In one of his presidential election speeches in 2008 President Barack Obama chose empathy as one of his major focus, stating that, “There’s a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit. But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit – our ability to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes,…
Politics as a science is broadly define as the art of power struggle. Political scientist, Harold Lasswell, defines politics as concerning the determination by official governmental decision-making and action of who gets what, when and how in a political society. Thus, the essence of politics surrounds on the elements of power and the authoritative nature…
In one of his sayings, the Prophet asserted that the entitlement to the return on an asset relates to the risks of ownership i.e. “al-kharaj bi al-dhaman.” Based on this hadith, Muslim jurists developed a legal maxim “al-ghurm bi al-ghunm” or gain is justified with risk. Both imply that the entitlement to a return is…
The Deputy Prime Minister’s recent statement that the new School-Based Assessment (SBA) or PBS (Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah) is to be reviewed came as quite a surprise. The reason given is basically technical, namely the problem of system database application and server issues following complaints from teachers that the online system for them to key in…
Introduction There are some in our Malay Muslims community still perceive that entrepreneurship is a gift and in-born talents that are rightly belong to other races. This old perception warrants to be changed. One must remember that race has nothing to do with entrepreneurship. One must realise that our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his companions (may Allah…
Knowledge and morality are interconnected. What one thinks of morality is determined by one’s idea of knowledge, even though one might not be aware of it. A moral relativist does not believe in a fixed moral code determining what one ought to do and what ought not to do. Hence, as far as he is…
The Prophet Muhammad once said, “A person is not written as one of those who submit to God’s will and obey His law (or muslims) until people are safe from [the evil of] his hand and tongue. A person will not obtain the rank of those who have faith in God (or mu’mins) until his neighbours…
Self-deception and forgetfulness, according to Imam al-Ghazali (d. 1111), are the cause of destruction and misery in the hereafer. Self-deception is a ‘disease’ of the heart that inflicts almost everybody, even the scholars and religious people are not spared from it. We are reminded of its danger by the Qur’an: “O mankind! Keep your duty…
Today, 12 Rabi’ul awwal (the third month of the Islamic calendar), majority Muslims celebrate ‘mawlidur rasul‘, a kind of a religious festival commemorating the birth of Muhammad (s.a.w.), the Prophet of Islam. Simply put, ‘mawlid‘ means ‘birthday’ and ‘al-rasul‘ or ‘al-nabi’ means ‘prophet’ or ‘mesengger’. Muhammad b. Abdullah was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in August…
Recently a religious edict was issued in one of the peninsular states prohibiting the use of the ketum leaves and its products. The ketum plant Mitragyna speciosa grow in the form of 12-20 feet tall trees, with large dark green leaves. In our part of the world the ketum is native to places like Northern…
