Category: Agama

How A Chance Meeting While Queuing For Beer Set Penniless Minah Rocker On The Path To Allah

Last Saturday night, I was at 7-11 buying mineral water while i was having dinner with my sisters. There was this young Malay girl queuing in front of me. She was really a rocker with her short torn jeans. When it was her turn, she didnt realize she did not have enough cash to pay for her cigarette and liquour. Her hp battery was flat. She lost her ATM card. The cashier was really making lots of noise. Its almost turning into an ugly scene. So I step up to pay for the amount she needed. She was so shocked to hear I am willing to pay. She turned to me saying “Abg ni benda haram saya beli. I replied: I give you the money because you need the money. Whatever you do with the money, is between you and Allah, none of my business. She was taken back. She remained in silence for a while. I told the cashier to calm down. I know the queue is getting longer but just be nice and patient with her. I said she is going through tough times right now. All of us go through such moments in our life. Just be good to others.

Out of a sudden, she changed her mind. She said I am gonna only buy cigarette. I dont want the liquor. I was like ok. I thought she left for good or maybe she was embarrassed by what happened she did not want to buy the liquor. When I exit the store, she was outside waiting for me. She was smoking gently, her eyes was like about to shed some tears. I smiled and said to her “Are you ok? You need help? You need money? You are in trouble? I continue : I gotta go back to the food place where my wife and sisters are waiting. She was just walking beside me saying “You know what Abg, maybe sometimes, we are looking for miracles but Allah is kind to give us an ease when we meet some strangers . I replied to her, that is how Islam started “As strangers”. It grew because the Prophet sallahu alaihi wa sallam build the community for everyone to know each other in loving and taking care of each other.

As we reach the gate of masjid sultan, she raise her hands in saying “Allah always listen to our prayers but it is our expectation is making us disappointed with ourselves. O Allah today I learn you are so kind, generous, etc I am so poor yet YOU enriched with YOUR guidance and hope in my soul.

This morning, she msg me saying “The first time I did solat tawbah as how you had taught me, free my mind, my heart and my life, I was release from the prison of the self. it was really out of this world. Fajr was just another day when the sun rise, we said Alhamdulilah, Allah is there to take care of us.

Source: Khalid Ajmain

*Editor’s Note: Picture, from Says.com, is strictly for illustration purposes.

April 18, 2017

PhD Candidate Nida Khan: Coding The Future Of Islamic Finance

[Credit: Salaam Gateway ]

Early this month we reported a new fintech project had kicked off to build an open marketplace for Islamic and ethical finance, and built on the blockchain protocol. One of the first outputs from the programme is due this year and will involve tracking charity and zakat donations. The platform is being built by University of Luxembourg PhD candidate Nida Khan, who is an Islamic finance expert and developer of two Islamic finance apps.

Salaam Gateway speaks to Khan about three key issues:

1) The fintech scope and potential for Islamic finance to “break” traditional banking, capital market, takaful and social finance

2) Education and the Islamic Economy, and

3) Muslim women in fintech

Q: What do you hope to happen with the platform you’re developing?

Nida Khan: The most important output would be the implementation of Shariah in a transparent manner to increase the access of Islamic financial services to more consumers and untapped markets in a cost-effective manner.

Secondly, I envisage a greater revenue generation for the firms involved in this research project on account of incorporation of data analytics to aid them in their business actions and decisions.

An open marketplace is in the pipeline, where the research project is open to be joined by other Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) interested in similar deliverables. As such the platform has a very big possibility of being owned by a group of IFIs that collaborate with the existing partners and would be for all those consumers, who are interested in investing in profit sharing investment accounts.

Besides, the platform also aims to optimize the zakat collection and distribution process and the transparency provided by blockchain would prove to be invaluable to the Muslim consumers to track the money from its inception till the end. The platform on account of its being technologically in sync with times and catering to the inherent needs of the consumers would lead to a global acceptance by millennials.

Q: How big is the gulf between Islamic banking and finance and Islamic fintech or fintech that serves Islamic banking and finance? Which sector has the steeper learning curve?

Nida Khan: The gap is huge and more than for the conventional sector. Islamic banking and finance is a nascent industry and till now is trying to gain a strong foothold in the market competing with the already established conventional finance. The challenge of incorporating fintech amidst this is more than that faced by the conventional industry. Fintech or financial technology needs a thorough understanding of both finance and technology and thus definitely has a steeper learning curve.

Q: Do you think fintech can break Islamic banking and finance to achieve the maqasid, or goals of Shariah?

Nida Khan: Fintech can definitely support Islamic banking and finance to achieve the goals of Shariah by bringing in transparency to the business transactions and facilitating justice by vesting the power in the hands of the consumers in the market.

I would not say that we can do away completely with Islamic banks in the coming years. At least that’s not how I see it. I see Islamic banks as the foundation on which fintech would rest to deliver products and services to the market building upon and enhancing the already established trust in the market. I see a collaboration between Islamic banks, start-ups and MSMEs to harness the full potential of new technologies.

Q: Do you see it in the same way for other sectors as well?

Nida Khan: Definitely, yes. Consider the case of capital markets for example. Securities that are based on payments and rights, which are executed according to pre-defined rules can be coded as a smart contract in capital markets.

Q: How about takaful? Is takaful the next big thing in Islamic fintech?

Nida Khan: Takaful is a very good sector for incorporation of smart contracts as it involves peer-to-peer insurance with policyholders supporting each other in times of crisis managed by a takaful operator. The same can be accomplished by having a smart contract manage a pool of policyholders in a distributed blockchain comprising of ‘permissioned’ ledgers, which also foretell greater adherence to regulations.

Automated underwriting and claims processing through smart contracts will speed up the whole process. Fraudulent claims can be detected more easily and power would go in the hands of the policyholders as opposed to the takaful operator.

Takaful could be the next big thing in Islamic fintech if both smart contracts replicated and executed on a blockchain, and Internet of Things (IoT) are used together with data from IoT devices serving as a subset of the input data for the execution of the computer coded smart contract.

Q: Is there any fintech scope for Islamic social finance?

Nida Khan: There is definitely scope for Islamic social finance. As I said before, smart contracts are executed based on certain conditions and these conditions can be anything coded by the programmer. Islamic finance has the Shariah law as its base so the applications can be in nearly all sectors with customized codes and support of other emerging technologies.

Waqf is also a very good model for using the output of my current research as a template for further modification and customization as per need. Waqf ahli, for example, can easily be coded in a smart contract by the founder at the time of creation of the waqf with due consideration to inheritance law if needed. The founder of any waqf, in general can get a smart contract programmed such that it leaves no scope of giving anybody access to modify the computer code later on.

This smart contract would become irrevocable once deployed on the distributed ledger preventing fraud, tampering or distribution of benefits from the waqf fund to beneficiaries other than the designated in the smart contract.

The smart contract can be coded to be effective after a certain event or time or date as the case may be. The benefits can be traced leaving no scope for any ambiguity as to their distribution.

EDUCATION AND THE ISLAMIC ECONOMY

Q: What are your qualifications and how did they lead you to this PhD programme to develop a fintech platform for ethical and Islamic finance?

Nida Khan: I have a Master Diploma in Islamic Finance from AIMS, UK and a Master’s degree in Information and Computer Sciences from the University of Luxembourg. I also have a Bachelors in Computer Science and Engineering (Honors) from Uttar Pradesh Technical University, India.

While doing an online course from Harvard University through edX I developed the world’s first Islamic finance education iOS app as a final project for the course on computer science. Last year I developed the first-of-its-kind Islamic finance android app.

I am a certified Islamic Finance Expert, a certified takaful professional and hold a certificate in Islamic finance from AUSCIF, Australia. I am also in my fifth year of a long-term study programme from ‘Prophetic Guidance’, UK.

Q: As the holder of many academic and professional qualifications, how have all of your achievements also been grounded in “Islamic sciences” as opposed to the secular?

Nida Khan: My focus has always been on Quran and Sunnah as far as Islam is concerned. My foray into Islamic finance was because of the push given by my husband who saw my existing Islamic knowledge as a base for my input to the Islamic economy and then I started the Master Diploma course in Islamic finance.

Q: How do you reconcile “religious Islam” and the prevalent secular, modern higher education system to drive the Islamic Economy?

Nida Khan: This is a very pertinent question and something many are struggling with in the present times. Islam is a very progressive religion. Islam does not stop one from assimilating knowledge and advancing technologically.

The prohibitions that exist in Islam are for the betterment of the individual himself and steer the person towards a healthy, balanced and a stress free life. The majority of the people do not read the authentic religious scriptures from which knowledge should be derived and rely on the speakers of Islam believing blindly their interpretation of the religion. The need for an inquiry into the background of what is said is not present and hence the resulting disputes so prevalent nowadays in our community.

MUSLIM WOMEN IN FINTECH

Q: There has been a buzz in the Islamic fintech space in the last couple of years, led by a handful of people in different countries, e.g. Umar Munshi and Ethis, Raafi Hossain and Finocracy, Chris Blauvelt and LaunchGood. They have even set up the Islamic Fintech Alliance. Is it a problem that there’s a dearth of women in Islamic fintech?

Nida Khan: It is definitely a problem because when we leave out women from a certain economic activity we are deprived of the expertise and inputs from one of the biggest emerging markets. Women are not just contributors to the global economy through their business initiatives but they also form the pillars of the family on which the future generation thrives.

If there is more inclusion of women in diverse sectors then apart from the women think tanks, one would see more future innovators and leaders in that sector through the education imparted by those women to their children. Having a woman contributing to the economy implies you are training an entire generation to be raised through her, which in terms of investment has far-reaching economic benefits.

Q: What have held back Muslim women in fintech and what can be done to lower or even break down these barriers?

Nida Khan: The problem is not specific to Muslim women. We have a glaring lack of women in general in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) with figures of women PhDs in Mathematics and Computer Science being 28% and 24%, respectively.

This global problem coupled with the fact that Muslim women suffer from a lack of proportional representation in businesses, employment and research is the major reason for the dearth you see in fintech. The primary facet that needs focus is a change in the mindset of both the genders towards the roles traditionally assigned to them.

Rilek1Corner

Source: https://www.salaamgateway.com

April 17, 2017

Ahmad Osman – Refuting Claims Mimbar At Yusof Ishak Mosque Is Phallic Symbol

Firstly, Alhamdulillah for the 71st mosque of Singapore. All praises to Allah for allowing us with more areas to pray, insyaAllah we are one step closer to reaching the huge number of mosques we once had before, the state had them demolished or discontinued.

There have been quite a controversy circulating online regarding the mimbar (pulpit of the mosque where the imam delivers his sermons) of the newly opened Yusof Ishak Mosque. There were claims that the design of the mimbar was not pleasing to the eyes, as it was akin to a type of architecture known as “phallic architecture” and to a certain extent, resembled the lingam, a representation of the Hindu god Shiva, commonly found in Hindu temples.

With my very limited knowledge as a mere student of architecture, I seek permission to humbly reason out my thoughts on this issue. I would have to give the author, Isa Kamari due credit and benefit of the doubt, for he obviously have been in this field longer than I have. The author too have been to said mosque, while I can only rely on photos available online at the time of writing.

However, I feel that this has been blown entirely out of proportion. I would vehemently reject any opinions that this resembled a phallic symbolization or architecture, simply due to the nature of the building. While phallic architecture does exist and have been repeated time and time again as a trademark of certain architects and design styles, no one in the right mind would do that to a religious building.

Furthermore, it has already been clarified that the design of the mosque was a blend of “traditional mosque characteristics with Nusantara heritage.” (That, in and of itself, requires further clarification but I guess we can all agree that phallic would not be a word to describe this mosque or any parts of its design).

I get the author when he referenced the mimbar to what he terms as “maha linggam” which, from my very limited knowledge once again, I reference to an object called lingam, or also known as Shiva lingam. Again, I have to disagree with the author on two points. Firstly, I agree that the front elevation of the mimbar from a very low angle does resemble a shaft. However, when viewed from all other angles, the same can’t be said. The design, which many have commented to be a futuristic one, is in my opinion a hybrid of the modern and the vernacular, with carvings and lights etched on a timber pulpit which seems to be suspended above ground. Nowhere did my friends and me found any resemblance to the male genetilia whatsoever, it didn’t even cross our minds. Many things in this world resembles a shaft, not all of them can be correlated with a penis.

Secondly, to say that the lingam is phallic in nature and that the Hindus worship these phallic symbols is totally out of line. Yes, there have been debates by western scholars on the nature of the lingam, yes there are those who claimed that the phallic-based designs were a later addition, but ask any Hindu and he/she would be outraged at such claims. One could also simply Google how it looks like, and you’ll realise that the lingam isn’t phallic and this mimbar does not even look like a lingam.

I am very upset at the snide remarks. Lest we forget, there are mosques in the Malay Nusantara which have Hindu motifs on them, such as the naga guarding the elixir of life, the meru roof and so on, and at the same time, there are mosques which have appropriated the spaces of what used to be Hindu temples. Do these mosques lose their Islamic-ness whatsoever? No, because all these are merely symbols which doesn’t affect the function of the mosque, all the more, those elements reaffirm ourselves as to our religion.

Now let me reiterate, it is my modest opinion that the mimbar isn’t phallic, isn’t inspired from the lingam, and the lingam isn’t phallic. In addition to that, it’s upsetting to see the introduction of another religion which from my point of view only seeks to stoke the flames in the hearts of the ignorant. There’s also an element called power of suggestion, for when I showed the same photo to both Muslims and non-Muslims who are not aware of the controversy, none of them had any phallic like ideas in their heads. But once someone forces himself to see it and spread the word, naturally it would be hard for people to unsee.

My point being, it is evidently clear to us that this is simply making a mountain out of a molehill, or rather nothing at all. Purify our hearts and niat such that Allah rid our minds of such thoughts from what we see through our eyes. There are a lot of other problems plaguing the Malay and Muslim community which needs more attention, rather than such controversies which does not benefit anyone. At the end of the day, these are just my opinions as a Muslim architecture undergraduate. Indeed, Allah knows best.

Wallahualam

Source: Ahmad Bin Osman

April 15, 2017
Yusof Ishak Mosque Is Key For Muslim Community

The Yusof Ishak Mosque is a key institution for the Muslim community and also the wider Singapore family, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim said yesterday at the opening ceremony of the new mosque named after Singapore’s first president.

Through its interactions with the community, the mosque will play an important part in promoting the ethos of multiculturalism and multiracialism, he added, noting that these were values Mr Yusof embodied as head of state.

Dr Yaacob was speaking to reporters yesterday after Mr Yusof’s widow, Puan Noor Aishah, 84, opened the mosque in a ceremony witnessed by 100 guests, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Mr Yusof’s three children, Madam Orchid Kamariah, 68; Dr Imran Yusof, 67; and Datin Zuriana Yusof, 64, and other family members and friends were also present.

Mr Yusof served as Yang di-Pertuan Negara (head of state) after Singapore gained self-government in 1959, and as presideont in 1965. He died in office in 1970.

Yesterday was the first time the mosque – located in Woodlands and built at a cost of $18 million – opened its doors to worshippers after the prayer hall was consecrated by Mufti Mohamed Fatris Bakaram, Singapore’s highest Islamic authority. More than 5,000 people turned up for the prayer session.

Source: www.tnp.sg

April 15, 2017
Masjid Yusof Ishak Dibuka Rasmi Hari Ini Oleh Isteri Allahyarham Presiden Yusof Ishak

Masjid Yusof Ishak akan menempatkan pejabat pertama Yayasan Rahmatan Lil Alamin (RLAF).

Ia bagi menghidupkan semangat dan sifat Presiden pertama Singapura Encik Yusof Ishak yang dikenali sebagai berjiwa rakyat.

Masjid tersebut dibuka rasmi esok (14 Apr) oleh isteri Allahyarham, Puan Noor Aishah.

AJAK PENGUNJUNG LAYARI SUASANA RUMAH MELAYU

Menjelang acara bersejarah itu, BERITAMediacorp diberi kebenaran secara eksklusif untuk merakamkan ruang dalamannya yang hampir siap sepenuhnya dan membawakan laporan berikut.

Tersergam indah di tengah-tengah tanah lapang dan berkonsepkan nusantara, Masjid Yusof Ishak terletak di Woodlands Avenue 17.

Masjid ke-71 itu mengajak para pengunjung seakan melayari suasana di sebuah rumah orang Melayu, digabungkan dengan suntikan ciri moden.

“Keindahan seni bina masjid Yusof Ishak ini terletak pada keindahan seni bina bangunan rumah Melayu yang terdapat di nusantara, di mana kita dapati rumah-rumah Melayu ini, penuh dengan hiasan-hiasan yang berunsurkan keislaman dan kemelayuan. Di sekitar masjid ini sahaja, terdapat beberapa bentuk hiasan yang berbeza,” Pengerusi Masjid Yusof Ishak, Muhd Ayub Johari memberitahu BERITAMediacorp.

KONSEP TAMPILKAN KEPERIBADIAN PRESIDEN PERTAMA S’PURA

Menurut Encik Ayub lagi, konsep nusantara dipilih bagi menampilkan keperibadian Presiden pertama Singapura Encik Yusof Ishak yang ketika menjadi Presiden amat mengambil berat terhadap masyarakat Melayu Singapura.

Bagi menghidupkan lagi semangat dan perwatakan beliau, mimbar masjid diukir dengan corak orkid, bunga yang menjadi kegemarannya juga isteri Puan Noor Aishah.

Terdapat juga sebuah taman orkid khas di belakang masjid bagi menyerlahkan lagi keperibadian pasangan tersebut di masjid ini.

Jika dilihat sekeliling masjid itu, banyak sekali hijau-hijauan. Yang menariknya, isteri Presiden Yusof Ishak, Puan Noor Aishah sudahpun menyumbangkan sekurang-kurangnya lima jenis tumbuh-tumbuhan dari taman di rumahnya. Ia sudahpun ditanam di sekeliling kawasan masjid itu.

Setinggi lima tingkat, masjid itu mampu menampung 4,500 jemaah pada satu-satu masa.

Ini sekaligus dapat mengurangkan kesesakan sewaktu solat Jumaat di masjid An-Nur, yakni satu lagi masjid di Woodlands.

Selain kemudahan-kemudahan asas yang menerapkan pelbagai prasarana untuk setiap golongan masyarakat, termasuk golongan kurang upaya, pejabat RLAF di masjid itu juga bagi memperingati semangat dan sifat Encik Yusof Ishak yang sewaktu hayatnya, komited kepada pembangunan kaum belia dan membantu mereka yang sakit dan kurang bernasib baik.

Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

April 14, 2017