlekehkan pengikut-pengikut nabi Musa yang terdiri dari orang miskin dan hamba.

Apakah pengakhiran Qarun? Dia akhirnya ditenggelamkan ALLAH ke dalam bumi dengan seluruh hartanya. Kisah ini terdapat di dalam Al-Quran.

Nah… Apakah itu yang kita mahu?

Sebab itulah, saya hendak mengajak saudara-saudari berfikir, apakah yang akan timbul di dalam hati kalian apabila kalian ini jenis yang melazimi dosa-dosa, melakukan maksiat, kemudian kalian berjaya di dalam peperiksaan atau perniagaan. Apakah yang agaknya akan timbul dalam jiwa kalian?

Saya yakin, 99% akan merasa begini, “ Tengok, aku tak solat pun berjaya. Siapa kata solat tu bawa kejayaan?”
Apakah yang akan terjadi kepada anda ketika itu? Anda berjaya, tetapi anda semakin jauh dari ALLAH. Itulah istidraj.

Maka jangan gusar bila tidak berjaya. Cuba lagi. Hubungan keimanan anda dengan ALLAH itulah yang pertama sekali perlu anda perhatikan. Jika anda berjaya membina hubungan keimanan yang baik, insyaALLAH, datanglah badai apa sekalipun, anda akan mampu melaluinya.

Sebenarnya ALLAH suka menguji hamba-hambaNya yang beriman. Terdapat satu kisah yang saya suka baca ketika saya masih kecil.

Terdapat dua orang nelayan. Seorang penyembah berhala, dan seorang lagi muslim yang taat kepada ALLAH. Ketika menebar jala, yang menyembah berhala menyebut nama berhalanya, manakala yang muslim membaca bismillah. Bila jala diangkat, yang menyembah berhala mendapat banyak ikan, manakala yang muslim, hampir sahaja tiada ikan untuknya pada hari itu.

Malaikat yang melihat keadaan itu bertanya kepada ALLAH.

“ Ya ALLAH, apakah yang telah berlaku? HambaMu yang menyekutukanMu, KAU berikan dia rezeki yang banyak, sedangkan hambaMu yang menyebut namaMu, KAU tidak memberikan DIA apa-apa”
ALLAH menjawab,

“ Yang menyekutukanKu, tempatnya memang sudah pasti NERAKA. Maka apalah sangat rezeki yang pasti akan hancur itu jika Kuberikan kepadaNya? Tetapi HambaKu yang beriman itu, AKU hendak mengganjarkanNya syurga, maka AKU suka mengujinya untuk melihat kebenaran imanNya”

Nah, jangan anda kecewa bila diuji, tidak berjaya di dalam peperiksaan walau sudah studi, gagal dalam perniagaan walau kemas menyusun strategi. Itu semua adalah sebahagian dari ujian ALLAH. ALLAH menguji hanya untuk mereka yang dikasihi. Bukankah ALLAH SWT ada berfirman,

“ Apakah kamu mengira KAMI akan membiarkan kamu berkata kami beriman sedangkan kamu belum diuji?…”

Jika gagal terhadap satu-satu perkara, itu perkara itu. Anda masih belum gagal dalam kehidupan. Teruskan usaha, selagi nyawa masih ada. InsyaALLAH ALLAH akan memberikan sesuatu yang bermakna kepada anda. Bersangka baiklah kita kepada PENCIPTA kita.

Maka sebenarnya, bila hidup kita digegarkan dengan masalah, hendaklah kita rasa bersyukur. Tandanya, ALLAH masih lagi dekat dengan kita. Ujian adalah tanda kasih sayang dan perhatianNya kepada kita.
Mustahil anda suka senang sebentar di dunia, di akhirat yang kekal abadi nanti anda merana. Anda mahukan istidraj?

Saya yakin tidak..

Anda tenang sekarang?

Anda wajib untuk tidak berasa tenang jika anda berbuat dosa, dan anda berjaya. Sebab itulah, muhasabah diri itu penting. Untuk kita sentiasa periksa bagaimanakah hubungan kita dengan ALLAH SWT.

Aku berdosa, tetapi aku berjaya…. Berhati-hatilah kita agar jangan sampai lafaz itu, atau lafaz-lafaz yang membawa maksud serupa itu terkeluar dari mulut kita.

Mari kita sama-sama duduk, dan bermuhasabah semula.

Perak perkenal dinar emas, dirham akhir bulan depan

2011-02-08T09:18:00.000+08:00

January 25, 2011

IPOH, 25 Jan — Kerajaan Perak akan memperkenalkan mata wang dinar emas dan dirham pada akhir bulan depan bertujuan mempelbagaikan bentuk simpanan kewangan rakyat.

Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Pelajaran, Pengajian Tinggi, ICT, Sumber Manusia, Sains dan Teknologi negeri Datuk Mohamad Zahir Khalid berkata Perak sedang bekerjasama dengan Kuwait Finance House (KFH) untuk memperkenalkan dinar emas dan dirham kerana institusi kewangan itu berpengalaman luas dalam aspek pengendalian mata wang berkenaan.

“Apa yang pasti mata wang (dinar emas dan dirham) diperkenalkan Perak amat jauh berbeza dengan mata wang yang diperkenalkan Kelantan sebelum ini. Perbezaan itu akan dijelaskan oleh Menteri Besar (Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir) nanti,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas mempengerusikan mesyuarat bersama pihak pengurusan tertinggi KFH di sini hari ini.

Segala perincian, mekanisme serta bentuk mata wang berkenaan akan diumumkan pada pelancaran itu nanti, kata Mohamad Zahir.

Dinar emas dan dirham itu akan dikeluarkan Goldnet International Sdn Bhd, anak syarikat Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Perak (PKNP) dengan kerjasama KFH (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

Pengerusi KFH Shaheen al Ghanem berharap hubungan yang terjalin termasuk dalam aspek nasihat kewangan serta sokongan dalam pengeluaran bantuan modal dengan kerajaan negeri dapat diteruskan pada masa depan.

“Kami juga sebenarnya dalam proses untuk melebarkan sayap perniagaan ke seluruh Malaysia dan sedang melihat kemungkinan mewujudkan cawangan di Ipoh pada masa terdekat kerana berpuas hati dengan inisiatif pembangunan yang ditunjukkan kerajaan negeri,” katanya. — Bernama

Sumber : http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/bahasa/article/perak-perkenal-dinar-emas-dirham-akhir-bulan-depan/

Don: Use paper currency, not gold dinar

2011-01-20T16:35:00.006+08:00

Sources : http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/1/18/business/7817150&sec=business"
Tuesday January 18, 2011

Don: Use paper currency, not gold dinar

KUALA LUMPUR: Islamic countries should continue to use paper currency instead of gold dinar, said professor of comparative economic history at International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance Dr Murat Cizakca.

History had shown that the return to coinage system could increase interest rates and inflation would be difficult to control, he said.

Speaking at a public lecture on Islamic Gold Dinar: Myths and Reality organised by Association of Chartered Islamic Finance Professionals and Inceif yesterday, he said money should serve as a medium of exchange, not as a commodity.

“We need to continue with paper currency, and the central banks controlling paper currency should have full autonomy,” he said.

He added that gold supply was dominated by non-Islamic countries.

“The gold dinar will be exposed to speculation as the gold price also has its ups and downs. Islamic countries should continue to use paper currency and increase trade among each other,” he said. - Bernama

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My opinion, well, is there is a hidden agenda.. we should give full support if this what Islam has taught us.. Even Prophet has said something about dinar and dirham, when someday there will be nothing that valuable except dinar and dirham.. I had put the Hadis in my blog.. look for it.. that is our Prophet says.. you don't want to believe what he says.. better recite your syahadah.. enough said.. up to you guys.. I still believe to what had Prophet Muhammad PBUH said.. because I am believer.. till then.. salam..

What is Dinar?

2011-01-19T10:18:00.000+08:00

What is Dinar?
Basically, Dinar is a gold coin.
The World Islamic Trading Organisation following the standard of caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab, established the following standard:
DINAR Weight: 4.25 grams
Alloy: 22 carats (0.916) Gold

According to Islamic Law...

The Islamic gold dinar (sometimes referred as Islamic dinar or Gold dinar) is a bullion gold coin made from 4.25 grams of 22-carat gold with historical Islamic significance.

Gold dinar may also refer to various historic gold coins denominated in dinars.

The Islamic Dirham is a specific weight of pure silver equivalent to 3.0 grams.

Umar Ibn al-Khattab established the known standard relationship between them based on their weights: "7 dinars must be equivalent to 10 dirhams."

"The Revelation undertook to mention them and attached many judgements to them, for example zakat, marriage, and hudud, etc., therefore within the Revelation they have to have a reality and specific measure for assessment [of zakat, etc.] upon which its judgements may be based rather than on the non-shari'i [other coins].

Know that there is consensus [ijma] since the beginning of Islam and the age of the Companions and the Followers that the dirham of the shari'ah is that of which ten weigh seven mithqals [weight of the dinar] of gold. . . The weight of a mithqal of gold is seventy-two grains of barley, so that the dirham which is seven-tenths of it is fifty and two-fifths grains. All these measurements are firmly established by consensus." Ibn Khaldun, Al-Muqaddimah

Sources : "http://www.publicdinar.com/content/view/48/53/lang,english/"

Kelantan, Malaysia: Embracing Shariah currency

2011-01-19T10:16:00.000+08:00

Kelantan, Malaysia: Embracing Shariah currency
By The Halal Journal published Yesterday

Original Article Source: The Halal Journal Jan/Feb 2011

By Abdalghany Aoueskhanov

The historic launch of the Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham, also known as “Shariah Currency”, on 12 August 2010 (2 Ramadhan 1431H) by the Kelantan Sultanate in Malaysia was indeed historic. On that day, the people of Kelantan embraced Sunna Money by free choice. The introduction of bi-metallic currency in this north-eastern Malaysian state was a resounding success as it proved once again that when people are given freedom to choose their money, they choose gold and silver.

The dinars and dirhams of Kelantan were sold out quickly: the first batch worth RM2 million was sold out before the end of Ramadhan prompting Kelantan Golden Trade, the state company in charge of minting and distributing the coins, to restrict the selling of silver dirhams to only those who wanted to pay Zakat with it. Payment of Zakat with gold and silver coins, not promissory notes, is the restoration of the third pillar of the Deen and fulfilment of the most important obligation after Solat (prayers).

After Ramadhan, the Kelantan government increased the budget for the second batch to RM4 million and it too was sold out completely. The third batch worth RM6 million is now in the process of being minted and will arrive in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in a matter of days.

The Islamic coins of the Kelantan Sultanate were minted according to the latest international standard of the World Islamic Mint (WIM) [read more on WIM on page xx].

The news of the launch of Shariah Currency in Kelantan on 12 August broke out all over the world, and almost all major international media and news agencies highlighted the event. Most significantly, Kelantan’s brave call for freedom resonated among all those who wanted to throw off the evil chains of Usury. Muamalah Council Malaysia’s news centre received emails from numerous individuals, Muslims and otherwise, from around the globe congratulating the government and people of Kelantan and expressing their excitement and solidarity. These are just a few of those letters:

“I am a Christian, but I share your enthusiasm for your people ridding themselves of the control of corrupt, interest-stealing, money-debasing bankers.

Good luck in your endeavours.

God bless,

David Rogers (Canada)”

“I am not a Muslim but I am very proud of your decision to accept "honest" money. The best of luck to you and remember that each minted precious metal coin is one step further away from the tyranny of the modern banking system. I applaud your decision to promote the protection of "the little person", gold and silver are freedom and you are promoting pure freedom from the chains that bind the world. Thank you for starting the revolution towards true economic freedom.

Thank you from Greece,

Christofer Chalukidi”

Wakala Induk Nusantara (WIN), the only accredited minter and distributor of dinars and dirhams by the World Islamic Mint (WIM) in Indonesia, has started to phase out the existing coins in circulation, which were minted according to the old standard of WIM, and replaced them with the new standard coins. “Within the first half of next year, we’ll complete the transition to the new standard that will give our customers added value coins not only due to improved quality and enhanced counterfeit level, but most importantly, 1:1 ratio exchange with other coins in the region,” said Zaim Saidi, Director of WIN and the leader of the biggest dinar movement in the world. WIN is already using WIM stickers stating “We Accept Dinar and Dirham” within its network of shops and traders, called “Jawara”.

Muslim communities in Europe, Australia and the United States are starting to distribute WIM coins within their communities. This year saw the launch of the much-awaited project, Dinar People – a new online marketplace and directory where Dinar users and supporters can meet like-minded people from around the world. This network serves as a real-time virtual open marketplace where anybody can communicate, interact and initiate commerce with other members.

The government of Pakistan plans to hold its first international forum on Gold Dinar next year. And in June 2011, there will be the 2nd World Conference on Riba, to be hosted by Nigeria, the country where the Gold Dinar movement promises to explode next (The 1st World Conference on Riba was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 1-2 November, 2010. Read about it on page xx).

Going back to the Malaysian state of Kelantan, more than 1,500 shops and business outlets are already accepting Shariah Currency, and, according to the CEO of Kelantan Golden Trade (KGT), Umar Ibrahim Vadillo, next year, it is expected that 20,000 shops in the state of Kelantan alone will be accepting the Islamic medium of exchange. Customers can identify these shops by the sticker “We Accept Dinar and Dirham” issued universally by the WIM, World Islamic Mint. The list of shops and Wakalas (agencies appointed by Kelantan Government to sell the coins) can be viewed on KGT’s website: www.dinarkel.com.

In 2011, the government of Kelantan will introduce Wadiah institutions that will provide safe-keeping service and also act as Wakala to facilitate payment operations upon instruction of its clients. The Kelantan Wadiahs are fully developed and endorsed by WIM. Along with Wadiahs, Malaysians will be introduced to an SMS service that will allow them to know the real-time price of dinar and dirham daily by automatic SMS update; subscription to this service must be renewed annually.

These will be the first localised Wadiahs in modern history that are 100 per cent Shariah-compliant (e-Dinar being the first international Wadiah) and Kelantan’s model will be replicated throughout Malaysia and the world, creating a multitude of local repositories plugged in the single data base, e-Dinar.

Early 2011, the Gold Dinar Cooperative will be set up with headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. The cooperative will register Halal money users nationwide and mobilise them into a social movement for economic freedom. Under the cooperative, there will be conducted activities such as training programmes, seminars, publications, and information bureau. The registration has already started, and enquiries can be made to zahimi@al-qafilahinternational.com.This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Since 12 August 2010, the silver dirham appreciated vis-à-vis the Ringgit by 45 per cent and the gold dinar by 10 per cent in November 2010. Anybody interested to obtain Kelantan dinars and dirhams can do so at Nubex Sdn Bhd (www.nubex.com.my), the official distributor for Kelantan Golden Trade in Kuala Lumpur.

The price of dinar and dirham can be viewed 24 hours live at the official websites of the World Islamic Mint: www.islamicmint.com (in USD and EUR) or www.islamicmint.com.my (in MYR).

*About the Author: An economist by training, Abdalghany is a free-lance researcher and writer for various Malaysian NGOs and media publications with the scope of interests ranging from consumerism and health care to economics and geopolitics, writing articles in both, Russian and English. Vast work experience and extensive research led Abdalghany to the conclusion: paper money is the biggest injustice of modern times. In the past seven years, he was actively involved in a number of projects related to the restoration of Islamic currency – Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham. He was instrumental in the organisation of the launch of the Islamic currency in the state of Kelantan on 12 August 2010. He is currently the editor of the website and newsletter of Muamalah Council Malaysia – a non-profit organisation dedicated to disseminating the knowledge on sound money to Malaysian public.

sources : "http://www.halaljournal.com/article/5385/kelantan,-malaysia:-embracing-shariah-currency"

The Origins of Paper Money – Part Two: Monetary System in the Islamic World

2011-01-19T10:13:00.002+08:00

The Origins of Paper Money – Part Two: Monetary System in the Islamic World
By The Halal Journal published 7 months ago

Original Article Source: The Halal Journal Mar/Apr 2008

How did money as a medium of exchange for foods and services evolve into its current form we know and use today? Hazel Hassan Hisham transports us back into time and traces its origins in this second of a two-part article that chronicles the evolution of paper money.

The first Muslim coins were struck during the Caliphate of Uthman (ra), 644-656 CE. The first original minting of Islamic dirham was done in 695 CE (75 AH) during the reign of Khalifah 'Abd al-Malik. It followed the standard set by Umar Ibn al-Khattab (ra).

These coins included the phrase: "Allah is Unique, Allah is Eternal". Beginning with these coins the use of human figures and animals was discontinued. Both the dinar and dirham coins were round in shape. Typically, one side of the coin was stamped with the words "La ilaha illallah" and "Alhamdulillah" and the obverse side with the name of the caliph or ruler and the date of minting.

The earliest Arab coins imitated those of the Persians (the Sassanians) and the Byzantines. The Arab-Sassanian series goes back as far as 31 AH (Hijriah) just 21 years after the death of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. The Sassanian coins resumed a century later by the Arab governors of the Tabaristan province (on the southern border of the Caspian Sea). The Arab-Byzantine coins imitated the copper 40-nummia pieces of the 7th century Byzantine Emperors.

The Arab coinage was reformed in 77-79 AH (696-98 AD), creating the main Umayyad series. Its copper denomination, the Fals, exhibited a wide variety of types, but the silver coin, the dirham, used a single calligraphic type at all of the mints of the Caliphate. This coin, with its religious inscriptions and its consistent use of a date and a mint name, set a pattern that was followed for the next few centuries throughout the Islamic world.

The Abbasid series is similar to the Umayyad, but the script takes on a distinctive form that exaggerates the horizontal letters and makes the others microscopic. The Caliph's name is absent on the early issues (as on the Umayyad Dirhams), but it appears on some coins of al-Mahdi (775-85 AD) and becomes a standard feature on all later issues.

During the early 900s AD, the Abbasid Caliphs came under the power of the Buwayhid rulers and lost their temporal authority. Their coins came to an end, but their names were often placed on the coinage of other rulers, citing them as Islam's spiritual head. In a later age, the Abbasid Caliphs regained control of a temporal state, but those coins are of a much different style. Some non-Abbasid coins can be deceptive when they include the Caliph's name but happen to omit the name of the temporal ruler.

In the medieval Islamic world, a vigorous monetary economy was created during the 7th-12th centuries based on the expanding levels of circulation of a stable high-value currency – the Dinar. The Islamic gold dinar (sometimes referred as Islamic dinar or Gold dinar) is a bullion gold coin made from 4.25 grams of 22-carat (k) gold with historical Islamic significance.

The Dirham and Dinar were both used as the official Islamic currency beginning with the second Caliphate, 634-644 CE. The Islamic Dinar is the weight of gold equivalent to 4.25 grams, whereas the Islamic Dirham is the weight of silver equivalent to 3.0 grams. Umar Ibn al-Khattab established the known standard relationship between the two based on their weights: 7 dinars must be equivalent to 10 dirhams.

Gold has always had value to humans, even before it was money. This is demonstrated by the extraordinary efforts made to obtain it. Prospecting for gold was a worldwide effort going back thousands of years, even before the first money in the form of gold coins appeared. In the quest for gold by the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Indians, Hittites, Chinese, and others, prisoners of war were sent to work the mines, as were slaves and criminals. This happened during a time when gold had no value as 'money,' but was just considered a desirable commodity on itself.

The first use of gold as money occurred around 700 BC, when Lydian (Turkey) merchants produced the first coins. These were simply stamped lumps of a 63 per cent gold and 27 per cent silver mixture known as 'electrum.' This standardised unit of value, had no doubt helped Lydian traders in their wide-ranging successes, for by the time of Croesus of Mermnadae – the last King of Lydia (570-546 BC) – Lydia had amassed a huge hoard of gold. Today, we still speak of the ultra-wealthy as being 'rich as Croesus.'

Gold, measured out, became money. Gold was money in ancient Greece. The Greeks mined for gold throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East regions by 550 BC, and both Plato and Aristotle wrote about gold and had theories about its origins – one of them is that Gold was associated with water and it was said that gold was a particularly dense combination of water and sunlight.

The Islamic gold dinar came back to life as a consequence of a currency crisis in Asia in 1997. The then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, proposed the Islamic gold dinar as currency for international trade in the Muslim world. It was supposed to suppress the overly traded American dollar and ensure that dollar's instability does not affect international trade because Islamic gold dinar was to be tied to the price of gold, and thus provide a stable value of the currency.

Tun Dr. Mahathir once emphasised that the Gold Dinar policy is being driven by the crushing reality of the economic and strategic crisis. The Gold Dinar can be a trading currency for all countries, not necessarily Muslim countries alone. He strongly feels that the Muslim countries are in the best position to demonstrate the viability of the system and in the process, show the world that they are capable of growing with stability and peace.

However, the idea has since been halted. Perhaps one day, it will become a reality and the gold dinar will reign within the Muslim world one day.

Sources : "http://www.halaljournal.com/article/4869/the-origins-of-paper-money-�ae�-part-two:--monetary-system-in-the-islamic-world"

Gold Dinar makes a comeback on high gold price

2011-01-19T10:10:00.000+08:00

Gold Dinar makes a comeback on high gold price
By Bernama published 5 years ago

By Che Halit Morad

KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Bernama) -- Gabungan Koperasi Universiti Bhd (Gakub) is currently working with Swarnabhumi International Holdings Sdn Bhd towards making a reality of the government's intention to use the gold dinar as an instrument in the international Islamic financial system.

Zahimi Chik, a director of Swarnabhumi, the company that produces the gold dinar, said efforts were being taken to bring back the glorious past of the currency by introducing it for saving purposes, as a wedding gift, for zakat payment and trading.

As a first step, it is hoped that the recently launched gold dinar is accepted and used by Gakub members and eventually by more than the five million cooperative members nationwide, he said.

"The gold dinar is suitable for savings due to its lasting, intrinsic values, and it can be used anywhere and cannot be easily created or made a counterfeit.

"For zakat payment, using the gold dinar would mean payment by cash, while payments through paper money, cheques or promisary notes are still techincally considered as being debt instruments," he said.

In a larger context, Zahimi said the usage of gold dinar in the commercial sector would make a reality of the vision to make the gold dinar the choice mode of payment in international trade.

"It can unite the Muslim community through the usage of a common currency among the member countries of OIC or Organisation of Islamic Conference and see the return of fair trade for everyone," he said.

The gold dinar and silver dirham had been the syariah currency unit for the Muslim nations for 1400 years.

They were used for savings, as payment and measuring units before the advent of the paper money in the early 1900s which then replaced the use of the gold and silver currencies.

In Malaysia, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad become a leading voice in advocating the use of gold dinar in international trade.

During his tenure as prime minister, he had often stressed on making the dinar a trading currency for all countries and not just the Islamic countries.

The Islamic countries, however, are in the best position to prove the effectiveness of the system, he said.

During the OIC summit in Putrajaya, he said the grouping had agreed to Malaysia's proposal to use the gold dinar in trade transactions between member countries.

Zahimi said his company made the 1.0 gold dinar which was equivalent to 4.25 grammes of gold of 22 carats as well as the half dinar (2.125 gms) and 8.0 dinar (34gms)

Pure gold is 24 carats, but pure gold without the addition of other elements would not be suitable for making a currency unit as it is too soft, he said.

He said that although the value of gold dinar fluctuated, its value remained high, for example, for the 1.0 gold dinar the value was at RM302 on February 21, compared with RM300 as at January 12.

Over the last 5 years, gold prices have doubled, making gold an excellent long term savings investment.

Response for the gold dinar from cooperatives and individuals meanwhile has been good and the company is now in the process of appointing its main agent to help market the gold dinars nationwide, he said.

An agreement would be also soon signed to appoint the company to mint the gold dinar, he said.

Swarnabhumi is expected to produce 10 kg or 3,000 pieces of the gold dinar per month during its initial stage of production, Zahimi said.

Chairman of Gakub, Mohd Said Mohd Kadis meanwhile said that for now the gold dinar could be bought at any cooperative that has a kiosk for dinar exchange (Kodex).

"It is a proactive measure from the cooperative to encourage the use of dinar. Imagine if the gold dinar is kept as a form of savings for workers in the Employees Provident Future," he further said.

"The question now is whether other parties such as banks and financial institutions are prepared to buy the gold dinar as marketed by Gakub?" he asked.

Sources : "http://www.halaljournal.com/article/167/gold-dinar-makes-a-comeback-on-high-gold-price"

Gold Dinar as Halal Money

2011-01-19T10:03:00.000+08:00

Gold Dinar as Halal Money
By Vivy Yusof published 2 years ago

Filed Under: Islamic Finance >> Currency

Many are aware of the concept of Halal money, but to them, Halal money is money obtained in an honest way, which means not by gambling. There is a bigger issue to be addressed regarding Halal money, and the secret lies within the currency note itself.

If I told you that your RM50 note is worth nothing, would you believe me? This all comes down to history. Let’s recap: in the 1800s, colonies robbed us by monopolising our land, taking our resources. In return, they issued a paper IOU, which is a promise to pay, signed by their companies involved. While waiting and wishing for our tangible returns, the IOUs were circulated and used by us, as a medium to trade. The paper IOUs gradually decreased in size and were beautified by pictures of the rulers. Soon, they were accepted as a medium of exchange, and known to all of us as Money, something we all chase for to survive.

This shows that while God has given Muslim countries so much richness such as oil, precious metals and fertile land, we generously hand them over to others and succumb to their manipulations. Paper money as a dishonest tool is a highly sensitive topic to touch upon, and determining the Halal aspect of it would be best left to the Ulamas to decide. However, we can all use our common sense with this simple example. The third pillar of Islam urges Muslims to pay Zakat, which is the act of giving a proportion of our income to the poor. Zakat is only to be paid with tangible goods, such as gold, goats, and camels. Many Muslims just shake off their Zakat responsibility by paying using paper money. Considering the origins and history of paper money, being just a promise to pay, is our Zakat accepted in Islam? Ultimately, paper money symbolises a debt, and in Islamic law, a debt cannot be used as a medium of exchange.

Zakat has to be paid with honest and Halal money, and what springs to mind is the obvious; Dinar. This 100 per cent gold coin fits the requirement of Halal as it has value and is tangible merchandise. One of the persons most passionate about Gold Dinar is Umar Ibrahim Vadillo, who wrote The Return of the Islamic Gold Dinar. He is one of those who believe strongly that any true Muslim carries the responsibility to reject paper money. To him, paper money is a form of “fraud” despised by Allah and therefore, the absolute worst thing a Muslim can do is to use it. He believes the only means of exchange allowed by Syariah law are gold Dinar and silver Dirham.

He quotes the words of Imam-ad-Dean Ahmad which says, “Muslims cannot escape the fact that gold is our money. Instead of fighting the will of Allah, I propose that we embrace it. If the 1 billion Muslims of the world would use gold as their unit of account, the volatility would stabilise.”

There is another person closer to our hearts fighting for the good of gold Dinar; Malaysia’s former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed. In 2003, he, along with his economic adviser, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, proposed the introduction of Islamic gold Dinar as currency to be used for international trade among the Muslim countries. Reason for this is to suppress the overly-traded US dollars and to ensure that the US dollar’s instability does not affect our international trade. Islamic gold Dinar is more stable in the sense that it is tied to the price of gold. The idea of using gold instead of the paper money is understandably a bizarre one to many. We might not be able to imagine people going about their everyday lives carrying bags of gold instead of thin currency notes. However, shouldn’t we be patient and open-minded so as to see the other side of the story, perhaps the better side?

So, why gold? As elaborated by Umar Ibrahim in his book, gold is an asset that is no one else’s liability. According to him, paper assets (bonds, shares, and so on) are promises to repay money borrowed, and its value is dependent upon the investor’s belief that the promise will be fulfilled. Gold by itself is a precious metal. No one can deny that gold is valuable and always treasured. Gold cannot be created or destroyed, whereas paper money can be easily torn, burned or created numerously. Only a fool would turn down the idea of receiving gold. Also, gold would not contribute to inflation problems. For example, during Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) time, a chicken costs 1 Dirham (silver). Today, a chicken still costs approximately 1 Dirham. Therefore, within over a thousand of years, the effect silver had on inflation is virtually zero. On the other hand, the existence of paper money has caused prices to increase ten-folds! The value of gold is independent of the financial system, whereas the value of currencies depends on the strength of their countries. If we wanted stability, the obvious answer would be to choose gold.

Gold Dinar is already used in some Islamic countries, but still very small-scaled. The World Islamic Trading Organisation, following the standards of Umar ibn Al-Khattab, established that one Dinar is equivalent to 4.25g of 22K gold and 23mm in its diameter size. In recent years, China is also showing affinity to gold, as their people are encouraged to buy and trade gold. The Chinese government is committed to increase their gold reserves to reduce reliance on the US dollar. India is another example of a country that has a high demand of gold. The Indians find gold as a commodity of immense value in their religious beliefs, and feel that gold is the only form of protection for Indian rupees against the US dollar. Currently there are 1.3 billion Chinese, 1.1 billion Indians and 1.8 billion Muslims, together representing more than 60 per cent of the world population. If we unite to use gold as currency, there would be a definite shift of power to the East.

Imam Malik defined money as “any merchandise commonly accepted as a medium of exchange.” In the past, when people were free to choose, they chose gold and silver as their money, as their medium of exchange. Now, we are legally forced to succumb and agree to the use of paper currency. Perhaps, if we are given the freedom to choose again, it would be a completely different scenario, and gold and silver would enter the picture again. Increasing awareness of the importance of gold Dinar is a success for the Muslims.

More people are accepting that it is more Islamic to use gold as currency. More people are believing that monetary crisis we face these days are caused by paper money, which can be printed over and over again. More people are realising that this repetitive problem will never stop unless something is changed. More people are opening their eyes, but sadly, only a handful of them are opening their mouths to make a difference. When asked about if the introduction of an Islamic Gold Dinar could be realised, Tun Dr Mahathir replied, “This is not a dream, it can be realised.” To many, it is still a dream. Granted, the replacement of paper currency is a difficult thing to do, but with comprehensive research and meticulous planning, it can be done. All we need to do is to be able to understand, accept and adapt to a new era, a Halal-certified one.

article from "http://www.halaljournal.com/article/3362/gold-dinar-as-halal-money"

Dinar and Dirham

2011-01-19T09:57:00.001+08:00

Abu Bakr ibn Abi Maryam reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say: "A time is certainly coming over mankind in which there will be nothing [left] which will be of use save a dinar and a dirham." (The Musnad of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal)

Gold and silver are the most stable currency the world has ever seen.Protect your wealth by buying gold and silver.

Zero inflation in 1,400 years

A chicken at the time of the Prophet, salla'llahu alaihi wa sallam, cost one dirham; today, 1,400 years later, a chicken costs approximately one dirham.

2011-01-18T16:40:00.004+08:00

GUEST EDITORIAL
James E. Sinclair
Chairman & CEO of Tan Range Exploration Corp
The 5 Elements for a Long-Term Bull Market in Gold
Now Have a Nuclear Wild Card by James Sinclair
October 28, 2002

The planned introduction of the Gold Dinar is not an act revenge by Malaysia. It is true that there was a huge and devastating currency raid a few years ago by a famous US trader, who leveled Asian monetary units and caused the major Asian economies to falter. It is true that some of those economies have not fully recovered. However, it is also true that history may point to this currency raid and raider as the germination of the seed for the uniting factor of Islamic economic power that changed the economic and monetary world. That currency raid, which I believe never considered the ramifications to human life, is a watershed example of the devastating negative potential of personal enterprise versus the positive attributes of free enterprise.

I am however starting to think that the plan for the Gold Dinar and support from other Islamic nations is a planned offensive against the use of the dollar as a settlement currency for oil. It is perceived, and correctly so, that the Islamic world is controlled via the use of the US dollar as the main settlement currency. When I say "controlled" I mean whatever happens economically in the USA is exported there via the dollar. Dollars exchanged for the Gold Dinar currency as a measure for gold settlements quarterly or gold convertible to pay for certain oil imports would end all the debate of whether or not gold has a place in the monetary system.

What we are hearing now is that the Gold Dinar will be used as a "measure" settled quarterly in gold on an Islamic intra-nation basis, but that could change quickly. A review of the trade balances of Malaysia and its intra-Islamic trade partners indicates that if the Gold Dinar is employed as now suggested, it would tie up approximately 200 tonnes of gold production equal to 10% of new mine supply. If Malaysia went all the way and went to convertibility with a 15% gold cover, they would utilize more than 300 tonnes of new production. Either way, this is the Wildest of Wild Cards for Gold.

The advent of the Gold Dinar, as now envisioned, would remove any discussion of whether or not we are embarking on a very long-term bull market in gold. I have already told you that I believe this is not just a gold recovery, not just a gold bull phase, not just a gold bull market, but the advent of the return of gold to a monetary application in which gold will be in a bullish posture on balance for the rest of my life. I expect to live until at least 2030. Gold Producer Hedger Take Note.

Few Islamic nations have affinity with Hussein, but fewer like the idea of the US attacking Iraq, an Islamic country. For what it is worth, I am told there is a significant possibility that when the US attacks Iraq, the united Islamic salvo back will be at the US dollar via the Gold Dinar -- not as a measure, but rather as a convertible currency. Confidence that the Saudis will come to the rescue of the dollar stands on thin ice. The Saudi Royal Family is under significant pressure from the fundamentalist influence there. They are less likely than most observers think to rescue the dollar this time. The Gold Dinar is the major wild card in the entire history of gold. It must be monitored very closely.

Translated from the "Al-Fath Al-'Ali Al-Maliki" pp. 164-165

"This Fatwa considers paper-money to be fulus, because it only represents money and does not have value as merchandise. It follows that since Zakat cannot be paid in fulus, which has no value as merchandise, it cannot be paid in paper-money, which value as weight of paper is null. On this basis, it becomes clear the urgent need to restore the use of the Dinar and the Dirham as payment of Zakat. If the millions of Muslims who now make their payment of Zakat in paper money would do it in newly minted Dinars and Dirham's, they will put in circulation millions of gold and silver coins into the mainstream of daily commercial activities of our communities. That single act will became the most important political act of the century, opening the path towards the establishment our own halal free currency breaking away from the usurious financial system.

The return to the payment of zakat in gold and silver is an essential part of the reestablishment of Islam."
Those are serious words and should not be taken lightly. You see, the establishment of a gold-based currency is rebellion against the IMF as it is distinctly forbidden under IMF rules. The advent of the Gold Dinar would be the "Nadir" of the IMF & World Bank.

These are uncharted times. I believe that the Islamic Nations are quite serious about this and that in some form, it will happen on schedule or sooner. Now we can add a "Nuclear Wild Card," an independent gold-based Islamic currency to the 5 elements for a long-term bull market in gold.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Seriousness of the Gold Dinar
A presentation made in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
By
The Honorable Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohammed
Minister of Finance for Malaysia
"The Gold Dinar in Multilateral Trade"
Presented to the Community
by
James Sinclair

I have chosen to delete the first 17 points as they refer to subjects that might cause the western precious metals researcher to prejudice the rest of this extremely important document. There is no coverage in the West of this watershed event in monetary history which is clearly, really and powerfully in the making. Those that wish the first 17 points need only ask for them and I will provide them. They speak to the perspective of an Arab in today's Islamic world. This opening 17 points requires a perspective of high pan-determinish to deal with objectively. That is a quality that the West has always lacked and after September 11th probably will not acquire soon in matters dealing with the Islamic world. I have made the decision to make to present t to you in this manner as it must be read with an open mind.

There is an Islamic currency coming. That is a fact. There is a high chance that this is it. The Dinar is a tactic nuclear monetary weapon of self-protection in the Islamic perspective. It is a statement by them of Islamic Self Consciousness and Islamic Self Esteem. It is an Islamic rally point for all 1.2 billion of that persuasion. It is coming soon and it is real. It may not be viewed objectively by the West, in the environment of a weak dollar now existing. That weak dollar situation looks to me as if it will get significantly worse before it gets significantly better. This is not low amplitude noise. This is a NOISE that may scream soon the unthinkable word, Remonetization. Here are the words of its architect. Pay close attention to the final point in the words of this Minister of finances own words. They need to be understood completely in order to understand what is coming. Oleh/By : DATO SERI DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD Tempat/Venue: IKIM HALL KUALA LUMPUR Tarikh/Date: 23/10/2002 Tajuk/Title : THE GOLD DINAR IN MULTI-LATERAL TRADE SEMINAR

20. If the Muslims are going to protect themselves they must have sufficient wealth. Allah has endowed Muslim countries with inexhaustible wealth. These need to be administered for the good of the ummah.

21. But wealth can also be acquired through commercial activities, through the production and distribution of goods and services and through trade.

22. Today trade between Muslim countries is small. It is not suggested that we reduce our trade with the non- Muslims. But we should endeavour to increase the trade between Muslim countries.

23. We can trade through the exchange of goods, through barter. But today we use money. Since we don't have a currency which is strong enough and stable enough in exchange rate terms, we have to use the American dollar. But the dollar is also not stable. Today the dollar has depreciated against many other currencies. This means that despite the increase in the price of oil for example, we are actually earning less due to the devaluation of the dollar. It is the same with the other currencies. It is the same with our own currencies. They all fluctuate in value. And they are all subject to speculation and manipulation as happened in Malaysia and other East Asian countries, in Russia and in Latin America.

24. The reason for this is that paper currency has no intrinsic value. You can print any figure you like on currency notes but in exchange rate terms the figure means nothing. The Malaysian Ringgit is 3.8 to one U.S. Dollar. The Turkish Lira is 1.5 million to one U.S. Dollar. The Indonesian Rupiah is 9000 to one U.S. Dollar. The purchasing power within the country is different from the purchasing power outside the country. Sometimes countries have as many as four exchange rates -- one official, one for domestic economy, one for export and one for import.

25. Clearly this situation in terms of international finance is chaotic and anarchic. But since the system benefits the powerful countries they are unwilling to correct it.

26. If we want to avoid being short-changed we must have a currency that has intrinsic value. Gold does fluctuate in price but the fluctuation is minimal. It is not possible to devalue gold by one hundred percent or one thousand percent. Nor is it possible to revalue gold by the same percentage. The fluctuation in the value of gold can only be by a few percentages, up or down.

27. When the Allied nations met in Bretton Woods to determine the principle for the rate of exchange of international currencies in order to facilitate trade, they decided to use gold as a standard. The value of the U.S. Dollar was fixed at one dollar for 1/35 ounce of gold or 35 U.S. Dollars per ounce. All other currencies were valued in gold through the rates of exchange with the U.S. Dollar.

28. This worked quite well until some countries wanted to devalue their currencies in order to become competitive in the international market. Then other countries also decided to devalue in order to remain competitive. Finally the U.S. Dollar was devalued against the Gold.

29. At this stage the gold standard could not be sustained. The market claimed that it could determine the exchange rate through the demand and supply of currencies freely traded in the market. But profiteers moved in and they manipulated the value of the currencies so that there was chaos in terms of exchange rates of currencies. Business became very difficult. Indeed many good businesses went bankrupt when the domestic currency gets devalued. The hedge Funds which claim to insure the value of the currencies made huge sums of money speculating and manipulating the values of the currencies.

30. This anarchy in the international financial regime will remain because it benefits the rich and the powerful. If we want to protect ourselves we must evolve our own payment system, our own trading currency.

31. The Gold dinar can provide the currency for trade between nations. If we value all trade items against gold, then we will have no problem with the exchange rate. We know that in the last resort we can melt the gold and sell it in the market. You obviously cannot do that with paper currency, worst still with figures on a computer. They have no intrinsic market value as gold has.

32. But gold is bulky. We cannot be carrying gold all over the world in order to pay for goods we want to import. But we need not do that.

33. It is not intended to use the gold dinar as currency for everyday transactions in the domestic market. For this we can use national currencies. If there is inflation then the currency can buy less gold and other goods. And vice versa. So there is no necessity to carry bags of gold coins for transaction within the countries.

34. But even for international trade the transport of gold bullions or gold coins would be very minimal. Through bilateral payments arrangements the imports can be balanced by the exports and the differences settled in gold dinars. The Central Bank can provide a guarantee for the gold required for the payments of the balance. In the following weeks or months the deficits may be reduced or a surplus achieved. In that case the payments of the balance can be made through accounting arrangements between the Central Banks. It is only occasionally that a necessity might arise for the actual gold dinar to be used to pay for the purchase of imports.

35. We cannot really verify the amount of money a country has. A country's own currency cannot be regarded as its reserve. But gold dinars or gold bullion or gold ingots can serve as a country's reserve. Still in the end we have to trust each other. If we are good Muslims then the cases of fraud by Central Banks would be minimal.

36. Assuming that Malaysia exports to a Dinar Area country a hundred million Dinars worth of motor vehicles and then imports 110 million dinars worth of oil, then the payment required by Malaysia would be just 10 million dinars. The ten million dinars is credited to Malaysia's trading partner. If in the following month the trading partner buys 110 million dinars worth of Malaysian cars and Malaysia buys 100 million dinars worth of oil, then no payment need to be made by either party. The 10 million dinars that has to be paid by Malaysia's trading partner for the motor vehicle can be offset by the credit of 10 million dinars from the previous month's transactions.

37. Today with computers we can close account and pay more frequently. Through this method it is not necessary to purchase or earn hard currency.

38. Of course there may be some countries which are so poor that they cannot have gold dinars. We can buy some raw materials to be paid in gold dinars. They can be helped to build up the reserves of gold dinars.

39. There will be problems. But if we begin with just a pair of countries we would be able to minimise problems and demonstrate whether it works or not. We will be able to identify the weaknesses and the faults and correct them.

40. Gold is a precious metal. There has never been a time when there was no demand for gold. It is also not so plentiful that its price will fall the way paper currency or even other precious metals can fall. Yet it is not so limited in quantity that anyone or any trader can corner it and manipulate the price.

41. In different countries the price of gold will differ in terms of the currency of that country. That is a function of the currency of the country. The value of one gold dinar is one gold dinar no matter what the exchange rate of a currency is against the gold dinar. If the value of goods or services is expressed in gold dinar, the value remains the same no matter which country is involved in the trade.

42. Thus an exporter can declare the agreed price in dinar to the importer in another country and to the Central Bank in his country. Depending on the agreement reached the Central Bank will pay the exporter the current local currency equivalent to the gold dinar price. At the importer's end, he would pay to his country's Central Bank the local currency equivalent of the agreed price in dinar. At the end of the week or month the Central Banks will total up the value in dinar of the exports and imports between the two trading countries. If they are not balanced then the country with a surplus will have a credit account against the country with a deficit. The difference can be paid in dinar or in goods or the country with the surplus can hold the dinar for future purchase from the country in deficit.

43. In multi-lateral trade, the process may be a little more complicated but it is entirely, manageable. A clearing house can be set up for a group of trading countries and the deficit and surpluses balanced. The process is not unlike the clearing of the cheques of numerous banks at a central clearing house.

44. Provided there are goods or services to be supplied by all participating countries, the amount of gold dinars that needs to be kept as reserve backing and for payment in the last resort is very small. Ideally there would be no need to transport and pay in dinars. The imports and exports in most instances would cancel themselves. The profits come from disposing of the goods or services domestically when the local currency would be used.

45. There will be problems of course. But there are problems now. Countries with no "hard currency" i.e. U.S. dollars cannot pay for their imports anyway. In addition the U.S. currency is not as stable as gold. Not only can it appreciate or depreciate widely but a country's currency can be made to depreciate so much against the U.S. Dollar that its imports cannot be paid for, priced as they are in U.S. Dollar. The gold dinar cannot depreciate much against the U.S. Dollar.

46. Gold price can also be manipulated but not as easily as U.S. Dollar or other currency. No one can sell gold at below market price because he just will not be able to deliver when called upon to do so. Short-selling will be very difficult if not impossible.

47. However local currency prices of gold can still fluctuate if left to the market. It is up to the country concerned whether to control exchange rates or not. But speculation and manipulation will not be as easy as when local currency is valued against the U.S. Dollar.

48. It must again be stressed that the Gold Dinar is exclusively for international trade. It is not to be used as local currency. In a sense it is like the U.S. Dollar now. Some countries of course use the U.S. Dollar locally for paying hotel bills by foreigners. But the dinar is heavy and cumbersome to carry. So it cannot be used as freely as the U.S. Dollar locally. This again lends credibility to the dinar and the local currency, which has to be used for local payment.

49. We should not be too ambitious as to launch the Gold Dinar for multi-lateral trade at one go. We should begin by pairing off the countries willing to use the Gold Dinar. A pair of good trading countries with a fairly well balanced trade should initiate the use of the Gold Dinar. Problems that arise can be resolved and the system improved. After the bugs have been got rid off then the trade using the dinar can be expanded gradually to involve more countries.

50. Traders in particular will be happy because their prices in Gold Dinar would not be affected by changes in the exchange rates of the importing countries or the exporting countries. In dinar, the prices will always remain the same.

51. It is not the intention to make the dinar a common currency for all countries. It is not really the Gold Standard with a fixed value against local currency. If countries print more local currency there would still be inflation within the country. But trade would be stable and enhanced. Speculators and manipulators will not be able to undermine international trade.

52. Of course the Gold Dinar can be a trading currency, for all countries, not necessarily Muslim countries. But Muslim countries are in the best position to demonstrate the viability of the system. They are in a position to manage their economies rationally and in the process show the world that they are capable of growing with stability and in peace. And this will do more towards countering oppressions by their enemies than the futile violent retaliations.

Sinclair conclusion:Dear Friends of the Gold Community new and old, this is a very young gold market with a long way to go. It is only in the crawling stage and has done magnificently so far. Soon it will stand up, become strong and be recognized. This time Atlas will not Shrug but rather Gold as an economic Atlas will be used to bolster and restore confidence in the US dollar through a revitalized Gold cover Clause. When the next bull market in equities begins it will be gold that will stand as the foundation to that event and not more paper foolishness from any central bank or international derivative traders. The really millennium begins when gold revitalizes world economies not through convertibility but rather through the gold's real role in the monetary system. Gold is a control item that disciplines the creation of monetary aggregates. That is what the Gold cover clause does and that is why Nixon sterilized it. Mark my words. It is coming and it brings good times, not the four horsemen now looked for as the specters coming over the hill. The ascendancy of gold will be hard fought but will be finally embraced as now popular central bank tools of interest rate manipulation and monetary aggregate expansion are destined by their own definition to fall flat on their political faces. It is amazing that out of Islam comes what will save the Western World's economic system. I am certain that Divinity, whatever He, She or It is or is not, has a unique SENSE OF HUMOR and loves Infinite Variety.

4 of the 5 elements for a long-term bull market in gold are in. The 5th element may well be here as well. Now the Wild Card has raised it's head. Where is the greatest risk in gold now?

In my opinion, the short side of gold has infinite risk. The long side of gold has significant fundamental support.

© 2002 James E. Sinclair

This article appears in the Nov. 15, 2002 issue of Executive Intelligence Review (www.larouchepub.com).
Gold Dinar: An Economic and Strategic
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Response to Chaos
by Michael O. Billington

Mounting concern around the world that the Bush Administration is madly threatening to drive the world into perpetual warfare, while doing nothing to address the global financial-economic collapse, has led to the introduction of a number of defensive measures by nations and groups of nations acting in concert. One such measure is the proposal for creation of a Gold Dinar, intended as a replacement for the dollar as the currency of trade among nations. With a war against Iraq looming on the horizon, and U.S. threats against Saudi Arabia escalating in the establishment's institutions and publications, it is increasingly probable that the Gold Dinar policy will be implemented in the near term, among certain Islamic nations at first, and potentially expanding to include non-Islamic nations.

Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad hosted a two-day seminar in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 22-23, called "The Gold Dinar in Multilateral Trade." This was the second major conference in Malaysia on this subject involving representatives of members of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). The first conference, "Stable and Just Global Monetary Systems," held in August, announced that the Gold Dinar would be implemented as a bilateral arrangement between Malaysia and certain unspecified partners by the middle of 2003, and extended to multilateral agreements over time. At the more recent seminar, Bijan Latif, the head of Iran's Central Bank, offered to support the establishment of a secretariat in Malaysia to coordinate the development of the Gold Dinar policy. Dr.Mahathir supported the idea.

Not a Gold Standard

In his speech to the October seminar, Dr. Mahathir made clear that the proposal was not intended to establish a gold standard (as put forth by fixated "gold bugs" around the world), but to return to the Bretton Woods policy of a gold-reserve system, which was destroyed when President Richard Nixon removed the dollar from a fixed peg to gold on Aug. 15, 1971, allowing currencies to float at the whim of speculators. Dr. Mahathir reminded the participants, that after World War II, "when the Allied nations met in Bretton Woods to determine the principle for the rate of exchange of international currencies in order to facilitate trade, they decided to use gold as a standard." This worked until 1971, when "the market claimed that it could determine the exchange rate through the demand and supply of currencies freely traded in the market. But the profiteers moved in and manipulated the value of the currencies so that there was chaos in terms of exchange rates of currencies."

The Gold Dinar policy intends to return to the former, superior policy. Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, an economic adviser to Dr. Mahathir, explained the system at the August conference as follows, using trade between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia as an example: "Malaysian exporters will be paid in ringgit [the Malaysian currency] by Bank Negara [the Malaysian National Bank] on the due date of exports.... Similarly, the importers will pay Bank Negara the ringgit equivalent of their imports. The Saudi Central Bank will do the same for its exports and imports. Say, at the end of a three-month cycle, the total exports from Malaysia to Saudi Arabia is 2 million Gold Dinar, and the total exports of Saudi Arabia to Malaysia is 1.8 million Gold Dinar. Therefore, for that particular three-month cycle, the Saudi Central Bank will pay Bank Negara 0.2 million Gold Dinar. The actual payment can be by way of the Saudis transferring 0.2 million ounces of gold in its custodian's account in the Bank of England in London, to Bank Negara's account with the same custodian. The important point to note here, is that the relatively small amount of 0.2 million Gold Dinar is able to support a total trade value of 3.8 million Gold Dinar."

The weakness of the system as it is now proposed is that gold, too, is subject to speculation, especially if it is pegged to a currency such as the dollar, which is heading for a plunge due to the collapse of the U.S. banking system. Dr. Mahathir is aware of the problem: "Gold prices can also be manipulated," he said, "but not as easily as the U.S. dollar or other currencies.... Speculation and manipulation will not be as easy as when local currency is valued against the U.S. dollar."

EIR Founding Editor Lyndon LaRouche has proposed that the necessary return to a Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates must also peg currencies to a "basket of commodities" rather than to gold, as a means of basing currency valuations to the real economy, rather than tying the real economy to a speculative entity (see Documentation). Although the Gold Dinar proposal assigns a value to gold in terms of dollars, Dr. Mahathir suggested in his speech that he is thinking along the lines of a "basket of commodities": "The value of one Gold Dinar is one Gold Dinar, no matter what the exchange rate of a currency is against the Gold Dinar. If the value of goods and services is expressed in Gold Dinar, the value remains the same, no matter which country is involved in the trade."

Whatever the case in this regard, the discussion and implementation of the bilateral or restricted multilateral Gold Dinar policy can provide a much-needed defense against the collapse of the dollar-centered financial system, and could contribute to a more durable global solution in the near future.
Strategic Necessity

Dr. Mahathir emphasized that the Gold Dinar policy is being driven by the crushing reality of the economic and strategic crisis. The disastrous situation in the Holy Land, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the threatened war on Iraq, have resulted in "the whole world's economy being unable to grow," he said. "The West, and in particular the Americans, are very angry. So are the Muslims. Angry people cannot act rationally." He concluded his speech: "Of course, the Gold Dinar can be a trading currency for all countries, not necessarily Muslim countries. But Muslim countries are in the best position to demonstrate the viability of the system, ... and in the process, show the world that they are capable of growing with stability and peace. And this will do more towards countering oppressions by their enemies, than the futile violent retaliations."

Other voices are also warning that the current folly in Washington will only hasten this break from the bankrupt IMF system. James Sinclair, the head of the mining company Tan Range Exploration, said in an Oct. 28 editorial in Financial Sense Online: "It is perceived, and correctly so, that the Islamic world is controlled via the use of the U.S. dollar as the main settlement currency.... I am told there is a significant possibility that when the U.S. attacks Iraq, the united Islamic salvo back will be at the U.S. dollar via the Gold Dinar." The Saudis, he says, "are less likely than most observers think to rescue the dollar this time."

In fact, the Saudis are already repatriating deposits from the United States, as reflected in the increase by $30 billion in deposits in Saudi banks in September.

Sinclair also notes, as did Bijan Latif of the Iranian Central Bank, that "the establishment of a gold-based currency is rebellion against the IMF, as it is distinctly forbidden under IMF rules." Sinclair adds: "The advent of the Gold Dinar would be the 'nadir' of the IMF and World Bank."

Other commentators have noted the concern in Saudi Arabia that the United States may freeze Saudi assets in U.S. banks, forcing them to consider the Gold Dinar as a replacement for the dollar, and dumping dollar holdings altogether if necessary. As amazing as this sounds, given the long history of U.S.-Saudi friendship, there has been a drumbeat of anti-Saudi hysteria in the United States recently, escalating since the infamous presentation before the Defense Department's Defense Policy Board on July 10 by the RAND corporation's Laurent Murawiec, which declared Saudi Arabia the mother of all terror, and calling for the overthrow of that country's government and other Arab "dictatorships" (see EIR, Aug. 16, 2002). Although Murawiec was fired by RAND for this mindless diatribe, Richard Perle, who runs the Defense Policy Board, was never publicly reprimanded, let alone fired, and the Saudis took note.

Even more blatant was the report issued by the leading think-tank of the American establishment, the Council on Foreign Relations, in October, "Terrorist Financing." The report is the work of a task force, headed by Maurice "Hank" Greenberg of the AIG insurance cartel, himself a notorious money-launderer. The report castigates Islamic charities in general, but hits Saudi Arabia in particular: "For years, individuals and charities based in Saudi Arabia have been the most important source of funds for al-Qaeda; and for years, Saudi officials have turned a blind eye to this problem," says the report. Making their intentions clear, the CFR adds: "It may well be the case that if Saudi Arabia and other nations in the region were to move quickly to share sensitive financial information with the U.S., regulate or close down Islamic banks, incarcerate prominent Saudi citizens or render them to international authorities, audit Islamic charities, and investigate the hawala system-just a few of the steps that nation would have to take-it would be putting its current system of governance at significant political risk." Nonetheless, they argue, the Bush Administration must proceed, and stop pretending that "Saudi Arabia is being cooperative, when they know very well all the ways in which it is not."

With this madness as establishment policy, the Saudis, and others, may well see no choice but to pull out of the dollar-based system. This is one reason for the great interest in LaRouche and his proposals in the Mideast today. It may well lead to the timely adoption of the Gold Dinar policy among Islamic nations, and progress toward a New Bretton Woods monetary system.

11/3 J. DOUGLAS BOWEY and ANTAL E. FEKETE - M E M O R A N D U M

M E M O R A N D U M TO:

The Right Honorable Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister, Malaysia
FROM: J. Douglas Bowey and Antal E. Fekete
SUBJECT: Islamic Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham Initiative
DATE: 1 November, 2002

Authors of the Islamic Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham initiative are to be congratulated for their ingenuity, courage, and timing on designing and instituting an international monetary system based on hard money. The following points may be useful to further improve the efficiency of this bold initiative inaugurated by Malaysia.

1. No Monetary Role for Gold and Silver without Free Coinage. The Gold Dinar and the Silver Dirham will not be money and can’t have any monetary role until and unless at least one government officially opens the Mint to gold (silver). This means "free coinage of gold (silver)," that is to say, the Mint must stand ready to convert gold into Gold Dinars (and silver into Silver Dirhams) in unlimited quantities free of charge, on the account of anyone tendering the right amount and fineness of gold (silver). In the absence of this commitment, the Dinar and the Dirham, just like the U.S. Gold and Silver Eagles, will remain souvenirs and keepsakes, having no monetary role to play whatsoever. They will not enter into monetary circulation, and will not be used for accounting purposes. This is one of the critical points missed by virtually all hard-money advocates today. It goes without saying that all taxes, duties, imposts, restrictions on the import and export of gold and silver must be abolished and declared unconstitutional.

2. First Step: Open the Mint to Silver. As the IMF has imposed a ban on monetizing gold (but not silver), for tactical reasons it might be advisable to test first by declaring the Mint open to silver only. This would have the effect of attracting capital in the form of silver to countries with a Mint open to silver. A bill market would spring to life more or less spontaneously. It would then finance the production and distribution of crude oil and other important commodities in terms of the Dirham. There is no need unnecessarily to affront and offend the U.S. by declaring the dollar ineligible for billing crude oil deliveries. However, opening the Mint to silver would be just as effective in puncturing the balloon of dollar-hegemony. The dollar would start fading away as the trading currency of the world.

3. Second Step: Open the Mint to Gold. Once the principle of billing in Silver Dirhams is accepted, as a second step, the Mints can be declared open to gold as well. IMF fulminations notwithstanding, Islamic and other countries can go safely ahead with their gold and silver circulation and bill markets trading bills payable in gold and silver, because the denial of IMF dollar-credits can no longer hurt them. They will be able to attract all the capital they want in terms of gold and silver.

4. Third Step: Finance the Trade in Crude Oil with Gold Bills. A gold bill is just an invoice evidencing the sale of goods in urgent demand (such as crude oil, grain and other agricultural commodities, copper, etc.) by the producer to the distributor. It has to be "accepted" by the latter, must mature in 91 days or less without the possibility of extension, and it must be payable in Dinars at maturity. The bill is a "self-liquidating" instrument. This means that, at maturity, the bill is paid out of the proceeds of the disposal of the underlying merchandise by the distributor. A spontaneous trading in gold bills will spring up. In the bill market, outstanding gold bills are bought and sold at a discount, which depends on the number of days left to maturity and the discount rate. The discount rate varies inversely with the "propensity to spend." The greater the demand for the underlying merchandise, the lower is the discount rate. Sellers of bills are those who have salable merchandise to ship; buyers of bills are those who have short-term liquid funds to invest. The discount rate may move up or down in such a way as to facilitate the clearing of outstanding bills in the market. The discount rate should not be mistaken for a rate of interest, as explained in (9) below.

5. Making the Banks Irrelevant. The beauty of the plan is that it can bypass any and all banks that may be suspected of affiliation with or allegiance to the big multinational dollar banks. Banks are irrelevant to the bill market trading gold bills. There is no need to establish new dinar banks and train personnel either; that would take years. The spontaneous bill market trading of dinar bills would be a more than adequate replacement for financing domestic and world trade.

6. Attracting Capital from Abroad. Here is the mechanism whereby a country that has opened its Mint to gold can attract capital. The Central Bank stands ready to rediscount gold dinar bills at the posted rediscount rate. A higher rediscount rate will attract gold to the Mint resulting in a capital inflow. A lower rediscount rate will expel gold from the country, allowing capital to seek higher returns abroad. Foreigners will send in gold in response to a higher rediscount rate as they want to hold the most liquid short-term instrument: the gold bill of exchange.

7. Wages Must Be Payable in Gold Dinar and/or in Silver Dirham. In order to facilitate dinar and dirham circulation, employers must be requested to pay wages in Dinar or Dirham. Employers get Dinars and Dirhams by selling their gold bills in the bill market, or by rediscounting them at the Central Bank. The workers will spend their dinars and dirhams on consumer goods. The circle is now complete: the consumer’s coin is paying the bill at maturity, by which time the underlying consumer good is sold in exchange for the dinar or dirham.

8. Bimetallism Would Be a Mistake. Do not fix the bimetallic ratio between the Gold Dinar and the Silver Dirham. Let the market find and adjust the proper ratio, whenever necessary, without government intervention.

9. Islamic Law Banning Usury and Interest. It must be clear that there is no lending or borrowing, nor interest paying and taking, involved in bill trading. The function of the bill market is not lending; it is clearing. The producer bills the distributor for merchandise shipped, with "terms: 91 days net." The important point to grasp is that the producer is not a lender; and the distributor is not a borrower. The term 91 days net is part of the contract. Hardly any distributor pays cash to the producer for merchandise shipped for resale. Bills circulate spontaneously before maturity; the producer may use them to pay his suppliers, who will be glad to take the bills in payment for the supplies shipped. Alternatively, the producer may discount his bills in the bill market for cash. The transaction has nothing to do with lending and borrowing at interest. Discounting bills is part of the process of clearing. In more detail, discounting is an essential part of the trade in consumer goods. The amount of discount is of the same character as the markup on merchandise representing overhead and profit of the merchant, allowable charges under Islamic Law. The amount of discount depends (1) on the number of days the bill has to run before maturity; and (2) on the discount rate. The discount rate is not an interest rate. The former reflects the propensity to consume; the latter the propensity to save, the relation in either case being inverse. That is, the higher the propensity the lower is the rate and vice versa.

Note that gold distribution and the bill market are just the two sides of the same coin: neither could stand without the support of the other. In order to make the gold dinar an instrument of world trade, there must be a complementary bill market.

We would be pleased to answer any questions derived from this MEMORANDUM, or to act as consultants and/or advisors to Governments that are courageous enough to implement a plan to open the mint to silver and/or gold.

J. DOUGLAS BOWEY is a Private Merchant Banker living in Los Angeles, California. He has traveled extensively and lived in the Islamic world. Bowey’s specialty is strategic alliance finance.

ANTAL E. FEKETE is Professor Emeritus (Mathematics), Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. He is a world-class economist specializing in monetary science and history. He lives between St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, and Budapest, Hungary. He has written extensively. A portion of his writings may be seen on the website www.goldisfreedom.com.

J. DOUGLAS BOWEY and ANTAL E. FEKETE have recently joined forces to create an opportunity. Together they will now begin to offer this opportunity (methodology) to "select" Central Banks/Governments. This methodology allows Central Banks/Governments to continually increase their gold and silver reserve holdings, with minimal risk, without the use of "financial engineering," and while retaining full physical control of those reserves.BOWEY and/or FEKETE may be contacted through:

J. Douglas Bowey and Associates
Beverly Hills, CA
Email: jdbanda@aol.com
Telephone: 310/820-0444

Article from "http://www.silverbearcafe.com/dinar.html#chaos"

Gold Dinar: An Economic and Strategic Response to Chaos

2011-01-18T16:37:00.000+08:00

This article appears in the November 15, 2002 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
Gold Dinar:An Economic and Strategic Response to Chaos
by Michael O. Billington

Mounting concern around the world that the Bush Administration is madly threatening to drive the world into perpetual warfare, while doing nothing to address the global financial-economic collapse, has led to the introduction of a number of defensive measures by nations and groups of nations acting in concert. One such measure is the proposal for creation of a Gold Dinar, intended as a replacement for the dollar as the currency of trade among nations. With a war against Iraq looming on the horizon, and U.S. threats against Saudi Arabia escalating in the establishment's institutions and publications, it is increasingly probable that the Gold Dinar policy will be implemented in the near term, among certain Islamic nations at first, and potentially expanding to include non-Islamic nations.

Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad hosted a two-day seminar in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 22-23, called "The Gold Dinar in Multilateral Trade." This was the second major conference in Malaysia on this subject involving representatives of members of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). The first conference, "Stable and Just Global Monetary Systems," held in August, announced that the Gold Dinar would be implemented as a bilateral arrangement between Malaysia and certain unspecified partners by the middle of 2003, and extended to multilateral agreements over time. At the more recent seminar, Bijan Latif, the head of Iran's Central Bank, offered to support the establishment of a secretariat in Malaysia to coordinate the development of the Gold Dinar policy. Dr. Mahathir supported the idea.

Not a Gold Standard
In his speech to the October seminar, Dr. Mahathir made clear that the proposal was not intended to establish a gold standard (as put forth by fixated "gold bugs" around the world), but to return to the Bretton Woods policy of a gold-reserve system, which was destroyed when President Richard Nixon removed the dollar from a fixed peg to gold on Aug. 15, 1971, allowing currencies to float at the whim of speculators. Dr. Mahathir reminded the participants, that after World War II, "when the Allied nations met in Bretton Woods to determine the principle for the rate of exchange of international currencies in order to facilitate trade, they decided to use gold as a standard." This worked until 1971, when "the market claimed that it could determine the exchange rate through the demand and supply of currencies freely traded in the market. But the profiteers moved in and manipulated the value of the currencies so that there was chaos in terms of exchange rates of currencies."

The Gold Dinar policy intends to return to the former, superior policy. Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, an economic adviser to Dr. Mahathir, explained the system at the August conference as follows, using trade between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia as an example: "Malaysian exporters will be paid in ringgit [the Malaysian currency] by Bank Negara [the Malaysian National Bank] on the due date of exports.... Similarly, the importers will pay Bank Negara the ringgit equivalent of their imports. The Saudi Central Bank will do the same for its exports and imports. Say, at the end of a three-month cycle, the total exports from Malaysia to Saudi Arabia is 2 million Gold Dinar, and the total exports of Saudi Arabia to Malaysia is 1.8 million Gold Dinar. Therefore, for that particular three-month cycle, the Saudi Central Bank will pay Bank Negara 0.2 million Gold Dinar. The actual payment can be by way of the Saudis transferring 0.2 million ounces of gold in its custodian's account in the Bank of England in London, to Bank Negara's account with the same custodian. The important point to note here, is that the relatively small amount of 0.2 million Gold Dinar is able to support a total trade value of 3.8 million Gold Dinar."

The weakness of the system as it is now proposed is that gold, too, is subject to speculation, especially if it is pegged to a currency such as the dollar, which is heading for a plunge due to the collapse of the U.S. banking system. Dr. Mahathir is aware of the problem: "Gold prices can also be manipulated," he said, "but not as easily as the U.S. dollar or other currencies.... Speculation and manipulation will not be as easy as when local currency is valued against the U.S. dollar."

EIR Founding Editor Lyndon LaRouche has proposed that the necessary return to a Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates must also peg currencies to a "basket of commodities" rather than to gold, as a means of basing currency valuations to the real economy, rather than tying the real economy to a speculative entity (see Documentation). Although the Gold Dinar proposal assigns a value to gold in terms of dollars, Dr. Mahathir suggested in his speech that he is thinking along the lines of a "basket of commodities": "The value of one Gold Dinar is one Gold Dinar, no matter what the exchange rate of a currency is against the Gold Dinar. If the value of goods and services is expressed in Gold Dinar, the value remains the same, no matter which country is involved in the trade."

Whatever the case in this regard, the discussion and implementation of the bilateral or restricted multilateral Gold Dinar policy can provide a much-needed defense against the collapse of the dollar-centered financial system, and could contribute to a more durable global solution in the near future.

Strategic Necessity
Dr. Mahathir emphasized that the Gold Dinar policy is being driven by the crushing reality of the economic and strategic crisis. The disastrous situation in the Holy Land, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the threatened war on Iraq, have resulted in "the whole world's economy being unable to grow," he said. "The West, and in particular the Americans, are very angry. So are the Muslims. Angry people cannot act rationally." He concluded his speech: "Of course, the Gold Dinar can be a trading currency for all countries, not necessarily Muslim countries. But Muslim countries are in the best position to demonstrate the viability of the system, ... and in the process, show the world that they are capable of growing with stability and peace. And this will do more towards countering oppressions by their enemies, than the futile violent retaliations."

Other voices are also warning that the current folly in Washington will only hasten this break from the bankrupt IMF system. James Sinclair, the head of the mining company Tan Range Exploration, said in an Oct. 28 editorial in Financial Sense Online: "It is perceived, and correctly so, that the Islamic world is controlled via the use of the U.S. dollar as the main settlement currency.... I am told there is a significant possibility that when the U.S. attacks Iraq, the united Islamic salvo back will be at the U.S. dollar via the Gold Dinar." The Saudis, he says, "are less likely than most observers think to rescue the dollar this time."

In fact, the Saudis are already repatriating deposits from the United States, as reflected in the increase by $30 billion in deposits in Saudi banks in September.

Sinclair also notes, as did Bijan Latif of the Iranian Central Bank, that "the establishment of a gold-based currency is rebellion against the IMF, as it is distinctly forbidden under IMF rules." Sinclair adds: "The advent of the Gold Dinar would be the 'nadir' of the IMF and World Bank."

Other commentators have noted the concern in Saudi Arabia that the United States may freeze Saudi assets in U.S. banks, forcing them to consider the Gold Dinar as a replacement for the dollar, and dumping dollar holdings altogether if necessary. As amazing as this sounds, given the long history of U.S.-Saudi friendship, there has been a drumbeat of anti-Saudi hysteria in the United States recently, escalating since the infamous presentation before the Defense Department's Defense Policy Board on July 10 by the RAND corporation's Laurent Murawiec, which declared Saudi Arabia the mother of all terror, and calling for the overthrow of that country's government and other Arab "dictatorships" (see EIR, Aug. 16, 2002). Although Murawiec was fired by RAND for this mindless diatribe, Richard Perle, who runs the Defense Policy Board, was never publicly reprimanded, let alone fired, and the Saudis took note.

Even more blatant was the report issued by the leading think-tank of the American establishment, the Council on Foreign Relations, in October, "Terrorist Financing." The report is the work of a task force, headed by Maurice "Hank" Greenberg of the AIG insurance cartel, himself a notorious money-launderer. The report castigates Islamic charities in general, but hits Saudi Arabia in particular: "For years, individuals and charities based in Saudi Arabia have been the most important source of funds for al-Qaeda; and for years, Saudi officials have turned a blind eye to this problem," says the report. Making their intentions clear, the CFR adds: "It may well be the case that if Saudi Arabia and other nations in the region were to move quickly to share sensitive financial information with the U.S., regulate or close down Islamic banks, incarcerate prominent Saudi citizens or render them to international authorities, audit Islamic charities, and investigate the hawala system—just a few of the steps that nation would have to take—it would be putting its current system of governance at significant political risk." Nonetheless, they argue, the Bush Administration must proceed, and stop pretending that "Saudi Arabia is being cooperative, when they know very well all the ways in which it is not."

With this madness as establishment policy, the Saudis, and others, may well see no choice but to pull out of the dollar-based system. This is one reason for the great interest in LaRouche and his proposals in the Mideast today. It may well lead to the timely adoption of the Gold Dinar policy among Islamic nations, and progress toward a New Bretton Woods monetary system.

Article is taken from "http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2002/2944gold_dinar.html"

Seminar to discuss introduction of Islamic gold dinar as world currency

2011-01-18T16:16:00.001+08:00

Seminar to discuss introduction of Islamic gold dinar as world currency

INTRINSIC value ... Syaikh Abdulqadir as-Sufi displays the Islamic gold dinar coin at a news conference in Putrajaya, July 31.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PUTRAJAYA July 31 - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad intends to hold a seminar to discuss the introduction of the Islamic gold dinar as a world currency and determine all the parameters of its usage and the dimension of its applications, it was announced today.

An expert on the Islamic gold dinar, Rais Umar Ibrahim Vadillo, said this was expressed to him by Dr Mahathir during their one-hour meeting at the Prime Minister's office here.

Speaking to reporters after accompanying a world reknowned Muslim scholar, Shaykh Abdalqadir as-Sufi, in paying a courtesy call on the Prime Minister, Rais Umar said Dr Mahathir expressed his desire to establish Islamic gold dinar as a world currency.

The seminar would determine the parameters of the gold dinar's usage and the dimension of its applications, said Vadillo.

"The moment Malaysia established the gold currency as legal tender, like the South African kruggerand, then you are (potentially) creating a currency for one billion Muslims," he added.

Besides being a mean of payment for one of the biggest and most homogenous communities in the world, the Islamic dinar is also seen by many people as the only real challenge to the "hegemony of the US dollar", he said.

"Gold itself is not a promise of payment but gold is a merchandise, a commodity. It holds value by itself and it has no inflation."

Rais Umar said studies on the behaviour of gold over several centuries demonstrated that the price of gold had been constant.

"Unlike paper currencies, a piece of gold is of value from day one."

He said the expanded use of the Islamic dinar would be to increase its functionality and this need not go through the political process.

"It should be through the spontaneous use of the coin. Let the people use the coin. There are thousands of people using the Islamic dinar in the Muslim world."

Rais Umar said it did not depend how many people were trading with it.

"We can create a trading bloc using gold coins even if only 20 people are trading in it. Gold does not depend on the credibility of political authorities, gold depends on itself. That is why it is possible to succeed," he said in reference to the possibility of the Islamic gold dinar being a world currency.

Rais Umar, leader of Murabitun Worldwide Movement, arrived here yesterday for a two-week visit together with Shaykh Abdalqadir, a renowned Islamic speaker and writer who was born in Scotland.

However, Rais Umar did not say when the seminar would be held except saying that Malaysia could play the lead role in establishing the gold currency as legal tender since it would potentially benefit one billion users in the world.

Meanwhile, Shaykh Abdalqadir said Malaysians were fortunate to have a leader in Dr Mahathir who knew the impact of the paper currency manipulation and those behind it.

He said Dr Mahathir had revealed the tactics of certain capitalist forces who had impoverished several Asian economies when they destroyed their currencies.

He praised Dr Mahathir for being a great Muslim leader who had spoken against these manipulators.

He was also confident that Dr Mahathir would lead in the greater use of the real money through the Islamic gold dinar.

Shaykh Abdalqadir last visited Malaysia in 1990 and has been invited to deliver a lecture entitled "The Collaborative Couple" at Universiti Malaya.

Article from "http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2001&dt=0801&pub=Utusan_Express&sec=Front_Page&pg=fp_01.htm&arc=hive%20%20utusan"

2011-01-18T16:11:00.002+08:00

Wednesday, July 02, 2003
Greater use of gold dinar for trade soon
BY NICK LEONG and SABRY TAHIR

PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that in addition to Iran, many countries, especially those in West Asia, are interested in conducting trade with Malaysia using the gold dinar for settlement.

“Arab countries, in particular, have expressed interest but the decision-making process and bureaucratic procedures take time,” he said after opening the International Convention on Gold Dinar as an Alternative International Currency in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Dr Mahathir said efforts to use the gold dinar in bilateral trade with Iran had just started and, if successful, the same mechanism could be applied and expanded to Malaysia's other trading partners, particularly the 30-plus countries with which the country had concluded bilateral payment arrangements (BPA).

On whether the adoption of the gold dinar for trade could be achieved this year, the prime minister said: “Maybe ... we'll see if we can do it with Iran.”

Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir speaking at the International Convention on Gold Dinar at the PWTC in Kuala Lumpur.

Dr Mahathir said Malaysia was ready to use the gold dinar but other countries either did not really understand the concept or found it difficult to make a decision.
He said Malaysia would continue to promote the use of the gold dinar not only among Islamic countries but also non-Islamic nations.

“We have to be patient. When we introduced Islamic banking, it took time for people to accept it but now non-Muslims and non-Islamic banks are using Islamic banking and they can issue Islamic bonds,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said he did not foresee any objections to the use of the gold dinar as it was the same as the gold standard used in the Bretton Woods Agreement.

The Bretton-Woods Agreement is about fixing the exchange rate of major trading countries' currencies against gold. The value of the currencies was fixed against the US dollar which in turn was fixed at 1/35 ounce of gold or US$35 per ounce.

On whether the US had made known its stance on the gold dinar, Dr Mahathir said he had not heard of any objection from Washington on the matter.

Meanwhile, Bank Negara assistant governor Datuk Latifah Merican Cheong said the challenge in the adoption of the gold dinar now lay mainly in developing the mechanism to make it a credible system that was practical to traders.

“The gold dinar will be in demand once it is proven to be credible,” she said in presenting her paper on the Gold Dinar as an Alternative International Currency.

Latifah said Malaysia was working rapidly towards addressing the technical issues of using the gold dinar.

“On the part of Bank Negara there have been ongoing discussions with countries interested to use the gold dinar,’’ she said. “Most important is the need to come up with a system acceptable to the central banks of all the participating countries.''

Among the key issues that needed to be addressed quickly were the establishment of legal frameworks in countries using the gold dinar, matters pertaining to trade surpluses and trade deficits, and interest charges and penalties for late payment and net settlement, she said.

Article from "http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2003/7/2/business/wndinar&sec=business"

The Islamic Gold Dinar

2011-01-18T16:07:00.000+08:00

Wednesday, June 16, 2004
The Islamic Gold Dinar
Source: YemenTimes

Raidan Al-Saqqaf

In order to minimize dependency on US Dollar; Malaysia will be using the golden Dinar in its international trade transactions with other Muslim nations before the end of this year, as a step to push the new currency (Islamic Dinar) to be the currency adopted by the Islamic countries in their inter-transactions in order to increase the number of trade transactions between Islamic countries and enhance their economic development.

The idea came from Professor Omar Ibrahim Fadillo, founder of the Morabeteen International Organization. According to him; Islamic unity can only be established after the economic unity, coordination and cooperation between the Islamic nations. In addition to that, the important thing behind this concept is that it denotes a symbol from the Islamic history, and adjusting it with today’s international trade operations, symbolizes the real power of Islamic concepts especially while encouraging boycotting of American products, and to limit the influence of the American dollar.

The success of the gold Dinar as a unified Islamic currency is dependent on three factors: (a) the level of demand for the golden Dinar as a currency, (b) the number of trade transactions between countries dealing in this currency, and (c) the intensity of economic cooperation and coordination between Islamic countries.

Islamic countries will benefit in many ways from implementing this new currency project, most important of which is that these countries need not have enormous foreign currencies reserves. On the other hand, it is sad to point out that the insignificant amount of trade and economic cooperation between Arab and Muslim nations, knowing that the overall total production of all the Arab countries is less than that of Spain.

Indeed, this is a very hard time for the Arab world, especially after the war on Iraq; each country now has its own foreign policy and follows its own road, not towards Arab unity but towards its own individual interests. This demonstrates the weaknesses of our nations. We have no shared strategies for the region or future plans with our neighboring Arab and Muslim countries, we are in a sad position lacking in the teamwork required for both short and long term survival.

However, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad understands the magnitude of the situation; his attempt to create a united Islamic market using one currency, which is the gold Islamic Dinar, is praiseworthy. The system is built on the idea that the Islamic governments keep the gold in a central bank and use it in settling their commercial dealings between each other. Mr. Mahathir has also conducted in 2002 bilateral talks with several Islamic countries, including Bahrain, Libya, Morocco and Iran, in order to convince them to use the Islamic Dinar as a way of payment in their commercial dealings with Malaysia. Now the ball is in our court; whether Mahathir’s attempt is to succeed or fail, that depends on our governments.

Endnote: The Islamic golden Dinar can increase the amount of trade between Muslim countries; in fact, it can create a strong fund unity that helps our economic position.

Article is quote from "http://www.islamicawakening.com/viewnews.php?newsID=1973"

Dinar & Dirham Kelantan Matawang Syariah

2011-01-14T10:38:00.005+08:00

( Oleh Hajjah Nik Mahani Binti Mohamad –Pengarah Eksekutif Kelantan Golden Trade Sdn. Bhd.)

Umat Islam di abad ini tahu dan sememangnya sedar bahawa kita telah kehilanggan pemerintahan Islam sejak jatuhnya Kerajaan Uthmaniyyah pada tahun 1924. Umat Islam menunggu akan hari datangnya suatu keadaan dimana umat Islam akan kembali bersatu dan membawa balik ‘daulah’ Islamiyah.

Ramai yang berpendapat bahawa selagi kita belum dapat mewujudkan sebuah pemerintahan Islam maka persatuan ummah tidak dapat zahirkan. Terdapat banyak analisis tentang keadaan umat yang telah ditulis, pelbagai cadangan telah dikemukakan dan pelbagai usaha telah dilakukan untuk menyatupadukan umat Islam tetapi umat Islam di abad ini masih belum dapat disatukan lagi.

Kini, telah ada keyakinan bahawa seperkara yang boleh menyatupadukan umat Islam dan untuk menegakkan semula sebuah kerajaan Islam yang berdaulat ialah dengan mengembalikan semula satu matawang Syariah yang boleh digunakan oleh orang Islam di mana sahaja mereka berada. Kenyataan dan fahaman ini adalah berdasarkan satu ayat Al Quran Nul Karim :
یَا أَیُّھَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُواْ أَطِیعُواْ اللّھَ وَأَطِیعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ فَإِن تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي
شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللّھِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّھِ وَالْیَوْمِ الآخِرِ ذَلِكَ خَیْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ
4:59 )تَأْوِیلاً )

4:59 (Malay) Hai orang-orang yang beriman, taatilah Allah dan taatilah Rasul (Nya), dan ulil amri di antara kamu. Kemudian jika kamu berlainan pendapat tentang sesuatu, maka kembalikanlah ia kepada Allah (Al Qur'an) dan Rasul (sunnahnya), jika kamu benar-benar beriman kepada Allah dan hari kemudian. Yang demikian itu lebih utama (bagimu) dan lebih baik akibatnya.

Menurut Al-Qurtubi, seorang ahli tafsir al-Quran yang ulung dalam kitab tafsirnya yang termasyhur, Tafsir Al-Qurtubi (m. 1273); ayat al-Quran tersebut merupakan perintah supaya “mentaati Sultan dalam tujuh perkara iaitu: penempaan duit dinar dan dirham, penetapan berat dan ukuran, penghakiman, pengisyitiharan bagi ibadat haji, solat Jumaat, sambutan Aidilfitri dan Aidiladha, dan jihad.”
Justeru, itu pengeluaran matawang ‘dinar dan dirham’ merupakan kewajipan pertama Sultan untuk diperintahkan dan dipatuhi. Berdasarkan ayat inilah, matawang Syariah dikembalikan semula.

Perbahasan bahawa umat Islam harus menunggu kebangkitan sebuah ‘ Kerajaan Islam’ dahulu baru mahu menegakkan yang ‘haq’ adalah suatu pendapat yang kurang tepat pada pendapat penulis. Apakah kita harus tunggu sesiapa untuk kita menegakkan yang ‘haq’? atau yang ‘wajib’? Sebagai contoh apakah jika sebuah negara itu kuffar maka kita tak perlu sembahyang kerana takut dimarahi? Atau apakah kita harus menunggu persetujuan daripada kerajaan kuffar untuk kita menunaikan sembahyang maghrib? Tentunya perkara yang wajib tetap kita lakukan walaupun ia tidak dibenarkan kerana kita umat Islam wajib menunaikan sembahyang; kerana ibadah sembahyang itu adalah ‘haq’! hukuman ‘tidak sembahyang’ tetap kena kepada kita walaupun `Kerajaan Kuffar’ mithalnya, tidak memberikan tempat yang khusus untuk kita menunaikan sembahyang.

Perbahasan apakah kita harus menunggu sahaja tanpa membuat sesuatu usaha atau apakah kita wajib melangkah terus cuba menegakkan apa yang haq adalah suatu perbahasan yang tiada penghujungnya. Yang jelas; apakah kita di abad ini bertindak dengan hanya kaku menunggu ‘bulan jatuh ke riba’ atau pun mula bangkit melakukan sesuatu agar apa yang kita impikan boleh tercapai?. Maka inilah keputusan yang diambil oleh pemimpin sebuah
negeri kecil yang ramai memberikan takrif sebagai negeri ‘serambi Mekah’ - iaitu bertindak mengembalikan semula matawang Syariah – emas dinar dan perak dirham Kelantan yang akan dilancarkan pada 12hb Ogos 2010 nanti Insya Allah. Pemimpin Kerajaan Negeri Kelantan dengan beraninya mengorak langkah membawa balik matawang Syariah ini di tengah-tengah masyarakat mereka kerana rasa tanggungjawab dan kesedaran bahawa ia adalah suatu perkara yang terlalu penting dan menjadi perkara pokok dalam deenul Islam di abad ini.

Apakah penghujjahan mengenai matawang Syariah ini? : Umat Islam pada umumnya tahu bahawa perkataan ‘dinar’ dan ‘dirham’ wujud dalam Kitabullah Al Quran Nul Karim. Salah satunya ialah Surah Ali Imran ayat 75 yang bermaksud:
Surah Ali Imran ayat 75 :
وَمِنْ أَھْلِ الْكِتَابِ مَنْ إِن تَأْمَنْھُ بِقِنطَارٍ یُؤَدِّهِ إِلَیْكَ وَمِنْھُم مَّنْ إِن تَأْمَنْھُ بِدِینَارٍ لاَّ
یُؤَدِّهِ إِلَیْكَ إِلاَّ مَا دُمْتَ عَلَیْھِ قَآئِمًا ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّھُمْ قَالُواْ لَیْسَ
( عَلَیْنَا فِي الأُمِّیِّینَ سَبِیلٌ وَیَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللّھِ الْكَذِبَ وَھُمْ یَعْلَمُونَ( 3:75
3:75 (Malay) "Di antara Ahli Kitab ada orang yang jika kamu mempercayakan kepadanya harta yang banyak, dikembalikannya kepadamu; dan di antara mereka ada orang yang jika kamu mempercayakan kepadanya satu Dinar, tidak dikembalikannya padamu, kecuali jika kamu selalu menagihnya. Yang demikian itu lantaran mereka mengatakan: ""Tidak ada dosa bagi kami terhadap orang-orang umi. Mereka berkata dusta terhadap Allah, padahal mereka mengetahui."

Tokoh berwibawa dan terkenal dalam hukum al-Quran, Qadi Abu Bakar ibn al-Arabi, dalam kitabnya yang terkemuka “Ahkamul Quran” berkata:
“Pengajaran yang dapat diambil daripada ayat ini ialah larangan mengamanahkan barangan kepada Ahli Kitab.”dan beliau berkata lagi “Perkara berhubung dengan tindakan mengamanahkan harta benda telah tergubal dalam al-Quran. Ini bermakna,
ayat tersebut merupakan hukum yang telah ditetapkan dan penting sekali kepada agama. “

Ini bermakna umat Islam berada dalam keadaan yang amat berbahaya kerana kita telah memberikan suatu ‘amanah besar’ kepada kaum ahlul kitab iaitu, menyerahkan ‘harta benda’ umat Islam untuk mereka tadbirkan! Berdasarkan ayat ini sahaja pun jelas kita umat Islam di abad ini telah melanggar hukum yang telah ditetapkan. Apakah hukumnya? Ya, kita telah memberikan ‘amanah’ kepada Ahli Kitab dengan cara kita membiarkan urusan harta benda kita ke tangan mereka di abad ini atau sejak kejatuhan Kerajaan berkhalifah Uthmaniyyah bermula pada tahun 1924! Bukankah ‘matawang’ adalah
‘harta benda’ dan ‘memberikan amanah’ bererti menyerahkan ke tangan mereka suatu kepercayaan? Hari ini dan di abad ini kedua-dua perkara yang ditafsirkan dalam ayat ini telah kita cabuli! Allah s.w.t secara khususnya telah melarang umat Islam menyerahkan kepercayaan atas perkara hal ehwal harta kepada ‘Ahlul Kitab’ tetapi bukankah kita sudahmelanggar hukumAllah s.w.t.? Siapa ‘ahlul kitab’ ini? Ya mereka ialah bangsa ‘Yahudi’ dan `Nasrani’ serta kaum bukan Islam! Bukankah mereka dan suku sakat mereka yang mengepalai amalan riba di abad ini?. Amalan riba yang besar di abad ini ialah pada matawang kertas dan semua sistem perbankan tidak terkecuali perbankan Islam kerana pada asasnya ia sama sahaja. Penyerahan ‘amanah’ ini amat besar ertinya dan sangat tepat sekali larangan Allah s.w.t. Kita telah memberikan persetujuan atau membuat ‘baiah’ dengan memasuki perjanjian Brettonwoods pada tahun 1945 . Itulah ‘amanah’ yang umat Islam bersama-sama umat-umat lain telah berikan kepada ‘ahlul kitab’ ini! Dan sejarah membuktikan betapa mereka telah rosakkan ‘amanah’ tersebut! Pada masa itu bila dunia (44 buah negara) bersetuju menerima Dollar Amerika sebagai ‘matawang resab’ kerana janji mereka bahawa setiap Dollar Amerika telah bersandarkan emas iaitu sebanyak USD35 bagi setiap auns emas, maka maksud perjanjian yang dimeterai itu ialah bersetuju menggantikan sandaran emas pada matawang kertas negara masing-masing dengan Dollar Amerika.
Mereka mengatakan ‘Dollar Amerika as good as gold’! (Dollar Amerika sebaik emas). Apabila semua negara dalam pakatan perjanjian tersebut akur; mereka mendapati Amerika Syarikat yang memegang amanah tersebut mula menodainya sehingga pada tahun 1971 mereka telah ‘pecah amanah’ dengan mengisytiharkan matawang Dollar Amerika tiada lagi bersandarkan emas! Bukankah sangat tepat tafsiran ayat ini dalam kitabullah?

Kita telah menyerahkan bukan sahaja ‘amanah’ kepada mereka bila kita melangkah kepada penggunaan ‘matawang kertas’ tetapi juga istilah ’harta benda’ melibatkan semua aspek harta benda termasuklah sistem perbankan yang kononnya merupakan institusi penjanaan ‘harta benda’! Hari ini semua negara di dunia berada dalam suatu pembohongan yang amat nyata sekali kerana kita bersekongkol dalam suatu sistem Kapitalisme yang amat mengelirukan rakyat jelata. Dakyah ‘kekayaan’ yang diasaskan atas amalan riba memberikan kesenangan yang sebegitu menakjubkan, maka benarlah sepertimana gambaran sebuah hadith Rasullullah s.a.w. bahawa dakyah yang mereka bawa ialah seumpama ‘sungai’ dan ‘api’. Wang kertas serta sistem perbankan tidak terkecuali perbankan Islam menjana wang-wang ‘kredit’ yang terhasil daripada sistem perbankan yang mengamalkan apa yang dikenali sebagai ‘fractional reserve banking’ di mana setiap wang yang didepositkan ke dalam sistem perbankan boleh dikembangkan sehingga 20 kali ganda, menjadikan ekonomi semasa berasaskan sistem Kapitalisme dapat memberikan pinjaman hutang yang sebegitu besar yang dengannya menjana ekonomi memberikan kemakmuran kesenangan hidup sepertimana sebuah ‘sungai’ yang mengalir, menyuburkan semua tumbuh-tumbuhan di sekitarnya. Tetapi hadith Rasullullah s.a.w. telah memberitahu kita umatnya, bahawa janganlah sangkakan ‘sungai’ tersebut sebagai benar kerana kenyataan sebenar ‘sungai’ tersebut ialah ‘api’! Sebabnya? Ya, sebabnya ialah kesenangan dan kemakmuran yang dibawa adalah atas asas amalan riba yang akan dituntut oleh ‘api’ kerana ia menzalimi umat manusia seluruh alam.

Kezaliman yang diasaskan atas amalan riba ini menyebabkan harta tiada lagi beredar sebagaimana sepatutnya tetapi hanya tertumpu kepada orang-orang kaya semata! Betapa tidaknya; sistem Kapitalisme dalam sistem perbankan hanya memihak kepada orang berada di mana mereka yang berharta dan menyimpan wang di bank-bank akan menimba ‘bunga’ atau diistilahkan juga sebagai ‘faedah’ atau ‘interest’ atas simpanan mereka tanpa bekerja walhal satu pihak lagi yang mengambil pinjaman bukan sahaja akan dikenakan cagaran malah pihak bank menghasilkan `wang atas angin’
dengan mengenakan bunga atau ‘interest’ atas pinjaman yang mereka berikan itu. Apabila berlaku sesuatu keadaan di mana orang yang berhutang tadi tidak berjaya dalam urusan perniagaan mereka dan menyebabkan mereka tidak berupaya membayar semula pinjaman; maka semua cagaran yang mereka sandarkan tadi akan dileburkan menjadikan keadaan mereka jauh lebih teruk daripada sebelum membuat pinjaman! Berapa ramai umat Islam tergulung dalam dakyah sebegini!

Penggunaan wang kertas pula menyebabkan rakyat tertipu dengan dakyah ‘inflasi’. Apa yang sebenarnya berlaku ialah setiap kali Kerajaan Pusat mengeluarkan wang Ringgit Malaysia yang baru; ‘kuasa pembelian’ pada setiap keping kertas Ringgit Malaysia akan berkurangan seolah-olah ada satu tangan yang mencurinya daripada poket rakyat! Keadaan ini berterusan berlaku sehinggalah hasilnya – rakyat miskin akan bertambah miskin dan rakyat yang kaya menjadi bertambah kaya tanpa mereka membuat apa-apa kerja! Kepincangan masyarakat yang sebegini mengakibatkan kerosakan dalam masyarakat pada segi sosial dan akhlak sehinggakan masyarakat umat Islam hari ini sebegitu rendah moralnya dan anak-anak muda serta semua lapisan masyarakat Islam hari ini tercemar! Semua jenis penyakit dalam masyarakat ada pada umat Islam hari ini!

Pada sudut yang lain pula, rukun iman kita telah tercemar apabila kita menggunakan wang kertas untuk menggantikan wang dinar dan dirham! Bukankah salah satu ‘rukun iman’ ialah percaya bahawa kitabullah Al Quran nul karim tiada cacat cela walaupun satu huruf perkataan? Inikan pula kita telah menggantikan perkataan ‘dinar dan dirham’ dengan Ringgit Malaysia! Rupiah! Dollar Amerika!

Mari pula kita lihat apa kata lain-lain ulama’ terdahulu mengenai perkara dinar dan dirham :
Ibn Khaldun, dalam kitabnya -Al-Muqaddimah telah menulis :
“Al-Quran ada menyebutnya (dinar & dirham) dan menetapkan banyak hukum berkaitan dengannya, sebagai contoh zakat, nikah, dan hudud, dan sebagainya. Oleh itu, dalam al-Quran, ia perlu ada hakikat dan ukuran khusus untuk dibuat taksiran (dalam zakat, dan sebagainya) di mana hal ini perlu bersandar pada hukumnya, bukan pada yang bukan syarii (duit yang lain).”
Dan “Ketahuilah bahawa sejak bemulanya Islam dan zaman sahabah serta pengikut, wujud ijmak yang mengatakan sepuluh dirham syariah setara dengan tujuh miskal (berat dinar) emas… Berat satu miskal emas ialah tujuh puluh dua biji barli, maka dirham yang merupakan tujuh per sepuluh daripadanya ialah lima puluh dua per lima biji. Ijmak telah menetapkan dengan jelas semua ukuran ini.”

Jelas apa yang diterangkan oleh Ibnu Khaldun ialah dinar dan dirham ialah matawang Syarii. Ibnu Khaldun dengan jelas menyatakan bahawa kedua-dua matawang ini adalah matawang Syarii kerana kedua-dua matawang ini disebut dalam hukum-hukum berkaitan zakat;nikah dan hudud. dan telah ada ijma’ ulama’ sejak bermulanya Islam; zaman sahabat serta pengikutnya bahawa satu dinar itu ialah 1 mithqal yang hari ini bila dikira dengan timbangan gram ialah 4.25gram. Timbangan berat dinar dan dirham itu dikenali sebagai Piawaian Saiyyidina Umar Al-Khattab r.a. Timbangan inilah juga yang digunakan untuk emas dinar dan perak dirham Kelantan.

Kembalinya dinar dan dirham Kelantan dalam edaran bermula pada 12hb Ogos 2010 nanti adalah suatu usaha yang sangat besar implikasinya kepada umat Islam bukan sahaja kepada rakyat negeri Kelantan tetapi juga kepada umat Islam di abad ini. Dengan mennggunakan dinar dan dirham, kita boleh menegakkan kembali hukum-hukum yang berkaitan dengannya sepertimana yang dikatakan oleh Ibnu Khaldun; iaitu zakat; nikah dan hudud. Impak yang paling bererti bagi umat Islam di abad ini ialah pembayaran zakat dengan matawang dinar dan dirham nanti. Bermula pada tarikh ini ; rakyat negeri
Kelantan khususnya akan dapat melangkah keluar daripada amalan riba dengan keberupayaan berjual beli dengan menggunakan matawang Syariah dinar dan dirham Kelantan. Pada masa ini lebih daripada 600 buah kedai di Kota Bharu sudah sedia menerima pembayaran dengan menggunakan matawang Syariah dinar dirham Kelantan. Selain itu, 25% gaji akan mula dibayar dengannya; bil-bil air Kelantan akan mula dapat dibayar dengan dinar dirham Kelantan; zakat pada tahun 1431 H akan mula dibayar
dengan dinar dan dirham Kelantan, Insya Allah!............bersambung.

"Statement On the Shariah Currency and Legal Tender"

2011-01-10T15:29:00.001+08:00

Credit to World Islamic Mint http://www.islamicmint.com/news_articles/articles/papermoneyexperiment.html

Statement from Hajj Abdalhasib Castineira, Shariah Counselor of World Islamic Mint and Former Director of the Great Mosque of Granada. Issued in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday 17th, August, 2010.

Bismillah irrahman irrahim
Regarding the matter of the Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham and Legal Tender in Malaysia

The Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham known as Shariah currency or Shariah coins in the Fiqh are not legal tender. The Shariah currency has no relation to present fiat currencies on many accounts and should not be legally or practically be compared or treated as the same. The Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham relates to religious matters, most important of which is the matter of payment of Zakat, rather than constitutional matters. Its introduction can only occurred on voluntary basis since freedom is a command from Allah in all commercial transactions including the acceptance of money. Its usage has been throughout history open to Muslim and non-Muslims alike.

All Praise is due to Allah, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful, the Lord of all the worlds, the King of the Day of Judgment, Who has gathered all knowledge in His Essence and Who is the Creator of all knowledge for eternity. All peace and blessings be upon His beloved Prophet, Muhammad, who was not taught by man but by Him, He was the last and most honored Prophet, the last in the chain of prophethood that was brought to this world and has guided us to the right path. May abundant peace and blessing be upon his Family and his Companions, who were chosen among the good and benevolent.

In relation to the present concern of the people regarding the Launching of the Shariah currency in the State of Kelantan on the last 2nd of Ramadhan 1431, as a witness of the momentous ceremony of the Launching in the city of Kota Bharu and as Shariah Counselor of World Islamic Mint, I would like to state in a manner of clarification and support to this initiative the following:

1.- The Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham are not legal tender. Legal tender or forced tender is an offered payment that, by law, cannot be refused in settlement of a debt, and have the debt remain in force. Personal cheques, credit cards, debit cards and similar non-cash methods of payment are not legal tender only the notes and coins of Malaysia are Legal Tender. The issuing of Legal Tender is the exclusive prerogative of the Federal Government and the Government of Kelantan never had nor has the intention to issue Legal Tender as that is legally impossible.

2.- The Dinar and the Dirham are known in the fiqh (see [a] Muqaddimah of ibn Khaldun) as the “Shariah currency”or “Shariah coins”. The term “Shariah coins” is specific to the Dinar and Dirham and is not applicable to any other coin made in gold, silver or any other material. Any other coin is known as “non-shari’i” (ibn Khaldun).

3.-Properly speaking the term “alternative currency” is not applicable to the Shariah coins or currency because the term “Shariah coins” is specific to the Dinar and Dirham and therefore is not alternative to any other coins or currency (non shari’i). It stands on its own without alternative. The use of the expression “alternative currency” can only be used if proper explanation is given in regards to the fundamental differences that exist in relation to the legal tender currencies such as the Malaysian Ringgit. The Malaysian Ringgit is an entirely different legal concept and has different functions. The Malaysian Ringgit is not based on a commodity (in Arabic ‘ayn, meaning tangible merchandise) like the Dinar and Dirham, the Malaysian Ringgit a promissory note (in Arabic dayn, meaning debt or liability) with no intrinsic value (its value as ‘ayn/tangible merchandise is the value of the paper close to zero) but with a fiat value which established by the compulsion law of the Federal Government through the Law of Legal Tender and it can change from time to time. On the other hand, the value of the Dinar and Dirham depends entirely on the market value of the commodity (gold and silver) on which it is manufactured, just like a kilo of rice depends on the value of rice. This difference in important in religious terms, for example, zakat which is a legal obligation of the Shariah has to be paid in ‘ayn but cannot be paid in dayn. (see [b] Al-Kasani). Muslims should, if having the choice(if no choice is given or no ‘ayn is available then darurah, that is exceptionality, is temporarily applicable), pay with ‘ayn rather than dayn.

5.- In linguistic sense, the Dinar and Dirham are not face values, but names that indicate specific weights. The Dinar is a specific weight of 4.25 grams and it is also known as mithqal in Arabic. The Dirham is a specific weight of 2.975 grams or 7/10 of the mithqal. In a way they are legally the same as saying “1kg of rice”. Therefore they are specific weights of commodity (gold and silver) which are mentioned in Qur’an and in many aspects of the Shariah regarding zakat and legal judgments; and thus they cannot be altered in their weight.

6.- In history, the Shariah coins has never been legal tender. In the practice of the early Muslim community the Shariah coins were not only currency used as means of payment. Barley, dates or salt were also used as means of payment and therefore no exclusive right was given to the Shariah coins. The reason for this “freedom to choose the medium of exchange” is that money is considered a part of trading it is regulated under the same Qur’anic injunction that regulates trade: “tijaratun ‘aan taradim minkum”, the meaning of which is “trade according to mutual consent”. “Mutual consent” excludes the idea of compulsion or monopoly in regards to trading. (see [c] Tafsir al-Jalalayn). This is another reason why the Dinar and Dirham are not legal tender and have never been legal tender. Freedom to choose the medium of exchange is a fundamental right granted by Allah to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The use of the Shariah currency is therefore inclusive of non-Muslims.

7.-The term “currency” is commonly understood as legal tender or as fiat money that carries a face value. Since the “Shariah coins” are not legal tender and do not have a face value the” Shariah coins” should be better understood as a commodity rather than as “currency” in the common use of the term. Regarding current common practices, the use of the “Shariah coins” belongs to the category of barter, that is, the mutual exchange of products and services. It is arguable that in the past, before the introduction of legal tender laws, transactions made with gold and silver were consider normal transactions and the term barter was applicable to all other transactions. Therefore the use of the term “Shariah currency” should be understood with the limitations explained above and in consideration to the historical practice of the Muslims as it is relevant in the Islamic Jurisprudence.

8.- Until very recently in history “paper currencies” were defined as promissory notes in terms of gold and silver. In that sense they represented an ‘amanah’ (trusting wealth to someone who will keep it for you until you demand it) that is an obligation to pay on demand a certain amount of gold and silver. We know from history that this obligation was often not fulfilled and eventually the governments of the world decided gradually to eliminate the obligation to pay in specie altogether. The closest case of the default is the US dollar and its unilateral decision to break their “Bretton Woods Agreement”. This concept of ‘broken amanah’ is known in the Qur’an and carries legal implications as to the prohibition to accept amanah from non-Muslims unless they live under Muslim rule so that they can be obliged to pay their contractual obligations (see [d] Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi).

This legal injunction, which in theory implies the prohibition to accept British pounds, US dollars, etc. ( or any other currency backed by them), has been abrogated long ago since the colonial days by new laws that consider that this legal injunction is no longer applicable. Under the inspiration of the colonial legal systems, the constitutional Law of all Muslim countries including Malaysia grants the right to accept foreign promissory notes from non-Muslim countries (such as USD) to their own Central Bank (Bank Negara) as a reserve value for their own fiat currency. Because of this many Muslims (and non-Muslims) still mistakenly belief that their own fiat currency is backed by gold and silver when in fact no legal tender in the world is fully backed by specie anymore. The gold dinar and silver dirham are commodities and therefore they are not an ‘amanah: they are a tangible commodity (‘ayn), that is, when you pay with them, you hand over a certain amount of gold and silver and therefore they do not require to be backed by any other asset or authority other than itself. This is another reason why the Shariah currency cannot be compared or considered an alternative to “paper currencies”.

9.- Legal Tender is often a misunderstood concept. Coins and banknotes do not need to be ‘legal tender’ in order to be used as money to buy and perform other transactions for which money is intended. Legal tender must be accepted to settle a money debt. For example, US federal law does not restrict private businesses, persons or organisations in what methods of payment they choose to accept or refuse. Businesses are therefore free to insist on payment by credit card, for example, or to refuse larger denomination banknotes. In Canada for example, only Canadian dollar banknotes issued by the Bank of Canada are legal tender; however, commercial transactions may legally be settled in any manner agreed by the parties involved. A significant amount of business in Canada is transacted in United States dollars, despite United States currency not being legal tender. Legal tender can be refused unless or until a person is in debt, therefore vending machines and transport staff do not have to accept the largest denomination of banknote for a single bus fare or bar of chocolate, and even shopkeepers can reject large banknotes. However, restaurants that do not collect money until after a meal is served (a debt has been created) would have to accept any legal tender. The right of a trader to refuse to do business with any person means a purchaser cannot demand to make a purchase, and so declaring a legal tender other than for debts would be redundant.

10.- The minting of the Dinar and Dirham is a known practice of the Muslims from the early days of Islam. The first dated coins that can be assigned to the Muslims are copies of silver dirhams of the Sasanian Yezdigird III, struck during the Khalifate of Uthman, radiallahu anhu. These coins differ from the original ones in that an Arabic inscription is found in the obverse margins, normally reading “in the name of Allah”. Since then the writing in Arabic of the name of Allah and parts of Qur’an on the coins became a custom in all minting made by Muslims. In the year 75 (695) the Khalif Abdalmalik ordered Al-Haddjadj to mint the first dirhams, officially establishing the standard of Umar ibn al-Khattab, radiallahu anhu: 7/10 of the mithqal. The next year he ordered the dirhams to be minted in all the regions of the Dar al-Islam. He ordered the coins to be stamped with the sentence: “Allahu Ahad, Allahu Samad”. The minting of the coins is considered an obligation of the Sultan that needs to be followed (see [e] al-Qurtubi).

And Victory belongs to Allah. In Him we trust and praise belong to the Lord of the worlds and peace and blessings on His Messenger.

The slave of Allah, Hajj Abdalhasib Castineira, in Kuala Lumpur, on the 5th of Ramadhan, 1431.

NOTES
A] Imam Abu Zayd Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406)
“The Revelation undertook to mention them and attached many judgments to them, for example zakat, marriage, and hudud. Therefore within the Revelation they have to have a reality and specific measure for assessment (of zakat, etc.) upon which its judgments may be based rather than on the non-shari’i (other coins).

Know that there is a consensus (ijma) since the beginning of Islam and the age of the Companions and the Followers that the dirham of the shari’ah is that of which ten weigh seven mithqals (weight of the dinar) of gold… The weight of a mithqal is seventy-two grains of barley, so that the dirham which is seven tenths of it is fifty and two fifths grains. All these measurements are firmly established by consensus.”
“Al-Muqaddimah”

B] Imam Abu Bakr al-Kasani ( d.1191)
“If the property on which zakat fell due is dayn, as distinguished from ‘ayn, its zakat may be settled in terms of ‘ayn wealth. Thus a person having a claim of two hundred dirhams on which zakat is due, may give, in settlement of the same, five dirhams in cash, because dayn as compared with ‘ayn is defective (naqis) and the ‘ayn is complete (kamil), and a settlement of the defective in terms of the complete is valid. On the contrary, the settlement of the complete ‘ayn in terms of the defective (dayn) is not valid, and therefore, the zakat debt is not discharged if a person wants to pay the zakat of two hundred dirhams which he possesses (i.e. ‘ayn) in terms of the five dirhams which a poor person owes him (i.e. dayn); namely, by absolving him from the debt intending it for his own zakat debt on the two hundred dirhams.”
“Bada’i` al-Sana’i”

C] Shaykh Jalaluddin al-Mahalli & Shaykh Jalaluddin al-Suyuti
Allah says in the Qur’an (4, 29):

{ يَٰأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ لاَ تَأْكُلُوۤاْ أَمْوَٰلَكُمْ بَيْنَكُمْ بِٱلْبَٰطِلِ إِلاَّ أَن تَكُونَ تِجَٰرَةً عَن تَرَاضٍ مِّنْكُمْ وَلاَ تَقْتُلُوۤاْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِكُمْ رَحِيماً }

Tafsir:
“O you who believe, consume not your goods between you wrongly, unlawfully according to the Law, through usury or usurpation, except it be trading (tijāratan, also read tijāratun), so that the goods be from trade effected, through mutual agreement, through mutual good-will: such [goods] you may consume. And kill not yourselves, by committing what leads towards destruction on account of some affiliation, be it in this world or the Hereafter. Surely God is ever Merciful to you, when He forbids you such things.”
“Tafsir al-Jalalayn”

D] Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn al Arabi (d. 1148)
Allah says in the Qur’an (3:75):
“And amongst the People of the Book there are those who, if you were to entrust them with a treasure (qintar), he would return it to you. And amongst them is he who, if you were to entrust him with a dinar would not return it to you, unless you kept standing over him. “

Tafsir:
“the benefit that can be taken from this is the prohibition of entrusting (amanah) the People of the Book with goods. The question concerning entrusting property is legislated by the text of Qur’an.”
“Ahkam al-Qur’an”

E] Imam Abu Abdallah Al-Qurtubi (d. 1273)
Allah says in the Qur’an (4:59):
“O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in command among you..”

Tafsir:
“The ayat is an order to obey the Sultan in respect to seven obligations: the minting of the dinar and the dirham, fixing weights and measure, legal judgments, Hajj, Jumu’ah, the two Eids and Jihad.”
“Al-Jami’ li-Ahkam al-Qur’an”

Gold, the most precious metal on earth

2011-01-08T15:49:00.005+08:00

It just came to me recently about 2 month ago where suddenly I'm falling in LOVE with GOLD. Heheheh.. I had been thinking a lot about recent development on the Malaysia's economic situation where the almost everything become pricey. The fuel price hike, the food cost getting expensive. For me, the ringgit value is getting smaller. Not like the old days where with RM50.00 you can spend for many things. Nowadays, with the same amount, you can only have very little in your possession. In order word, less purchasing power.

So, I have been thinking, how could I generate more money in order to survive in this modern world. I'm not good in business. I don't inherit wealth from my parents. I'm also not married to the daughter of Sultan Brunei (hehehe, but I thank Allah for having such a wonderful wife plus wonderful kids.. hehehe sometime headache also).

So, I think the only think I can do is to have saving. When talk about saving, the word inflation comes to my mind. Then it is best for for me to start invest rather than the inflation eats my money.

When talk about investing, it is not that easy to invest. I mean, I just cannot go to BSKL and start investing. I have a very basic knowledge about investing. I learned a bit about investment while I was with Maybank. Thanks to that, due to my nature of work at that time, I have to learn about Investment plus pressure from my financial situation at that time. I had came to understand about Unit Trust since I have to take a license in order to market the ASB's (Amanah Saham Bumiputera) product. I have to have a selling point in order to get people to take the ASB loan. That is some history how I learned a bit about investment. I am not interested with ASB due to one reason. I'll talk about it later on.

When investing, I want to minimize the risk and maximize the profit. So, I have to do my own research. I do read about property, unit trust and even get involve in MLM. However, I don't find it suits me. Property Investment is good but when talk about property, it need such a big initial amount of money to start with. When talk about unit trust, I find it not good enough for several reason like inflation and risk. But, still it come down to one conclusion, MONEY. This five letter words give such a great impact to our live, agree or not??

MONEY, the most topic that being talked about by people all around the world. So, now I do some study and research about money. While doing a research about money, I found something about gold. That is why I fall in love with gold. Now, I much I love with this precious metal. I will talk about gold some other time. Enough for today. This is a link to wikipedia about gold Happy reading. Until later.. Salam

Poh Kong: Gold may hit US$1,500 this year

2011-01-07T08:29:00.002+08:00

Credit to Business Times at http://www.btimes.com.my

Jewellery retail chain operator Poh Kong Holdings Bhd expects the gold price to edge up by some US$100 to about US$1,500 (RM307 to about RM4,605) an ounce this year on pent-up demand from the recovering global economy.

The gold price is currently hovering between US$1,300 and US$1,400 (RM3,991 and RM4,298) an ounce.

Poh Kong executive chairman and group managing director Datuk Eddie Choon Yee Seeiong said the gold price may climb due to increasing global demand from consumers who are flocking to shopping stores once again due to better economic sentiment.

"This would positively impact the company's revenue and profit this year. We will perform better this year compared to last year, in tandem with the country's gross domestic product growth," Choon told reporters after Poh Kong's annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Choon said the company's 35th anniversary promotions between December 2010 and August 31 this year will entice customers to buy more gold and other precious stone products.

Poh Kong made a pre-tax profit of RM15.1 million in the first quarter ended October last year, up from RM13.7 million in the same quarter in 2009.

Choon said the company plans to open three more outlets in Peninsular Malaysia this year with an investment of RM3 million each. The money will come from internally generated funds.

Out of the three outlets, one will be in Nilai, Negri Sembilan, which is expected to be operational within the first quarter of this year. The locations of the other two outlets have yet to be decided.

Poh Kong - Malaysia's largest manufacturer and retailer of gold, jewellery and other precious stones - has a total of 97 outlets nationwide, of which one is in Sabah, commanding a market share of 15 per cent for gold products alone.

Read more: Poh Kong: Gold may hit US$1,500 this year http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/POHGOL/Article/#ixzz1AIxXooim