The Islamic Gold Dinar Movement in Malaysia
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KHALID NOORSHAH The Islamic Gold Dinar Movement in Malaysia KHALID NOORSHAH People of the Out-post The Islamic gold dinar and silver dirham movement in Malaysia was first propagated by the Murabituns in the mid 1980’s.Members of the Murabituns.are students of Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi, the shaykh of the Shadilliya-Darqawwiah Tarekah and the Mehlevi Tarekah, also founder of the Murabitun World Movement. The Murabitun programme is to restore the gold dinar and silver dirham; the khalifate, Amal Ahl al-Madina, guilds, waqf and the fallen pillar of zakat. It is the first post-modernist platform that unifies all Muslims and it is directed to the establishment of Islam today. The political symbol of the Murabitun is the Islamic gold dinar that represents the end of nationalism, statism, political parties and political representations but most important of all, it indicates the end of submission to the present economic order.1 The Guiding Light Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi has always emphasised that the establishment of the sovereign Islamic community is dependent on the rejection of the current usurious finance systems and institutions.2 He recognised that in this age, the dust of usury has settled on all aspects of human life, and maintains that modernism functions only as “the public relations of usury capitalism”.3 163 THE ISLAMIC GOLD DINAR MOVEMENT IN MALAYSIA He identifies usury as the greatest of the unjust transactions that is permitted in liberal democratic states.4 He describes it as the “ur- phenomenon of the global disaster-the crime of usury, the disease responsible for the surface eruptions of famine, ecological havoc and nuclear neurosis.5 The analytical method of Shaykh Abdalqadir-as Sufi makes it possible to explain contemporary economic and political phenomena that cannot be adequately explained by capitalist free market theories or Marxism, welfare statism or the traditional theories of Third World development. The operational model of the modern society is usurocracy that hides behind liberal democracy. The rise of democracy and that of usurocracy have been simultaneous and parallel.6 The publication of a booklet entitled Usury the Root Cause of the Injustices of Our Time7 in 1989 marked the beginning of a concerted effort by the students of Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi to bring the matter forward to the public at large for both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The booklet consists of papers presented in a seminar in Norwich, England in 1987 that examined usury in its various forms and practices and came to the conclusion that the present banking and financial system of Western Capitalism is embedded by usurious trading and practices which is bringing destruction to the world and its inhabitants. It also examined the nature and role of paper money i.e. fiat money as the motor of usury in Western Capitalism and is used as a tool of oppression and slavery against the developing countries of the world who have to adhere to the so-called “popular market demand” and international laws imposing the American dollars as the money of choice for international trade where countries give valuable and tangible goods while the developed nations in exchange, give them worthless paper. Although the present socio-politico-economic philosophy of the situation was well understood by the Murabituns there was still a need to have an ‘alim to show them the way to overcome the present depressing situation. Umar Ibrahim Vadillo had been recognised by Shaykh Abdalqadir- as Sufi as the person who has the capacity and capability to bring the matter of Islamic trading forward and was appointed to become the leader or Rais of the Murabitun World Movement and had the loyalty of all the students of Shaykh Abdulqadir as-Sufi in the matter of Islamic trading. 164 KHALID NOORSHAH Since 1980’s until now he has frequently traveled to Malaysia and Indonesia because these are the two places where there seems to be great opportunities where Islamic trading can be re-established, moreover during those times, the Murabituns in Malaysia were the most active in propagating the return of the gold dinar and silver dirham followed by the Indonesians. A defining path was established by the publication of two very important books, simultaneous to each other i.e. The Return of The Khalifate8 by Shaykh Abdalqadir as-Sufi and The Return of The Gold Dinar9 by Umar Ibrahim Vadillo. In the former, Shaykh Abdalqadir as- Sufi pointed out the importance of leadership in Islam and the latter showed how Islamic trading can be re-established, by introducing the headlines of its implementation programme. The Early Period The Murabituns in Malaysia, propagated the use of the gold dinar and silver dirham as an alternative currency and also articulated the nature of the present economic system not only to close friends but to anybody and anyone they met including practitioners of Islamic banking and finance but to no avail, or I would say, their reception to the idea was cold. Despite not having the gold dinar and silver dirhams in their hands at that time, this group of people continued to propagate the gold dinar and silver dirham as the bi-metallic currency of the future in place of paper money. Some of the comments received by the early propagators of the gold dinar in Malaysia were that the gold coins reminded them of the late P. Ramlee film of Ali Baba Bujang Lapuk and therefore was not taken seriously. There were also comments that the world was moving towards plastic money i.e. credit cards, charge cards, debit cards and others, therefore to introduce a bi-metallic currency is going back to medieval years. Although some quarters acknowledged that the greater importance of the bi-metallic currency is to rid of usury and usurious practices, oppression and injustices at the market place and trading, they however, also felt that it is not about the form of the currency used but because the lack of ethics and lots of greed that can be checked through best trading practices and charters of good conduct. These negative reactions by the general public and also from those who were trained and learned in the present economic and finance system 165 THE ISLAMIC GOLD DINAR MOVEMENT IN MALAYSIA can be understood because to them the idea seems ridiculous and absurd given the present world economic and financial scenario; gold and silver has long been denounced as currency-not because it was impractical – but by indoctrination of the present economic principles, education and practices, moreover it was also radical but at the same time it was not new. Associate Prof. Dr. Hakimi Ibrahim,10 however, used to say to me that the establishing of the gold dinar and silver dirham is an act of “going back to the future”. In 1992, the Muslim community of Granada, students of Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi, under the supervision of World Islamic Mint, minted the first gold dinars of the modern age according to the standards of Umar al-Khatab, the 2nd Khalif of Islam. According to that standard, a dinar is a 22 carat gold coin of 91.6 purity and weighs 4.25 grams while the silver dirham is silver coin weighing 2.975 gm a standard that had been adopted by World Islamic Trading Organisation (WITO).11 Only in 1995 did the Murabituns in Malaysia had in their hands the gold dinar and silver dirham in their physical form. These coins were minted by the World Islamic Mint and brought in from it’s minters in Dubai. From then onwards, the matter of the gold dinar and silver dirham moved from theory to reality. For the purpose of reaching to a wider audience since they now have the coins in hand, the gold dinar and silver dirham were also promoted to be used as savings, on the basis it has intrinsic value; as dowry (mahar or mas kahwin) since this has been a traditional practice of the Muslims; to pay zakat, on the basis that it is the correct medium to do so; and as a gift. Over the years, the movement gained support but from a small section of the public, from people who immediately understood what the gold dinar and silver dirham stood for, that is to be free from the enslavement of the banking and finance fraternity and the usurious nature of paper money, to avoid speculation and manipulation of international currency traders, freedom from the dominance of the kuffar and oppression from developed nations and deceiving practices and intentions by the so called super powers especially the United States of America more so because the American dollars were deemed the currency of world trading and in the case of oil, a currency imposed, but most importantly it was a call to submit to Allah’s decree where He and His rasul has declared war on the usurers.12 Sadly, however, the people that matters, those in the Islamic banking and finance still thread cautiously and some saw it as a threat to the now 166 KHALID NOORSHAH well received and popular Islamic banking which has promised the Muslim public that it is shariah compliance and promoting interest free banking which translates as no usury and no usurious practices and halal banking. The same can also be said of the leaders in power and also of the classically and traditionally trained ulamas who until now have not been exposed nor trained in trade and trading practices and because of that, when the question of the gold dinar and silver dirham was posed to them, they grappled with it and became uncertain of what it is.