Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Bank Islam vs Bank Kafir 2

Assalamualaikum wbt..

Artikel di bawah boleh menambahkan keyakinan kita untuk support Bank2 Islam. Semoga kita mula berubah mulai daripada sekarang. Kembali menjana ekonomi umat Islam.

Dipetik dari laman web Ust. Zaharuddin


Islamic Banking Financing Rate not competitive ?


Recent development has seen banking industries thrusting ahead with the introduction of varieties of new products offering appealing features. On the contrary however, a random survey reveals that some people are not very pleased with the performance of Islamic Banks. One critical aspect in particular highlighted :

• The high profit rate charged by Islamic Bank for their financing product as compared to the interest rate charged by Conventional Bank. This factor is claimed to be the crucial factor leading to customers repelling from taking up financing from Islamic Bank.

This article will respond to the above-mentioned critic. To begin, lets look at the following facts:-
a) Islamic Bank is a profit driven company offering Shariah approved financial services and products and is not a welfare institution where services are rendered for free.
b) Islamic Bank is obligated to fulfill its duty to investors who are not merely subsidizing the institution and who like any other investor yearn for good return in investment.
c) Islamic Bank needs to pay the salary of its staff competitively with the market, which means that profit making is vital to enable the salary payment. Staff is fundamental in driving the Bank towards efficiency and competitiveness.
d) Islamic Bank has to cover the operational costs of its premises, tools and equipments. Therefore, how would an Islamic Bank survive, develop and expand if they are expected to provide its services for free or at a very low price ?

Surely, based on the above facts, it is clear that the nature of an Islamic Bank is actually similar to other business institutions. The following explanations answer the issue of why the Islamic Banks’ Financing rate is averagely higher than the Conventional.

1) The priceless value of Halal

A Muslim entrepreneur once told me about his experience in London where the price of a slaughtered chicken is much higher than the one, which is not being slaughtered and that Muslims consistently kept buying the expensive slaughtered chicken in order to ensure that their food are halal.

The above analogy shows that even though the Islamic Banks’ products are quite expensive (for some products only). However these are priced as such considering that these products have gone through the Shariah screening process and verified as halal.

On the other hand, although Muslim nowadays are very much concern of not eating pork (khinzir) or non-slaughtered chickens and etc, there are those that seems to pay less attention to their income, whether it is coming from halal sources or not and not hesitant to use the not halal income to purchase their daily foodstuff which according to Shariah is prohibited, similar to the prohibition of eating non-slaughtered chicken.

2) The Professional Shariah Screening and Auditing.

The Islamic Bank essentials requires Shariah screening and approval for its products and activities. This is an additional Shariah benchmarking and thus an additional cost, considering the time and expertise involved. One must realize that this Shariah approved products are priceless in value and cannot be valued by any amount of money and that Shariah approved financial products have been acknowledged as not only beneficial to mankind but also socially ethical products.

3) The highly potential players in the market.

Islamic Banks are highly potential players in the market. This is well acknowledged by Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz in her statement at Putrajaya on 22nd June 2005.
“..Since 2000, the domestic Islamic Banking industry has been growing at an average rate of 18% per annum in terms of assets. As at end-2004, total assets of the Islamic Banking sector increased to RM 94.6 billion, accounting for 10.5% of the total assets in the banking system. The market share of Islamic deposits and financing also increased to 11.2% and 11.3% respectively.”

Deliberating her point, Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Zeti adds that: “Bank Negara Malaysia, in charting the next stage of development for the Islamic Banking industry; envisage that the relative significance of their market share will increase to 20% by the year 2010.”

Thus, as the small players continue to grow, the financing rates offered may be averagely higher than those of the large and well-established players. This situation is equitable to the prices offered by retail seller and hypermarket, whereby retail seller’s price is higher as compared to hypermarket prices.

4) Lastly, it is important to understand that the financing rate charged by the Islamic Banks today is actually low and competitive to the rate offered by the Conventional Banks. Furthermore, if one detailed out the calculations, it may reveal that Islamic Banks are actually offering comparatively lower rate, for example when comparing between Interest rate offered by Conventional Banks in their Home loan products and profit rate from the Home Financing-i under Bai’ Bithaman Ajil (BBA) concept by Islamic Banks. One will learn that, Home-Financing-i offers fixed selling prices and the contractual profit rate (under this concept) will never change from the beginning of the payment period to the last settlement by the customer.

On the other hand, the home loan offered by Conventional banks are seemingly very attractive as the rate charged in the first year is relatively low. However, the rate for the remaining years will fluctuate as it is dependence on the Base Lending Rate (BLR) in the market. For example if the current BLR is 6 %, therefore the rate is equal to 6.25 % as the rate is equal to BLR + 0.25 %. What if BLR rises to 11 % or higher as has happened in the past Malaysian economic crisis ?

On the contrary, this will not occur in Islamic Banks’ because the selling price has already been fixed and agreed in the contractual agreement by both parties. The Islamic Banks’ profit rate does not have any relation to the BLR rate, thus it will not increase. In fact, it may even be reduced if the Islamic Banks were to provide rebate (ibra’).

We can now see competitive profit rate from Islamic Banks as the Islamic market reaches critical mass such as Car Financing-i under Al-Ijarah Thumma Al-Bai’ (AITAB) concept whereby customers are offered 2.5 % for the imported cars, which is very competitive if not better than the current interest rate offered by Conventional Banks.

In conclusion, considerations and supports from all are essentially needed to enable Islamic Banks to reach and go beyond the target set up by government. If we are willing to make the sacrifice today, we will not regret to see that our future generations will be able to enjoy competitive Islamic Banking products with very competitive pricing besides the assurance and guarantee that it is halal.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Bank Islam vs Bank Kafir

Assalamualaikum wbt :)

Hari ini insyaAllah saya nak membawakan satu topik berkenaan perbankan Islam di bank-bank yang terdapat di Malaysia.

Alhamdulillah pada hari ini, kebanyakan umat Islam di Malaysia sudah mula beralih arah daripada sistem perbankan konvensional kepada sistem perbankan Islam. Ini adalah satu petanda yang baik menunjukkan umat Islam sudah memiliki kesedaran dari segi halal dan haram rezeki yang mereka perolehi.

Namun begitu, kita perlu tahu membezakan bank yang mana sepatutnya kita gunakan. Bank yang mana sepatutnya kita menyimpan duit kita, dan bank yang mana perlu kita gunakan untuk membuat loan. Ini kerana walaupun secara zahirnya kita lihat semua bank yang mempunyai sistem perbankan Islam itu adalah sama, tapi secara tidak sedar sebenarnya ia adalah berbeza.

Arus Perubahan

Perubahan besar yang berlaku di dalam sistem perbankan Islam di Malaysia bermula sejak tertubuhnya Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (BIMB) pada zaman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (DSAI) menjadi Timb. Perdana Menteri. Sistem yang dibawa oleh Bank Islam, telah menarik ramai umat Islam untuk menyimpan, dan melaburkan wang mereka di bawah Bank Islam. Ini adalah satu perkembangan yang sangat baik bagi peningkatan ekonomi umat Islam kerana kita boleh memastikan duit yang kita simpan atau laburkan itu berkembang secara halal dan tidak diragui.

Selepas daripada itu banyak bank-bank konvensional yang lain juga turut tidak ketinggalan untuk menyediakan kaunter perbankan Islam. Ini kerana mereka juga dapat melihat potensi yang besar daripada bilangan umat Islam yang ramai di negara ini. Ini juga adalah kesan daripada kesedaran Islam yang semakin meningkat di kalangan umat Islam alhamdulillah.

Maka makin banyaklah bank-bank yang menjalankan sistem perbankan Islam dan kita sudah ada banyak pilihan. Walaupun bank tersebut tidak dinamakan dengan nama Islam, tetapi masih ada kaunter Islam, seperti Bank RHB Islam, Bank Commerce Tijari dll lagi. Kita tidak perlu ragu akan persoalan ke mana duit kita disalurkan kerana memang sudah menjadi syarat kepada bank yang menjalankan sistem perbankan Islam supaya mengasingkan dana urusniaga konvensional dengan dana urusniaga Islam.

Nak pilih mana satu?

Cuma yang menjadi persoalannya sekarang ialah bank yang mana satukah harus kita pilih. "Kenapa kena pilih? Bukan ke sama je semua? Janji halal.. " Ada orang yang akan berkata demikian bila kita timbulkan persoalan tersebut.

Iya, memang semuanya dijamin halal. Tetapi, dalam kita menganalisis keadaan semasa ini, kita perlu melihat lebih dalam sedikit. Kalau kita mengkaji lebih jauh, kita akan mendapati tidak semua bank tersebut adalah sama. Ini adalah dinilai dari aspek keuntungan yang akan diperolehi semula oleh umat Islam secara umumnya pada masa hadapan.

Kalau kita lihat balik, pertumbuhan sistem perbankan Islam pada bank-bank konvensional juga telah membuatkan bank-bank besar yang bertaraf antarabangsa ataupun bank-bank milik bukan Islam turut teruja untuk menjalankan sistem yang sama. Maka kita akan dapat lihat bank-bank seperti Citibank, HSBC, Hong Leong Bank dll lagi turut sama menyediakan kaunter Islam.

Seperti yang kita sedia maklum, bank-bank ini adalah bank yang besar. Bank yang besar sudah tentu memiliki modal yang besar. Jadi tidak hairanlah kalau mereka mampu untuk menyediakan servis yang murah berbanding dengan bank milik umat Islam yang lain terutamanya Bank Islam. Kita melihat Bank Islam menyediakan servis yang mahal harganya jadi kita tidak mahu memilih Bank Islam. Kita sepatutnya faham bahawa Bank Islam tidak memiliki modal yang besar, jadi ia terpaksa menaikkan sedikit harga servis yang ditawarkan.

Masalah ini sama dengan yang berlaku di kalangan peniaga-peniaga umat Islam. Hari ini ramai peniaga-peniaga kecil umat Islam tidak dapat cari makan kerana kebanyakan daripada umat Islam lebih suka untuk membeli belah di pasaraya-pasaraya besar seperti Giant, Carrefour, Tesco dll. Ini kerana pasaraya-pasaraya tersebut menyediakan barang-barang yang lebih murah. Murah pun takat beberapa sen saja. Mereka mampu menyediakan barang-barang yang murah sebab mereka syarikat besar yang memiliki modal yang banyak. Maka berlakulah persaingan yang menyebabkan yang besar makan yang kecil.

Jawapannya...

Jawapan kepada persoalan di atas ada pada diri kita setiap umat Islam. Tepuk dada tanya iman. Adakah kita mahu menguntungkan diri kita seorang sahaja, dan tidak mempedulikan masa depan umat Islam? Memanglah mahal sikit beli dari peniaga Islam, mahal sikit untuk guna loan Bank Islam, tapi pada jangka masa panjang, umat Islam sendiri yang akan dapat mengaut keuntungan daripada kemajuan dan kekayaan umat Islam. Kalau umat Islam kaya, maka kita juga yang akan merasai kekayaan itu nanti. Tapi kalau orang kafir yang kaya, mana tahu mereka akan gunakan semula kekayaan itu untuk menjatuhkan umat Islam.

Kita perlu sedar atas sikap kita yang lebih mementingkan diri sendiri ini, kesudahannya orang-orang kafir itu yang kaya, umat Islam akan terus berada di takuk yang lama tak maju-maju, tak kaya-kaya. Kita sepatutnya sedar akan kesilapan kita ini dan mula berubah dari sekarang supaya kita dapat kembali memajukan ekonomi umat Islam. Mulalah daripada hari ini, untuk menggunakan Bank Islam sebagai bank yang utama. Juga pastikan anda tidak lagi membeli barang-barang di Giant dll pasaraya-pasaraya hyper. Belilah dengan peniaga-peniaga Melayu Islam. InsyaAllah ekonomi kita umat Islam akan pulih semula.

Wallahualam. Wassalam.

Islamic Banking

For a real muslim, we need to know from where we got the money. What is the source of our income. Is it really halal or not. These are the main question we should ask ourselves. One of the source of our income comes from where we are investing our money, especially in the bank. Today I wanna share something really nice that I found in Wikipedia. :) You can check about Islamic Banking and read it all here.

ISLAMIC BANKING

Islamic banking refers to a system of banking or banking activity which is consistent with Islamic law (Sharia) principles and guided by Islamic economics. In particular, Islamic law prohibits usury, the collection and payment of interest, also commonly called riba in Islamic discourse. Generally, Islamic law also prohibits trading in financial risk (which is seen as a form of gambling). In addition, Islamic law prohibits investing in businesses that are considered haram (such as businesses that sell alcohol or pork, or businesses that produce un-Islamic media). In the late 20th century, a number of Islamic banks were created, to cater to this particular banking market.

History of modern Islamic banking


The first modern experiment with Islamic banking was undertaken in Egypt under cover, without projecting an Islamic image, for fear of being seen as a manifestation of Islamic fundamentalism which was anathema to the political regime. The pioneering effort, led by Ahmad El Najjar, took the form of a savings bank based on profit-sharing in the Egyptian town of Mit Ghamr in 1963. This experiment lasted until 1967 (Ready 1981), by which time there were nine such banks in the country.[1]

Principles in Islamic Banking

Islamic banking has the same purpose as conventional banking except that it claims to operate in accordance with the rules of Shariah, known as Fiqh al-Muamalat (Islamic rules on transactions). The basic principle of Islamic banking is the sharing of profit and loss and the prohibition of riba´ (interest). Amongst the common Islamic concepts used in Islamic banking are profit sharing (Mudharabah), safekeeping (Wadiah), joint venture (Musharakah), cost plus (Murabahah) and leasing (Ijarah).

In an Islamic mortgage transaction, instead of loaning the buyer money to purchase the item, a bank might buy the item itself from the seller, and re-sell it to the buyer at a profit, while allowing the buyer to pay the bank in installments. However, the fact that it is profit cannot be made explicit and therefore there are no additional penalties for late payment. In order to protect itself against default, the bank asks for strict collateral. The goods or Land is registered to the name of the buyer from the start of the transaction. This arrangement is called Murabaha. Another approach is Ijara wa Iqtina, which is similar to real estate leasing. Islamic banks handle loans for vehicles in a similar way (selling the vehicle at a higher-than-market price to the debtor and then retaining ownership of the vehicle until the loan is paid).

There are several other approaches used in business deals. Islamic banks lend their money to companies by issuing floating rate interest loans. The floating rate of interest is pegged to the company's individual rate of return. Thus the bank's profit on the loan is equal to a certain percentage of the company's profits. Once the principal amount of the loan is repaid, the profit-sharing arrangement is concluded. This practice is called Musharaka. Further, Mudaraba is venture capital funding of an entrepreneur who provides labor while financing is provided by the bank, so that both profit and risk are shared. Such participatory arrangements between capital and labor reflect the Islamic view that the borrower must not bear all the risk/cost of a failure, as it is Allah who determines that failure, and intends that it fall on all those involved.

Last, Islamic banking is restricted to Islamically acceptable deals, which exclude those involving alcohol, pork, gambling, etc. Thus ethical investing is the only acceptable form of investment, and moral purchasing is encouraged.

Islamic banks have grown recently in the Muslim world but are a very small share of the global banking system. Micro-lending institutions such as Grameen Bank use conventional lending practices, and are popular in some Muslim nations, but are clearly not Islamic banking.

In theory, Islamic banking should be synonymous with full-reserve banking, with banks achieving a 100% reserve ratio [2]. However in practice this is rarely the case [3].


Shariah Advisory Council/Consultant

Islamic banks and banking institutions that offer Islamic banking products and services (IBS banks) are required to establish Shariah advisory committees/ consultants to advise them and to ensure that the operations and activities of the bank comply with Shariah principles.

In Malaysia, the National Syariah Advisory Council additionally set up at Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) advises BNM on the Shariah aspects of the operations of these institutions, as well as on their products and services. (See: Islamic banking in Malaysia)

Concepts In Islamic debt banking

Wadiah (Safekeeping)

In Wadiah, a bank is deemed as a keeper and trustee of funds. A person deposits funds in the bank and the bank guarantees refund of the entire amount of the deposit, or any part of the outstanding amount, when the depositor demands it. The depositor, at the bank's discretion, may be rewarded with a 'hibah' (gift) as a form of appreciation for the use of funds by the bank. In this case, the bank compensates depositors for the time-value of their money (i.e. pays interest) but refers to it as a "gift" because it does not officially guarantee payment of the gift.

Mudarabah (Profit Loss Sharing)

Mudarabah is an arrangement or agreement between a capital provider and an entrepreneur, whereby the entrepreneur can mobilise funds for its business activity. Any profits made will be shared between the capital provider and the entrepreneur according to an agreed ratio, where both parties share in profits and only capital provider bears all the losses if occurred. The profit-sharing continues until the loan is repaid. The bank is compensated for the time value of its money in the form of a floating interest rate that is pegged to the debtor's profits.

Musharakah (Joint Venture)

This concept is normally applied for business partnerships or joint ventures. The profits made are shared on an agreed ratio, while losses incurred will be divided based on the equity participation ratio. This concept is distinct from fixed-income investing (i.e. issuance of loans).

Murabahah (Cost Plus)

This concept refers to the sale of goods at a price, which includes a profit margin agreed to by both parties. The purchase and selling price, other costs and the profit margin must be clearly stated at the time of the sale agreement. The bank is compensated for the time value of its money in the form of the profit margin. This is a fixed-income loan for the purchase of a real asset (such as real estate or a vehicle), with a fixed rate of interest determined by the profit margin. The bank is not compensated for the time value of money outside of the contracted term (i.e. the bank cannot charge additional interest on late payments), however the asset remains in the ownership of the bank until the loan is paid in full.

This type of transaction is similar to "rent-to-own" arrangements for furniture or appliances that are very common in North American stores.

Bai' Bithaman Ajil (Deferred Payment Sale)

This concept refers to the sale of goods on a deferred payment basis at a price, which includes a profit margin agreed to by both parties. This is similar to Murabahah, except that the debtor makes only a single installment, on the maturity date of the loan. By the application of a discount rate, an islamic bank can collect the market rate of interest.

Wakalah (Agency)

This occurs when a person appoints a representative to undertake transactions on his/their behalf, similar to a power of attorney.

Qardul Hassan (Benevolent Loan)

This is a loan extended on a goodwill basis, and the debtor is only required to repay the amount borrowed. However, the debtor may, at his or her discretion, pay an extra amount beyond the principal amount of the loan (without promising it) as a token of appreciation to the creditor. In the case that the debtor does not pay an extra amount to the creditor, this transaction is a true interest-free loan. Some Muslims consider this to be the only type of loan that does not violate the prohibition on riba, since it is the one type of loan that truly does not compensate the creditor for the time value of money [4].

Ijarah Thumma Al Bai' (Hire Purchase)

These are variations on a theme of purchase and lease back transactions. There are two contracts involved in this concept. The first contract, Ijarah contract (leasing/renting) and the second contract, Bai' contract (purchase) are undertaken one after the other. For example, in a car financing facility, a customer enters into the first contract and leases the car from the owner (bank) at an agreed rental over a specific period. When the lease period expires, the second contract comes into effect, which enables the customer to purchase the car at an agreed price.

In effect, the bank sells the product to the debtor, at an above market-price profit margin, in return for agreeing to receive the payment over a period of time; the profit margin on the lease is equivalent to interest earned at a fixed rate of return.

This type of transaction is particularly reminiscent of contractum trinius, a complicated legal trick used by European bankers and merchants during the Middle Ages, which involved combining three individually legal contracts in order to produce a transaction of an interest bearing loan (something that the Church made illegal).

Bai' al-Inah (Sell and Buy Back Agreement)

The financier sells an asset to the customer on a deferred payment basis and then the asset is immediately repurchased by the financier for cash at a discount. The buying back agreement allows the bank to assume ownership over the asset in order to protect against default without explicitly charging interest in the event of late payments or insolvency.

Hibah (Gift)

This is a token given voluntarily by a debtor to a creditor in return for a loan. Hibah usually arises in practice when Islamic banks voluntarily pay their customers interest on savings account balances.

Takaful (Islamic Insurance)

In modern business, one of the ways to reduce the risk of loss due to misfortunes is through insurance. The basic idea behind insurance is the sharing of risk. The concept of insurance where resources are pooled to help the needy does not contradict Shariah.

Conventional insurance involves the elements of uncertainty (Al-gharar) in the contract of insurance, gambling (Al-maisir) as the consequences of the presence of uncertainty and interest (Al-riba) in the investment activities of the conventional insurance companies which contravene the rules of Shariah. It is generally accepted by Muslim Jurists that the operation of conventional insurance does not conform to the rules and requirements of Shariah.

Takaful is an alternative form of cover which a Muslim can avail himself against the risk of loss due to misfortunes. The concept of takaful is not a new concept, in fact it had been practised by the Muhajrin of Mecca and the Ansar of Medina following the hijra of the Prophet over 1400 years ago.

Takaful is based on the idea that what is uncertain with respect to an individual may cease to be uncertain with respect to a very large number of similar individuals. Insurance by combining the risks of many people enables each individual to enjoy the advantage provided by the law of large numbers.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Muslim Kaya, Islam Kuat

Assalamualaikum wbt.. :)

InsyaAllah ini adalah posting pertama saya di sini. Semoga sama-sama kita berusaha untuk mempertingkatkan ekonomi umat Islam. Artikel di bawah adalah tulisan saya sendiri. Anda boleh copy dan paste di blog atau website anda. Tetapi dengan syarat anda meletakkan nama saya beserta dengan alamat blog ini sebagai rujukan.

Sekian Wassalam.

Muslim Kaya, Islam Kuat

Oleh: Abu Muadz


Pada hari ini umat Islam ditindas oleh golongan-golongan yang membenci Islam. Ini kerana umat Islam tiada kekuatan. Apa yang dimaksudkan dengan kekuatan? Kekuatan akan kita perolehi sekiranya kita menguasai semua bidang. Katakan sahaja apa jenis bidang, sains, teknologi, perubatan, ketenteraan, politik, ekonomi, dan lain-lain, negara-negara Islam berada di tangga yang terbawah.


Apakah punca kepada semua ini? Imbas kembali sejarah, umat Islam pernah menguasai 2/3 dunia. Umat Islam mempelopori ilmu sains, matematik, perubatan, fizik dll. Siapa sahaja yang tidak kenal akan saintis-saintis Islam, Ibnu Sina (Avicenna), Ibnu Rusyd (Averroes), Al-Jabar (Algebra) dan lain-lain lagi yang mana ilmu mereka telah dicuri oleh orang-orang barat. Kita adalah umat yang hebat pada suatu masa dahulu, tetapi Allah telah menarik kembali semua kekuatan tersebut, kerana umat Islam telah berpaling dari mengamalkan Islam.


Ingatlah kata-kata Umar Al-Khattab r.a. “Kita adalah satu kaum yang dimuliakan oleh Allah dengan ISLAM.. Dan sekiranya kita mencari kemuliaan, dengan cara selain daripada cara yang telah Allah muliakan kita dengannya (yakni Islam), nescaya Allah akan MENGHINA kita.” Jelaslah Islam adalah jalan utama untuk kita kembali kuat. Maka adalah perlu untuk kita kembali mengamalkan Islam sebagai cara hidup kita.


Kekuatan Ekonomi
Dalam masa yang sama, kita juga perlu berusaha untuk meningkatkan kekuatan-kekuatan fizikal kita. Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh dalam usaha membuka Konstantinopel, disamping membina ketaqwaan dan kekuatan iman tentera-tenteranya, beliau juga telah mengumpulkan semua tenaga-tenaga pakar dan para profesional, untuk membina strategi menewaskan musuh.


Antara kekuatan fizikal yang perlu kita bina ialah kekuatan ekonomi. Umat Islam hari ini tidak memiliki kekuatan ekonomi. Ekonomi dunia hari ini, dikuasai oleh golongan kuffar. Mereka sangat kuat sehinggakan barangan-barangan mereka menjadi sesuatu yang sangat diperlukan dalam kehidupan seharian. Contohnya, Syarikat Perisian Intel, barang-barang bayi Johnson & Johnson, telefon bimbit Nokia dan lain-lain lagi, adalah milik Amerika yang membantu Yahudi. Apabila dikeluarkan fatwa yang menyuruh kita memboikot mereka, kita tidak mampu melakukannya kerana kita tidak ada alternatif.


Sekiranya umat Islam memiliki kekuatan ekonomi, kita akan mampu untuk menguasai ekonomi dunia dan dalam masa yang sama kita akan dapat membantu perjuangan Islam. Umat Islam yang dilanda bermacam-macam masalah pada hari ini hanya akan dapat diselamatkan dengan meningkatkan kembali keimanan serta kefahaman Islam mereka iaitu melalui usaha dakwah. Ia memerlukan kepada sumber kewangan yang kukuh. Maka jalan yang terbaik ialah dengan membina kekuatan ekonomi umat Islam.


Muslim Kaya
Apa yang saya maksudkan dengan “Muslim Kaya” ialah “muslim sejati yang memiliki kekayaan”. Mereka inilah yang akan membantu meningkatkan status ekonomi umat Islam dan dalam masa yang sama diredhai oleh Allah swt. Mungkin pada masa kini, ada juga orang-orang muslim yang kaya (walaupun tidak ramai), tetapi tidak semua mereka itu mengamalkan Islam dengan sepenuhnya.


Muslim Kaya yang kita mahukan ialah seperti mereka dari golongan sahabat-sahabat Nabi, antaranya Abu Bakar As-Siddiq, Umar Al-Khattab, Usman Bin Affan dan Abd. Rahman bin ‘Auf. Mereka ini adalah sahabat Nabi (diakui keimanan mereka), memiliki kekayaan dan menyumbangkan harta mereka untuk perjuangan Islam. Inilah dia yang saya maksudkan “Muslim Kaya” memberi natijah “Islam Kuat”.


Secara ringkasnya bolehlah saya simpulkan di sini, “Muslim Kaya” memiliki beberapa ciri-ciri berikut :-
1. menunaikan perintah Allah

- menunaikan solat, zakat dan rukun Islam yang lain.
- menjaga hak-hak ahli keluarga, jiran tetangga
- berlaku adil, dll.

2. menjauhi larangan-Nya.
- tidak makan rasuah
- tidak ambil riba
- tidak berjudi
- tidak menipu
- tidak minum arak, dll.

3. beramal soleh
- bersedekah dan amalan-amalan sunat yang lain.
- berdakwah
- menyumbangkan harta untuk perjuangan Islam, dll.

4. berusaha bersungguh-sungguh dalam apa jua bidang yang diceburi
- dalam kerja seharian
- dalam perniagaan yang dilakukan
- dalam strategi kewangan
- menambahkan ilmu yang boleh membantu kerjaya
- memperbaiki mutu kerja setiap hari
- tidak malas atau ponteng kerja