Global Economic Meltdown

Often referred to as a sub-prime mortgage collapse, this obfuscates the real reason of the economic crisis of 2008. By associating tangible useless failed mortgages, at least something “real” can be blamed for the carnage. The problem is, this is myth. The magnitude of this fiscal collapse happened because it was all based on hot air.

The banking industry renamed insurance betting guarantees as “credit default swaps” and risky gambling wagers were called “derivatives.” Financial managers and banking executives were selling the ultimate con to the entire world, akin to the snake-oil salesmen from the 18th century but this time in suits and ties. And by October 2008, it was a quadrillion-dollar (that's $1,000 trillion) industry that few could understand.

Propped up by false hope, America is now falling like a house of cards.

History of the Crisis

It all began in the early part of the 20th century. In 1907, J.P. Morgan, a private New York banker, published a rumour that a competing unnamed large bank was about to fail. It was a false charge but customers nonetheless raced to their banks to withdraw their money, in case it was their bank. As they pulled out their funds the banks lost their cash deposits and were forced to call in their loans. People now therefore had to pay back their mortgages to fill the banks with income, going bankrupt in the process.

The 1907 panic resulted in a crash that prompted the creation of the Federal Reserve, a private banking cartel with the veneer of an independent government organisation. Effectively, it was a coup by elite bankers in order to control the industry. When signed into law in 1913, the Federal Reserve would loan and supply the nation’s money, but with interest. The more money it was able to print, the more ‘income’ for itself it generated. By its very nature the Federal Reserve would forever keep producing debt to stay alive. It was able to print America’s monetary supply at will, regulating its value. To control valuation however, inflation had to be kept in check.

Great Depression

The Federal Reserve then doubled America’s money supply within five years, and in 1920 it called in a mass percentage of loans. Over five thousand banks collapsed overnight. One year later the Federal Reserve again increased the money supply by 62 percent, but in 1929 it again called the loans back in, en masse. This time, the crash of 1929 caused over sixteen thousand banks to fail and an 89 percent plunge on the stock market. The private and well-protected banks within the Federal Reserve System were able to snap up the failed banks at pennies on the dollar. The nation fell into the Great Depression and in April 1933 President Roosevelt issued an executive order that confiscated all gold bullion from the public.

Those who refused to turn in their gold would be imprisoned for ten years, and by the end of the year the gold standard was abolished. What had been redeemable for gold became paper ‘legal tender’, and gold could no longer be exchanged for cash as it had once been.

Abolishing Gold Standard

Later, in 1971, President Nixon removed the dollar from the gold standard altogether, therefore no longer trading at the internationally fixed price of $35. The US dollar was now worth whatever the United States decided it was worth because it was “as good as gold.” It had no standard of measure, and became the universal currency.

Treasury bills (short-term notes) and bonds (long-term notes) replaced gold as value, promissory notes of the US government and paid for by the taxpayer. Additionally, because gold was exempt from currency reporting requirements it could not be traced, unlike the fiduciary (i.e. that based upon trust) monetary systems of the West. That was not in America’s best interest.

After the Great Depression private banks remained afraid to make home loans, so Roosevelt created Fannie Mae. A state supported mortgage bank, it provided federal funding to finance home mortgages for affordable housing. In 1968, President Johnson privatized Fannie Mae, and in 1970, Freddie Mac was created to compete with Fannie Mae. Both of them bought mortgages from banks and other lenders, and sold them to new investors.

Creating Consumerism

The post World War II boom had created an America flush with cash and assets. As a military industrial complex, war exponentially profited the United States and, unlike any empire in history, it shot to superpower status. But it failed to remember that, historically, whenever empires rose they fell in direct proportion.Americans could afford all the modern conveniences, exporting its manufactured goods all over the world. After the Vietnam War, the United States went into an economic decline. But people were loath to give up their elevated standard of living despite the loss of jobs, and production was increasingly sent overseas. The sense of delusion and entitlement kept Americans on the treadmill of consumer consumption.

In 1987, the US stock market plunged by 22 percent in one day because of high-risk futures trading, called derivatives, and in 1989 the Savings and Loan crisis resulted in President George H.W. Bush using $142 billion in taxpayer funds to rescue half of the Savings and Loan Crisis.

To do so, Freddie Mac was given the task of giving sub-prime (below prime-rate) mortgages to low-income families. In 2000, the “irrational exuberance” of the dot-com bubble burst, and 50 percent of high-tech firms went bankrupt wiping $5 trillion from their over-inflated market values. After this crisis, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan kept interest rates so low; they were less than the rate of inflation. Anyone saving his or her income actually lost money, and the savings rate soon fell into negative territory.

Creating Tailspin of Debts

During the 1990s, advertisers went into overdrive, marketing an ever more luxurious lifestyle, all made available with cheap easy credit. Second mortgages became commonplace, and home equity loans were used to pay credit card bills. The more Americans bought, the more they fell into debt.

But as long as they had a house their false sense of security remained: their home was their equity, it would always go up in value, and they could always remortgage at lower rates if needed. The financial industry also believed that housing prices would forever climb, but should they ever fall the central bank would cut interest rates so that prices would jump back up. It was, everyone believed, a win-win situation. Greenspan’s rock-bottom interest rates let anyone afford a home. Minimum wage service workers with aspirations to buy a half million-dollar house were able to secure 100 percent loans, the mortgage lenders fully aware that they would not be able to keep up the payments.

So many people received these sub-prime loans that the investment houses and lenders came up with a new scheme: bundle these virtually worthless home loans and sell them as solid US investments to unsuspecting countries who would not know the difference. American lives of excess and consumer spending never suffered, and were being propped up by foreign nations none the wiser. It has always been the case that a bank would lend out more than it actually had, because interest payments generated its income. The more the bank loaned, the more interest it collected even with no money in the vault.

It was a lucrative industry of giving away money it never had in the first place. Mortgage banks and investment houses even borrowed money on international money markets to fund these 100 percent plus sub-prime mortgages, and began lending more than ten times their underlying assets. After September 11, George Bush told the nation to spend, and during a time of war, that’s what the nation did. It borrowed at unprecedented levels so as to not only pay for its war on terror in the Middle East (calculated to cost $4 trillion) but also pay for tax cuts at the very time it should have increased taxes. Bush removed the reserve requirements in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, from 10 percent to 2.5 percent. They were free to not only lend even more at bargain basement interest rates; they only needed a fraction of reserves. Soon banks lent thirty times asset value. It was, as one economist put it, an “orgy of excess.” It was flagrant overspending during a time of war. At no time in history has a nation gone into conflict without sacrifice, cutbacks, tax increases, and economic conservation. And there was a growing chance that, just like in 1929, investors would rush to claim their money all at once.

Nothing from Nothing

To guarantee, therefore, these high risk mortgages, the same financial houses that sold them then created “insurance policies” against the sub-prime investments they were selling, marketed as Credit Default Swaps (CDS). But the government must regulate insurance policies, so by calling them CDS they remained totally unregulated. Financial institutions were “hedging their bets” and selling premiums to protect the junk assets. In other words, the asset that should go up in value could also have a side-bet, just in case that it might go down. By October 2008, CDS were trading at $62 trillion, more than the stock markets of the whole world combined. These bets had absolutely no value whatsoever and were not investments. They were just financial instruments called derivatives — high stakes gambling, “nothing from nothing” — or as Warren Buffet referred to them, “Weapons of Financial Mass Destruction.” The derivatives trade was “worth” more than one quadrillion dollars, or larger than the economy of the entire world. (In September 2008 the global Gross Domestic Product was $60 trillion). Challenged as being illegal in the 1990s, Greenspan legalized the derivatives practice. Soon hedge funds became an entire industry, betting on the derivatives market and gambling as much as they wanted.

It was easy because it was money they did not have in the first place. The industry had all the appearances of banks, but the hedge funds, equity funds, and derivatives brokers had no access to government loans in the event of a default. If the owners defaulted, the hedge funds had no money to pay ‘from nothing’. Those who had hedged on an asset going up or down would not be able to collect on the winnings or losses. The market had become the largest industry in the world, and all the financial giants were cashing in: Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, and AIG. But homeowners, long maxed out on their credit, were now beginning to default on their mortgages.

Not only were they paying for their house but also all the debt amassed over the years for car, credit card and student loans, medical payments and home equity loans. They had borrowed to pay for groceries and skyrocketing health insurance premiums to keep up with their bigger houses and cars; they refinanced the debt they had for lower rates that soon ballooned. The average American owed 25 percent of their annual income to credit card debts alone.

Misleading Solutions

Just as they had done in the 20th century, JP Morgan swooped in and picked up Bear Stearns for a pittance. One year prior Bear Stearns shares traded at $159 but JP Morgan was able to buy in and take over at $2 a share. In September, Washington Mutual collapsed the largest bank failure in history. JP Morgan again came in and paid $1.9 billion for assets valued at $176 billion. It was a fire sale. Relatively quietly over the summer Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the publicly traded companies responsible for 80 percent of the home mortgage loans, lost almost 90 percent of their value for the year.

Together they were responsible for half the outstanding loan amounts but were now in debt $80 to every $1 in capital reserves. To guarantee they would stay alive, the Federal Reserve stepped in and took over Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. On September 7, 2008 they were put into ‘conservatorship’: known as nationalisation to the rest of the world, but Americans have difficulty with the idea of any government run industry that required taxpayer increases. What the government was really doing was handing out an unlimited line of credit. Done by the Federal Reserve and not US Treasury, it was able to bypass Congressional approval.

The Treasury Department then auctioned off Treasury bills to raise money for the Federal Reserve’s own use, but nonetheless the taxpayer would be funding the rescue. The bankers had bled tens of billions from the system by hedging and derivative gambling, and triggered the portfolio inter-bank lending freeze, which then seized up and crashed. The takeover was presented as a government funded bailout of an arbitrary $700 billion, which does nothing to solve the problem. No economists were asked to present their views to Congress, and the loan only perpetuates the myth that the banking system is not really dead.

Paulson’s Coup

In reality, the damage will not be $700 billion but closer to $5 trillion, the value of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's mortgages. It was nothing less than a bailout of the quadrillion dollar derivatives industry which otherwise faced payouts of over a trillion dollars on Credit Default Swaps (CDS) mortgage-backed securities they had sold. It was necessary, said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, to save the country from a ‘housing correction’. But, he added, the $700 billion taxpayer funded takeover would not prevent other banks from collapsing, in turn causing a stock market crash.

In other words Paulson was blackmailing Congress in order to lead a coup by the banking elite under the false guise of necessary legislation to stop the dam from flooding. It merely shifted wealth from one class to another, as it had done almost a century prior. No sooner were the words were out of Paulson’s mouth before other financial institutions began imploding, and with them the disintegration of the global financial system - much modelled after the lauded system of American banking.

In September the Federal Reserve, its line of credit assured, then bought the world largest insurance company, AIG, for $85 billion for an 80 percent stake. AIG was the largest seller of CDS, but now that it was in the position of having to pay out, from collateral it did not have, it was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

Global Domino Collapse

In October the entire country of Iceland went bankrupt, having bought American worthless sub-prime mortgages as investments. European banks began exploding, all wanting to cash in concurrently on their inflated US stocks to pay off the low interest rate debts before rates climbed higher. The year before the signs had been evident, when the largest US mortgage lender Countrywide fell. Soon after, the largest lender in the UK, Northern Rock, went under - London long having copied Wall Street creative financing. Japan and Korea's auto manufacturing nosedived by 37 percent, global economies contracting.

Pakistan is on the edge of collapse too, with real reserves at $3 billion - enough to only buy a month’s supply of food and oil and attempting to stall payments to Saudi Arabia for the 100,000 barrels of oil per day it provides to the country. Under President Musharraf, who left office in the nick of time, Pakistan’s currency lost 25 percent of its value, its inflation running at 25 percent. Meanwhile energy costs had soared, with oil reaching a peak of almost $150 per barrel in the summer. The costs were immediately passed on to the already spent homeowner, in rising heating and fuel, transport and manufacturing costs.

Yet 30 percent of the cost of a barrel of oil was based upon Wall Street speculators, climbing to 60 percent as a speculative fear factor during the summer months. As soon as the financial crisis hit, suddenly oil prices slid down, slicing oil costs to $61 from a high of $147 in June and proving that the 60 percent speculation factor was far more accurate. This sudden decline also revealed OPEC’s lack of control over spiralling prices during the past few years, almost squarely laid on the shoulders of Saudi Arabia alone. When OPEC, in September, sought to maintain higher prices by cutting production, it was Saudi Arabia who voted against such a move at the expense of its own revenue.

Europe then decided that no more would it be ruined by the excess of America. ‘Old Europe’ may have had enough of being dictated to by the United States, who refused to compromise on loans lent to their own broken nations after WWII. On October the 13th, the once divided EU nations unilaterally agreed to an emergency rescue plan totalling $2.3 trillion. It was more than three times greater than the US package for a catastrophe America alone had created. By mid October, the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 had erased all the gains they made over the previous decade.

Greenspan’s pyramid scheme of easy money from nothing resulted in a massive overextension of credit, inflated housing prices, and incredible stock valuations, achieved because investors would never withdraw their money all at once. But now it was crashing at break-neck speed and no solution in sight. President Bush said that people ought not to worry at all because “America is the most attractive destination for investors around the globe.” Those who will hurt the most are the very men and women who grew the country after WWII, and saved their pensions for retirement due now. They had built the country during the war production years, making its weapons and arms for global conflict.

USA: No Longer Powerful

During the Cold War the USSR, former Soviet Union, was the ever-present enemy and thus the military industrial complex continued to grow. Only when there is a war does America profit. Russia will not tolerate a new cold war build-up of ballistic missiles. And the Middle East has seen its historical ally turn into its worst nightmare, be it militarily or economically.

No longer will these nations continue to support the dollar as the world’s currency. The world’s economy is no longer America’s to control and the United States is now indebted to the rest of the world. No more will the United States be able to demand its largest Middle Eastern oil supplier open up its banking books so as to be transparent and free from corruption and terrorist connections lest there be consequences — the biggest act of criminal corruption in history has just been perpetrated by the United States.

It was the best con game in town: get paid well for selling vast amounts of risk, fail, and then have governments fix the problem at the expense of the taxpayers who never saw a penny of shared wealth to begin with.

There is no easy solution to this crisis, its effects multiplying like an infectious disease.

Islamic Banks

Ironically, least affected by the crisis are Islamic banks. They have largely been immune to the collapse because Islamic banking prohibits the acquisition of wealth via gambling (or alcohol, tobacco, pornography, or stocks in armaments companies), and forbids the buying and selling of a debt as well as usury.

Additionally, Shari'ah banking laws forbid investing in any company with debts that exceed thirty percent.

“Islamic banking institutions have not failed per se as they deal in tangible assets and assume the risk” said Dr. Mohammed Ramady, Professor of Economics at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals.

“Although the Islamic banking sector is also part of the global economy, the impact of direct exposure to sub-prime asset investments has been low” he continued. “The liquidity slowdown has especially affected Dubai, with its heavy international borrowing. The most negative effect has been a loss of confidence in the regional stock markets.”

Instead, said Dr. Ramady, oil surplus Arab nations are “reconsidering overseas investments in financial assets” and speeding up their own domestic projects. Eight years ago, in May 2000, Saudi Islamic banker His Highness Dr. Nayef bin Fawaaz ibn Sha’alan publicly gave a series of economic lectures in Gulf States. At the time his research showed that Arab investments in the United States, to the tune of $1.5 trillion, were effectively being held hostage and he recommended they be pulled out and reinvested in the tangibles of the Arab and Islamic markets.

“Not in stocks however because the stock market could be manipulated remotely, as we have seen in the last couple of years in the Arab market where trillions of dollars evaporated” he said.

He warned then that it was a certainty that the US economic system was on the verge of collapse because of its cumulative debts, ever-increasing deficit and the interest on that debt. “When the debts and deficits come due, they just issue new Treasury bonds to cover the old bonds due, with their interest and the new deficit too.”

The cycle cannot be stopped or the debt cancelled because the United States would no longer be able to borrow. The consequence of relieving this cycle would be a total collapse of their economic system as opposed to the partial, albeit massive, crash of 2008.

“Islamic banking”, said Dr. Al-Sha’alan, “always protects the individuals’ wealth while putting a cap on selfishness and greed. It has the best of capitalism — filtering out its negatives — and the best of socialism — filtering out its negatives too.” Both systems inevitably had to fail.

Additionally, Europe and Japan did not need to be held accountable and indebted to America anymore for protection against the Soviets.

“The essential difference between the Islamic economic system and the capitalist system”, he continued “is that in Islam wealth belongs to God - the individual being only its manager. It is a means, not a goal. In capitalism, it is the reverse: money belongs to the individual, and is a goal in and of itself. In America especially, money is worshipped like God.”

USA Now

In sum, the crash of the entire global economic system is a result of America’s fiscal arrogance based upon one set of rules for itself and another for the rest of the world. Its increased creative financing deluded its people into a false sense of security, and now looks like the failure of capitalism altogether.

The whole exercise in democracy by force against Arab Muslim nations has almost bankrupted the United States. The Cold War is over and the United States has nothing to offer: no exports, no production, few natural resources, and no service sector economy.

The very markets that resisted US economic policies the most, having curbed foreign direct investments into America, are those who will fare best and come out ahead.

But not before having paid a very high price.


Tanya Cariina Hsu

Political Analyst

International Fellow

Institute for Research: Middle Easter Policy

Note: Written in October 2008 and published by http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10651, entitled "Death of the American Empire"

Masyarakat Madani......

Banyak yang telah diperkatakan bilamana kita berbicara tentang melahirkan masyarakat yang berilmu. Tuntutan, desakan, aspirasi dan jua kehendak yang perlu dijana dalam melahirkan masyarakat berilmu adalah merupakan isu-isu yang acapkali diperbahaskan, samada dikalangan para pemimpin negara, politikus nasional, cendekiawan-cendekiawan mahupun masyarakat Malaysia keseluruhannya.

Menurut Yang Berbahagia Profesor Emeritus Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Abu Hassan Othman, Profesor Adjung, Jabatan Sosiologi dan Antropologi, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia, masyarakat berilmu, ataupun masyarakat madani, dapat dilahirkan melalui beberapa proses. Ini dapat dilihat apa yang telah berlaku di Barat. Masyarakat Barat tidaklah berterusan dari dahulunya, sebagai sebuah masyarakat yang berilmu. Barat telah melalui ‘zaman kegelapan’ dimana diskusi ilmu dilarang sama sekali. Malahan pada ketika itu, kuasa dan autoriti gereja sama sekali tidak boleh dipertikaikan. Bilamana lahirnya ilmu-ilmu baru yang menyongsang, ataupun berlawanan dengan apa yang dibicarakan oleh Injil, ianya sama sekali akan ditolak dan dianggap mempunyai unsur-unsur kesyaitanan (demonic elements). Pelopor-pelopornya pula akan di bunuh atau dipenjarakan oleh pihak gereja. Waktu itu, Barat begitu mundur dan melalui ‘zaman kemandulan ilmu’ (rujuk History of Western Civilization tulisan Robert B. Bogdan). Berbeza dengan Tamadun Islam, kemajuan ilmu berkembang pesat di kota-kota Islam. Cordova dan Baghdad telah menjadi pusat rujukan ilmu oleh para ilmuwan dan sarjana dari segenap pelosok dunia. Tokoh-tokoh cendekiawan Islam telah melahirkan teori-teori baru, dan telah menambak-baik teori-teori yang diambil dari sarjana Greek dan Parsi. Waktu itu, nama-nama seperti al-Razi, Ibn Sina, al-Khawarizmi, Ibn Haitham dan banyak lagi, begitu masyhur dan karya-karya mereka diburu untuk dijadikan panduan dan dikaji untuk tujuan penyelidikan.

Setelah beberapa ketika, Barat melalui zaman kegelapan, muncul golongan yang dahagakan ilmu dan diskusi ilmu dikalangan mereka, dan telah mempertikaikan kewibawaan dan autoriti pihak gereja dan kesahihan kitab Injil yang menjadi panduan mereka selama ini. Golongan ini telah menjadikan kemajuan sains dan teknologi yang telah dikecap oleh masyarakat Islam sebagai asas sandaran hujah mereka. Natijahnya, Barat telah membelakangkan gereja dan menjadikan sains sebagai ‘tuhan’ mereka. Maka berlakulah ‘zaman kebangkitan’ di Barat, dimana mereka telah mencedok ilmu-ilmu yang telah dikembangkan oleh sarjana-sarjana Islam dan dengan bangganya mengisytiharkan ilmu-ilmu tersebut adalah hasil kajian dan penyelidikan mereka. Contoh mudah yang dapat dilihat antaranya ialah lapangan ilmu antropologi. Ilmu antropologi telah mula diperkenalkan oleh Muhammad Abu Rayhan al-Biruni bilamana beliau telah melakukan kajian intensif budaya dan struktur sosial masyarakat Hindu di India (untuk keterangan lanjut, rujuk The Book of India tulisan al-Biruni) menggunakan kaedah pemerhatian-ikut serta (participant observation). Namun Barat telah menafikan kebenaran ini dan mengatakan bahawa ilmu antropologi telah dipelopori oleh Bronislaw Malinowski dimana beliau telah mengkaji masyarakat Melanesia secara intensif jua mengguna-pakai kaedah pemerhatian-ikut serta (untuk keterangan lanjut rujuk Argonauts of the Western Pacific tulisan Malinowski). Malahan melalui kajian ini, Malinowski telah mendapat kredit bilamana beliau telah diiktiraf sebagai orang pertama yang telah memperkenalkan kaedah pemerhatian-ikut serta (sila rujuk Essays on Social Anthropology tulisan Margaret Mead). Namun hakikatnya, hampir 150 tahun sebelum Malinowski tiba di Kepulauan Melanesia, al-Biruni telah pun mengguna-pakai kaedah pemerhatian-ikut serta untuk memahami budaya dan struktur sosial masyarakat Hindu di India. Jua perlu dinyatakan di sini, Malinowski sendiri telah dituduh tidak betul-betul mengaplikasikan kaedah pemerhatian-ikut serta dalam kajian beliau. Beliau, seperti yang dinyatakan oleh J.B Singh, lebih banyak menghabiskan masanya bersama para pelayar British dan telah mengupah beberapa penduduk tempatan untuk menjalankan sesi temuduga dengan penduduk tempatan yang lain dan untuk mendapatkan informasi-informasi lain berkenaan budaya masyarakat Melanesia (untuk keterangan lanjut rujuk Argonauts of the Western Pacific Revisited tulisan J.B. Singh). Inilah sikap Barat……

Namun begitu, zaman kebangkitan telah memberi impak yang sangat mendalam ke atas masyarakat Barat. Hingga ke hari ini, kita dapat saksikan mereka masih lagi menguasai dunia kesarjanaan. Teori-teori baru banyak dilahirkan oleh mereka dan kajian-kajian ilmiah lebih banyak dilahirkan oleh mereka berbanding umat Islam. Umat Islam, yang telah mendahului mereka dalam kemajuan ilmu, kini pula yang melalui zaman kemandulan ilmu. Kenapa? Di sini, perlu kita kaji secara terperinci apakah yang telah membelenggu masyarakat Islam untuk keluar dari penyakit kemandulan ilmu ini….

Tidak usah kita berbicara tentang masyarakat Islam lain, cukup sahaja dengan di Malaysia. Kita dapat saksikan budaya membaca bukanlah satu budaya dikalangan kita hari ini. Pembacaan ilmu ditolak ketepi, atau lebih sedih lagi langsung tidak diambil kira. Kita lebih mengagungkan pembacaan yang berunsurkan hiburan semata-mata. Kita jua lebih mengenali selebreti-selebriti hiburan dari tokoh-tokoh ilmuan. Bilamana golongan artis berkahwin, mereka diraikan umpama raja dan permaisuri, ditaja itu dan ini, sampaikan disediakan sebiji helicopter. Tapi bila pihak universiti ingin menganjurkan diskusi ilmu, samada peringkat nasional mahupun antarabangsa, tiada siapa pun yang mahu menaja!! Sedih sekali… Sebab itu, bila kita bertanyakan masyarakat Islam hari ini samada mereka mengenali Muhammad Fethullah Gullen, sebagai contoh, tidak ramai yang akan mengenali beliau. Sedangkan beliau telah dinobat sebagai tokoh sarjana yang popular tahun 2008 oleh majalah Times. Ini adalah sebab-musabab mengapa kita masih lagi berada dalam zaman kemandulan ilmu. Begitu jua dengan bentuk pembacaan. Tidak dinafikan dengan wujudnya internet, segala macam informasi boleh kita dapatkan dengan hanya menekan butang tetikus. Tapi persoalannya, adakah informasi yang kita terima itu sahih dan boleh dipercayai? Tidak dinafikan terdapat sesetengah tulisan dan jua laman web yang amat baik dan dapat membantu perkembangan minda, namun banyak jua informasi-informasi yang ada disalurkan tidaklah begitu tepat. Oleh yang demikian, sumber ilmu yang terbaik adalah melalui pembacaan buku. Namun ini membawa kepada masalah yang lain pula – harga buku yang terlalu amat tinggi. Aku tidak bermaksud untuk berbangga-bangga, namun suka untuk aku kongsi bersama bahawa aku telah menghabiskan hampir empat ribu ringgit Malaysia dari Januari hingga Disember 2008 hanya untuk buku sahaja. Pun begitu kuantitinya tidak banyak kerana sesetengah buku mencecah beratus-ratus ringgit Malaysia. Sepatutnya kerajaan boleh membantu dengan memberikan sedikit subsidi. Ini sama sekali tidak akan merugikan kerajaan kerana akhirnya ia dapat membantu melahirkan masyarakat Malaysia yang berpengetahuan. Bukan kah itu yang kerajaan impikan?

Apa yang penting, budaya membaca perlulah disemai dikalangan kita semua. Sikap dahagakan ilmu dan rajin membaca perlu ditanam dalam diri kita. Melalui pembacaan ianya dapat meluaskan pengetahuan dan mencambah benih-benih pemikiran kritis dan kreatif. Inilah yang Islam cuba sampaikan, dimana wahyu pertama yang diturunkan kepada Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. dengan jelas bermaksud, “Bacalah! Dengan nama Tuhan mu yang telah menciptakan.” Alangkah bagusnya jika semua umat Islam dapat menghayati wahyu Ilahi ini…….

Dingin.....

Dingin malam yang menyelubungi

Hening sayu dalam hati

Berbicara bersendirian

Ku rasa resah

Selama dibuai rindu

Pada cinta yang terlalu

Terpendam di dalam khayalan

Kan ku leraikan impian indah

Kepadanya ku berserah

Mungkin tak daya

Ku tawan cinta yang sama

Dinginnya getaran asmara

Sentuhan mula bermadah

Ku tak bisa juarai

Jiwa yang ku tak punya

Dinginnya bila kau berkata

Ruang buat ujiannya

Memoriku gengamilah

Biarkan aku beralah

Dalam hatiku tiada dendam

Walau impian semalam

Masih mekar dalam ingatan

Kan ku leraikan impian indah

Kepadanya ku berserah

Mungkin tak daya

Tawan cinta yang sama

Dinginnya getaran asmara

Sentuhan mula bermadah

Ku tak bisa juarai

Jiwa yang ku tak punya

Dinginnya bila kau berkata

Ruang buat ujiannya

Memoriku gengamilah

Biarkan aku beralah

Mungkin tak daya

Tawan cinta yang sama

From the same source I have not taken,

My sorrow; I could not awaken,

My heart to joy at the same tone;

And all I loved, I loved alone.

Crisis in the Muslim Ummah

The contemporary Muslim world is afflicted by numerous diseases which have spread to almost every aspect of its being. Moral torpor and intellectual paralysis, subversion from within, subjugation from without, the absence of justice and fair dealing, exploitation and corruption, extremes of ignorance and disease, poverty and waste, dependence and insecurity, discord and internecine strife - the list is long and painful. The number and gravity of these afflictions are capable of wiping whole nations and peoples off the face of the earth, even though some may be well-endowed with wealth and resources.

Beset by such catastrophic afflictions, one wonders in fact how the universal community of believers - the Muslim Ummah - has survived. That this Ummah has been spared and continues to exist to this day must be due to the fact that it still holds the legacy of the Qur'an intact as well as the example of God's final messenger to mankind, may the peace and blessings of God be on him. It may also be due to the fact that there still exist some elements of righteousness in this community who continue to depend on God and genuinely seek His guidance and forgiveness. This we may infer from a Qur'anic verse which says that God did not choose to punish even a disbelieving people because the Prophet himself was among them and there remained the possibility that they might yet repent (al-Quran, 8: 33).

Arguably, the most dangerous disease which now afflicts the Muslim Ummah is the disease of disagreement and discord. This disease has become all-pervasive and affects every area, town and society. Its appalling influence has penetrated into ideas and beliefs, morality and behaviour, and ways of speaking and interacting. It has affected both short and long term goals and objectives. Like a dark spectre, it finally envelops people's souls. It poisons the atmosphere and leaves hearts sterile and desolate. Multitudes of people are left contending with one another, and the impression is given that all the Islamic teachings, commands, and prohibitions at the disposal of the Ummah are there only to spur people on to discord and make them revel in internecine strife. This is a trend which is in total contrast to the teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah (Sunnah literally means "path." It refers to the example of Prophet Muhammad which consists of all that he said, did, approved of, or condemned). After stressing the paramount duty of affirming the oneness of God (tawheed), both the Qur'an and the Sunnah stress one thing above all: the unity of the Muslim Ummah. Their object is to treat and rid the Ummah of any disagreements which disturb the peace and harmony in Muslim relationships and ruin the brotherhood of believers. It may also be true to say that after the abomination of associating others in worship with God there is nothing more repugnant to the teachings of Islam than discord in the Muslim community. The commands of God and His Prophet are abundantly clear in calling for the unity and solidarity of Muslims, reconciling their hearts, and marshalling their efforts in a single cause.

Since the Muslims have pure faith in and worship God alone, since their Prophet, their scripture, the direction they turn in salaah (salaah refers to the special act of worship or prayer performed in the manner taught by the Prophet) and the acknowledged reason for their existence are all one and the same, it must follow that they should be united in a common endeavour: "This, your community," says God in the Qur'an, "is a single community and I am your Lord and Sustainer; therefore worship Me" (21: 92). In spite of this, Muslims have unfortunately forsaken the uncompromising belief in and worship of God alone and abandoned the call to join forces with one another.

We need to be fully conscious of the dangers of this situation and make sincere attempts to deal with the roots of the crisis of Muslim disunity. To begin with, we need to restore "the dimension of faith" in the hearts of Muslims. This dimension has almost ceased to be the primary factor in regulating Muslim relationships. This is the result of a distorted understanding of Islam, harmful practices, and the pressures and impositions of non-Islamic societies. The restoration of the faith dimension and a sound understanding of Islam are the only true guarantees for rectifying our relationships, getting rid of our differences, and removing all traces of rancour from our hearts. How comforting and how delightful this would be! A sound knowledge and understanding of Islam would give us a proper appreciation of the various categories of actions: what is recommended or permissible, what is compulsory or obligatory, and so on. We would be able to keep before us the higher objectives of our striving and be wary of constant jostling with one another via argumentation and discord. We have undoubtedly lost the ethics and norms of proper Islamic behaviour and the proper regard for moral imperatives and have thus fallen an easy prey to internal disintegration and internecine strife. This is the legacy of what the Qur'an calls "a narrow and constricted existence" and a life of failure. We have ended up in impotence and ruin. Such indeed was the warning of God: “And do not dispute with one another lest you fail and your moral strength deserts you” (8: 46).

The Qur'an relates to us the history of the followers of earlier prophets that we may derive lessons and warnings from them. It shows clearly how nations rise, how civilizations are built, and how they flourish. It also shows how they decline. We are warned that decline and downfall are direct consequences of disunity and the disease of discord and sliding into narrow factionalism:

“And be not among those who ascribe divinity to any but Allah, [or] among those who have broken the unity of their faith and have become sects, each group delighting in what they themselves believe and follow” (30: 312).

Disputes which lead to division and disunity are tantamount to abandoning the guidance of the Prophet and becoming alienated from him. God addresses the Prophet Muhammad in the Qur'an with regard to "those who have broken the unity of their faith and have become sects" and says: "You have nothing to do with them" (6: 159). This verse expresses a condemnation of all sectarianism arising out of people's intolerant, mutually-exclusive claims to being "the only true exponents" of divine teachings.

This verse is applicable to followers of revelation which predated the Qur'an; their problem was not that they had too little knowledge or that their knowledge was misleading; their undoing was that they used that knowledge to commit injustice and sow mutual antagonisms: "The followers of earlier revelation differed among themselves only after knowledge had come to them, out of mutual jealousy" (3: 19). In the light of this verse we may well ask if Muslims are really the proper custodians of the last authentic divine revelation and the true knowledge and guidance it contains, or whether they are inheritors of the weaknesses of these followers of earlier revelation, their tendency to mutual jealousy and hatred, and the other patterns of destructive behaviour they have set.

Disagreement, mutual jealousy, and religious schism were thus the factors which contributed directly to the undoing of the Jews and the Christians in pre-Qur'anic times and the superseding of their religions. Their history is a clear and permanent lesson for those who hold the legacy of authentic scripture (the Qur'an) and Muhammad's prophethood. This fact is made more poignant if it is realized that there will be no replacement and no abrogation of the Qur'an. In one sense, however, this fact does provide some optimism that the diseases with which the Muslim Ummah is now afflicted are not terminal. They may either continue to fester with the Ummah persisting in a state of feebleness, or they may be cured. This is the outcome which many yearn for. Should it come to pass, the internal disintegration will cease and the Ummah will be back on the right course, healthy and full of vitality. These are possibilities which the final divine message holds out, and this is the responsibility and the challenge which it places on the Muslim Ummah.

How do we achieve this outcome? We should first recognize that there are natural differences in the way different people view things and conduct their affairs. There is an inherent uniqueness in each individual who contributes in large measure to the diversity which is essential for the building of human society. It would be impossible to establish social relations between people who are all alike and who have the same capacities. There would then be no scope for interaction, for giving, and for improvement. Diversity in talents and skills stem from diversity in individual mental and functional skills. When these inherent and acquired differences combine they make for human betterment. In all this we see the manifestation of God's power and wisdom. If differences of opinion operate in a healthy framework they could enrich the Muslim mind and stimulate intellectual development. They could help to expand perspectives and make us look at problems and issues in their wider and deeper ramifications, and with greater precision and thoroughness. Sadly, with the waning of the Ummah, this is not the case. All of the positive advantages that can stem from healthy differences have given way to the chronic disease and deadly poison of discord which is weakening and eroding our spirits and putting us on a self-destruct course. The situation has reached such a state that some of those who hold divergent positions actually engage in physical annihilation while others take to regarding the enemies of Islam as closer to them than their fellow Muslims who share the same basic beliefs. Recent and earlier Muslim history has witnessed many sad and painful scenes when the vast energies and resources of the Ummah have fed and continue to feed the flames of discord, strife, and civil war which only seem to increase in intensity with each passing day.

Often people are unable to look at matters in a balanced, holistic way and see the various dimensions of an issue. Their narrow perspectives only allow them to see a minor aspect which is then inflated and blown up out of all proportion and given an importance to the exclusion of any other aspect or issue. This minor aspect is constantly commented upon and promoted. It becomes the basis for judging, disdaining, or accepting others. To strengthen this aspect, help from the enemies of the religion might even be sought against other Muslims who happen to have a divergent view.

It is related that Waasil ibn `Ataa' (Waasil ibn `Ataa' is regarded as the founder of the Mu`tazilah tradition of thought, he died in Basrah in 131 AH) was with a group of Muslims and they came upon some people whom they recognized as Khawaarij. Waasil's company was in a critical situation and faced possible annihilation at the hands of the Khawaarij, who were of the opinion that Muslims who did not share their views should be killed. Waasil told his group that he would deal with the situation. The Khawaarij came up to him and asked threateningly: "Who are you and your companions?" Waasil replied: "They are mushrikoon (those who associate others in worship with God) seeking protection so that they may listen to the word of God and know His laws." "We grant you protection," said the Khawaarij and Waasil asked them to teach him. This they proceeded to do according to their own positions. At the end, Waasil said: "I and those who are with me accept [what you have taught us]." Thereupon the Khawaarij said, "Go in company with one another for you are our brothers in faith." "That is not for you to say," replied Waasil as he recited the following verse of the Qur'an:

“And if any of the mushrikoon (those who ascribe divinity to any but God) seeks your protection, grant him protection, so that he might hear the word of God, and thereafter convey him to a place where he can feel secure” (9: 6).

"Allow us then to get to our place of security," continued Wasil. The Khawaarij looked at one another and said: "That you shall have." Wasil and his group were allowed to go on their way and they all arrived at their homes safely.

The anecdote shows how the severity of differences had reached a stage where the Muslim with a divergent view on minor issues had no alternative but to pretend to be a non-Muslim to escape terror and possible death at the hands of a dissident Muslim group who regarded itself as alone possessing the genuine, unadulterated truth. The non- Muslim enjoyed more security at the hands of these dissidents than a fellow Muslim!

Violent disagreement (ikhtilaaf) and selfish, egotistic motivations (hawaa) have a tendency to develop and grow larger and larger. They penetrate deep into a person's psyche and take hold of his mind, attitudes, and feelings. Eventually that person loses sight of the overall, total view of things. In the process he ignores the common, lofty goals and objectives of Islam and its basic principles. Such a person lacks vision and insight and forgets the elementary requirements of Islamic behaviour. He loses all sense of balance and of priorities. Speech not based on knowledge comes easily to him, as do verdicts without enlightenment and practice without supporting evidence. With people like these around, accusations proliferate, people are branded as deviant and sinful, and others are declared unbelievers (kuffaar; singular: kaafir).

A person afflicted with these shortcomings fall easy prey to blind fanaticism. His world is filled with darkness and gloom which in reality is but a reflection of his own miserable self on which the light of knowledge, wisdom, and prudence does not shine: “And whoever does not have light given by God, he truly has no light at all” (24: 40).

At the hands of blind followers and inexperienced folk, schools of jurisprudence and legal judgments and opinions arrived at by persons of insight and ability have degenerated into a sort of pseudo-intellectual factionalism and political fanaticism. Verses of the Qur'an and sayings of the Prophet are used selectively to support one position or another, and every verse or saying that does not agree with a stand of a particular faction is considered inapplicable or abrogated. The net result is that fanaticism increases and we are thrown back to the sort of ignorance which existed in pre-Qur'anic days when the prevailing dictum was: "The liar of the tribe of Rabee`ah is better than the one who tells the truth from the tribe of Mudar" - in other words, "My people, right or wrong."

The early Muslims did have disagreements. But theirs were differences of opinion and not reasons for estrangement and schism. They differed but they did not separate. This was because the unity of hearts and of objectives was far more important to them than selfish considerations. They managed to rid themselves of personal weaknesses and were keen to recognize and correct any lapses they committed. The Prophet, peace be on him, once told his companions about a man who was among the best of them and about the good news that he was of those destined for paradise. They examined the person's attitudes and conduct to understand the reason for his supreme achievement. The Prophet eventually told them that the person's achievement was due to the fact that he never went to sleep while there was a trace of rancour in his heart against any Muslim. The source of the calamity which afflicts us today is within us, in our hearts. Our tendencies towards isolationism are merely an expression of self-betrayal. In external aspects, we might not differ much from others. God says: "Keep away from all sin, open and secret" (6: 120).

On the level of the Ummah, we can look back and see that the Muslim world was once one state claiming its highest legitimacy from attachment to the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Now it has become some seventy-eight small states with innumerable and extensive disagreements among themselves. Each one of these states loudly professes unity, but in each state one finds several often conflicting entities as well as of ficially sponsored "Islamic" bodies. Often those working for the cause of Islam today who are ostensibly connected with the task of restoring the Ummah are not in reality in a better situation than the official organizations which they manage.

Our crisis is in fact an intellectual one, and it is very serious. When intellectual activity and output in the Muslim world is sound and when the Muslim Ummah once again derives its fundamental and highest legitimacy for its existence from attachment to the Qur'an and the Sunnah, it will then be able to uphold the message of Islam and build a civilization despite the hardships and severity of our material circumstances. We are assured in the Qur'an that “with every difficulty there is ease” (94: 5).

Our deviation from the Qur'an and the Sunnah has landed us in disputation and ruin, for God says: “Obey God and His Apostle. And do not dispute with one another lest you fail and your moral strength deserts you” (8: 46). Islam put an end to petty groupings and internal Arabia, each tribe or grouping had its own god to which it gave obeisance; Islam obliterated all these false gods.

Muslims as a whole today need not complain about scant material resources or about a straitened existence. They are in the midst of the consuming nations, whether of ideas or commodities for living. Their real malaise lies in the loss of the all-embracing significance of their faith and the consciousness of unified and common objectives. Also gone from them is the consciousness of a greater purpose and legitimacy in their lives. Paralysis has afflicted both their resolve and their decisive intellectual endeavour.

How do we get out of the intellectual paralysis which afflicts the Muslim mind and the moral crisis which affects Muslim behaviour except by tackling the roots of this intellectual crisis and rectifying the methodology of thought? There must be a renewed stress on intellectual formation and the recovery of a sense of priorities. These goals must feature prominently in the training of new generations.

There is no way to achieve all this except by returning to the legacy of the early Muslims who were noted for their unswerving attachment to the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Part of this legacy was the unremitting search for true knowledge and the application of this knowledge. We need to recapture the spirit of this search and provide guarantees for ensuring that it continues. The link between knowledge and ethics must be restored. The principles and rules for inference and deduction to regulate independent reasoning also need to be put in place. Studies to ensure the unity of the Ummah must be developed, and areas of mutual cooperation defined with the object of achieving Muslim solidarity. All this must be done and pursued in a clear, systematic way through God's grace.

One should, however, be wary of aggressive ignorance, the arrogant claims of fanatics, the troublesome and contentious nature of those who are obstinate, and the intrigue and plotting of conspirators. Refuting all of these tendencies head-on and clearly and frankly exposing the conflicting positions and interests of the various Islamic groupings will not in my view bring about peace, calm, and cooperation in the Muslim arena. However, arming Muslims, in particular the youth, with a clear knowledge and perception of Islamic ethics and norms of behaviour (adab) is a prerequisite and a guarantee for achieving such peace, harmony, and cooperation, God willing.

Knowledge of Islamic ethics and norms in dealing with differences, the consciousness of its principles on the part of various contending groups in the Ummah, and training Muslims to live according to these norms will undoubtedly release an abundance of energies in the Ummah - energies which are now dissipated and wasted in the theatres of futile internal conflicts. When the Muslim mind becomes conscious of its civilizational role it will seek to win back those who belong to the Ummah but who are alienated. Conscious workers for Islam are responsible for the urgent task of building a sound and stable base for the restoration of the unity and health of the Ummah, and eventually for rebuilding the civilization of Islam. A single moment separates life and death. If our determination is sincere there is nothing that can prevent us from recovering Muslims from anti-Islamic influences for, according to the promise of God, a day will come when the believers will rejoice in the help of God and lost will be, then and there, all who tried to reduce to nothing the truth they failed to understand.

Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru......

Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru atau ringkasannya MJKB yang terletak di atas sekeping tanah yang agak luas (kira-kira empat lot) di Jalan Raja Alang, Kampung Baru, 50300 Kuala Lumpur dianugerahkan oleh seorang dermawan Melayu bernama Haji Bachik bin Abdullah. Haji Bachik berasal dari Melaka dan mempunyai sebuah rumah di Jalan Melayu. Beliau merupakan seorang pedagang yang menjawat jawatan ketua orang-orang Melayu pada ketika itu di Kampung Hujung Pasir.

Sebenarnya nama Kampung Baru wujud atas dasar penyatuan dari beberapa buah kampung Melayu atau mukim. Pada kira-kira akhir tahun 1880 terdapat tujuh buah kampung yang kedudukannya berdekatan antara satu dengan yang lain. Penyatuan kampung-kampung tersebut telah dilakukan tahap demi tahap kerana penduduk mahukan pentadbiran itu harus diterajui oleh mereka sendiri. Misalnya Kampung Masjid telah menjadi sebahagian Kampung Baru pada tahun 1880, Kampung Baru Atas pula dalam tahun 1890. Kampung Hujung Pasir telah masuk ke dalam ikatan perkampungan itu dalam tahun 1900. Dalam tahun-tahun berkutnya jelas kelihatan jumlah penduduk semakin bertambah.

Berita tentang kemakmuran penduduk-penduduk Kampung Baru telah diketahui umum khususnya oleh peniaga-peniaga yang berulang alik dari Kuala Lumpur ke Klang. Maka orang dari keturunan Jawa tidak mahu ketinggalan untuk mencari rezeki di Kampung Baru. Dalam tahun 1906 ramai orang-orang Jawa berhijrah ke Kampung Baru di satu tempat yang digelar Kampung Paya. Dalam tahun 1914 pula Kampung Periok diterima masuk dalam lingkungan Kampung Baru dengan pembahagian lot-lot tanah untuk tujuan penempatan.

Susunan penempatan semula ini telah diserahkan kepada Kerajaan oleh unit Perancang Bandar pada tahun 1929. Kampung yang asalnya mempunyai 12 buah rumah di pesisir Sungai Klang di sebelah Timur dalam awal tahun 1900, tiga puluh tahun kemudiannya telah menjadi tumpuan pendatang-pendatang dari Ulu Selangor, Kajang dan Klang. Misalnya dalam tahun 1930 di Kampung Baru terdapat 554 buah rumah dengan jumlah penduduk seramai 2600 orang. Jumlah ini meningkat kepada 615 buah rumah dan jumlah penduduknya seramai 3562 orang. Sehingga bulan Mei 1935, 750 lot telah dibahagikan bersama hak-milik sementara. Di antara lot-lot tersebut terdapat lot kepunyaan Tuan Haji Bachik yang kemudiannya telah diwakafkan kepada Lembaga Pentadbir Kampung Baru penghujung 1936 untuk didirikan sebuah surau. Dengan jerih payah bantuan penduduk, maka terdirilah sebuah balai dari lantai dan tiang nibong yang kemudiannya telah ditukarkan menjadi surau. Di kawasan ini juga dijadikan tanah perkuburan bagi penduduk Kampung Baru ketika itu.

Sejak dari itu hingga kini, Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru telah menjadi tumpuan masyarakat kampung. Sebanyak tiga kali bangunan asal telah diruntuhkan. Pada kali yang ketiga masjid yang berbentuk seperti rumah Melaka telah diganti dengan bangunan baru, dengan memohon derma dari setiap penduduk kampung dengan mengenakan RM60.00 bagi setiap individu rumah dan pembayaran boleh dibuat secara beransur-ansur. Sehingga tahun 1955 jumlah kutipan yang dibuat melalui cara itu telah dapat mengumpulkan sebanyak RM30,000.00. Oleh kerana kutipan itu di anggap lambat, satu jawatankuasa yang baru telah ditubuhkan untuk menjalankan kempen mengutip derma dengan lebih aktif lagi. Akhirnya Kerajaan Negeri Selangor telah memperuntukkan sebanyak RM90,000.00 dan sekiranya terdapat kekurangan, orang ramai diminta meneruskan derma baktinya. Maka dengan kehendak Allah, Masjid Kampung Baru telah terdiri dengan belanja sebanyak RM214,000.00 yang mana perletakan batu asas binaan telah disempurnakan oleh YTM Allahyarham Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj pada tahun 1956.

Hari ini, Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru terpaksa menampung lebih dari 7000 orang jamaah setiap hari Jumaat. Dan pada waktu sembahyang tidak kurang dari 500 orang jamaah. Jumlah ini bertambah dari hari ke hari. Sebagaimana biasa kuliah tetap diadakan setiap malam selepas Maghrib, sementara kuliah Subuh pula diadakan selepas Subuh hingga pukul 7.00 pagi setiap hari. Kuliah Subuh mula diadakan pada awal tahun enam puluhan lagi oleh tuan-tuan guru terkenal antaranya allahyarham Anuar Mussadad dan allahyarham Tuan Haji Kiai Fathullah Harun dan disambung oleh tuan-tuan guru lain seperti allahyarham Tuan Haji Mohd Tahir bin Jaafar, allahyarham Tuan Haji Osman bin Mohd Noor (bekas Kadi Kuala Lumpur), allahyarham Ustaz Haji Ahmad bin Ramli dan guru-guru yang lain hinggalah ke masa ini.

Masjid ini secara fizikalnya berukuran 69,665 kaki persegi atau 6,472 meter persegi. Kapasiti untuk menampung jamaah dalam anggaran 7,000 orang jamaah dalam satu-satu masa terutamanya pada hari Jumaat. Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru ini juga dilengkapi dengan dewan solat Muslimin dan Muslimat, pejabat pentadbiran, bilik mesyuarat, bilik tetamu, bilik imam dan bilal, bilik pengurusan jenazah, ruang dapur dan perpustakaan. Dewan Solat Muslimin dan Muslimat dilengkapi dengan kemudahan penghawa dingin untuk memberikan keselesaan kepada para jamaah.

A Reply.....

I was tagged by budakSetan – Vincent @ setan cool and Kelvin @ setan hensem – last two days to answer their question in my blog. The question is rather simple, if you can live forever, what do you live for? (“,)

Well this will be my answer. First, I will live for my religion, Islam – Allah, the Infinitely Good and the All-Merciful, and His messenger, Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

And second, surely, I will live for my Saza Ameenah family: my mama, Hajah Salmah Haji Basiron; my kak long and abang yunus; my angah and kak asmah; my kak uda and abang jam; my kak anim and her fiancé abang hisyam; and last but not the least my super-duper coolest fabulous anak buah naQib, baba, tim-tim, najihot, hafiz, ‘aina, fiqot and lovely cutie harith.

So how about you? :P

Why Are Jews So Powerful?

There are only 14 million Jews in the world; seven million in the Americas, five million in Asia, two million in Europe and 100,000 in Africa. For every single Jew in the world there are 100 Muslims. Yet, Jews are more than a hundred times more powerful than all the Muslims put together. Ever wondered why?

Jesus of Nazareth was Jewish. Albert Einstein, the most influential scientist of all time and TIME magazine's 'Person of the Century', was a Jew. Sigmund Freud – id, ego, and superego – the father of psychoanalysis was a Jew. So were Paul Samuelson and Milton Friedman. Here are a few other Jews whose intellectual output has enriched the whole humanity: Benjamin Rubin gave humanity the vaccinating needle. Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine. Alert Sabin developed the improved live polio vaccine. Gertrude Elion gave us a leukaemia fighting drug. Baruch Blumberg developed the vaccination for Hepatitis B. Paul Ehrlich discovered a treatment for syphilis (a sexually transmitted disease). Elie Metchnikoff won a Nobel Prize in infectious diseases. Bernard Katz won a Nobel Prize in neuromuscular transmission. Andrew Schally won a Nobel in endocrinology (disorders of the endocrine system; diabetes, hyperthyroidism). Aaron Beck founded Cognitive Therapy (psychotherapy to treat mental disorders, depression and phobias). Gregory Pincus developed the first oral contraceptive pill. George Wald won a Nobel for furthering our understanding of the human eye. Stanley Cohen won a Nobel in embryology (study of embryos and their development). Willem Kolff came up with the kidney dialysis machine.

Over the past 105 years, 14 million Jews have won 15-dozen Nobel Prizes while only three Nobel Prizes have been won by 1.4 billion Muslims (other than Peace Prizes). Why are Jews so powerful? Stanley Mezor invented the first micro-processing chip. Leo Szilard developed the first nuclear chain reactor. Peter Schultz, optical fibre cable; Charles Adler, traffic lights; Benno Strauss, Stainless steel; Isador Kisee, sound movies; Emile Berliner, telephone microphone and Charles Ginsburg, videotape recorder. Famous financiers in the business world who belong to Jewish faith include Ralph Lauren (Polo), Levis Strauss (Levi's Jeans), Howard Schultz (Starbuck's), Sergey Brin (Google), Michael Dell (Dell Computers), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Donna Karan (DKNY), Irv Robbins (Baskins & Robbins) and Bill Rosenberg (Dunkin Donuts). Richard Levin, President of Yale University, is a Jew. So are Henry Kissinger (American secretary of state), Alan Greenspan (fed chairman under Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush), Joseph Lieberman, Maxim Litvinov (USSR foreign Minister), David Marshal (Singapore's first chief minister), Issac Isaacs (governor-general of Australia), Benjamin Disraeli (British statesman and author), Yevgeny Primakov (Russian PM), Barry Gold water, Jorge Sampaio (president of Portugal), John Deutsch (CIA director), Herb Gray (Canadian deputy PM), Pierre Mendes (French PM), Michael Howard (British home secretary) and Robert Rubin (American secretary of treasury).

In the media, famous Jews include Wolf Blitzer ( CNN ), Barbara Walters (ABC News), Eugene Meyer ( Washington Post ), Henry Grunwald (editor-in-chief Time), Katherine Graham (publisher of The Washington Post ), Joseph Lelyyeld (Executive editor, The New York Times), and Max Frankel (New York Times). At the Olympics, Mark Spitz set a record of sorts by wining seven gold medals. Lenny Krayzelburg is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. Spitz, Krayzelburg and Boris Becker are all Jewish. Did you know that Harrison Ford, George Burns, Tony Curtis, Charles Bronson, Sandra Bullock, Billy Crystal, Paul Newman, Peter Sellers, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Douglas, Ben Kingsley, Kirk Douglas, Cary Grant, William Shatner, Jerry Lewis and Peter Falk are all Jewish? As a matter of fact, Hollywood itself was founded by a Jew. Among directors and producers, Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks, Oliver Stone, Aaron Spelling (Beverly Hills 90210), Neil Simon (The Odd Couple), Andrew Vaina (Rambo 1/2/3), Michael Man (Starsky and Hutch), Milos Forman (One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest), Douglas Fairbanks (The thief of Baghdad) and Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) are all Jewish.

To be certain, Washington is the capital that matters and in Washington the lobby that matters is The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. Washington knows that if PM Ehud Olmert were to discover that the earth is flat, AIPAC will make the 109th Congress pass a resolution congratulating Olmert on his discovery. William James Sidis, with an IQ of 250-300, is the brightest human who ever existed. Guess what faith did he belong to?

So, why are Jews so powerful? Answer: Education.


Written by Dr. Farrukh Saleem, an Islamabad-based freelance columnist.