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?

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