IN A speech at the United Nations in September, our Prime Minister made a very explicit and plain statement that if governments could succeed in instituting a culture of tolerance and moderation among people at the domestic level, it would become easy for nations to cooperate in promoting tolerance and moderation among nationalities and cultures…
IT HAS almost been more than four years since this writer presented a paper on muqarada sukuk at an Islamic finance conference. The circumstances at that time were different from the present day where the term sukuk made its debut on the capital market. Sukuk literally means “pieces of paper” or “document that acknowledges something.” In a commercial sense it…
INTOLERANCE towards faith is partly to blame for the injustices, conflicts, suppression, terrorism and hegemony prevalent in the world. The separation of Church from State after the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire and Renaissance in Europe formed the basis of the secular-republican-democrat philosophies in the West, while Eastern Europe opted for secular-communist-socialist ideals. Colonisation,…
THE discourse on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) became the centre of international debate recently. Iran and North Korea, accused of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, have become the subjects of serious debate in the West to ensure that these two countries discontinue their programme. The invasion of Iraq by the US-led coalition has failed…
HAS the Islam Hadhari approach made Muslims in Malaysia too obtrusive? Indeed, these are the few cynical and unfounded accusations made by those who negatively interpret the Islam Hadhari approach and its applicability in our society. The Western secularist and imperial philosophies have, for centuries, altered the geopolitics, economics and societal lifestyles of peoples all…
FROM an Islamic perspective, wakaf or endowment as an institution, begins with a noble intention to do good deeds for the benefit of oneself and others. On the one hand, wakaf is a dedication made by one person for the benefit of others, with the intention that the dedicator be entitled to a continuous reward from Allah the Creator…
The Muslims today are suffering from a crisis of identity. Ignorance and disunity persist. The Prime Minister has said, that by virtue of the fact that Islam makes it compulsory for Muslims to embrace knowledge, the Malay society must be a society that embraces knowledge. But how are the Malays supposed to embrace knowledge if…
Two separate bombs which blew up at a marketplace in the lakeside town of Tentena, Central Sulawesi in Indonesia on May 28 took centrestage yet again in the international media. The twin bombings killed at least 20 people and left more than 50 others injured. This is not the first time that Sulawesi or Celebes…
The issue on online pornography once again took centre stage when former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad expressed his worries on the disturbing trend of easy access to pornography over the Internet. This is not something that is new, and is a major cause of concern as the Internet with its borderless access is…
THE world today is moving fast. Many things pass us by these days in the blink of an eye. Things that we thought could not be done are actually being done nowadays. Today, with only a click, a businessman can promote his products and services worldwide. He can also attend meetings with his counterparts without…
