The Deconstruction of the World Financial Power System – Dr Habib Dahinden

Listen to the proceeds of The 11th International Fiqh Conference in Cape Town, and in particular to Dr Habib Dahinden’s utterly lucid exposition of exactly why we are experiencing the crisis that we are. Audio only at present. I believe that the transcripts are going up soon. But it is well worth listening to.
http://www.shaykhabdalqadir.com/content/conference2008.html

The Shanty Towns of South Africa

Being at present in South Africa, I have had the chance to visit one of the townships springing up around Cape Town and to pass the enormous areas of ‘informal settlements’ (doublespeak for shanty towns).

My companion on the journey told me that surprisingly the people who live in these corrugated iron dwellings in what we would consider atrociously difficult conditions are often remarkably clean and smartly dressed, something I had myself observed in Moroccan shanty towns. Indeed, it is not unusual for such people to be better dressed and cleaner than many UK citizens who would consider the shanty town dwellers utterly impoverished and bereft. But how can that be?

One thing that occurs to me is that these people although poor are not in debt; it is entirely unknown to them and they probably could not get a debt even if they wanted to, whereas most modern people are used to living in debt (interestingly, the idea of a negative number troubled Europeans for some centuries, even while they worked with it in their trade, for how can there be a number less than nothing?).

So although these people have almost nothing, they have more than us who have less than nothing, who have minus wealth, who live in debt. Who’s the beggar now?

Amirate and Caliphate

Those who insist that there can be no amirate but there has to be caliphate, and that thus the zakat cannot be collected until there is a caliph are like someone who being told to build a palace to live in refuses to build himself a hut to shelter in while he builds the palace and thus lives exposed to the elements, the wind, the rain and the snow. The fact of him building himself a hut or a small house does not mean that he has given up on the palace, but just that he understands that palaces are not built in a day.
I am not only talking about the Hizb at-Tahreer but also those rigidly doctrinaire Hanafi scholars who say that the zakat cannot be collected because there is no caliph and individuals must themselves give it to the categories who are allowed to receive it.
The truth is that they themselves ought not to celebrate salat al-jumu’ah because it has to be authorised by the caliph, but they do celebrate it anyway.

The Great Crash and its Causes

(Irene O’Donoghue’s Essay on the Period)

The Crash has almost inevitably become over the years the stuff of legend. Such a massive dislocation of ordinary existence must, perhaps unavoidably, grow in dimensions with the passage of time. Primitive peoples had the natural phenomena of lightning, wind and rain, of earthquake and pestilence which they clothed in the garments of the gods, to render them a little more familiar and amenable to propitiation. How much different are we from those ancient peoples, discounting our once-upon-a-time technology and the veneer of culture with which we ornament the dormant savage within? Certainly the events of those fateful years only served to underline the essentially flimsy nature of our vaunted civilisation, even if subsequent history might be interpreted to bear out the optimism of those who believe in man’s basic goodness.
From the unpublished novel Wings of the Butterfly
http://bogvaerker.dk/3.TheCrash.html

Predicting the Last Hour

Adh-Dhahabi said: “Texts have come to us affirming the annihilation of this abode and its inhabitants and the razing and scattering of the mountains – and these reports are by way of multiple chains of uninterrupted narration which are incontestable; and no one knows when this will happen except Allah, exalted is He, and whoever claims that he knows this by way of calculation or by some manner of estimation or by way of unveiling or the like, then he is astray and liable to lead others astray.”

Crisis! What Crisis?

Last week the Church of England rolled out its big guns, in the form of the Archbishops of York and Canterbury, and trained both barrels on the perceived culprits behind the current world financial crisis in a ‘good cop-bad cop’ duo where the ‘bad’ cop (Canterbury) is so good that the ‘good’ cop (York) is forced to be positively obsequious. Eloquent testimony to the mollifying powers of the English shires when even the plain speaking man from Uganda chose to address the gathered fraternity of international bankers in terms more suited to a Harrogate tea parlour than the fire and brimstone which their unbridled consumption of usury truly deserves. As he approaches the end of his speech one soon realises that the whole thing has been a genteel preamble to a request for a share in the proceeds of what his colleague (Canterbury) rightly describes in the Spectator as, “…that almost unimaginable wealth [which] has been generated by equally unimaginable levels of fiction, paper transactions with no concrete outcome beyond profit for traders.” Our bad cop should perhaps take note that these transactions rarely involve anything quite so tangible as paper!

Read the full article here

The Collapse of the Monetarist Society, Part Three, by Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi

Usury. The monetarist society is one based on usury. It is a society of usurers. That means, alas, all of us within the financial system now globally established. Recently, we were shown on TV a remote Amazon tribe previously unknown to the Brazilian government. When they saw the small ‘plane fly over them, they rushed into the jungle. They returned and fired arrows and spears at the ‘plane to drive it away. These were the last human beings on the planet, in what we name as Fitra, driving off the usurer sub-humans – us.

The foundation of modernist atheism lies not in a metaphysical construct which declares that man does not ‘need’ the idea of Divinity – it lies in the embracing of usury as no longer forbidden, but necessary. In a limited and finite world the modern men declared that increase in the exchange was not only permitted but theoretically without limits. Atheism has to precede usury.

The Divine Creator affirms His reality by the confirmation that since nothing is associated with Him, everything in existence, that is creation, is other-than-Him, thus is in-time, has form and limits. It is because of the limit nature of the universe, that an exchange system that admits of the theory that increase can function when what is at hand is limited, must be forbidden.

Now that, as I had only the week before demonstrated, the monetarist system has in effect collapsed, its theoretical foundations cannot sustain rational critique, cannot pretend that ‘business’ can continue using these instruments, institutions and protocols. However, the fundamental principle – usury – is not, apparently cannot, be confronted, let alone abolished.

It is for us to determine whether we can claw back the moral power to put an end to the monetarist (money ex nihilo) practice and re-establish a real-value exchange system in place of a fantasy numbers system.

In reporting the USA banking disaster one economist ruefully admitted, “Since the 700 billion may not be paid back under a couple of decades it must be understood that, given the interest due at the end of that time, the debt may be a non-number, since we will have no digital command over the calculation, no name for such a vast number.”

To read the full article visit:

http://www.shaykhabdalqadir.com/content/articles/Art085_30092008.html

Georgia? Israel? What Territorial Integrity? by Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi

Why is Georgia so important? Let us follow the trail to its conclusion. When the self-styled ‘Commander-in-Chief’ of the USA denounced the Russian Rescue operation in Georgia he stammered out that breaching Georgia’s territorial integrity was against ‘International Law’, and rabbited on about the rights of the sovereign State. Of course, this, coming from the head of an army which under the banner of “Shock and Awe” had invaded first, Iraq, and then Afghanistan, simply caused international laughter which covered over the intended indignation. However, this charge in turn raises profound issues of law and justice which the brilliant Russian Foreign Minister immediately saw, thus opening up a wider and deeper issue. He immediately drew comparison with Kosovo. The reaction of the media was to see this as the expected Pan-Slavism out of Russia. His powerful argument went much furth! er. It was not to argue that Serbs had a claim, an ancient claim, to the romantic site of their defeat by the Ottoman army. His case was that Kosovo had been conquered by a mercenary international military entity, one which was above all national laws. Ossetia-Abkhazia had been taken by a national military entity, the Russian Federation.

What was this legal ‘international’ system that could deal justly with both these state-creating interventions? The claim of peoples wanting self-government made a long list. Scotland and a territorially integral Ireland had an ancient historical claim. So did the Navaho, and a broken treaty in modern times. Kashmir. Basque peoples. Corsica (recently championed by the now silent Hungarian president of France). Malaysia can claim Singapore. The Flemish are poised to carve Brussels out of Belgium at the heart of the now geographically ludicrous European Union.

The reality is that statehood is a product of military power. Never a product of ideology. The monarchy of Nepal was cleverly annexed by China under the guise of a conflict between monarchy and republic – but it is, in turn, an anomaly.

Russia restored freedom to Ossetia and Abkhazia by military power. Under the guise of ideology Nato had taken over Ukraine and Georgia. It had moved on Lebanon using the same ‘soft’ technique as in the Caucasus, conquest presented as political evolution from dictatorship to political democracy. The irony being that at the moment these countries imagined they were gaining national independence as sovereign states, they had been transformed into vassals of the Samurai alliance of a non-national army.

Today, the United States of America is in ruins, in economic freefall from its last national adventures, with its so-called democratic system a disaster of its own, and its Presidency a choice between incompetents.

To read the full article, visit http://www.shaykhabdalqadir.com/content

The Collapse of the Monetarist Society: Part Two

The Collapse of the Monetarist Society

Part Two

by Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi

The eroding of the coastlines is one of the effects of our analysed miasma. It is one of the indications of how the present world sickness is itself a defiance of the Divine Creator, may He be exalted, and the natural laws on which He has set up existence.

Certainly the present world system has given a smaller and smaller minority a life which has “seemed long and good to them.” Yet men today live inside a distorting psychosis.

The psychosis of numbers-wealth. This is the state of the one who thinks modern money exists. So, firstly, the need to grasp the nature of money, the non-existent nature of ‘money’ itself. Let us examine the structuration of currency.

The widow’s mite. The cent and the penny. Thus it begins with the poor. The decimal foundation of paper money. From 100 coins we reach a One-Something paper note. From there the ‘notes’ soon spiral from hundreds to thousands. As the system goes into action it begins to scoop up the world’s intrinsic value commodities, land and minerals. In order to acquire property and goods to the maximum, where once a hundred were needed, it then becomes a thousand. In our own lifetime a rich man was called a millionaire. Now he is a billionaire. National debts which were calculated in billions are now counted in trillions. The joked-of zillions are fast becoming the new reality.

This proliferation of money has three stages. A ‘local’ or national currency of paper-notes. They in turn are graded into tradable and non-tradable. The tradable can be used in the ‘world-market’ while the latter are blocked from any but local usage and exchange. This is the first stage. A new nation, like Croatia, is ‘granted’ its own currency.

The second stage is the arena in which the acquired wealth gained by the ‘money’ is so successful that the small base of a currency, merely national, is seen as hindering wealth expansion. Trading zones are united, so that what once were nations become trading-blocks with one new currency covering that of the new grouping. The model was the European Community which demanded the Euro. The similar models can be observed in South-East Asia and South America. Logic insists that the new syncretic “communities” merge finally into “the International Community”, already politically prepared for it, and named in media on a daily basis so that people believe it too exists.

To read the full article visit: http://www.shaykhabdalqadir.com/content

The Noble Qur’an

THE NOBLE QUR’AN

A New Rendering of its Meaning in English
by Hajj Abdalhaqq and Aisha Bewley

(1999 Madinah Press, pp. 664. Hardback. ISBN 1-874216-36-3)

At last, here is a translation into English of the Qur’an which is easy to read and which gives easy access to the meanings of the original Arabic without compromising or obscuring them in any way. In short, it is a new rendering of its meaning which is not only trustworthy but also a pleasure to read. This is not to belittle or denigrate the classical works of Mohammed Pickthall or Yusuf Ali, but it is clear to anyone remotely conversant with the English language that these earlier translators’ English usage and vocabulary is now outdated and not always intelligible, belonging as it does more to the last century than to the one which lies ahead. Most of those English speaking people who have embraced Islam during the last 25 years, as well as many English speaking Muslims whose mother tongue is not English, will confirm that it is often necessary to ‘translate’ this outmoded English into a more modern equivalent, perhaps with the help of a Qur’anic Arabic/English dictionary such as Penrice, before the meaning appears to be apparent – and often in this process mistakes and misinterpretations are easily made by those whose grasp of Arabic is limited.

Furthermore, those more recent ‘translations’ which have in effect been attempts to modernise the Pickthall and Yusuf Ali translations have on the whole lacked penetration and depth, especially when prepared by authors lacking either a complete education or a proper grasp of English or both. There is of course the Arberry translation, but this while remaining technically faithful to the Arabic, and while succeeding in conveying at least something of the poetical splendour of the original Arabic, does not always convey the actual meaning, simply because the author was not a practising Muslim and therefore did not have experiential access to the subject matter itself. Anyone who has read a literal translation of an instruction manual from, for example Japanese into English, made by someone without a working knowledge of the appliance for which the manual has been written, knows how misleading and often nonsensical and amusing such ‘translations’ can be, even when most of the important words have been translated more or less accurately.

As regards other contemporary translators from Arabic into English, scholars who can translate both accurately and clearly – without being either too profuse and shallow or too dry and academic – are not plentiful. Fortunately Hajj Abdalhaqq and Aisha Bewley are not only scholars but also they have been practising Muslims and prolific translators for the last 30 years. How different their work is to, for example, De Sale’s awful ‘translation’ which was made principally from a deformed Latin translation of the Arabic for the Pope with the express intention of distorting the Qur’an’s meaning so as to ridicule Islam and strengthen what remained of Christendom.

In marked contrast, Hajj Abdalhaqq and Aisha Bewley have utilised their great expertise in translating from Arabic into English, grounded firmly in their knowledge of the deen of Islam and their love for the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and combined with their deep sincerity towards and fear of Allah. In addition, they have also been guided, as they humbly acknowledge in their Preface, by what has been transmitted as regards the meanings of the Qur’an by “the great mufassirun of the past who spent so much time and energy in unearthing, preserving and passing on the meaning of Allah’s Book and in protecting it from unacceptable interpretation and deviation.” Thus although it may not be immediately apparent to the reader, many of the particular meanings which appear in their translation are not a matter of personal preference or interpretation, but rather are based on what has been directly transmitted by the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions, may the blessings and peace of Allah be on them.

It is clear, from a socio-cultural perspective that what especially hampered the earlier translations was the use of a linguistic mode and tradition which was essentially European Christian, and which therefore was characterised by a variety of concepts which had been repeatedly projected out onto existence by Christian thinkers in the past, and which had been gradually absorbed into the general schema or view of existence of European Christian society during the course of centuries – and which in fact often had very little in common with the actual message of the Qur’an, which is so immediate and straightforward once the traditional misconceptions have been jettisoned and the mind cleared and the heart opened.

It is this freedom from inappropriate terminology and vocabulary which especially characterises Hajj Abdalhaqq and Aisha Bewley’s translation. Indeed as they point out in their helpful Preface, several key terms which appear again and again throughout the Qur’an have not been translated and remain in the text in a transliterated Arabic phonetic form, because: “English speaking Muslims have assimilated into the language various Arabic words which are either untranslatable or words whose English equivalents have become so imbued with a meaning other than that intended by the original Arabic that to use them would be to mislead rather than give the correct significance.” The result is a refreshing mode of expression which rises above traditional misconception on the one hand, and which is untainted by modern doublethink and newspeak on the other. Wherever Arabic terminology is employed in the text, a small Glossary at the end provides concise definitions. It will be interesting to see how long it is before these words begin to appear in English dictionaries.

The two translators also draw attention in their Preface to the fact that their main objective in presenting this new rendering into English was: “to allow the meaning of the original, as far as possible, to come straight through with as little linguistic interface as possible so that the English used does not get in the way of the direct transmission of the meaning.” In this they have succeeded admirably and with humility, for as they themselves point out, “we can only admit along with all our predecessors that the result falls far short of being anything like a complete exposition of the meanings of the Qur’an. Nevertheless, we hope that this rendering will give people of this time, and in particular English speaking Muslims, a more direct access to the meaning of the Book of Allah and encourage them to go further and discover from the original Arabic the inexhaustible fund of light and wisdom it contains.”

To conclude, this is the translation into English of that Book in which there is no doubt for which many of us have been waiting. It is fresh and refreshing. I cannot speak as highly of it as it deserves. I can only recommend that you read it and treasure it and reflect on it and apply it and use it to gain access to the original Arabic so that you can recite the Qur’an as it was revealed with understanding and not like a parrot. This masterpiece is without doubt the definitive translation into English of the Qur’an for this present age and insh’Allah it will help bring the Qur’an to life for generations of English speaking Muslims to come, thereby emphasising through firsthand direct experience the following words of the final Messenger to whom it was revealed, Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“‘Allah sent down this Qur’an to command and prevent, and as a sunna to be followed and a parable. It contains your history, in-formation about what came before you, news about what will come after you and correct judgement between you. Repetition does not wear it out and its wonders do not end. It is the Truth. It is not a jest. Whoever recites it speaks the truth. Whoever judges by it is just. Whoever argues by it wins. Whoever divides by it is equitable. Whoever acts by it is rewarded. Whoever clings to it is guided to a straight path. Allah will misguide whoever seeks guidance from other than it. Allah will destroy whoever judges by other than it. It is the Wise Remembrance, the Clear Light, the Straight Path, the Firm Rope of Allah and the Useful Healing. It is a protection for the one who clings to it and a rescue for the one who follows it. It is not crooked and so puts things straight. It does not deviate so as to be blamed. Its wonders do not cease. It does not wear out with much repetition.” (At-Tirmidhi).

Ahmad Thomson

(Ahmad Thomson is a practising barrister and author, whose more recent works include The Islamic Will, The Difficult Journey, The Way Back, Making History and the revised editions of Jesus, Prophet of Islam, Blood on the Cross (in two parts: For Christ’s Sake and Islam in Andalus), and Dajjal  the AntiChrist.)