THE RINGGIT AND THE DOLLAR

By

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

on May 12, 2011 7:56 AM

1. The dollar i.e. the US dollar has been depreciating against the Ringgit. It is now hovering just below RM3.00 to 1 USD. Obviously this currency crisis is not over yet. Obviously the US is still in trouble. Europe is also in trouble and so is the rest of the world. This is the longest financial crisis in history. It is now in the fourth year.

2. This crisis started in the US in 2008 with the banks going bankrupt because the sub-prime loans defaulted and Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. Since then the US Government has been printing money by the trillions to bail out banks, insurance and automobile companies.

3. Currently Greece is still unable to repay loans caused by the switch to the Euro.

4. Malaysia appears to have escaped much of the crisis. Our currency is in fact getting stronger and our economy is growing at a good rate.

5. Why has a serious currency crisis affected the developed countries and not as much the developing countries? The answer is that we have not been trying to get rich quick through playing the money market.

6. I am not a financier of course and my knowledge about finance can be written on the back of a postage stamp. So no one should take what I say about finance seriously.

7. Still, I would like to hazard a theory.

8. The US was, after the Second World War, the richest nation. They have companies like General Motors, General Electric, Caterpillar Tractors, McDonnell Douglas & Boeing, great manufacturers of household appliances, radios and television, machine tools, precision instruments and of course a massive weapons industry.

9. They were so confident of the superiority of their industries that they did not mind teaching the Japanese the importance of quality and expertise in manufacturing.

10. To cut a long story short, the Japanese mastered manufacturing so well that their high quality but competitive products displaced those of the Americans and much of the Europeans in the world market.

11. After Japan came Taiwan, South Korea and then China. The products of these countries even displaced American and European products in their own countries. The last straw is the invasion of East-Asian cars into the American and European markets.

12. Instead of trying to compete, the Americans in particular, and the Europeans opted to surrender the markets to the Asian newcomers. But American and European economies continued to grow and they remain as prosperous as ever.

13. To remain ahead in wealth the Americans and Europeans invented a new market - the money market. They invented ways of making money from money. These they call products although they cannot be eaten or used.

14. The banking system they created was for the purpose of lending money to finance business enterprises. To do this the banks were allowed to lend more money than they have as capital, assets and deposits. In effect this means the banks could create money. In fact in the past banks issued banknotes to pay for goods and services. Later the banknotes were replaced by cheques. Everything can be paid with cheques. No cash is needed any more.

15. It was fine as long as the Government oversees the money created by the banks and limits it to ten times the banks assets. Then the American Government decided that it should not supervise the banks. The market would regulate itself.

16. Freed of Government oversight the banks began to lend far more than ten times their assets. They lent even to people with no income and no capacity to repay the loans, especially for houses.

17. The loans were then either mortgaged or insured. The belief was that they were safe. In any case if the borrower defaulted the property would be worth more than the loans as property prices seem to appreciate all the time.

18. Other ways of making money were invented. Hedge funds, carry trade, currency trade, mergers and acquisitions, investment in 'emerging markets' (formerly known as developing countries), junk bonds, securitised mortgage, commercial paper, short selling, index funds, sub-prime loans, private equity funds, repo market, structured investment vehicles, etc etc

19. Any of these things can give huge profits. For the astute players any of these things can make them millionaires or billionaires overnight, practically overnight.

20. The money market products yield nothing substantial. They create no jobs, no tangible products, no trade in goods or services, no spin-offs in terms of business, no transportation of goods by land, sea or air.

21. Yet the size of the transactions in monetary terms is mind-boggling. The trade in currencies is said to amount to four (4) trillion US dollars a day. It is the size of the total German productivity for a year. Yet no jobs are created, no goods or services are produced, no movement of anything is seen.

22. Of course the people involved in the trade make billions of dollars. Operating out of tax free havens, they report to no one and pay no tax.

23. The money market players and the billions they make contribute to the high GDP and the Per Capita incomes of America and Europe.

24. Then came the collapse. The bubble bursts. And there was nothing spilling from the burst bubbles.

25. The money market players know nothing about other business, about the production of goods and service, about real trade in these things. Actually all of them have become poor.

26. And so they resort to printing money, to remain rich. But the money they print is as valuable as toilet paper.

Perhimpunan Melayu Perkasa Kedah

										ALOR SETAR, 30 April – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad hari ini berkata orang Melayu mesti bersatu di bawah Barisan Nasional (BN) yang didominasi Umno kerana perpecahan mereka kepada tiga parti telah melemahkan kaum itu. Bekas Perdana Menteri itu berkata, pilihan raya umum ke-13 yang dijangka dalam waktu terdekat adalah ujian penting bagi orang Melayu. “Jika kita terbawa-bawa dengan cerita dewa-dewi, maka kita akan menolak BN dan mengundi pembangkang,” kata beliau. “Pada masa ini, saya mendapati laungan Hidup Melayu tidak mendapat sokongan besar. Orang Melayu kelihatan takut untuk menyebut ‘Melayu’ dalam bumi mereka sendiri,” kata beliau pada majlis yang diadakan di negeri kelahirannya. “Apabila kita kata ‘Melayu’, kita akan dipanggil sebagai rasis,” kata Dr Mahathir pada Perhimpunan Melayu Perkasa Kedah. Perdana menteri paling lama berkhidmat ini berkata, pada masa-masa lalu orang Melayu hanya setia kepada raja masing-masing dan dengan mudah dikuasai oleh negara lain seperti China dan Siam. Penaung Perkasa ini berkata, Umno telah menyatukan orang Melayu dan memperoleh kemerdekaan daripada British. Bagaimanapun katanya, kemunculan PAS telah memecahkan orang Melayu kepada dua dan mengakibatkan mereka bertelagah sesama sendiri. Bekas presiden Umno ini berkata, apabila Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim menubuhkan PKR selepas dipecat dari Umno, langkah itu memecahkan orang Melayu kepada tiga. “Beliau tidak kisah mengenai perpaduan Melayu, beliau hanya mahu jadi perdana menteri,” katanya. Kemudian Dr Mahathir memberitahu pemberita bahawa adalah baik jika PAS mahu menyertai BN, tetapi “semasa mereka menyertai sebelum ini mereka menyebabkan masalah.” “Kalau mereka ikhlas, OK,” katanya. Presiden Perkasa Datuk Ibrahim Ali juga menambah, pihaknya menyokong langkah Datuk Seri Najib itu tetapi beliau tidak fikir ia akan menjadi realiti. “Ini kerana PAS tidak fikir mengenai perpaduan Melayu tetapi hanya mahu mengambil kuasa dan Putrajaya,” katanya lagi. Ini merujuk kepada saranan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak supaya PAS keluar Pakatan Rakyat jikapun memutuskan untuk tidak menyertai BN Di Kuala Terengganu . Sementara itu Presiden Perkasa Dato Ibrahim Ali melahirkan rasa bersyukur dan gembira kerana kejayaan Himpunan Melayu Perkasa Kedah yang berjaya mengumpul orang melayu terutamanya dari Kedah untuk kembali bersatu, Beliau juga mengucapkan terima kasih kepada YDP Perkasa Kedah Tuan Syed Osman Syed Mansur dan seluruh jawatan kuasa kerja yang telah sama sama menjayakan aktiviti tersebut. Walaupun beliau tidak dapat berucap panjang kerana memberi laluan kepada Tun Dr Mahathir, beliau tetap berpuas hati kerana matlamat perhimpunan ini berjaya menghimpunkan rakyat Kedah untuk mendengar amat Tun Dr Mahathir.

Ekspo Perdagangan dan Perhimpunan Melayu Perkasa Kedah Jumaat ini

Perhimpunan Melayu Perkasa Kedah di Stadium Sultan Abdul Halim, Suka Menanti di sini yang berlangsung selama dua hari mulai Jumaat ini.

Bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad dijadual menyampaikan ucaptama pada Sabtu ini sempena perhimpunan anjuran Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa) Kedah itu.

Yang Dipertua Perkasa negeri, Syed Osman Mansor berkata, program berkenaan yang bertemakan 'Perpaduan Melayu Teras Perpaduan Rakyat Malaysia' merupakan rentetan daripada dua perhimpunan sama dianjurkan pertubuhan berkenaan di Pasir Mas, Kelantan dan Pasir Salak, Perak sebelum ini.

Katanya, matlamat utama program ialah untuk memupuk semangat perpaduan yang kukuh di kalangan orang Melayu khususnya di negeri ini tanpa mengambil kira ideologi dan politik kepartian.

"Perkasa sedar dalam usaha menyatupadukan orang Melayu, usaha mendekati mereka amat perlu. Bagi menarik perhatian dan minat mereka, satu mekanisme perlu diadakan.

"Program seperti ini adalah antara kaedah terbaik bagi merapatkan mereka. Kami menjemput seramai mungkin pengunjung menghadirinya," katanya pada sidang akhbar bagi mengumumkan penganjuran program berkenaan di sini semalam.

Hadir sama, Timbalannya, Zahran Abdullah dan Pengerusi Perkasa Kota Setar, Datuk Mohd. Yusof Ismail yang juga pengerusi penganjur program itu.

Syed Osman berkata, menerusi perhimpunan berkenaan, Perkasa berharap pertubuhan itu tidak hanya dikenali sebagai sebuah pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) tetapi sebagai wadah perjuangan bagi membela nasib dan masa depan bangsa.

Menurutnya, program kali ini menampilkan kelainan kerana ia bukan sekadar perhimpunan tetapi turut mengadakan ekspo yang bakal disertai oleh 100 usahawan bagi mempamerkan produk dan perkhidmatan masing-masing.

Bagi memeriahkan program itu, pelbagai aktiviti menarik yang berkonsepkan kekeluargaan disediakan sepanjang dua hari berlangsung, antaranya pertandingan mewarna untuk kanak-kanak, nyanyian lagu irama Melayu, pertunjukkan Muay Thai dan seni silat serta pertandingan mendeklamasikan sajak.

Ekspo Perdagangan Melayu PERKASA Kedah

Dinar emas bukan wang dunia - Lord Eatwell

Sebahagian dinar emas yang terdapat dalam pasaran tempatan ketika polemik terus berlanjutan tentang sejauh mana daya maju logam berkenaan menggantikan penggunaan wang kertas dalam urus niaga sejagat. – Gambar hiasan

KUALA LUMPUR 15 April - Pakar ekonomi dari University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, Lord Eatwell menyifatkan dinar emas tidak sesuai digunakan sebagai mata wang di peringkat antarabangsa.

Beliau yang merupakan Pengarah Pusat Penganalisis Kewangan dan Polisi University of Cambridge berkata, ini berikutan dinar emas tergolong dalam kategori komoditi yang mempunyai harga pasaran tidak menentu.

''Saya sendiri tidak berminat dengan emas. Ia tidak boleh digunakan di peringkat antarabangsa kerana kita tidak boleh menduga pasaran pada masa akan datang,'' katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian selepas menyampaikan syarahan pada Wacana Perniagaan dan Pengurusan: Mengangkat Teori dan Praktis di sini hari ini. Wacana itu dianjurkan oleh Pusat Perniagaan, Othman Yeop Abdullah, Universiti Utara Malaysia.

Dinar emas pernah dicadangkan oleh bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad untuk dijadikan mata wang dunia kerana ia menawarkan nilai yang lebih stabil berbanding wang kertas.

Tun Mahathir berkata, langkah menggunakan dinar emas sebagai ganti mata wang utama seperti dolar Amerika Syarikat (AS) dalam pelbagai transaksi juga boleh menghentikan perang mata wang.

Katanya, dolar AS kini sudah tidak bernilai seperti mana beberapa tahun dahulu dan penggunaan mata wang kertas juga tiada lagi sehebat sebelum krisis ekonomi pada tahun 1997/98 dan penggunaan dinar emas adalah jalan penyelesaian terbaik.

"Mata wang AS kini boleh dianggap sebagai tisu tandas kerana nilainya semakin menyusut dan tidak berharga berbanding emas yang diterima di semua negara dunia," katanya.

Ketika ditanya tentang pandangan beliau mengenai Malaysia dalam menghadapi krisis ekonomi 1997 dan 2007, Eatwell berkata, Malaysia telah mengambil pendekatan yang betul.

Katanya, Malaysia menggunakan mekanisme tersendiri bagi mengelak daripada kerugian besar pada krisis ekonomi tersebut.

''Negara ini didapati telah belajar daripada pengalaman krisis ekonomi pada 1997 yang lalu dan telah bersedia berhadapan dengan krisis ekonomi kemudiannya,'' ujarnya.

Menurut Eatwell, pada krisis ekonomi beberapa tahun lalu, Malaysia tidak terlalu terjejas berbanding Thailand, Indonesia dan beberapa negara jiran yang lain yang kehilangan pendapatan yang tinggi.

Komen Jentayu Emas : Seperti yang pernah pihak kami menulis dalam artikel di Majalah Milinea Muslim Edisi Feb dan March 2011, emas kini masih dianggap komoditi, maka tidak hairanlah harga emas itu sendiri akan mengalami kenaikan dan susut nilai berikutan didagangkan di pasaran. Walaubagaimanapun, kita tidak mampu menafikan fakta bahawa Dinar itu lebih stabil berbanding US Dollar malah kalis terhadap inflasi dan spekulasi. Agak memeranjatkan apabila Pengarah Pusat Penganalisis Kewangan dan Polisi University of Cambridge berkata,''Saya sendiri tidak berminat dengan emas. Ia tidak boleh digunakan di peringkat antarabangsa kerana kita tidak boleh menduga pasaran pada masa akan datang,'' katanya. Persoalannya ialah, ramai orang tidak minat dgn US Dollar, tetapi masih menggunakannya, begitu juga dengan Emas. Adakah kita perlu suka emas baru kita boleh pakai emas, atau kita menggunakan emas kerana logam mulia ini memiliki nilai intrinsiknya tersendiri TANPA PERLU DIBERI NILAI OLEH SESIAPA, WA IMA Kerajaan sekali pun. Adakah kita memiliki alternatif lain selain dari US Dollar? Perlukah kita mengganti US Dollar kepada Yen atau Euro???  Berapa lama wang kertas mampu bertahan? Kami amat optimis, bahawa Dinar akan pasti kembali sebagai matawang sejagat

BBC 080421 - Interview Mahathir Mohamad, former Malaysian PM.

A RESPOND TO “THE QUESTION OF 24K DINAR COINS”

Posted on March 21, 2011 by IMN 

http://islamicmintnusantara.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/a-respond-to-vadillo-the-question-of-24k-dinar-coins/

Assalamualaikum kepada semua muslim di Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapura, Thailand dan Filipina. Kami ingin menyampaikan sebuah tulisan dari saudara muslim kami di papua yang  memberikan tanggapan terhadap pernyataan vadilo mengenai PERTANYAAN TERHADAP DINAR 24K yang perlu diluruskan.

Alhamdulillah, kami hadirkan tulisan ini yang tentunya dengan berbagai pertimbangan, kesadaran dan semangat untuk mencari kebenaran dan beramal dalam apa apa yang kita mampu, tentunya tulisan ini  bukan untuk berdebat tapi untuk memperjelas atas apa yang telah ditulis oleh Mr. Vadillo yang secara tidak langsung melakukan penghakiman dan fitnah terhadap seseorang, tanpa melakukan verifikasi langsung.  semoga ini bermanfaat  dan membuka mata kita semua.

Ada baiknya sesudah membaca tulisan dibawah ini, silahkan baca juga tulisan terkait langsung mengenai  Standarisasi Ukuran Dinar Dirham Islam Dalam Sejarah dan Perspektif Fikih dan Fatwa On Weight And Purity Of Dinar Dirham Islam

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Tulisan yang menggunakan BOLD dan warna biru adalah jawaban dari saudara muslim kami di papua untuk pernyataan paragraf tulisan vadillo di atasnya, bismillah.

There is now 19 years since we started to mint the first Dinars in Granada (Al-Andalus). I have looked at this matter of the purity many times during these 19 years. I have personally consulted scholars and metallurgists and made several tries with 24k coins and tested them. My research was every time equally conclusive: ‘we cannot use 24k coins’.

>>I have to say, learning from Imam Shafi’i statement of Qaul Qadim and Qaul Jadid, your statement could be a temporary statement.

Let me take you through the argument. There are two matters to be considered: one is the ‘amal and another is the practicality (durability) of the coins. In the ‘amal we are in search of what was the original way of making the coins. The issue of durability is not obvious at first only when you use the coins it becomes of critical importance. Here is the issue: 22k coins have a average life span of 15 years, but 24k coins have a durability of just 3. This means that every 3 years we have to recall these coins. This is not only costly and impractical, but renders the whole idea of making coins nearly useless. 1. ‘AMAL 24k technology did not exist on the early days of Islam. The modern 999.9 was not discovered until the 1874 by Emil Wohlwill, the Wohlwill process. So, when we speak about pure gold as we understand it today, we have to realize that is something new and different to what was called pure gold in the early days. The most common metallurgic process at Roman Times to purify noble metals consisted on treating the ore at high temperatures under a carefully controlled operation in order to separate gold and silver from base metals that might be present in the ore. The noble metals do not easily oxidize while the base metals do. The problem was to separate gold from silver. They used techniques such as ‘salt cementation’ to further separate gold from silver with different degrees of success depending on the mint. Therefore the quality of the coin depended on two major factors: the quality of the original ore and their own technical capabilities. The original Dinars that have been found through archaeological work are between 20k to 23k. This is most likely to be the processes that were used at the time of the first Dinars and Dirhams minted by the Khalif Abdalmalik and throughout the entire Umayyad Period. There is no doubt that their INTENTION was to create a ‘pure gold’ coin but they COULD NOT as we understand it today. Ironically their unintentional impurities gave the coins durability. This leads to our second issue.

>> According an article mentioned in http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/24/2454211.htm, it is said that the Byzantine coin is 24K. Then according to a research that “There is records of Fatimid dinar purity that can achieve more than 95%, usually reaching 97-98%”. Further, I take the word that “there is an obvious intentional effort to achieve a pure gold” as a truly a good niyah. Then what we can learn from this ‘amal is simply… let’s do it the purest we can.

2. DURABILITY 24k is so soft that you can bend a dinar into a fusilli (pasta) with the pressure of your hands. If it falls to a solid floor it will dent badly. If you keep it in your pocket with other (harder) coins for a period of time it will erase the features, markings, edges, etc. All these will happen with a consequent loss of weight. What is the amount of weight loss a coin can bear before is no longer a dinar (weight)? WIM says 1%, that is, when the weight of a dinar falls below 4.20gr is no longer a dinar. At that point, according to WIM, that coin must be recalled and re-minted. This is the responsible thing to do. A bit of metallurgic knowledge. When you add 10% silver to a 24k gold coin you double its strength. When you add 10% copper you increase its strength 20 times. A mixture of 50/50 of silver and copper in a 917 coin gives the coin more than 5 times its original strength.

>> Basically agree. Durability is technical issue regarding gold coin as a currency and money circulated in the market. But then it is a tricky technical engineering, why 91.7 not 95.x or 98.x which make them purer and yet strong enough. Or why not 90.x or 85.x that make them much more stronger and endure enough over time. Let’s comeback to the good niyah as common basis. We want to make the purest as we can but durable enough as coin circulated during muamalah. So it is encourage us to a new research and refinement of the dinar through time. Please bear in mind that 24K is from 95-99 so.. when we can get 95 there will be no question regarding durability, then why it is not the choice in the beginning? My statement is clear (1) let’s make as purest as possible with possible durability and take this as a risk.. (note: we understood that there are risks in differ, between having 90% or 99%) (2) let’s do some ongoing research for refinement, being openminded for the sake better future of ummah.

MY JUDGMENT 24k coins did not exist in Madina. 24k coins are good to be placed in a vault or a safe deposit box, but not for circulation. A responsible mint is not only responsible for selling coins and ‘that’s it’, but it MUST TAKE responsibility over the life span of the coin. 24k is easier to mint than 22k, so it is normal than some irresponsible people will take advantage of this and do marketing of their 24K coins pretending they have a “better” coin.

>> Everyone in the world knows that 24K gold is much better than 22K gold, no doubt, no one need to be pretended for this. Better coin? again it is a technical minting issue related the use of the coin in muamalah. However the word “better” you use is questioned… in what sense better is? — I have some assumptions, but I have my understanding of “better” is: purest gold, comply sharia and proper fiqh, overcome technical obstacles, good niyah. By this we understand that 24K is better!

24k coins are not better coins, ACTUALLY they are worse coins. In the fiqh of Imam Malik we hear about ‘unpopular coins’ (makruha). Makruha means ‘that people did not want’. This is not a statement on purity, but a statement on acceptance by the people. People choose according to what they find more reliable. “Malik said that it was not good when counterpoising to give good old coins and put along with them unminted gold in exchange for worn Kuffic gold*, which were unpopular (‘makruha’ which people do not like), and to then treat the exchange as like for like.” *The kufias (gold of Kufa) were broken or worn coins with less weight than what they supposed to be and they were unpopular. What is important about this is that Imam Malik in accepting that there cannot be ‘like for like’ considers that non popular coins are no longer ‘standard’ dinar. This is critical to understand our argument.

>> You admit yourself that it is not a proper qiyas (I underlined your statement). There are two learnings we can get from Imam Malik: (1) It is the authority duty to replace old coin with the new one. We already considered this. In my calculation (but this is only technical you might considered), the waqf cost for recycle old coin is cheaper than adding silver/copper to the coin. (2) The word ‘standard’ dinar is based on the authority and shari’a (a proper fiqh deliberation and judgement), not the mass/people (since we are not using ‘democracy’). We cannot agree because you, and your mass companion, said that this is standard, the other is not… Refer to Imam Shafi’i; dinar is pure gold, for gold coin which is not pure it called as nuqd, it makes the other non pure gold coin is not a dinar, full stop. And from my understanding, this is what Imam Malik meant as you quoted.

Some people think the answer to this problem of durability and acceptance is to make a coin with adequate gold weight (4.25 gr or mithqal) and then add some strengthening material, therefore the coin will weigh 4.5 or something similar. This is not possible. A Dinar is a measure of weight equal to 1 mithqal. You cannot increase the weight of the dinar to keep the 4.25gr of 24k gold. This will be wrong. The weight cannot be altered. There is no opinion until here.

>> Of course there is no option regarding weight. Through time and history we only found 4.25gr in Abdul Malik period and it was corrected by Umar ibn Abdul Aziz based on Khalifah Umar ibn Khattab that mitsqal is much higher than 4.25gr and the result in gram is about 4.4 – 4.6 gr. As shown throughout the history (in museums and books), the dinar circulated is 4.4 – 4.6 gr. We cannot deny the fact. If we have pure and sincere heart to accept Islam kaffah (total), we will confirm it. Regarding the weight we have long research on this particular say these:
(1) Weighing by ourselves the grains (habbah sya’irah) as stated by Khalifah Umar ibn Khattab
(2) Calculating the grains (habbah sya’irah) based on International Standard of Unit (as referred to Muqaddima, Fiqh muqarran, etc)
(3) Calculating the qirat based on International Standard of Unit (as referred to Al Maqrizi, Al-Baladzuri, and other relevant kutub)
(4) Studying physical old coin (numismatics) from various sources (Rusia, East Europe, Persia, etc)
(5) Studying books and from museums
(6) Studying fiqh books (from the very original languange) with mashayikh who really understand the language and the fiqh as well as it’s usul, with proper isnads and ijazahs. And getting good sharh from those mashayikh. My invitation to WIM is… let’s do the research, that’s the hikmah of ummat Muhammad SAW

Now, my personal ijtihad and therefore MY OPINION on this matter is: ‘to make the Dinar of gold material as pure as possible while it can guarantee its function as a medium of exchange. And Allah knows best. ‘

>> Totally agree!

MY OPINION is that we should have one single standard with the highest degree of security that we can afford bearing in mind the danger of MODERN COUNTERFEITING. Counterfeiting is a big problem for a coin: reduces the value of real coins; increases prices artificially (inflation) due to more money getting circulated in the economy – an unauthorized artificial increase in the money supply; and decreases the acceptability (satisfactoriness) of money amongst the people. In order to improve the acceptance of a coin anti-counterfeiting measures have to be taken involving increasing the fine detail in the minting (increasing the quality of the coin) and milled or reeded (marked with parallel grooves) edges are used to show that none of the valuable metal has been scraped off. This detects the shaving or clipping (paring off) of the rim of the coin. However, it does not detect sweating, or shaking coins in a bag and collecting the resulting dust. To prevent sweating the coins only increasing their strength can help.

>> About counterfeiting, I agree… but this is a fishy opinion. If we know that we have good niyah, why make a suuzhan among us. We try our best not to have suuzhan upon you and your group (we have some information that related with ignominy but we will keep our adab as muslim, something that you and your companion cannot, in some circumstances, hold on). However, I can stand upright that we keep the pure heart of niyah and we against counterfeiting, Allah is our witness.

There are other problems. Counterfeiting coins is now a sophisticated art. Counterfeiters have at their disposal alloys than can pass density test undetected. The only way to prevent them is to increase your anti-counterfeiting measures. And needless to say, these measures have to be taken at the beginning of the minting and not later when the fake coins go undetected in circulation. A mint that does not take this into account is irresponsible. There are many modern anti-counterfeiting measures that can help to give people reliance on their coins. To put it shortly they are divided in two types: visible and non-visible. Visible anti-counterfeiting measures are then ones that matter to us because the non-visible require equipment to be detected and that will not be available for most users. We have studied the best of them. WIM is implementing them as we speak. Introducing security features in the coins changes the way in which we mint. First, it requires a singular standard. It is not logical to ask the traders and consumers to become aware of 20 different kind of dinars. Since the solutions may differ we need a single authority that serves most of the mints. Some people, for example, may argue that the best coin would be an even harder coin made of copper and gold (without silver) and with a 20k purity. Others will say: 21k, 22k, 23k, etc. Only a single standard will allow us to achieve maximum and global functionality of the coin and will help us to prevent modern forgeries. That is why we have WIM.

>> We are aware of this issue, and we have coping strategy to overcome. I will not share this now, but I will. And truly speaking, that’s why we want 24K… not to bother with copper and silver anymore. However, WIM is doing well as far as I know. But I view WIM is an organisation and not an authority. And we are equal for this position. One thing to be added, to fight counterfeiting, this is also the important role of muhtasib in muamalat.

WIM chose 22k. It should be noticed that 99% of the coins ever minted in the world TO BE USED AS MONEY were 22k, even when the technology was available to make 24k (which is cheaper to manufacture). The reason? 24k coins do not last and 22k offers a good balance between purity and strength with a relative low-tech solution.

>> We will ready for a low-tech, but efficient cost and advanced technology, Allah will lead us!

Nevertheless, it is my opinion that no one is wrong in minting a 24k coin (or 23k for that matter) IF they understand what they are doing. But if they do not, they are irresponsible. IN FACT, I will argue that the ideal solution would be to get a 24k coin with the strength of a 22k. If this is ever technically available at a reasonable cost I would think this is the ideal coin. WIM is looking into this. In the meanwhile with our limited knowledge we have resorted to a 917 gold coin with a mix of silver and copper in order to make the coin strong enough to function as money. And Allah knows best.

>> Then we have mutual understanding and a common basis. We will welcome you to join us, I might accept your bay’ah.

As for the people who have written the fatwa in Indonesia we know who they are. They are led by a man whom we knew very well, Mr Firman from Jakarta, and he is utterly lost. Of their fatwa I only know their conclusions in terms of weight (4.5) and purity (24k) and a little bit of their methodology that has transpired by talking to them.

>> First, you can’t judge the methodology by talking in distance. You have to learn in a deep understanding. Second, the fatwa was made by a faqih, his name is Al-Shaikh Al-Hajj Al-Habib Al-Sayyid Sahib Al-Faraj Azmatkhan Al-Ba’alawi Al-Husaini and other faqihs who are sincerely help him. Third, regarding Mr. Firman, he was chosen by several companion as their Amir. There are fitnah among him and I can say that it is not true, I stand upright that the whole fitnah is not true. And it is merely a “political conflict” between him and your companion. My suggestion is: let all the parties sit down (majlas) and make shura… discuss, deliberate and judge together. I feel sorry for your unfaithful companion and for your miss-judgement. (I will not mentioned the issue you have with other ex-Murabitun, which is similar at some points).

I disagree with regard to “their” weight since we have the uncontroversial fact of authentic well preserved original Umayyad Dinars which clearly establish the commonly accepted 4.25gr. Apparently, now they argue that they ‘cannot accept the standard coins of the Umayyads’ but I find no justification for that. I also disagree with them in respect to their “purity” since it does not solve the critical question of the durability. They also argued that ‘durability is not a matter concerning Islamic Law and therefore taking that into consideration is a “secular” concern’. They are wrong again because public interest (masalah al-mursalah) is a fundamental pillar of our fiqh. Masalah al-mursalah determines that when you have a choice on those matters that because they are new they have not been upheld or nullified by the Shariah, you should choose the one which is better for the people. In answer to them, I would argue that 24k technology is something new and that not taking into consideration the practical issues of 24k coins in circulation (and thus the public interest) is not part of Islamic Law.

This is truly a fitnah. We are not saying ‘I cannot accept the standard coins of the Umayyads’… but we said that during the Umayyad period, there is Abdul Malik ibn Marwan who made 4.25 and it was corrected by other Umayyad, Umar ibn Abdul Aziz. This is the fact!

Regarding maslahah mursalah (as you mentioned wrongly, masalah mursalah)… I only suggest you to relearning this in usul fiqh. Because that is not the proper maslahah mursalah to be implemented. Let’s come up with proper usul fiqh for istinbat (judgement). Let’s bring our faqih of us and yours for discussion (bahthul masail). This is the right and proper fiqh deliberation.

For all those reasons, in my view, that Fatwa of Firman and friends is wrong. But if they insist they should carry on minting their own coins while we remind the people of Indonesia of the issues at hand. That will be enough.

>> As far as I understand, but I might wrong, you are not a faqih and doesnt have a good capacity in fiqh. Then, I must say that your statement cannot be accepted and will be not considered. If you can show us the faqih capacity, your statement will be overlooked. Allah is the best judge.

Allah guides whom He wishes. He demands taqwa from us and we should have it at all times present. Fearing Him is our part of the deal which shall prevent us from being blind by confusing pride. In search of Guidance we must get closer to Him until there is nothing left of us. Surrendering our will to Him is the way to see. This is the path of success. We care of Him, He will care of us, …and our coins. We ask Allah to be included amongst those people of taqwa. Amin. Umar Vadillo

>> Amiin ya Robbal ‘Alamiin

by Hayan Waruk on Monday, March 21, 2011 at 10:06am