2008 Crisis Impacts on the Rich

special report on the rich
Easier for a camel

Apr 2nd 2009
From The Economist print edition
After decades of prospering mightily, the wealthy may now be in for an extended period of austerity, says Philip Coggan (interviewed here)

Illustration by Alex Nabaun

EVEN the wealthy burghers of Monaco are feeling the pinch. At the principality’s Le Metropole shopping mall the winter sales were still in full swing in early February. Upmarket retailers such as Lacoste and Christian Lacroix felt obliged to offer 50% reductions.

The rich will get little sympathy, but they have taken a big hit from the financial crisis. After all, they own a disproportionately large share of the equity and property markets. Many of them derive their wealth directly from the financial sector, working for hedge funds, private-equity firms or investment banks. A survey by Oliver Wyman, a consultancy, estimates that the financial crisis has caused high-net-worth individuals (as the banking industry calls the rich) to lose $10 trillion, or a quarter of their wealth. The annual Forbes list found that the global number of billionaires last year fell to 793 from 1,125, and a report by Spectrem Group, a research company, saw a drop in the number of American millionaires from 9.2m to 6.7m between 2007 and 2008.

A few businessmen who borrowed money against the security of their assets have seen their fortunes almost disappear. In Russia the number of billionaire oligarchs has halved, according to Finans magazine, and the assets of the ten richest tycoons have lost two-thirds of their value. Most spectacularly, one Russian businessman who had reportedly agreed to buy a villa in the south of France for €400m is in danger of losing a €39m deposit after backing out of the deal.

To many people this come-uppance of the rich will seem to be a good thing. The extremes of wealth in “Anglo-Saxon” America and Britain had reached levels not seen since the 1920s. The gains from recent economic growth flowed disproportionately to the wealthy. According to one study by Robert Gordon of Northwestern University and Ian Dew-Becker of Harvard, the top 10% of earners received the vast majority of the benefits of the “productivity miracle” of 1996-2005. Another international study found that only Mexico and Russia had more unequal income distributions than America.

Ajay Kapur, a strategist at Mirae Asset Management, dubbed this state of affairs a “plutonomy”, an economy dominated by the spending of the rich. It was a world where the wealthy might be born in France, work in London, park their money in Switzerland and have their business headquarters in the Cayman Islands. Such people seemed to inhabit a different country from other people, which Robert Frank, a writer, called “Richistan”.

That world of the wealthy emerged from economic and political changes in the early 1970s. Fixed exchange rates were abandoned, financial systems were liberalised, trade unions were confronted and taxes were cut, all of which helped usher in the asset-price booms of the 1980s and 1990s. Some of those who played the markets with borrowed money—the founders of hedge-fund and private-equity firms—became billionaires.

A rebound in profits from the low levels of the 1970s, combined with the use of share options as incentives, allowed chief executives to make fortunes. The opening up of the Russian, Indian and Chinese economies, allied to a boom in commodity prices, created a whole new batch of emerging-market plutocrats.

The size of the accumulated wealth was stupendous. The Forbes 400 richest people in 1982 had a combined net worth of $92 billion; by 2006 they owned $1.25 trillion. To make it onto the first list in 1982, you needed a net worth of $75m; by 2006 you had to be a billionaire. A lot more of this money was self-made; inherited wealth made up over 21% of the first list and under 2% of the 2006 roster. And almost a quarter of the 2006 rich owed their fortunes to the finance sector, compared with less than a tenth back in 1982.
The rich man in his castle

It would have been easy to conclude that the tide of history was simply resuming its usual flow towards greater inequality. For much of the time since records began the normal state of affairs has been extremes of wealth, whether in the hands of aristocratic landowners or industrial entrepreneurs. The period after the second world war, labelled by economists as the “great compression”, when wage differentials narrowed and taxes went up, looked like an historical anomaly.

But now the tide is turning again, reflecting widespread resentment of the mess in which the financial sector has landed the economy. The public may have been willing to tolerate extremes of wealth and pay when the economy was producing growth and jobs, but now it has become more suspicious. Why did bankers enjoy bonuses during the boom years but leave taxpayers to foot the bill during the bust? Why should companies be allowed to dodge taxes and sack workers by shifting operations overseas?

What is happening now could mark one of those sea changes in public policy that seem to come along once in every generation. In the late 19th and early 20th century a decline in American farm incomes prompted a rise of populism and progressivism that led to attacks on corporate trusts in America under Theodore Roosevelt. In the 1930s the Depression led to the New Deal and the re-regulation of the financial sector in America, and the rise of fascism in Europe. Reaction to the economic crisis of the 1970s ushered in the Thatcher and Reagan reforms.

Governments are already trying to deal with public anger about manifestly unfair gains by capping bankers’ bonuses. The level of regulation will increase, and taxes will inevitably rise as governments struggle to contain their bulging budget deficits. As President Obama’s budget proposal showed, the rich will be tempting targets for those tax hikes.

It is also possible that globalisation may come under threat as governments seek to placate their voters by protecting local jobs and industries. Already banks are being urged to lend money to domestic rather than foreign businesses. The German and American governments are leading an attack on bank-secrecy laws in tax havens. The elite may no longer find it so easy to move itself and its capital from country to country, depending on where the returns are highest and the taxes lowest.

All this may bring a reduction in inequality, especially in the Anglo-Saxon economies where it seemed to have increased most. The big question is whether this will be short-lived, linked solely to the crisis, or turn out to be something more structural. Social safety nets are much better developed than they were in the 1930s, which may make the poor less desperate and constrain their anger at the rich. But the search for scapegoats will be on.

For the moment the pressure is being felt by businesses that service the rich. Ferretti, a top-of-the-range yacht manufacturer, has defaulted on part of its debt; creditors are set to get just 11 cents on the dollar. The decision by Saks, an exclusive retailer, to slash prices during the 2008 holiday season caused consternation among some luxury-goods groups. Sales at Tiffany’s American jewellery stores have plunged. De Beers has suspended production at one of its biggest diamond mines.

And even wealthy people who are not feeling the pinch may have become more cautious about spending ostentatiously. Net-a-Porter, an upmarket fashion website, now offers the option of having designer outfits delivered in a brown paper bag.
Fee for no service

Those who look after rich clients’ wealth are already in trouble. Surveys indicate that the better-off are highly dissatisfied with the service provided by their private banks, which failed to protect them from the market falls of the past 18 months. The fraud that caused investors who handed their money to Bernard Madoff to lose tens of billions of dollars has raised new doubts about the safety of portfolios and about the due diligence undertaken by wealth managers.

All that said, there are still plenty of rich people around. Someone was confident enough to pay $20m for a Degas bronze at an auction at Sotheby’s in February. Diners at the Hotel Metropole in Monaco are still willing to shell out €137 for a grand dish of rock lobster.

But the outlook for the rich is no longer the “glad, confident morning” that it seemed just two years ago. In a survey of high-net-worth Americans by Harrison Group in January, 78% said their sense of financial security had been undermined by the crisis; only 46% were optimistic about their own future, against 93% in 2005.

This special report will explain how disparities in wealth and income became so wide in the first place and ask whether that process will now go into reverse. And it will examine how well the rich are coping with the crisis—because that will matter for everyone else too.

Episod Marah-marah Semasa Gawat

Oleh

Mohd Nahar Mohd Arshad
University of Tasmania, Australia


Apabila ekonomi merudum, ramai yang marah-marah. Marah kerana dibuang kerja, tiada bonus, kerugian perniagaan dan dikejar pemiutang adalah antara
sebab yang biasa didengar dalam keadaan ekonomi yang gawat.

Kegawatan Ekonomi 2008 membawa cerita baru dalam episod marah. Sekarang, kerajaan di negara-negara kapitalis juga marah.

Kisah termahsyur ialah marahnya Barak Obama dan Kongres Amerika dengan eksekutif AIG. Syarikata kewangan gergasi yang mendapat pakej bantuan kecemasan ini menggunakan sebahagian besar dana tersebut untuk bayaran bonus eksekutif-eksekutifnya.

Di Australia, kemarahan yang sama juga sedang melanda. Kerajaan Rudd sedang berusaha melaksanakan undang-undang yang memberikan kuasa kepada para pemegang saham bagi menghadkan pemberian bonus kepada eksekutif tertinggi syarikat.

Sebenarnya, isu bonus yang melampau kepada eksekutif syarikat (terutamanya CEO) sudah lama menjadi isu. Ledakan kemarahan dari pihak kerajaan baru sahaja tercetus.

Aktivist pemegang saham sudah lama mempersoalkan kewajaran bayaran bonus yang melampau kepada para eksekutif. Ironi bukan, apabila ketua pegawai eksekutif dijanjikan bayaran berjuta dollar sebelum memulakan tugas! Kerja belum tentu kualiti, duit sudah menggunung tinggi! Masakan apabila syarikat mengalami kerugian, si eksekutif masih mendapat bonus berganda?

Persoalan kemanusiaan juga timbul dalam isu ini. Wajarkah minoriti kecil mendapat jutaan dollar atas kemelaratan pekerja bawahan yang majoriti? Pekerja bawahan biasanya ‘terpaksa’ dibuang bagi syarikat distrukturkan semula. Tetapi, apabila ini dibuat dengan eksekutif tinggi syarikat mendapat habuan berganda, nilai kemanusiaan dalam diri eksekutif dipertikaikan.

Pembuangan pekerja membawa kepada kesan negatif sosial dan ekonomi yang lebih besar dari persepsi makro-ekonomi.

Erupsi Obama dalam contoh AIG di atas tercetus kerana eksekutif AIG yang tidak cemerlang, bersenang dengan duit cukai rakyat. Rakyat sedang merana dek ekonomi yang gawat, mengapa pula duit cukai mereka disalah guna?

Campur tangan pihak kerajaan dalam isu ‘paying terjun emas’ ini melambangkan buruknya model pengurusan syarikat dalam sistem kapitalis. Penglibatan kerajaan juga melambangkan para pemegang saham sudah hilang daya melawan kuasa eksekutif.

Sudah sampai masanya ketidakadilan ini disanggah! Struktur kontrak mudharabah dalam Islam merupakan alternatif terbaik yang boleh diguna pakai.

Fikah dalam kontrak mudharabah ini sudah lama dikupas oleh para cendikiawan Islam bagi menjaga keadilan yang sepatutnya dalam konteks hubungan agen-prinsipal yang harmoni.

Barter corporation

Souped-up swap shops

Mar 17th 2009
From Economist.com
The downturn may be good news for barter exchanges

THE current economic climate has left many companies stuck with unsold stock. They are also struggling to get credit to finance their purchases of supplies. As a result, some are turning to barter exchanges. These are a modern incarnation of a very old practice in which one trader swaps his surplus for someone else’s, sparing both the need to use their scarce cash. The International Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA), which represents about 100 barter networks around the world, says its adherents expect their trading volumes to rise by around 15% this year.

America is by far the biggest market for such “corporate barter”. But it is apparently growing elsewhere. In 2007 BizXchange, a barter network on America’s west coast, opened a branch in Dubai. At first, business there was scarce because Middle Eastern economies were booming and there was little excess capacity. But as the slowdown goes global, more deals are emerging. BizXchange recently handled a transaction in which $10m-worth of steel from Dubai was ultimately traded for, among other things, some property in America—a business in which there is still plenty of overcapacity.
Mary Evans How they did it in olden days

Of course, the reason that developed economies generally use money to do business is that it is so hard to find suitable partners to barter with. In the case of, say, a clothing distributor with a warehouse full of unsold shirts which needs to buy computers, what are the chances of it finding a computer seller which needs a batch of shirts? For this reason, most barter exchanges operate some sort of shadow currency. A firm that sells its surplus goods or services through the exchange receives credits which it can then spend on the goods or services of any other exchange member. “We make a currency of excess capacity,” explains David Wallach, the IRTA’s president.

It is hard to tell quite how much of this quasi-currency is floating around. Many of the hundreds of exchanges that exist are privately owned and do not report any numbers. The IRTA estimates that transactions worth $10 billion were completed in America last year, with 250,000 companies taking part. The head of one large American trading network reckons that the actual number was nearer $4 billion, after eliminating double-counting.

Unlike real cash, the barter exchanges’ quasi-currencies do not have governments standing behind them. This, combined with the lack of reliable and independent information about some exchanges’ finances, can make bartering a bit of a gamble. In the past, some exchanges have collapsed, leaving participants holding worthless bits of paper. As a self-regulatory body, the IRTA sets minimum financial-reporting standards and other rules that its members must meet. A few of the bigger exchanges—such as International Monetary Systems (IMS), the biggest, which claims 18,000 members—are publicly quoted and thus subject to strict auditing and reporting standards. In general, though, the risks of using barter exchanges are greater for firms that sell physical goods, which cost money to produce, than they are for service providers, whose surplus “stock” has a low marginal cost.

A British barter exchange, Miroma, does without a quasi-currency and instead seeks to line up all sides of each deal before it goes ahead. Miroma mainly serves companies which want to run an advertising campaign but cannot afford to pay for it all in cash and happen to have some surplus stock. Miroma matches these clients with sellers of advertising space (eg, broadcasters and outdoor-poster firms) which are struggling to sell all of their slots. It also finds a third party to buy the client’s surplus stock. Since it receives the advertising slots at a heavy discount, Miroma rewards itself for the risk that some part of the deal will come unstitched and leave it with liabilities.
Click here!

Barter boosters argue that there has been much consolidation in the industry and that the biggest exchanges are very robust. But as the recession bites, more member firms may renege on their debts or fail to deliver goods. While acknowledging that some barter traders may indeed go under in these tough times, the IRTA’s Mr Wallach claims that the failure rate of firms which use barter exchanges is lower than the average for the economy as a whole. This may in part be because belonging to an exchange can be a good way for a company to network with potential new customers with whom it will go on to do deals in real currency.

If so, some firms that go in for bartering out of necessity during the current downturn may find that it continues to be worthwhile when the recovery eventually comes. However, it must be said that bartering enjoyed a similar revival of interest in previous recessions only to fizzle out once the recovery came along. Barter may have its uses at the margins but it will be hard to beat the attractions of getting paid in hard cash.

Why people donate?

Economics focus

Looking good by doing good
Jan 15th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Rewarding people for their generosity may be counterproductive

Illustration by Jac DepczykA LARGE plaque in the foyer of Boston’s Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA), a museum housed in a dramatic glass and metal building on the harbour’s edge, identifies its most generous patrons. Visitors who stop to look will notice that some donors—including two who gave the ICA over $2.5m—have chosen not to reveal their names. Such reticence is unusual: less than 1% of private gifts to charity are anonymous. Most people (including the vast majority of the ICA’s patrons) want their good deeds to be talked about. In “Richistan”, a book on America’s new rich, Robert Frank writes of the several society publications in Florida’s Palm Beach which exist largely to publicise the charity of its well-heeled residents (at least before Bernard Madoff’s alleged Ponzi scheme left some of them with little left to give).

As it turns out, the distinction between private and public generosity is helpful in understanding what motivates people to give money to charities or donate blood, acts which are costly to the doer and primarily benefit others. Such actions are widespread, and growing. The $306 billion that Americans gave to charity in 2007 was more than triple the amount donated in 1965. And though a big chunk of this comes from plutocrats like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, whose philanthropy has attracted much attention, modest earners also give generously of their time and money. A 2001 survey found that 89% of American households gave to charity, and that 44% of adults volunteered the equivalent of 9m full-time jobs. Tax breaks explain some of the kindness of strangers. But by no means all.

Economists, who tend to think self-interest governs most actions of man, are intrigued, and have identified several reasons to explain good deeds of this kind. Tax breaks are, of course, one of the main ones, but donors are also sometimes paid directly for their pains, and the mere thought of a thank-you letter can be enough to persuade others to cough up. Some even act out of sheer altruism. But most interesting is another explanation, which is that people do good in part because it makes them look good to those whose opinions they care about. Economists call this “image motivation”.

Dan Ariely of Duke University, Anat Bracha of Tel Aviv University, and Stephan Meier of Columbia University sought, through experiments, to test the importance of image motivation, as well as to gain insights into how different motivating factors interact. Their results, which they report in a new paper*, suggest that image motivation matters a lot, at least in the laboratory. Even more intriguingly, they find evidence that monetary incentives can actually reduce charitable giving when people are driven in part by a desire to look good in others’ eyes.

The crucial thing about charity as a means of image building is, of course, that it can work only if others know about it and think positively of the charity in question. So, the academics argue, people should give more when their actions are public.

To test this, they conducted an experiment where the number of times participants clicked an awkward combination of computer keys determined how much money was donated on their behalf to the American Red Cross. Since 92% of participants thought highly of the Red Cross, giving to it could reasonably be assumed to make people look good to their peers. People were randomly assigned to either a private group, where only the participant knew the amount of the donation, or a public group, where the participant had to stand up at the end of the session and share this information with the group. Consistent with the hypothesis that image mattered, participants exerted much greater effort in the public case: the average number of clicks, at 900, was nearly double the average of 517 clicks in the private case.

However, the academics wanted to go a step further. In this, they were influenced by the theoretical model of two economists, Roland Benabou, of Princeton University, and Jean Tirole, of Toulouse University’s Institut d’Economie Industrielle, who formalised the idea that if people do good to look good, introducing monetary or other rewards into the mix might complicate matters. An observer who sees someone getting paid for donating blood, for example, would find it hard to differentiate between the donor’s intrinsic “goodness” and his greed.

Blood money
The idea that monetary incentives could be counterproductive has been around at least since 1970, when Richard Titmuss, a British social scientist, hypothesised that paying people to donate blood would reduce the amount of blood that they gave. But Mr Ariely and his colleagues demonstrate a mechanism through which such confounding effects could operate. They presumed that the addition of a monetary incentive should have much less of an impact in public (where it muddles the image signal of an action) than in private (where the image is not important). By adding a monetary reward for participants to their experiment, the academics were able to confirm their hypothesis. In private, being paid to click increased effort from 548 clicks to 740, but in public, there was next to no effect.

The trio also raise the possibility that cleverly designed rewards could actually draw out more generosity by exploiting image motivation. Suppose, for example, that rewards were used to encourage people to support a certain cause with a minimum donation. If that cause then publicised those who were generous well beyond the minimum required of them, it would show that they were not just “in it for the money”. Behavioural economics may yet provide charities with some creative new fund-raising techniques.



*”Doing Good or Doing Well? Image Motivation and Monetary Incentives in Behaving Prosocially”, by Messrs Ariely, Bracha and Meier. Forthcoming in American Economic Review, March 2009.

A thought on recession

The recession experienced by Prophet Yusuf a.s was caused by the drought for 7 years. May be during that time recession only happened because of natural calamities or real factors. Nowadays, mankind create the cause (i.e fragile monetary system) plus natural clamities and the real factors.

Defining depression

Economics focus
Diagnosing depression

Dec 30th 2008
From The Economist print edition
What is the difference between a recession and a depression?

THE word “depression” is popping up more often than at any time in the past 60 years, but what exactly does it mean? The popular rule of thumb for a recession is two consecutive quarters of falling GDP. America’s National Bureau of Economic Research has officially declared a recession based on a more rigorous analysis of a range of economic indicators. But there is no widely accepted definition of depression. So how severe does this current slump have to get before it warrants the “D” word?

A search on the internet suggests two principal criteria for distinguishing a depression from a recession: a decline in real GDP that exceeds 10%, or one that lasts more than three years. America’s Great Depression qualifies on both counts, with GDP falling by around 30% between 1929 and 1933. Output also fell by 13% during 1937 and 1938. The Great Depression was America’s deepest economic slump (excluding those related to wars), but at 43 months it was not the longest: that dubious honour goes to the one in 1873-79, which lasted 65 months.
Click here

Japan’s “lost decade” in the 1990s was not a depression, according to these criteria, because the largest peak-to-trough decline in real GDP was only 3.4%, over the two years to March 1999. Since the second world war, only one developed economy has suffered a drop in GDP of more than 10%: Finland’s contracted by 11% during the three years to 1993, mainly thanks to the collapse of the Soviet Union, then its biggest trading partner.

Emerging economies, however, have been much more depression-prone. Among the 25 emerging economies covered each week in the back pages of The Economist, there have been no fewer than 13 instances in the past 30 years of a decline in real GDP of more than 10%. Argentina and Poland were afflicted twice. Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand all suffered double-digit drops in output during the Asian crisis of 1997-98, and Russia’s GDP shrank by a shocking 45% between 1990 and 1998.

The left-hand chart shows The Economist’s ranking of slumps in developed and emerging economies over the past century. It excludes those during wartime (both Germany and Japan, for example, saw output plunge by 50% or more after 1944). The depressions in Germany and France in the 1930s make it into the top 12, but not that in Britain, where GDP fell by a relatively modest 6%.

Before the 1930s all economic downturns were commonly called depressions. The term “recession” was coined later to avoid stirring up nasty memories. Even before the Great Depression, downturns were typically much deeper and longer than they are today (see right-hand chart). One reason why recessions have become milder is higher government spending. In recessions governments, unlike firms, do not slash spending and jobs, so they help to stabilise the economy; and income taxes automatically fall and unemployment benefits rise, helping to support incomes. Another reason is that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when countries were on the gold standard, the money supply usually shrank during recessions, exacerbating the downturn. Waves of bank failures also often made things worse.

But a recent analysis by Saul Eslake, chief economist at ANZ bank, concludes that the difference between a recession and a depression is more than simply one of size or duration. The cause of the downturn also matters. A standard recession usually follows a period of tight monetary policy, but a depression is the result of a bursting asset and credit bubble, a contraction in credit, and a decline in the general price level. In the Great Depression average prices in America fell by one-quarter, and nominal GDP ended up shrinking by almost half. America’s worst recessions before the second world war were all associated with financial panics and falling prices: in both 1893-94 and 1907-08 real GDP declined by almost 10%; in 1919-21, it fell by 13%.

The economic slumps that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union and those during the Asian crisis were not really depressions, argues Mr Eslake, because inflation increased sharply. On the other hand, Japan’s experience in the late 1990s, when nominal GDP shrank for several years, may qualify. A depression, suggests Mr Eslake, does not have to be “Great” in the 1930s sense. On his definition, depressions, like recessions, can be mild or severe.

Another important implication of this distinction between a recession and a depression is that they call for different policy responses. A recession triggered by tight monetary policy can be cured by lower interest rates, but fiscal policy tends to be less effective because of the lags involved. By contrast, in a depression caused by falling asset prices, a credit crunch and deflation, conventional monetary policy is much less potent than fiscal policy.
Yes, we have no bananas

Where does that leave us today? America’s GDP may have fallen by an annualised 6% in the fourth quarter of 2008, but most economists dismiss the likelihood of a 1930s-style depression or a repeat of Japan in the 1990s, because policymakers are unlikely to repeat the mistakes of the past. In the Great Depression, the Fed let hundreds of banks fail and the money supply shrink by one-third, while the government tried to balance its budget by cutting spending and raising taxes. America’s monetary and fiscal easing this time has been more aggressive than Japan’s in the 1990s.

However, these reassurances come from many of the same economists who said that a nationwide fall in American house prices was impossible and that financial innovation had made the financial system more resilient. Hopefully, they will be right this time. But this crisis was caused by the largest asset-price and credit bubble in history—even bigger than that in Japan in the late 1980s or America in the late 1920s. Policymakers will not make the same mistakes as in the 1930s, but they may make new ones.

In 1978 Alfred Kahn, one of Jimmy Carter’s economic advisers, was chided by the president for scaring people by warning of a looming depression. Mr Kahn, in his next speech, simply replaced the offending word, saying “We’re in danger of having the worst banana in 45 years.” America’s economy once again has a distinct whiff of bananas.

Skim Cepat Kaya Wall Street

Oleh

Mohd Nahar Mohd Arshad
University of Tasmania, Australia

Kisah skandal Bernard Madoff yang mengaibkan Wall Street bakal menutup tirai 2008 yang menjadi tahun Krisis Kewangan alaf baru. Banyak teladan terutama dalam hal pengurusan kewangan dapat dijadikan iktibar.

Krisis kewangan 2008 menunjukkan bahawa sistem kewangan yang berasaskan rizab berkanun, wang kertas dan riba sangat rapuh. Serapuh sistem cepat kaya ala Madoff (skim piramid), bezanya hanya kerana sistem kewangan sekarang mendapat sokongan dari pelbagai institusi yang diiktiraf undang-undang.

Menyorot apa yang berlaku di Amerika Syarikat (AS), sistem kewangan semasa begitu bermaharajalela mengambil duit semua. Kita dikenakan caj untuk membuat deposit. Juga dicaj apabila membuat pinjaman. Lebih parah, wang cukai rakyat ‘diambil’ atas nama menyelamatkan institusi kewangan apabila ia gagal.

Di samping ‘keistimewaan’ di atas, institusi kewangan juga berkuasa mencipta dan memusnahkan wang. Wang dicipta apabila pinjaman diberikan dan wang dimusnahkan apabila hutang dibayar. Di antara aktiviti mencipta dan memusnahkan wang ini, riba/faedah dicaj sebagai untung kepada institusi kewangan.

Natijahnya, wang menjadi begitu banyak dan hanya segelintir manusia yang faham dengan kaedah operasi kewangan parasit ini memilikinya. Mereka yang memiliki kekayaan ini terus berfikir untuk menjadi lebih kaya.

Oleh Kerana sistem riba/faedah menjanjikan peningkatan kekayaan berganda, tumpuan utama kegiatan kewangan lebih kepada aktiviti memberi hutang. Pelbagai produk hutang diinovasi dan ditampal dengan label baru dalam kegiatan ‘memusing’ duit yang menjana duit.

Dengan kewujudan pelbagai produk kewangan, aktiviti memusing duit oleh institusi kewangan moden menjadi bertambah kompleks. Ramai pakar kewangan mengakui bahawa mereka sudah hilang realiti dengan dunia kewangan masa kini.

Dengan dana yang membesar saban tahun, dan tekanan untuk memberikan pulangan yang memuaskan kepada pelabur, pakar-pakar kewangan ini bertemu dengan mereka yang lebih pakar, iaitu Bernard Madoff (dan konco-konconya).

Madoff yang mempunyai reputasi ‘cemerlang’ dalam hal memusing duit (secara piramid) ibarat orang mengantuk yang disorongkan bantal.

Maka bergabunglah kaedah memusing duit yang diiktiraf undang-undang ciptaan manusia dengan sistem memusing duit ala Madoff atau Pak Man Telo.

Janji Allah SWT dalam surah al-Baqarah ayat 276 bahawa riba tidak akan meningkatkan kekayaan, malah akan menyusutkannya adalah benar! Buktinya, skandal Madoff menunjukkan betapa kedua-dua aktiviti riba yang dicela Allah SWT (Al-Baqarah: 275-281) akhirnya bersekongkol dan kemudiannya rebah. Bersamanya lenyap sejumlah besar kekayaan.

Punca Sebenar Penurunan Harga Minyak

Oleh Mohd. Nahar Mohd. Arshad

harga minyak telah menunjukkan peningkatan yang mencemaskan beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini. Namun, hanya dalam beberapa minggu mutakhir, minyak kini berada pada paras AS$69 dan ke bawah setong.

Melegakan? Ya! Tetapi sebenarnya penurunan harga minyak pada masa ini hanya bersifat sementara.

Hakikatnya, trend penurunan harga minyak (dan komoditi lain) ketika ini tidak menepati perkaitan antara harga minyak dan keadaan ekonomi.

Lazimnya, kedudukan harga komoditi seperti minyak dan emas adalah tinggi sejurus sebelum dan semasa krisis ekonomi. Tetapi, apa yang diamati sekarang, berlaku penurunan yang mendadak pada harga minyak dan komoditi lain tatkala krisis kewangan global sedang memuncak!

Keadaan ini menimbulkan satu prasangka yang membimbangkan di kalangan ramai pakar ekonomi. Apa sebenarnya yang terjadi?

Teori permintaan dan penawaran minyak/komoditi tidak begitu signifikan untuk menjelaskan trend semasa.

Jawapan sebenarnya berkait rapat dengan sistem mata wang kertas ketika ini.

Duit kertas boleh 'dicipta' dan 'dimusnahkan' dengan mudah. Duit dicipta apabila institusi kewangan memberi pinjaman. Duit dimusnahkan apabila kita membayar balik hutang.

Pembayaran balik hutang, pelupusan hutang dan penguncupan kredit merupakan kaedah duit kertas 'dimusnahkan'. Inilah yang berlaku di Amerika Syarikat (AS) sekarang.

Apabila duit 'dimusnahkan' bekalannya semakin berkurangan. Kurangnya bekalan duit akan menyebabkan nilai atau harga barangan di pasaran terpaksa turun.

Berikutan dolar Amerika merupakan mata wang utama dunia, maka kita perhatikan harga minyak, komoditi dan apa sahaja yang dinilai dalam dolar mengalami penurunan. Inilah punca utama kepada trend penurunan harga minyak sekarang.

Selain itu, penguncupan kredit di AS akan mengakibatkan kelembapan ekonominya. Ekonomi negara-negara lain akan turut terjejas kerana AS menjadi destinasi eksport banyak negara.

Eksport ke AS yang menurun oleh banyak negara akan membawa kepada kelembapan ekonomi dunia.

Kelembapan ekonomi bermakna penguncupan pendapatan. Ini akan mengakibatkan permintaan barangan dan perkhidmatan menurun, termasuklah minyak.

Namun, faktor ini bukanlah penjelasan utama kepada trend penurunan sekarang.

Apa yang perlu ditegaskan ialah trend penurunan komoditi sekarang bersangkutan dengan masalah sistem kewangan itu sendiri - duit kertas dan riba.
Selagi sistem mata wang tidak diubah (mata wang emas sebagai contoh), krisis ekonomi dan ketidakstabilan harga akan terus berlaku.

WHat explains the decline in the price of oil at the moment?

The following is the answer given to me by Dr. Ahamed Kameel:

Question (Nahar): Just to get yr opinion, why the current price of oil (even commodities) is declining? I find the trend awkward and suspicious given the present global crisis. So far I haven't find satisfactory answers to explain the phenomenon.


Answer (Dr, Ahamed Kameel): Nahar, the credit crunch is effectively the destruction of fiat money. This is one absurd characteristic of fiat money...it can be destroyed, through mere accounting, particularly when people default on loans. Its like what we faced with the NPLs during the 1997 crisis.

When money gets destroyed, here dollars, the supply of it shrinks and, according to quantity theory of money, all prices particularly those priced in dollars must come down to match this shrink. This is why you notice all prices including oil, gold, commodities, homes, stock market etc are all falling.

The destruction of money is expected to bring about a global recession, triggered by a recession in the US. Accordingly the demand for oil is also expected to fall. This further contributes to the fall in the oil price.
On the other hand, the dollar exchange rate is rising because of the same reason too, i.e. the supply of dollars in forex is falling. Also note that banks are the major players in the forex market and they are getting busted. Additionally, the demand for dollars is also on the rise because many hedge funds are leaving foreign financial markets, converting back into dollars, since all are expected fall in tune with the US stock market. The demand for dollars for international trade is also still there.

Once nations absorb their losses and move on, the dollar would become a much devalued currency. A new dollar might even be introduced. Thereafter (I think by first quarter of next year) gold would start to rally again leaving dollar behind. The price of commodities would follow suit.

That's how I see it. Wallahu a'lam.

Dr Ahamed Kameel Mydin Meeran is the Dean of Institute of Islamic Banking & inanceInternational Islamic University Malaysia

Krisis Kredit 2008: Apabila Melampaui Batas

Fitrah kejadian, semuanya mempunyai batasan yang telah ditentukan Pencipta. Lihatlah pada peredaran planet, bulan dan bintang, tetap pada orbit masing-masing.

Namun di kalangan manusia, ada mereka yang menganggap kebebasan adalah mutlak. Lantas, pemahaman ini menjadikan ramai yang bertindak melangkaui batas fitrah kejadian.

Krisis kredit masa kini adalah manifestasi sikap manusia yang lupa akan batasan masing-masing. Apabila ketamakan dianggap baik (greed is good), maka lahirlah kehodohan dalam kegiatan manusia mencari keuntungan duniawi.

Kini, dalam kegawatan krisis yang meruncing, institusi kewangan dipersalahkan. Akibat dari sikap tamak, institusi kewangan menjadi agen pengurup wang yang kemudian meminjamkan wang tersebut kepada mereka yang memerlukan. Hasil dari riba, mereka mendapat habuan lumayan.

Mengenakan faedah atau riba merupakan batasan utama yang tidak patut dilanggar kerana ia telah ditetapkan oleh Pencipta. Agama Islam dengan keras mengharamkan riba. Agama Kristian dan Judaism, pada asalnya begitu juga. Apabila batasan ini dinodai, malapetaka yang dijanjikan akan muncul akhirnya (rujuk al-Qur'an 2:276-279).

Kes melampaui batas yang seterusnya, wujud dalam cara sistem kewangan dikendalikan. Secara logika akal, si pemberi pinjam mestilah mempunyai jumlah wang yang lebih dari jumlah yang hendak dipinjamkan. Sebaliknya, dalam sistem kewangan sekarang, jumlah yang dipinjamkan adalah berganda-ganda melampaui deposit yang ada. Maka, sekali lagi Krisis Kredit sekali ini menjadi hukuman kepada manusia yang terus-menerus melampaui batas.

Perhatikan pula kepada isu pinjaman sub-prima yang menjadi punca kepada permasalahan sekarang. Istilah sub-prima itu sendiri membawa maksud 'di bawah kelas utama'. Ia merujuk kepada mereka yang tidak punya kemampuan untuk membayar balik pinjaman. Tetapi, mereka tetap mendapat pinjaman dari institusi kewangan!

Tanyakan persoalan ini ke dalam diri, "Jika anda tidak punya kemampuan untuk membuat bayaran balik pinjaman perumahan, adakah anda akan menerima tawaran bank untuk pinjaman tersebut?"

Sekiranya jawapan yang diberi adalah ya, anda sudah melampaui batas. Maksud di sini, melampaui batas kemampuan untuk membayar balik pinjaman. Dan sudah pasti, jika pinjaman tetap dibuat, malapetaka kewangan akan melanda diri.

Dahsyatnya tsunami kredit sekarang, ianya berlaku dalam skala yang besar. Manusia rata-rata sudah melampaui batas!

Justeru, manusia perlu kembali kepada fitrah asal kejadian. Jangan melampaui batas!

Agama Islam menyediakan satu sistem ekonomi yang begitu menyeluruh dari segi kepercayaan/ideologi, akhlak dan tingkah laku serta undang-undang perlaksanaan kehidupan. Semuanya berjalan serentak dengan harmoni dalam ruang lingkup yang tidak membatasi fitrah Ilahi.

Kaedah Mengatasi Krisis Kredit

Mohd Nahar Mohd Arshad
University of Tasmania, Australia

Kekayaan material tidak luas skopnya. Rumah kediaman, tanah ladang, haiwan ternak, kenderaan, wang, emas permata dan anak-pinak, itulah antara perkara-perkara yang dijelaskan di dalam surah Ali Imran ayat 14 berhubung kekayaan material.

Dalam konteks ekonomi masa kini, nilaian harta-harta yang disebutkan di atas (kecuali anak-pinak), biasanya diterjemahkan dalam bentuk kertas. Misalnya, kita mempunyai saham dan bon yang berkaitan dengan hartanah, komoditi dan sebagainya.

Krisis hutang/kewangan 2008 yang berpusat di AS menyaksikan kekayaan material yang dijana oleh ekonomi berasaskan riba, tiba-tiba lenyap begitu sahaja. Nilai hartanah di Amerika Syarikat (AS) merudum, pasaran saham merosot teruk, dan tekanan inflasi terus meningkat.

Lebih buruk lagi, situasi di atas wujud dalam keadaan hutang-piutang yang tinggi di kalangan isi rumah, syarikat-syarikat, malahan kerajaan AS sendiri.

Kebanyakan isi rumah di AS sekarang berhadapan dengan nilai bersih kekayaan yang negatif. Bayangkan; kebanyakan mereka berhutang untuk membeli rumah, saham dan keperluan harian! Malang minimpa apabila nilai rumah dan saham yang dibeli jatuh dari nilai belian.

Rumah dan saham yang dahulu dianggap sebagai satu pelaburan, kini menjadi biawak hidup yang terpaksa ditanggung. Hendak dijual, tiada pembeli yang membida. Ini berikutan sikap bank yang kini waspada memberi hutang dan sentiment pengguna yang lemah.

Untuk mengatasi masalah ini, pakar ekonomi konvensional mengesyorkan agar kegiatan memberi hutang digalakkan kembali. Ini sesuatu yang ironi!

Tetapi itulah hakikat sistem ekonomi sekarang. Ia sangat bergantung kelangsungannya dengan ‘mesin’ hutang!

Hutang ibarat oksigen dalam sistem ekonomi yang ada. Tanpa oksigen, manusia boleh mati kelemasan. Begitulah juga keadaannya dengan sistem ekonomi sekarang.

Melihat kepada krisis sekarang, satu alternatif sistem kewangan baru perlu difikirkan. Cadangan sistem mata wang emas yang pernah hangat suatu ketika dahulu wajar difikirkan semula.

Selain itu, mereka yang ditindas dengan riba dan hutang perlu dibebaskan. Al-Qur’an dengan jelas menerangkan kaedah dan jalan keluar kepada masalah hutang.

Dalam surah al-Baqarah ayat 279 dan 290, Allah berfirman: Oleh itu, kalau kamu tidak juga melakukan (perintah mengenai larangan riba itu), maka ketahuilah kamu: akan adanya peperangan dari Allah dan RasulNya, (akibatnya kamu tidak menemui selamat). dan jika kamu bertaubat, maka hak kamu (yang sebenarnya) ialah pokok asal harta kamu. ... Dan jika orang yang berhutang itu sedang mengalami kesempitan hidup, maka berilah tempoh sehingga ia lapang hidupnya dan (sebaliknya) Bahawa kamu sedekahkan hutang itu (kepadanya) adalah lebih baik untuk kamu, kalau kamu mengetahui (pahalanya yang besar yang kamu akan dapati kelak).

Bail out

Too many issues on bail out:
1. Who should get it?
2. How much each entitled deserve?
3. Do the govt really got the money for the bail out? May be the next time of crisis, the govt itself need the money
4. Isn't bail out is a kind of financial socialism, which to a capitalist like US, they just can't accept it.
5. After all, the bail out will not solve the real problem. If root of a tree is rotten, you can't just put some more fertilizer to heal the tree.

On Oil: Speculators versus OPEC

Both parties can affect the oil market in different ways. Speculators are very influential in manipulating the oil price artificially. Without real oil involves in the transactions (paper oil), speculators basically take advantage of any position in the arbitrage activities.

OPEC, on the other hand, affects the real oil market by engaging in the supply activity. It is reported that OPEC has come to its optimum production capabilities. This means OPEC will need longer period to increase oil supply.

In contrast, speculators can be very dominant in affecting price in the short run.

In order to stabilize the oil price, it is important to stop the speculative activities altogether. After all, speculation activities only benefit a few minorities at the expanse of large majority.

At the same time, the cartel power of OPEC must be put under scrutiny as the monopoly position is also unhealthy to the market.

It is not easy to evaluate which effect is more dominant than the other. Speculative activities can be very significant when speculators heavily engage in tradings. This can be seasonal as timing is a very critical factor in speculation. on the other hand, OPEC reactions usually depend on market conditions. Apart from meeting global oil demand, political pressure can be another factor that determines OPEC production. All these contribute to the dynamic of market forces.

Meaning of wealth

Biar miskin harta jangan miskin jiwa by Mohd Asri

Material wealth is not harmful to Muslims. Only Muslims need to manage the wealth according to Shari'ah. I elaborate the 'how' in my book Hidup Kaya Tanpa Riba

Review of my book: Hidup Kaya Tanpa Riba

Iqra: Mengumpul, belanja harta secara berhemah

From Berita Harian, 23 April 2008

Iqra: Mengumpul, belanja harta secara berhemah

JIKA ingin kaya, jauhi diri daripada riba dan banyakkan bersedekah. Malangnya dalam dunia materialistik masa kini, persoalan riba dan kaedah membina kekayaan serta menguruskan kewangan peribadi jauh bercanggah daripada yang dianjurkan Islam. Islam menganjurkan umatnya menjadi kaya. Justeru untuk memahami persoalan kaya daripada perspektif Islam, buku Hidup Kaya Tanpa Riba boleh dijadikan panduan bagi individu membina kekayaan melalui pengurusan kewangan peribadi. Buku ini mengungkap persoalan membina kekayaan dalam perspektif Islam mendepani cabaran abad ke-21 yang menghurai konsep seperti kaya, rezeki, zuhud dan kepentingan mengingati mati sebagai dorongan mengejar kekayaan dunia tanpa mengabaikan akhirat.

Buku ini turut memberi pelbagai tip dan strategi penting dalam soal membina kekayaan, pengurusan kewangan peribadi yang praktikal dan mudah diikuti selain membawa pembaca memahami serta berusaha mencari rezeki halal lagi diberkati. Hakikatnya ilmu berkaitan pengurusan dan kewangan peribadi penting tetapi tidak banyak pendedahan mengenainya terutama berkaitan ilmu pengurusan berasaskan ajaran Islam menyebabkan ramai tidak tahu mengatur sistem kewangan mereka. Ini ditambah dengan kejahilan terhadap riba yang mendominasi setiap sudut kehidupan manusia menjadikan pengurusan harta mengikut kehendak syarak semakin mencabar sedangkan Islam jelas mengharamkan amalan riba.

Pengenalan buku Hidup Kaya Tanpa Riba membawa pembaca memahami mengenai kekayaan daripada kaca mata Islam dengan melihat sejarah awal perkembangan Islam bermula pengorbanan agung Siti Khadijah, peniaga kaya di Makkah. Menggunakan kekayaan yang ada, dakwah Islam digerakkan, begitu juga sahabat Baginda SAW, Uthman bin Affan yang terkenal dengan kekayaan sanggup membeli perigi untuk diwakafkan bagi kegunaan orang ramai.

Sahabat Nabi SAW yang berharta bukan saja berkorban jiwa dan raga untuk Islam malah, mereka turut berkorban kekayaan demi agama yang tercinta. Lantaran, Islam hebat kerana acuan ajarannya membawa manusia mencapai tahap rohani dan akhlak yang tinggi. Itulah yang diperlukan umat Islam hari ini iaitu ilmu memantapkan pengurusan kewangan secara Islam serta strategi meningkatkan ekonomi, membina kekayaan serta mengatur perbelanjaan mengikut kehendak Islam.

Antaranya, umat Islam dituntut membelanjakan harta kekayaan diperoleh dengan cara berhemah seperti firman Allah yang bermaksud: “Kitab al-Quran ini, tidak ada keraguan padanya; petunjuk bagi mereka yang bertakwa, iaitu orang yang beriman kepada perkara ghaib dan mendirikan sembahyang serta membelanjakan sebahagian daripada rezeki yang kami berikan kepada mereka.” - (Surah al-Baqarah, ayat 2-3) Buku hasil tulisan pensyarah fakulti ekonomi Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM), Mohd Nahar Mohd Arshad turut menggariskan enam perkara penting yang perlu dipenuhi dalam membelanjakan harta kekayaan dalam bab 16. Turut dibincangkan ialah impak krisis kewangan serta perspektif Islam mengenai hutang dan panduan asas mengurus hutang menepati kehendak masyarakat hari ini yang kebanyakan hidup dikelilingi masalah pengurusan kewangan. Buku Hidup Kaya Tanpa

Riba secara umumnya tidak memfokuskan perihal riba secara khusus sebaliknya mengembangkan topik utama yang dapat mencegah umat Islam daripada terbabit dengan amalan riba.

Judul: Hidup Kaya Tanpa Riba
Penulis: Mohd Nahar Mohd Arshad
Penerbit: PTS Millennia Sdn Bhd
Pengulas: Hasliza Hassan
Harga: RM21 (Semenanjung Malaysia), RM24 (Sabah dan Sarawak)

Problems in Islamic Banking - From Harakahdaily

I'm not a supporter of Islamic Banking. In fact, the idea of banking itself is not originated from an Islamic system. Thus, when we take the idea of banking system and make it "Islamic", systemic problems that are sometimes more serious than the one we can find in the conventional system is unavoidable.

However, given that we have no alternative, Islamic Banking is the main option that we have before us (to avoid from any unIslamic practice in finance). If you read the article below, it seems that the conventional banking might look better compared to the Islamic one. But be careful! I give you a parable to see the case which is quite similar to the story below (the BBA case).

Let say there are two beef sellers; one (seller A) selling pork for $2 per kg and another seller (seller B) sells halal beef for $4 per kg. To make it worse, say that seller B (the halal beef seller) cheated! When he weights his beef, it's just 0.5 kg but he still charges $4.

As a Muslim, from which seller will you buy the meat (assume that there is no other meat selers)?

I believe, a true Muslim will buy from seller B regardless of 1) the expensive price, and 2) being cheated. This is simply because pork is haram and we must avoid it. As for seller B who charges more and measures less, that is between him and Allah ultimately. Of course we can bring the case to the right authority.

The Case that I Refer

Pinjaman perumahan pembiayaan kewangan Islam mencekik darah?
SM Mohamed Idris Fri Apr 04, 08 11:24:19 am MYT
Diarah membayar RM505,368.54, apabila bank hanya membayar RM10,000. Lebih malang beliau diarah membayar RM505,368.54 (sama dengan keuntungan berserta dengan jumlah yang dibahagikan kepada pemaju) dan lebih daripada itu, kos guaman pula mencecah sehingga RM17,450! Semua ini adalah kepada bayaran sebanyak RM10,000 yang telah dibuat oleh bank kepada pemaju projek yang gagal itu. Ini berlaku kepada peminjam-pinjaman perumahan sebuah perbankan Islam. -->-->
Ini adalah kisah benar. Abdul (bukan nama sebenar) memutus untuk memiliki sebuah kondominium pilihan keluarganya pada tahun 1997 melalui pembiayaan kewangan Islam. Abdul ketika itu merupakan seorang eksekutif muda yang berusia 31 tahun dan baru sahaja menaiki tangga kejayaan dalam kariernya selepas menamatkan pengajian daripada Universiti Islam Antarabangsa enam tahun yang lalu.
Abdul yang telah berkahwin dan mempunyai dua orang anak dan berlatar belakang dalam Ekonomi Islam ini, hendak memastikan dapat membeli kondominium untuk didiami oleh keluarganya.
Baginya, pembelian ini hendaklah bebas daripada sebarang riba yang dilarang dalam kepercayaan Islam. Memandangkan pembiayaan rumah cara konvensional ini dikenakan riba, dia memutus untuk membiayai pembelian rumahnya dengan menggunakan prinsip pembiyaan al-bay bithaman ajil (BBA) yang ditawarkan oleh bank terbabit.
Harga pasaran kondominium yang dibeli oleh Abdul disenaraikan sebanyak RM249,500 oleh pemaju. Kondominium berkenaan masih dalam pembinaan. Dalam kontrak, bank berkenaan sepatutnya membeli semula rumah tersebut daripada Abdul dan menjual semula kepadanya dengan harga RM744,766.34.
Bunyinya mungkin agak pelik. Kenapa pula seseorang itu perlu menjual dengan harga RM249,500 dan membeli kembali barangan yang sama pada hari yang sama dengan harga RM 744,766.34, dengan memberikan keuntungan kepada pihak yang lain.
Alasannya adalah, Abdul diberikan 30 tahun untuk membayar balik secara bulanan sebanyak RM1,013.73 (dengan perbezaan dalam sen) untuk tiga tahun pertama (2.71%) dan RM2,186.04 bulanan untuk 27 tahun yang seterusnya.
Ini memberikan kadar faedah tahunan sebanyak 8.4 peratus. Konsep membeli sebuah aset dan menjual semula kepada orang sama dikenali sebagi bay al-inah.
Tetapi bagaimana pula Abdul memperoleh rumah sebelum menjualnya kepada pihak bank? Lagipun ketika itu ketara yang Abdul sedang mencari pembiaya sewaktu kondominiumnya masih lagi dalam pembinaannya. Ya, sudah tentu bank berkenaan menyediakan kewangan dengan memberikan wang secara berperingkat memandangkan rumah berkenaan masih dalam pembinaan.
Dalam sistem konvensional agak jelas bahawa apabila pihak bank mula menyalurkan bayaran kepada pemaju, faedah akan dikenakan mengikut perkembangan bayaran yang dibuat.
Namun begitu, dalam konsep BBA, dua kontrak jual terlibat. Walaupun jelas bank membiayai pembiayaan kondominium berkenaan, pelanggan perlu menjual aset berkenaan kepada bank sebelum membelinya kembali di bawah konsep inah.
Konsep inah ini dianggap sebagai tidak Islamik oleh kebanyakkan ulama Timur Tengah. Kerana walaupun ia melibatkan dua kontrak jualan, ia secara asasnya merupakan kontrak pinjaman yang mempunyai tujuan. Namun, konsep ini diiktriaf oleh kebanyakkan ulama Syariah di Malaysia. Walau bagaimanapun, dibawah konsep inah, masalah yang sedia ada boleh menjadi lebih teruk lagi.
Kes Abdul ini terjadi sewaktu Asia Tenggara dilanda krisis ekonomi, telah menyebabkan projek kondominum berkenaan tergendala dan terbiar. Pemaju berkenaan pula menghilang diri entah ke mana. Ketika itu, hanya kerja-kerja asas sahaja yang dijalankan di tapak projek berkenaan dan pihak bank telah pun mengeluarkan RM10,000 kepada pemaju. Abdul dan pembeli-pembeli lain kerap mengunjungi tapak pembinaan dengan harapan untuk melihat pemaju menyambung semula kerja pembinaan tetapi kecewa.
Akhirnya, selepas putus asa, Abdul bertemu pihak bank dan memaklumkan situasi yang dialaminya. Dia menawarkan untuk membayar bank RM10,000 yang telah pun dibayar oleh bank kepada pemaju.
Dia menganggap bahawa dia sedang 'menolong' pihak bank dengan membayar kembali jumlah bayaran berkenaan, lagipun dia berpendapat bahawa bank sepatutnya memberikan sebuah rumah kepadanya tetapi gagal berbuat sedemikian.
Mmandangkan kewangan Islamik berasaskan kepada prinsip ekuiti bukankah bank menangggung kerugian ini, fikirnya.
Tetapi apa yang lebih menakutkannya adalah, dia dimaklumkan yang dia berhutang dengan bank lebih daripada apa yang perlu diberikan kepadanya. Dalam surat peguam yang dihantar kepadanya pada 2005, memintanya untuk membayar jumlah penuh sebanyak RM505,368.54 (sama dengan keuntungan bank berserta dengan jumlah yang dibahagikan kepada pemaju) sebelum 20 Mei 2005. Dan lebih daripada itu, kos guaman pula mencecah sehingga RM17,450! Semua ini adalah kepada bayaran sebanyak RM10, 000 yang telah dibuat oleh bank kepada pemaju projek yang gagal itu.
Abdul pergi mendapatkan bantuan daripada Bank Negara dan juga Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan namun hampa. Dia dimaklumkan yang dia telah membuat pinjaman dan untuk itu dia perlu beertanggungjawab sepenuhnya ke atasnya pinjaman tersebut.
Abdul membantah kerana dia dilayan dengan tidak adil disebabkan dia diminta untuk membayar sehingga setengah juta ringgit tanpa sebab dan ini baginya adalah tidak Islamik langsung. Pihak bank pula mengenepikan hujah mengatakan bahawa kaedah pembiayaan pihak bank disokong oleh majlis Syariah yang telah meluluskan konsep BBA sebagai Islamik berdasarkan kepada ketetapan Syariah itu sendiri.
Abdul masih 'berjuang' dalam kesnya dan telah diminta hadir ke mahkamah. Dalam pada itu, namanya telah disenarai hitam sehinggakan sukar untuknya mendapatkan pembiayaan pinjaman daripada pihak bank lain untuk membeli sebuah rumah kepada keluarga tersayangnya.
Terganggu akibat kegagalan membeli rumah untuk keluarganya dan pada masa yang sama terlibat dalam masalah kewangan dan undang-undang, Abdul nekad untuk meneruskan kehidupan ini, serta menolak sama sekali untuk melihat semua ini sebagai sesuatu yang adil dan patuh kepada ajaran agamanya.
Memandangkan kontrak Islamik ini adalah kontrak jual yang turut mengambil kira keuntungan, seseorang pelanggan boleh sekiranya gagal, berhutang dengan jumlah yang tinggi daripada jumlah yang dipinjam.
Sebagai contohnya, dalam kes Abdul ini, pembiayaan kewangan yang asal ialah sebanyak RM249,500 tetapi dia diminta untuk dibayar sebanyak RM505,368.54 kerana 'gagal'. Perkara seperti ini tidak akan terjadi dibawah sistem pembiayaan konvensional. Pelanggan tidak akan berhutang lebih daripada pinjaman asal, dalam apa jua keadaan sekalipun sehingga pinjaman berkenaan habis dibayar.
Persamaan dalam kes ini ialah apabila seseorang gagal membayar dalam masa yang ditetapkan, contohnya, selepas rumah berkenaan telah siap dibina.
Sebagai contoh, dalam kes di atas, katakan Abdul gagal membayar pada tahun ketiga. Jadi, diangggarkan bayaran bulanan ialah RM2,186.04 untuk 27 tahun yang akan datang, dibawah skim BBA, dia berhutang pinjaman penuh tersebut, RM708,276.96 (RM2,186.04 x 27 x 12).
Di bawah pembiayaan kewangan konvensional, jumlah yang dihutang bukan jumlah keseluruhan tetapi nilai semasa ketika itu, jumlah termasuk faedah yang dikenakan untuk 27 tahun. APR sebanyak 10.63 peratus, jumlah ini hanyalah sebanyak RM232,658.29. Lihatlah perbezaan yang ketara antara kedua-dua skim ini.
Disebabkan perbezaan ini, Bank Islam secara 'moral' mewajibkan untuk memberikan potongan untuk penebusan walaupun potongan sedemikian tidak boleh dinyatakan dalam kontrak, sebaliknya menjadi kontrak yang bukan menurut Syariah.
Inilah yang menjadi isu dalam kes Zulkiffli Abdullah lawan Affin Bank. Apabila Zulkiffli gagal untuk membayar jumlah yang dihutang walaupun rumah tersebut akan dijual pada bulan Mac, dia terpaksa juga membayar jumlah hutangnya.
Maka, satu masalah utama dalam BBA ialah harga jualan sesebuah rumah itu tidak menggambarkan harga pasaran rumah tersebut - sebuah masalah yang berpotensi dalam kes kegagalan membayar harga rumah. Tetapi di bawah sistem pembiayaan kewangan konvensional, baki tidak akan melebihi harga rumah yang sebenar.
Untuk mengurangkan masalah ini, satu lagi skim perumahan yang relatif kini ditawarkan kepada pembeli. Konsep Musharakah Mutanaqisah (MM). MM ialah skim kontrak perkongsian yang melibatkan pulangan rendah.
Dalam hal ini, pihak bank dan pembeli akan memiliki bersama-sama rumah tersebut. Jadi, pembeli akan membayar sewa yang berpatutan ke atas rumah/harta tersebut.
Memandangkan rumah tersebut dimiliki secara bersama-sama maka bahagian penyewaan ditanggung oleh pihak pembeli itu sendiri. Penyewaan ini akan menebus pemilikian bank terhadap rumah tersebut, sekali gus meningkatkan hak pemilikan rumah dalam kalangan pembeli tersebut.
Pemilikan hak pembeli akan meningkat secara berperingkat-peringkat apabila bayaran sewa bulanan dibuat dengan tetap dan apabila telah mencapai nisbah 100%, pembeli akan memiliki sepenuhnya hak ke atas rumah berkenaan. Tambahan lagi, bayaran bulanan boleh dibayar lebih daripada apa yang ditetapkan untuk menebus hak pemilikan rumah dengan cepat.
Pihak bank lebih tertarik kepada konsep MM kerana formula matematik sama dengan formula konsep pembiayaan konvesional. Maka, untuk kadar faedah yang sama, konvensional dan MM memberikan penebusan yang sama termasuk jadual pembayaran baki mengikut masa yang dikehendaki. Tidak seperti BBA, baki pembiayaan dibawah MM tidak akan melebihi jumlah asal yang telah dipinjam.
Namun, pihak bank akan menggantikan kadar sewa yang perlu dibayar di bawah konsep MM dengan kadar faedah! Ini kerana mereka tidak mahu mengambil risiko dengan menyewa atau harga rumah naik turun.
Tambahan lagi, sumber kewangan mereka juga terikat dengan kadar faedah pasaran. Tetapi menggantikan harga sewa dengan kadar faedah akan memberikan MM sama dengan konsep pembiayaan konvensional dengan bezanya hanyalah pada pemilikan rumah tersebut.
Maka, pembeli beragama Islam yang ingin memastikan konsep pembiayaan rumah adalah benar-benar Islamik perlu mendesak untuk menggunakan kadar sewa dan bukannya kadar faedah.
Satu isu yang amat berat dibincangkan dalam pembiayaan Islamik (dan juga dalam konsep konvensional) ialah isu yang melibatkan bagaimana duit dihasilkan oleh bank konvensional dan Islam.
Semua bank komersial menghasilkan wang apabila mereka memberikan pinjaman atau pembiayaan. Sebagai contohnya, apabila bank Islam membiayai sebuah rumah yang berharga RM250,000, ia hanya menghasilkan wang melalui akaun semata-mata. Duit pendeposit tidak akan ditolak apabila RM250,000 itu dibayar oleh pihak bank kepada pembeli ataupun pemaju.
Inilah simpanan kecil namanya. Di Malaysia, untuk setiap pendepositan RM1 dalam bank, sistem bank boleh menwujudkan 24 ringgit pinjaman atau duit baru (menggambil kira simpanan berkanun yang memerlukan 4 peratus), bersamaan untuk setiap pendepositan RM1 juta, RM24 juta yang baru dan praktikal menghasilkan kuasa membeli secara 'percuma'.
Sudah tentu ini akan mewujudkan inflasi.Kebanyakan inflasi dalam ekonomi disebabkan penghasilan wang secara percuma, berbanding dengan kekurangan bekalan. Inflasi pnghasilan wang baru ini akan mengakibatkan cukai ke atas orang ramai dengan merampas kuasa membeli simpanan mereka. Namun, ulama Syariah hanya mendiamkan diri, tiada berkata apa-apa tentang penghasilan wang ini. Penghasilan wang baru ini sudah tentu seperti mencuri kekayaan negara.
Jika seseorang meminjam RM1,000 pada kadar faedah 10 peratus, orang tersebut perlu memulangkan kembali sebanyak RM1,100. Kadar faedah yang dikenakan sebanyak RM100 dikatakan sebagai �riba� atau memakan riba yang telah ditetapkan terlebih dahulu, diperolehi tanpa mengambil apa-apa risiko.
Tetapi bagaimana jika RM1,000 itu tidak menghasilkan apa-apa? Ia juga bukan menghasilkan kuasa pembeli yang percuma tanpa risiko 'negatif'? Malah, jika 10 kali ganda kadar faedah, bukankah ini dianggap sebagai riba yang hebat?
Oleh itu, menjalankan pembiayaan Islamik ini termasuk Musharakah Mutanaqisah, dengan wang yang dihasilkan secara percuma oleh sistem bank ini harus dipersoalkan.
Sesungguhnya, tidak nampak keislamikan dalam hal ini. - lanh
Penulis adalah Presiden Persatuan Pengguna Pulau Pinang.

Financial literacy
Getting it right on the money
Apr 3rd 2008 NEW YORKFrom The Economist print edition
A global crusade is under way to teach personal finance to the masses

My book here is a good start

Demand on Leadership

Impian rakyat adalah melihat keadilan dan kesaksamaan

Advise to leader

Pengampu, penasihat yang membawa reba dan rebah
Oleh: DR. MOHD. ASRI ZAINUL ABIDIN

Caution: When sukuk is on steroid

Sukuk on steroid could spell disester to the Islamic bond market. If there is an Islamic capital market crash, what's the alternative goodness does this Islamic product could offer to investors?

Does the Islamic bond market comply with sharia law?

Divine laws > man-made laws. Secularism distorts and clouds the truth.
Faith, law and democracy
Defining the limits of exceptionalism
Feb 14th 2008 THE HAGUE, ROME AND TORONTOFrom The Economist print edition
The right of faiths to run their own affairs and regulate their adherents' lives has recently become controversial—because of fear of Islam

Election, democracy and who?

Pilihan raya: Antara calon dan keperluan rakyat

When truth prevails...

When truth prevails... The shari'ah law is a devine law sent to mankind to govern their life congruent with the will of God. In a secular world, people cnsider it to be uncivilised and unjust. This is not true! Those thoughts are purely based on desires and limitless freedom. Only wise and rational people can see, understand and realise the importance and relevence of shari'ah law.

What role for sharia in the West?

My Book - Hidup Kaya Tanpa Riba

Buku yang mengungkap persoalan membina kekayaan menurut perspektif Islam dalam konteks kita yang hidup dan mendepani cabaran abad ke-21. Buku ini juga menghuraikan konsep-konsep seperti kaya, rezeki, zuhud dan kepentingan mengingati mati sebagai dorongan motivasi buat pembacanya mengejar kekayaan dunia tanpa mengabaikan kejayaan di akhirat.Apakah yang dimaksudkan dengan pengurusan kekayaan dan kewangan peribadi daripada perspektif Islam? Bagaimanakah perkara ini berbeza dengan pengurusan kekayaan dan kewangan peribadi konvensional? Mengapakah kita, terutamanya umat Islam perlu melengkapkan diri dengan ilmu pengurusan kekayaan dan kewangan peribadi secara Islam? Adakah perkara ini mampu dilaksanakan dalam konteks ekonomi Malaysia pada masa kini?Ini adalah antara persoalan-persoalan yang dirungkai dalam buku ini bagi memberikan kefahaman asas dalam hal pengurusan kekayaan dan kewangan peribadi daripada kaca mata Islam. Buku ini menghuraikan beberapa persoalan pokok dan strategi-strategi asas berkaitan dengan tajuk ini.Ilmu berkaitan dengan pengurusan kekayaan dan kewangan peribadi adalah penting untuk semua. Malangnya, pendedahan berkenaan dengan kemahiran ini kurang ditekankan. Ataupun dapat dikatakan ia tidak diajar secara formal dalam sistem pendidikan kita. Akibatnya, ramai yang menjadi hamba kepada wang dan harta kekayaan dunia.Lebih kritikal lagi apabila penulisan berkaitan dengan soal pengurusan kekayaan dan kewangan perinadi secara Islam begitu sukar didapati terutamanya dalam bahasa Melayu. Menyedari majoriti orang Melayu di Malaysia adalah beragama Islam dan tahap literasi masyarakat dalam bidang ini begitu penting dipertingkatkan, buku ini diharap dapat memberi kefahaman asas dalam bidang ini. Selain itu, buku ini juga diharap dapat membuka jalan yang lebih luas kepada banyak lagi penulisan berkaitan dengan persoalan ini pada masa hadapan.Semoga buku kecil ini mampu merangsang kesedaran masyarakat dalam soal pengurusan kekayaan dan kewangan peribadi secara Islam. Ini penting dalam usaha kita meningkatkan lagi kedudukan ekonomi ummah. Pada masa yang sama, kita mencapainya selaras dengan kehendak syariat Islam.

Muslim's character

"The believer has four characteristics. If he is afflicted by any misfortune, he remains patient and steadfast. If he is given anything, he is grateful. If he speaks, he speaks the truth. If he passes a judgment on any issue, he is just." - Ubayy Ibn Kab

Ayah (1949-2007)

Ini coretan duka seorang anak yang tidak bersama ketika pemergian ayahnya…

Dulu ayah sambut
kelahiranku
Tapi semalam aku tidak mengiringi jenazahnya

Aduhai...
sedihnya hati tak terperi...
tak kala ayh pergi
tak dapat aku bersama mengabadikan ayahanda tercinta...

Hatiku sedih
hatiku pilu…
merah mawar padaku lesu
ku jerit pada dada laut hiba hatiku
namun hatiku masih menangis…
mengenang kasih ayah
kasih yang selembut cahaya purnama
yang kini hanya tinggal kenangan
dalam dasar sanubari seorang anak di perantauan

Aku menangis lagi..
Ayah telah pergi selamanya…
Tak perlu aku cari kerana
ayah tak akan ku temui bila aku pulang nanti

Untuk ayah…
hanya doa dan air mata

Ya Allah,
Tuhan yang hidup selamanya
kupohon rahmat dan kasih Mu untuk ayahku...
kasihanilah ayah sepertimana ayah mengasihaniku dahulu
ayah tak pernah kecewakan hajatku,
maka Kau penuhilah hajatnya agar diampun dosanya,
luas dan terangilah kuburnya,
jadikanlah tempat ayahku bersemadi sebagai taman-taman syurga
terimalah amal baiknya,
sedekah jariahnya,
kasih ikramnya...
dan jadikanlah segala amalan kami anak-anaknya
Kau terima sebagai amalan anak-anak yang soleh.

Ku pohon ampun buat ayahku,
kupohon kasihMu ya Rahman, ya Rahim,
Tuhan yang tidak mati dan hanya Kau yang kekal abadi..

Mohd Arshad Anoh passed away on 21 Zulhijjah 1428/31 Disember 2007

Leadership in Islam

Wahai pemimpin! kemewahan diri bukan kehebatanmu
Oleh: DR. MOHD. ASRI ZAINUL ABID

Marx-capitalism

“protect the poorest of the poor, protect un-organised workers, protect womenfolk who have no income.”

The capitalist communist
from The Economist Print Edition
How a poetic Marxist has transformed business prospects in West Bengal
UNTIL a few years ago foreign capitalists were unlikely to look for investment opportunities in the Indian state of West Bengal, seat of the world's longest-serving democratically elected communist government. They were about as likely to ask for the novels of Gabriel Garcia Marquez in Bengali, the local language. That both are now readily available is largely down to one man. He is Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the state's chief minister, a poet and playwright, the translator of the great Colombian-born novelist--and a life-long communist.
Since taking charge of West Bengal in 2000, Mr Bhattacharjee has embraced business with apostate zeal. The results have been little short of revolutionary. Under a coalition of leftists led by his own Communist Party of India (Marxist), which has won seven consecutive elections, West Bengal was previously best known for industrial action, capital flight and the immiseration of its capital, Calcutta, recently renamed Kolkata. Things improved slightly in the mid-1990s, after investors were officially invited to the state. But only in recent years, after Mr Bhattacharjee began travelling the world and wooing foreign companies, have many actually come. They have joined an influx of Indian firms in computer services, manufacturing and steelmaking. Tata Motors says that next year it will start producing a new low-cost car--expected to sell for less than $3,000--at a factory it is building at Singur, near Kolkata. ...

Ethical business

Hold other things equal, what Wal-Mart has done according to this report is exemplary:

Wal-Mart's mixed 'green' bag
Results from the giant retailer's audit of its social and environmental practices show just how hard it is to grow a company and be eco-friendly at the same time, writes Fortune's Marc Gunther.

The dollar we no longer trust

What's sinking the dollar?
Fortune's Geoff Colvin takes a closer look at the greenback's spiraling decline

What's the purpose of your existence?

As far as Islam is concerned, religion is the course for man to serve his true purpose of existence. When human being declare war against Islam, it's a war against one's purpose of being. The outcome, one will be lost in ignorance.

I found this article was unintellectually written, written by a man whose vision has been blinded.

everywhere this century; it will do so least when it is separated from the state
Nov 3, 2007 (4 days ago)
The new wars of religion
from The Economist Print Edition
Faith will unsettle politics everywhere this century; it will do so least when it is separated from the state

What do you do to combat poverty?

The war on want
Nature 449, 947 (2007). doi:10.1038/449947a
Many 'developing' countries are much more developed than some people think. Their rapid progress should inspire scientists and their institutions to do more to confront global poverty

Learning organization

Why Is Nissan Mimicking MySpace?
from BusinessWeek Online -- Most Popular Stories
The Japanese carmaker is rolling out a social networking site, called N-Square, designed to bypass bureaucracy by boosting informal contacts.

Methodology - The Role of Sunnah

Examples are in the article:

Puasa tidak boleh berpisah dari dalil sunah
Oleh: DR. MOHD. ASRI ZAINUL ABIDIN

Something on Ijtihad

Menentukan pendirian umat Islam terhadap Barat
Oleh: DR. MOHD. ASRI ZAINUL ABIDIN

The Greatest Economist

Prophet Yusuf as was the greatest economist ever. This great economist was able to make correct prediction of the economy

He claimed the post of an economist for Egypt and clearly he had the knowledge of the job.

[Quran, 12:55] Yusuf said: ?Make me the treasurer of the treasures of the realm (of Egypt); I will indeed guard them carefully for I know how to manage them.?

Meaning of Independence

When we worship no other god but Allah.

Merdeka: Antara penghayatan dan acara tahunan
Oleh: DR. MOHD. ASRI ZAINUL ABIDIN

Call for Muslim economists

More empirical studies must be done to counter-argue this:

In praise of usury
from The Economist Print Edition
Ignore credit snobs. It is no sin to profit from lending to the poor
IN DANTE'S "Divine Comedy", usurers are consigned to a flaming desert of sand within the seventh circle of hell. Attitudes have since softened a bit. Microcreditors, who offer small loans to self-employed poor people, enjoy hallowed reputations. One has even ascended to the rank of a Nobel laureate. But lending to the poor is still considered distasteful whenever it is pricey, short-term and profitable. In America, for example, many activists are quick to damn "payday" lenders, who may charge high fees for offering cash advances on a worker's next pay cheque.

Why this hostility? To profit from lending to the poor, critics say, is to prey on the most vulnerable, at their most vulnerable moment. Faced with desperate customers, loan sharks can charge well over the odds, even when the risk of default is slight. The money they proffer is often squandered on spurious consumption, critics say, rather than productive investments that would help the borrower repay his debts. Easy credit thus tempts people into a damaging spiral of indebtedness. …

My book

It's a book on Islamic Personal Finance (Malay).

Check it out: Hidup Kaya Tanpa Riba

Capitalism unresolved problem

Yawning rich-poor gap could hobble economy

Ethics, accountability, responsibility and proper mechanism are in Islam.

Inspiring stories

I find the stories in this website are very inspiring.

Steroid for religious department

Religious department is less efficient compared with other government agencies. The poor management is at the expensive cost of the ummah. Why can't those who work in the religious department be more responsible and effective in delivering their services?

Kenapa kepimpinan agama kurang berjaya?
Oleh: DR. MOHD. ASRI ZAINUL ABIDIN

OIC condition of health

Very few of the organisation’s members can claim infant mortality rates of better than 10 per 1,000 live births; 11 of the countries at the bottom of the world table in this regard are OIC members.

Save the Children
IT was at Malaysia’s behest that the Organisation of the Islamic Conference added a meeting of health ministers to its annual roster of events, as a further step towards meaningful co-operation beyond the existing annual conferences of foreign, information, cultural and tourism ministers.

Inequality

An overview of inequality

The Quagmire of Inequality
Citing income increases of the most wealthy evokes images of greedy CEOs and hedge-fund managers. But the story is more
complicated.

Measuring the economy

Offshoring and phantom GDP

The Real Cost Of Offshoring
U.S. data show that moving jobs overseas hasn't hurt the economy. Here's
why those stats are wrong - BUSINESSWEEK

More on phantom GDP

Spiritual question

How much to donate?

Turning wealth into good works
With unprecedented wealth comes the moral
question of what to do with it – and many Americans are choosing to give it to
charity.

Clean river is a public good

If we treat the environment poorly, we'll pay the costs later.

India's rivers are drowning in pollution
The Indian government has spent half-a-billion dollars trying to clean up Delhi's Yamuna River. It's only gotten worse, says Fortune's Daniel Pepper. FORTUNE

Billionaire Robin Hood

Investing... It's hard to imagine the type of 'jungle' we are in when we have a billionaire Robin Hood...

The hottest investor in America

When you believe in market and then you confuse by the outcomes

Markets Make Sense, Except When They Don't

Free market.. Yes we need to regulate it. Government intervention is crucial to ensure people are following the rules of the game properly. But wait... Not everybody is nice. There are crooks out there ready to eat people. This is where we need a good 'internal control' to regulate human behaviour. Religion therefore is important and very significant in regulating behaviors..

About economy, economics and economist

I find this article is ineresting: An Economics Laundry List

Global peace index

This is another important indicator of a country's competitiveness level internationally. Can you find the best ranked Islamic country?

Sovereign-wealth funds

Many Asian countries are now flushed with foreign exchange reserves. These bulks of money are looking for places that could yield good return. Government-investment vehicle now actively involves in domestic and international financial markets. This creates internationalization of companies all over the world.

Moreover, the torrent of money is alarmingly growing exponentially every hour under the interest-based economy. How far this is sustainable?

Advising leaders

The ethic to advise leader by Dr Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin

Thinking in term of more debts

The financial market is getting complicated. Nonetheless, the trend is moving towards severely indebted economy. Hence, risk management through various forms of financial maneuvering is considered to be vital for a 'mature' financial market.

The simple guidepost is for any deeply indebted economy, the final destiny is bankruptcy.

Invest Islamically

Portfolio investment is part of the strategy on how we can build and create wealth. However, for Muslims, this must be done cautiously. I have discussed this in my latest book "Hidup Kaya Tanpa Riba'. I hope more Muslims will realize the importance of this issue.

Here is another example of how practical it can be.

WB, IMF and WTO; are they still relevant?

Few groups are benefiting from the establishment of these institutions. There are countries with vested interest behind these bodies.

Are they relevant anymore?
WTO panel to assess Argentinian request
Third World Network

Predator looking for food

Hedge funds find it is difficult to satisfy their glut - Hedge Funds Inc.

We need mass media

If you control the mass media, you control the world - Story

Israiliyyat

Danger of israiliyyat

Boom and bust

No stability whatsoever - China remains in the forefront

Poor gets poorer

In an interest-based economy, poor gets poorer - The Economics of the Poverty Business

Protecting the environment

This is one element of the wider scope of balanced and sustainable growth promoted by Islam. Nonetheless, Muslims fail to put the noble teaching of Islam into practise. Read the column by Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin

Worldview revisited

Some thoughts by Syed Ali Tawfik al-Attas.

Example of rubbish

This book (How Religion Poisons Everything) is an example of rubbish. The man clearly lives in confusion.

Capitalism is far from promoting competition

Corporate mergers - the end of capitalism, the creation of global oligopoly in the making.

Balanced growth

Balanced growth from conventional perspective still has some shortcomings.

Islamic perspective of growth takes into account progress and development that secure harmony relationship between man and God, man and other man and man with the environment.

Alternative measure of growth based on the above need to be established.

Currently, the capitalist economies have realized the need for green economy after so much damaged had been done. This is the main focus thus far in the system when they speak of balanced or sustainable development.

Financial melt down

When faced with a budding financial crisis, the good central banker does a two-step dance. First, he (or she) staunches the bleeding, closing insolvent financial institutions, tightening lending standards, and otherwise making sure that bad loans stop being made. The good central banker then takes the second step: Pumping liquidity into the markets, to make sure that otherwise solvent institutions do not go under because the bad ones close - Businessweek

How long this kind of covering can continue? It seems that under the fiat money, fractional reserve and interest based economy, the financial fiasco is unavoidable.

Effective distribution mechanism

Britain abolished the slave trade 200 years ago this week. Its landmarks are an abiding legacy of cruelty - Read


Islam has long successfully abolished slavery. During Prophet time, Islam slowly and effectively had abolished slavery practiced in pre-Islamic Arabs via its distributive measures like zakat and several forms of penalty (i.e Penalty for a man who has sexual relationship during the day of Ramadhan is to free 60 slaves).

How zakat boosts productivity

In a nutshell, zakat is a penalty to savers. People who love to accumulate wealth without using it productively will be affected by zakat. Say if you have $ 1 million and now you decide just to lock yr money in a bank and get interest. This attitude creates a lazy and unprogressive society.

In Islamic economics, $ 1 million will not give you any interest income since riba = 0 and not just that, if you just keep the money idle for long period of time, you must pay 2.5% zakat out of it. Year by, year, yr $ 1 million will be eaten up by zakat. Thus, you have to think of some ways to make full use of the $ 1 million productively. This is just one way how zakat can boost productivity and create real economy.

Apa itu riba?

Click here

Principles of Ethic

• Do no harm

• Make things better

• Respect others

• Be fair

• Be compassionate

Get Rich and Stay Rich Islamically through Rizq halal & rizq barakah

People work hard to get rich and stay rich. These are seven steps we can take to be a blessedly wealthy Muslim (points taken from speech given by Ustazah Nut Bahiyah):

• Putting your best efforts
• Doa (asking Allah to bestow us with prosperity). This includes to make other form of amal such as performing solat dhuha, solat hajat, reciting surah Yasin and surah al-waqiah (The deeds must be done sincerely for Allah, not for wealth. Any wealth that comes is just the ‘by-product’/rewards that come from Allah)
• Tawakal
• Infak (spend the wealth generated in the course of Allah)
• Pay zakat, sadaqah and other forms of generosity
• Keeping good brotherhood
• Syukr (thankful to Allah)

The Qur'anic Dimension of Wealth Creation

Click the title to see the article

Bersederhana sebagai langkah berjimat

Oleh MOHD. NAHAR MOHD. ARSHAD


BULAN Ramadan yang mulia merupakan bulan di mana umat Islam berpuasa. Berpuasa mengajar kita untuk mengawal nafsu daripada perkara-perkara yang ditegah.

Hakikatnya, banyak perkara dapat kita pelajari daripada hikmah berpuasa.

Antaranya, tarbiah berpuasa seharusnya dapat dimanifestasikan dalam cara kita mengawal perbelanjaan seharian.

Perkara ini pastinya penting, tambahan lagi dalam konteks kenaikan harga barangan yang hangat diperkatakan sekarang. Kemampuan untuk menguruskan perbelanjaan dengan baik sangat bersangkutan dengan gaya kepenggunaan kita. Sikap boros dan berlebih-lebihan boleh menjerumuskan seseorang ke dalam kancah kewangan yang kronik.

Justeru, Islam menganjurkan umatnya agar sentiasa bersederhana dalam setiap perkara. Ini termasuklah dalam soal kita berbelanja.

Berpuasa dilihat dapat mendidik kita agar menjadi lebih terkawal dalam menguruskan perbelanjaan. Namun, ramai yang sering berbelanja berlebih-lebihan dalam bulan puasa terutamanya apabila kita membeli juadah untuk berbuka. Perkara ini tidak seharusnya berlaku kerana corak perbelanjaan seperti ini lebih terdorong oleh nafsu perut yang lapar.

Sebagai panduan bersama, terdapat empat panduan penting yang dapat kita amalkan dalam mengawal corak perbelanjaan kita agar kita mampu bersederhana dalam soal kepenggunaan. Keempat-empat panduan ini merupakan inti pati di sebalik sunah Rasulullah s.a.w. yang berkaitan dengan cara Baginda mengambil makanan.

Yang pertama; Baginda s.a.w biasanya hanya akan makan apabila Baginda mula merasa lapar. Ini perlu kita contohi bukan sahaja dalam soal mengawal diet pemakanan yang baik, malah, dalam berbelanja, kita sepatutnya hanya membeli untuk perkara-perkara yang diperlukan sahaja. Inti patinya ialah, apabila datang keperluan untuk kita membeli sesuatu barangan, barulah kita berbelanja kepada perkara tersebut.

Panduan kedua; kita juga dianjurkan untuk mengambil makan sekadar jumlah yang diperlukan sahaja meskipun kita dihidangkan dengan pelbagai jenis juadah. Anjuran ini jika dihayati membawa maksud, apabila berbelanja, kita seharusnya hanya membeli sekadar keperluan dan kemampuan diri sendiri. Sikap membazir dan berlebih-lebihan perlu dijauhi kerana Allah berfirman: Wahai orang-orang yang beriman, janganlah kamu haramkan benda-benda yang baik yang dihalalkan oleh Allah bagi kamu, dan janganlah kamu melampaui batas, kerana sesungguhnya Allah tidak suka kepada orang yang melampaui batas (Al-Quran, 5:87).

Seterusnya, Baginda s.a.w. juga makan dengan tertib dan mengunyah makanannya dengan baik. Dalam konteks kepenggunaan, anjuran ini mengajar kita agar sentiasa bersyukur dengan apa yang ada dan menggunakan sesuatu barangan itu sebaik-baiknya sehinggalah ia tidak lagi berfungsi.

Panduan terakhir, Baginda Rasulullah s.a.w. juga akan berhenti makan sebelum Baginda merasa kenyang. Amalan ini menunjukkan betapa kita tidak seharusnya terikut-ikut dengan dorongan hawa nafsu dalam soal pemakanan dan ini termasuklah juga dalam soal kepenggunaan. Amalan ini membolehkan seseorang itu betul-betul mengecapi nikmat makanan yang dimakan atau barangan yang digunakan. Ini dapat melahirkan rasa cukup dalam diri seseorang dan menjadikannya hamba yang bersyukur.

Meskipun keempat-empat panduan yang digariskan tadi berkaitan dengan soal pengambilan makanan, namun jelas ia juga dapat dihayati dalam konteks amalan kita berbelanja. Semoga dengan panduan ini, kita akan dapat bersederhana dalam soal berbelanja.

Kesempatan bulan Ramadan ini seharusnya digunakan untuk kita melatih diri untuk bersederhana dalam mengawal perbelanjaan semasa.

From Utusan Malaysia on Oct. 6 2006

Akauntabiliti Menerusi Ihsan

Oleh

Mohd Nahar Mohd Arshad
Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia


Melihat kepada persaingan global yang semakin sengit, penekanan harus diberikan kepada usaha untuk meningkatkan tahap kecekapan bagi menghasilkan barangan yang berkualiti dan perkhidmatan yang bertaraf dunia. Ini merupakan satu strategi berkesan yang dapat menjadikan sesuatu produk atau jenama itu ampuh untuk bertahan bagi jangka masa panjang. Pengabaian aspek kualiti dan ketidakecekapan pengurusan sumber pola, hanya akan mendatangkan keuntungan dalam jangka pendek, tetapi membawa kerugian yang besar dalam jangka masa panjang.


Dari sudut ekonomi, kecekapan (efficiency) dapat dinilai dalam dua aspek. Pertama, kecekapan agihan sumber, yang bermaksud menggunakan sumber-sumber ekonomi untuk menghasilkan barangan atau perkhidmatan yang paling diperlukan dan dikehendaki oleh sessebuah masyarakat. Di sini, kita menyedari akan akan hakikat sumber-sumber ekonomi yang terhad dan kita berusaha untuk mengelakkan sebarang pembaziran dengan tidak menghasilkan barangan yang tidak diperlukan dan berkualiti rendah.

Kedua, kecekapan dari sudut pengeluaran. Ini dicapai apabila kita berjaya mengeluarkan sesuatu barangan atau perkhidmatan dengan kos terendah yang mungkin. Di sini, penggunaan teknologi yang terbaik serta produktiviti yang tinggi amat diperlukan untuk mencapainya.

Untuk mencapai kedua-duanya, aspek kualiti insan itu sendiri merupakan faktor paling utama kerana manusialah yang dapat menentukan tahap kecekapan, produktiviti dan seterusnya kualiti barangan atau perkhidmatan yang dihasilkan.

Dalam proses penghasilan barangan atau perkhidmatan, aspek kualiti berkait rapat dengan aspek kawalan (supervision) terutamanya dalam pengawalan para pekerja. Ini merupakan sesuatu yang sukar dan mahal tetapi terpaksa dilakukan oleh para majikan bagi memastikan tahap kepatuhan pekerja yang tinggi.

Akibatnya, kos pengeluaran akan meningkat dan barangan atau perkhidmatan yang disediakan terpaksa dijual dengan harga yang tinggi. Ini seterusnya boleh mengurangkan tahap daya saing sesebuah syarikat mahupun sesebuah negara jika dilihat dalam konteks global.

Perkara ini boleh di atasi sekiranya setiap insan itu mempunyai kawalan dalaman diri. Dalam Islam, perkara ini dapatr difahami melalui konsep ihsan.

Dalam sebuah hadis yang diriwayatkan oleh Abu Hurairah r.a. menyatakan bahawa pada suatu hari, malaikat Jibril datang menyerupai seorang lelaki lalu bertanya kepada Nabi Muhammad saw tentang Islam, iman, ihsan dan hari kiamat. Dan apabila ditanya tentang apakah itu ihsan, Rasulullah saw. menjawab: Engkau beribadah kepada Allah seolah-olah engkau melihat-Nya. Dan jika engkau tidak melihat-Nya, maka sesungguhnya Dia selalu melihatmu

Penghayatan konsep ihsan ini sangat penting kerana ia berkaittan dengan rasa tanggungjawab dan akauntabiliti.

Justeru, jika elemen ini dapat diterapkan dalam diri setiap insan, nescaya kita tidak lagi memerlukan kamera litar tertutup (CCTV) atau sebarang bentuk pengawasan untuk kita memberikan yang terbaik dalam setiap apa yang dilakukan.

Kesedaran akan wujudnya ‘pengawasan’ Tuhan ini juga akan meningkankan lagi nilai kepercayaan (trust) sesama kita. Dalam konteks pengeluaran, hubungan antara majikan-pekerja akan lebih erat bila mana kepercayaan antara kedua-dua pihak meningkat. Ini seterusnya dapat mengurangkan kos pengeluaran, (apabila kos pengawasan pekerja dapat dikurangkan) tanpa menjejaskan produktiviti atau kualiti kerja kerana, setiap pekerja akan sentiasa memberikan mutu kerja yang terbaik dari diri masing-masing.

Konsep Untung Rugi Perniagaan Dalam Islam

Berniaga merupakan susaru kegiatan ekonomi yang mulia dan sangat digalakkan dalam Islam. Nabi Muhammad SAW pernah bersabda bahawa sembilan per sepuluh rezeki datang dari perniagaan. Melalui kegiatan periagaan, aktiviti ekonomi digerakkan di mana peluang pekerjaan diwujudkan dan sesebuiah tamadun bangsa berkembang maju.

Sejarah Islam membuktikan bahawa kegiatan perniagaan bukan semata-mata bermotifkan untung. Para pedagang Islam yang bertanggungjawab membawa Islam ke nusantara dan juga ke seluruh pelusok dunia datang bersama cahaya Islam.

Islam tidak mungkin mudah untuk diterima sekiranya para pedagang Islam dahulu tidak mempunyai perwatakan dan karisma yang menarik. Justeru, perkara inilah yang penting untuk kita fahami kerana di dalamnya terkandung konsep perniagaan global, mesra pelanggan, halal dan berkualiti serta beretika.

Perkara ini dapat dikupas dengan memahami konsep untung dan rugi dalam perniagaan itu sendiri. Falsafah ekonomi konvensional menyatakan bahawa sesebuah entiti perniagaan bermatlamat untuk memaksimumkan keuntungan. Untung dari segi kewangan dan material di sini merupakan suatu konsep keuntungan yang pincang kerana aspek rohani dan nilai murni sering dipinggirkan.

Islam melihat untung dan rugi dari aspek material dan juga rohani/spiritual. Dari segi material, setiap perniagaan mungkin memperolehi keuntungan atau kerugian. Sebaliknya, dari aspek kerohanian, setiap aktiviti perniagaan akan diberikan ganjaran pahala yang besar jika dijalankan dengan amanah, jujur dan beretika. Namun, jika perniagaan dijalankan dengan melanggar batas-batas agama, hanya dosa yang akan diperolehi.

Lantaran itu, setiap aktiviti perniagaan mempunyai beberapa kemungkinan pulangan dan risiko dari segi material dan juga spiritual. Ringkasnya, seseorang peniaga mungkin mendapat untung dan juga pahala, atau mendapat untung dan dosa, atau mendapat rugi dan pahala, atau mendapat rugi dan dosa dari aktiviti perniagaan yang dijalankannya.

Islam membenarkan pengambilan untung. Pada masa yang sama, untung mestilah dijana melalui aktiviti perniagaan yang sihat dan menjaga batas-batas agama. Dengan ini, seseorang peniaga itu akan mendapat untung dan juga pahala. Ini merupakan suatu kedudukan yang terbaik. Peniaga tersebut bukan sahaja memperolehi kebaikan di dunia menerusi untung perniagaannya, malah aktiviti tersebut memberikannya ganjaran pahala yang besar. Contoh ini dapat dilihat dalam sejarah Rasulullah SAW (sebelum kerasulannya) di mana baginda mendapat untung yang banyak hasil dari perniagaannya di Syam.Baginda juga jujur dan amanah dalam membawa hasil dagangan yang dimiliki oleh Siti Khadijah.

Peniaga yang mengalami kerugian tetapi jujur, amanah dan menjaga batas-batas agama dalam berniaga juga dipandang tinggi dari perspektif Islam. Meskipun rugi dari segi kewangan, namun peniaga ini mendapat ganjaran pahala kerana kebaikan dan kesabarannya.

Sebaliknya, Islam mengutuk peniaga yang hanya mementingkan keuntungan material dan kewangan tetapi mengabaikan batas-batas keagamaan dalam aktiviti perniagaan. Peniaga seperti ini mungkin mendapat untung yang banyak, tetapi aktiviti perniagaan yang dijalankannya hanya mendapat dosa dan kutukan dari Allah. Peniaga seperti ini biasanya ingin untung cepat dengan menipu dalam perniagaan atau terbabit dalam aktiviti perniagaan yang ditegah oleh syarak.

Kemungkinan terakhir ialah seseorang peniaga yang mendapat kerugian dan juga dosa dari perniagaannya. Ini merupakan kedudukan terakhir dan paling malang untuk seseorang peniaga.

Jelas kepada kita bahawa Islam lebih mementingkan keuntungan akhirat (mendapat pahala) berbanding keuntungan dunia yang sementara. Garis panduan dalam muamalat Islam tidak pernah menghalang seseorang peniaga itu dari mencari keuntungan. Pada masa yang sama, garis panduan di dalam Islam membimbing seseorang itu ke arah keredhaan Ilahi.

Di sinilah penegasan terhadap nilai-nilai korporat yang telus, berwibawa, berakhlak dan mematuhi batas-batas keagamaan menjadi keutamaan. Dengan menjaga nilai-nilai ini jugalah seseorang peniaga Islam akan dipandang tinggi. Inilah rahsia bagaimana Islam mudah diterima suatu ketika dahulu apabila ia dibawa oleh para pedagang Islam.

Profit in Business

• There are two types of profits; monetary/material profit and rewards from Allah for doing a business. Rewards from Allah here do not only confine to the promise of His heaven, but it also includes spiritual and moral rewards such as stronger yaqin and taqwa, good relationships/ brotherhood with suppliers/clients, knowledge and experience, increasing contacts, rising customers etc.
• In Islam, a businessman must realize that his business objective is to get blessing and rewards from Allah. Nonetheless, there are many businessmen ended up committing sins.
• Simultaneously, a businessman also wants to make monetary profit. However, this objective also subjects to loss.
• Therefore, a good business is a business that is blessed by Allah and it also generates a good profit to the owner.

Wealth Creation

• Wealth can be divided into spiritual and material wealth.
• In Islam, spiritual wealth will create multiple amount of material wealth.
• Man is the capital for wealth creation. Man’s taqwa is the source of capital for wealth creation (like bank) and man’s intellect is the cause of material wealth creation.
• Riba will not increase wealth but charity will multiply wealth.
• Strenghening brotherhood and love is another source of wealth creation.
• 9/10 of sustenance comes from trade.
• Material wealth is not the objective of life but in fact, blessing from Allah is the main objective.
• Honesty pays handsomely.