Jokes Corner :P - Terengganu

Business Book
of the
Mo n t h
Flying Without a Net
Turn Fear of Change Into Fuel for Success
1
By Thomas J DeLong
TAHUN DI DUNGUN :
TEMURAMAH EKSKLUSIF BERSAMA TUAN REKTOR@MYUFM
oleh
Mohd Talmizie Amron & Siti Hajar Mohd Hussain
Let us start the new edition of this bulletin by looking at one of the
most read business book. This is a book meant for a high achiever or
professionals who constantly anxious of life failures and changes. They
never savour the accomplishment for long. As a result, many are trying
to block new challenges. Even the brightest are reluctant to change
for the fear of committing mistakes while learning something new. The
author, Thomas DeLong suggested way to turn fear of change is by
drawing strength from vulnerability. He argues that letting go- flying
without net is one way to recover from the fear. DeLong also introduces six steps to create probability so that a person who is achievement oriented will not controlled by fears. While many of us may fear
changes, this is a recommended book to control our fear. Enjoy!
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
Year of Publication : 2011
Category: Business and Management
Price: RM 119.80 ( based on MPHonline price)
Jokes Corner
:P
A man sees a stunning girl at a party. He smiles handsomely while walking
confidently to her and says, “I am very rich. Marry me!”
That is Direct Marketing.
A man is at a party with a bunch of friends and sees a beautiful girl. One of
his friends goes up to her and pointing at the man and says, “He’s very rich.
Marry him.”
That is Advertising.
A man sees an attractive girl at a party and walks up to her and pours her a
drink. He opens the door for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer
her a ride, and then say, “By the way, I’m very rich. Will you marry me?”
That is Public Relations.
A man is at a party and sees an elegant girl. The girl walks up to the man and
says, “You are very rich.”
That is Brand Recognition.
A man sees a gorgeous girl at a party. He directly approaches her and says
out loud, “I’M A RICH MAN! MARRY ME.” The girl gives him a nice hard slap
on his face.
Rujukan:
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…and that is Customer Feedback!!!
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2
CHIEF EDITOR’S COLUMN
By: NUR HAZWANI MOHAMAD ROSELI
A
ssalammualaikum dan Salam BizNewz kepada semua
peminat setia BizNewz.
Syukur Alhamdulillah ke hadrat illahi kerana BizNewz Edisi
Pertama 2013 akhirnya berjaya diterbitkan. Pertama, terima kasih yang tidak
terhingga kepada Ketua Pusat Pengajian, Dr. Siti Haryati Shaikh Ali, Koordinator-Koordinator Fakulti, Pn Fathiyah Ismail dan Pn Siti Fatimah Mardiah
Hamzah dan Ketua Editor 2012, PnAzyanee Luqman kerana telah memberi
peluang kepada saya untuk menjadi Ketua Editor yang baru. Kepercayaan di
atas tanggungjawab yang diberikan akan saya galas dan laksanakan dengan
sebaik mungkin untuk memastikan BizNewz sebagai salah satu buletin yang
gah di persada UiTM Terengganu.
Kini, BizNewz 2013 kembali dengan wajah baru dari segi konsep dan
dibarisi oleh gabungan Sidang Editor yang berpengalaman dan baharu. BizNewz 2013 juga diserikan oleh Kolumnis-Kolumnis yang mantap iaitu PM
Dr. Che Zuina Ismail, PM Ismail Hassan dan PnAnita Md. Shariff.
“The Exquisite Business Journey” adalah slogan BizNewz pada kali
ini. Ia bermaksud BizNewz merupakan satu landasan yang tepat untuk mengasah bakat penulisan yang ada di kalangan warga UiTM Terengganu. Ia
juga adalah satu medium bagi menyalurkan segala maklumat dari pelbagai
bidang kepada seluruh warga kampus dengan harapan setiap individu di
UiTM Terengganu khususnya dapat meningkatkan tahap ilmu pengetahuan
yang sedia ada dan seterusnya menjadi seorang insan yang berintelektual.
Akhir kata, adalah diharapkan BizNewz sentiasa dapat menambat hati
setiap pembaca. Oleh itu, BizNewz mengalu-alukan semua warga kampus
UiTM menghantar sebarang bentuk penulisan di alamat BiznewzEditor@
tganu.uitm.edu.my. Tanpa kalian, tidak mungkin BizNewz dapat berkekalan
di persada UiTM.
Editor’s Column
By: Wan Maziah Wan Ab. Razak
A
ssalamualaikum dan Salam sejahtera..
lhamdulillah..Bertemu lagi di ruangan edisi pertama BizNewz pada kali ini..Terima kasih diucapkan kepada
Puan Nur Hazwani Mohamad Roseli, Ketua Editor baru kerana telah
memberi peluang kepada saya untuk menulis di Ruangan Editor pada
kali ini. Apabila diri dilanda ujian, teringat kepada bait-bait lirik lagu nasyid ini:
Jadilah rumput nan lemah lembut ,
Tak luruh dipukul ribut ,
Bagai karang di dasar lautan ,
Tak terusik dilanda badai.
M
enunjukkan betapa kita harus kuat menghadapi sebarang ujian tidak kira
di mana sahaja kita berada. Sebagai seorang warga pendidik,kita akan
berasa gembira apabila berdepan para pelajar yang baik akhlaknya,ringan
tulang,hormat pensyarah atau sesiapa sahaja yang lebih tua dari mereka...
sejuk rasa hati melihat mereka..Akan tetapi diri kita pasti rasa tercabar apabila
berdepan dengan pelajar yang mempunyai pelbagai kerenah dan masalah.
Sabar dan mencari jalan penyelesaian adalah perkara terbaik yang dapat dilakukan apabila menerima ujian sebegini...
Hidup tidak selalunya indah ,
Langit tak selalu cerah,
Suram malam tak berbintang,
Itulah lukisan alam...Begitu aturan Tuhan...
ekian, semoga berjumpa lagi....
allahua’lam...
S
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3
W
NEW
THE
EDITORIAL TEAM
Alhamdulillah.. Saya masih diberi kepercayaan untuk menggalas tanggungjawab sebagai
sidang editor BizNewz bagi tahun 2013. Tahun
lepas menyaksikan BizNewz gah di persada
buletin UiTM(T) di bawah tampuk kepimpinan
PuanAzyanee.Dibawahkepimpinanyangbaru,
diharap buletin ini akan terus menjadi platform
bagi mengasah bakat penulisan rakan-rakan pensyarah yang lain, selain dari berkongsi ilmu untuk
manfaat bersama. Jom pakat sama-sama memeriahkan lagi pengisian BizNewz untuk tahun ini.
Sharingiscaring!
NurHayatiAbdRahman
A good writer is driven by
the need to communicate and
share a wonderful reading experience with others. Thus,
what are you waiting for??
Let’s grab this opportunity to
write down and put everything
that cross in your mind by joining this coming edition of 2013
BizNewz.
“Writing is an exploration, you
start from nothing and learn as you
go”
- El. Doctorow
Nor Sabrena Norizan
‘Knowing Ignorance is Strength
Ignoring Knowledge is Sickness’
Knowing knowledge is a
process of gathering, managing and sharing the knowledge
among friends, colleagues and
etc. When I write, I fight myself
against myself to get to know
knowledge.
“Acquire knowledge and learn
tranquility and dignity”.
Erratul Shela Eshak
Baca dan Tulis dua benda yang amat berkaitan,
tanpa tulisan tak mungkin ada bacaan . Tanpa
pembaca mana mungkin ada orang yang
menulis, bukan? BizNewz 2013 melangkah
ke dimensi baru dengan barisan editor lama
dan baru bergabung. Moga gabungan baru dan
lama mampu menyemarakkan aktiviti menulis di kalangan akademik UiTM Terengganu.
Berkongsilah idea anda dengan kami dan para
pembaca BizNewz kerana mungkin sesetengah
perkara yang anda tahu para pembaca pun turut
mahu tahu.
“Siapa pun diri anda akan datang,, ianya dicorakkan
oleh apa yang anda baca sekarang!”
Yau’mee Hayati Hj Mohamed Yusof
While trying to fit harmoniously into many life ultimate chaos, I found myself on the editorial board
of BizNewz. Reasons being, I ‘d hope to add some
adventure and be in touch with many inspiring writers on campus. Writing has never been my passion
but I think it can be nurtured along the way. It is a
form of freedom to pour thoughts, belief and emotion onto a piece of paper. I believe life as a shared
journey and that sharing will help inspire wisdom
and many fruitful thoughts. InsyaAllah. Please share
with us your opinions, ideas or anything you think
is worth sharing. We’ll definitely be happy to have
your contribution of ideas on another shared journey!. I wish you all the writers and readers
a very prosperous and blessed year ahead. Happy Reading!
Norhusniyati Husin
Salam Namaste,
As close as the moon is to the night,
As close as raindrops are to the clouds,
As close as fragrance is to our breath,
As close as the waves are to the sea,
As close as us to our dreams,
As close as secrets are to our heart,
Just...stay that close to BIZNEWZ!!!
Insya’Allah, our team will endeavour to
support your publication needs in this
‘world’ of writing . Phir Milenge:)
Siti Hajar Mohd Hussain
“A big part of financial freedom is having your heart and mind free from worry
about the what-ifs of life – Suze Orman”
Alhamdulillah syukur kerana diberi
kepercayaan sekali lagi untuk menyumbang tenaga dalam BizNewz bagi tahun
2013. Suku pertama tahun ini telah berlalu, pelbagai suka duka pahit manis telah
dilalui, dan terlalu banyak lagi perkara
mendatang yang sedang menanti untuk
dilunasi. Syukur tidak terhingga atas
kurniaan berganda; mahligai bahagia
diserikan dengan kelahiran putera yang semakin bijak dan lincah melewati
masa. Semoga semua anugerah terindah ini akan lebih mematangkan diri
agar menjadi seorang ilmuan dan hambaNya yang disegani suatu ketika nanti
Suhaily Maizan Abdul Manaf
Salam Muhibbah buat seluruh warga kampus
yang dihormati...Selamat bertemu di ruangan Biznewz untuk kesekian kalinya.
Alhamdulillah syukur dengan
izin-Nya Biznewz kembali
menambah ruang dan peluang
perkongsian ilmu di kalangan
warga UiTM Terengganu. Moga
bermanfaat untuk semua.
Selamat menulis ye...
7Hanani Ahmad Fuad
Harapan saya ialah semoga kita semua dapat sama-sama menyemarakkan hasil penulisan tidak
kiralah apa sahaja asalkan bermanfaat untuk
semua. Kita semua sama-sama dapat ilmu,samasama gembira tengok nama tercatat di dalam ruangan Biznewz....Selamat Menulis!
Bunga melati kembang setaman,
Pisang emas masak setandan,
Jom menulis tambah pengalaman,
Pasti teruja tidakkan keruan.
Wan Maziah Wan Ab. Razak
Page
4
SoL
vs QoL
R
iddles: The Mind-break Session...
by Noorazlina Ahmad
& Sakinah Mat Zin
F
or some people, to make an assessment on the standard of living and quality of life is just like creating an “apple to apple” comparison. Perhaps, it is because these two terms collaborate in the common discussions of economic and social well-being of countries and their residents. The meaning may have similarities in some areas, but the difference is quite noticeable. Before investing some
money, investors are advisable to know the discrepancy of these phrases especially in evaluating a country. Standard of
living can be defined as an availability of wealth, comfort, material goods and necessities by certain people in a specific
geographical area. Whereas, quality of life is in fact; more subjective and intangible. It is proven in the list of indicators below:
Table 1: The indicators of standard of living and quality of life.
Sources: UNDP (2002) and World Bank (2002) data.
Standard of living is usually used to compare geographically or in distinct points in time. Its factors can be measured with numbers. On the contrary, quality of life factors are qualitative in nature and it is more difficult to measure. The factors that contribute
to the quality of life as listed above may not be available to certain countries. This is due to the fact that different people may
evaluate certain items as good qualities while the others have different opinion. For instance, Morris (1979), the founder of
The Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI), highlights on life expectancy, infant mortality, and literacy. Meanwhile, Weale (1992)
came with The Quality of Life Index of Dasgupta by inserting civil liberties and political rights to the Human Development
Index (HDI). Rahman et al. (2003) recommends a composite index of well-being in eight social dimensions, namely social
relationships, emotions, health, work, material well-being, civil, and political liberties, personal security, and environment quality.
In a nutshell, standard of living and quality of life are not novel indices of well-being. By referring to the theoretical foundations, these two indices use different dimensions to evaluate the well-being of people in certain areas. Eventhough both
indicators are inconsistent, they still can be used to understand the broad picture of life in certain location at a particular time.
References:
M.D. Morris. (1979). Measuring the condition of the World’s poor: The physical quality of life index. New York: Pergamon
Press.
P. Dasgupta, M. Weale, (1992). On measuring the quality of life. World Development, 20 (1), 119–131
Rahman, T., Mittelhammer, R. C. & Wandschneider, P. (2003) Measuring the quality of life across countries: A sensitivity
analysis of well-being indices. WIDER Research Paper.
UNDP. (2002). Human Development Report. New York: Oxford University Press.
World Bank. (2002). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
Page
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6
CONTINUED..........................................................................................ISLAM AND THE FUTURE OF MONEY
Salt & Peppers
There are no inconsistencies in the Quran.
So
one must bring all the verses together in harmony
(like a necklace) to establish a system of meaning.
Columnist : Assoc. Prof. Ismail Hassan
Just The WayYou Are
April mornings on the eastern coast of
the peninsula are usually spectacular and today is no exception. With the monsoon already behind, the angry roar
of the sea, the strong wind from the Northeast, and the cold
rain from the sky are now gone. With no rain clouds in sight,
the rising sun could be enjoyed in its full glory as it lighted the
heavens with bright colors of red, orange, and gold that reflected so brilliantly on the calm and silent South China Sea.
It is a beautiful morning; a morning that is both refreshing
and inspiring.
My short drive to work along the scenic beach is made
even more wonderful with Billy Joel’s 1977 hit song Don’t
Go Changing playing on the radio. For those too young to
remember, or to know, it goes partly like this:
“Don’t Go Changing To Try And Please Me
You Never Let Me Down Before
And
Don’t Imagine You’re Too Familiar
And I Don’t See You Anymore”
It goes on as any regular song would and ended with:
“I Don’t Want Clever Conversation
I Never Want To Work That Hard I Just Want Someone That I Can Talk To I Want You Just The Way You Are”
It is not my intent to write a critique about Mr. Joel’s song. I
probably couldn’t anyway as my knowledge and comprehension of anything related to the arts is almost non-existent.
I’m not at all curious or interested about his love life
of some 36 years ago either. But I’m attracted to two
particular lines of that song, “I don’t want clever conversation” and “I want you just the way you are.”
I suppose if you’re young, naïve, and lost in love you would
probably want that song to reflect your own love life. They
say love is blind so chances are it wouldn’t bother you
much if the person you’re madly in love with is just the
way he or she is. Even if the person is mediocre, dimwitted, or unable to carry out any sort of clever conversation, you probably wouldn’t care much because like Billy
Joel, you will accept him or her just the way he or she is.
the talk by
Sheikh Imran on the above subject had taken place smoothly
on 16 Sep 2012 at Dewan Aspirasi UiTM (T). The following
are some of the messages quoted from his talk. Comments
added later by the reporter are in italics. we seek guidance
Page
7
It was narrated by Abu Said al-Khudri that once, Bilal r.a. offered
dates to Rasulullah SAW.
Rasul: “This is very fine, where did you get it?”
Bilal: “I had exchanged 2 dates of inferior quality with 1 of superior
one”.
Rasul: “Beware, this is the essence of riba’! What you should do
is to sell the inferior dates and use the money to buy the superior
dates”
Likewise, Umar r.a. had exchanged four camels with one. This
is, however, NOT riba’. WHY??
I can’t remember the last time I had any sort of clever conversations with my students; the sort that inspire the soul
or that arouse the curious mind or that encourage healthy
discourse. Usually my conversations with them are limited
to mundane and boring issues relating to their tardiness,
mediocre project reports, or simply about their need to pay
attention in class. Without engaging them in clever conversations, I surely couldn’t expect them to be clever, could I?
What is similarity among these 6 items? Gold, silver, precious
metal, commodity or things that are in abundance supply (wheat,
barley, dates) and have shelf life can be used as money. All have
been used as money. An unequal exchange is riba’.
In a somewhat odd way, this lovely April morning and Billy
Joel’s Don’t Go Changing make me reflect on how I connect
with my students. It is time for me to treat them not as they are
but as what they could be so that they can behave in a way
they should. And I shall also engage in conversations that
are more thought-provoking, challenging, and stimulating.
“I simply love April mornings. And hit songs too. Together
they can indeed change the way I see and do things. ”
Columnist :Anita Md. Shariff
edited by :Aileen Farida Mohd AdaM
Alhamdulillah,
Money in islam
As a teacher, however, I don’t think that accepting my students just the way they are is constructive. I am in the business of propelling my young charges up to their potential
by inspiring and guiding them to become what they could.
Simply accepting them the way they are may be counter to
this objective. It has to start by wanting them not as what
and who they are but as what and who they could become.
If I treat my students as they are, they would most likely accept themselves as they are too; void of any motivation to
improve. I would then have failed miserably as a teacher.
ISLAM AND THE FUTURE OF MONEY – Part I
BY SHEIKH IMRAN N. HOSEIN
and forgiveness...Aameen. May the message of this da’i
reach the hearts of those seeking for truth. From Allah
INTRODUCTION: SYSTEM OF MEANING
To understand a subject, one must go to the totality of the subject i.e. put together all verses about the subject in the Quran.
Years ago, a school boy could answer this question, but today
700 students and professors can’t. This is a sign of Akhiruzzaman – the disappearance of knowledge.
(However the Zionists shipped their gold to Switzerland).
Then, the US devalued the paper money to USD35 per ounce
and lifted the ban of keeping gold. When people rushed to get
back their gold, they found that they have lost 41% of the value.
TheAmericans were robbed in broad daylight!
1944: Under the Bretton Wood agreement, only US Dollar can
be used to buy gold at USD35 per ounce, and only governments can redeem while individuals cannot.
1969: French president Charles de Gaull wanted to redeem
French dollar reserves for gold. US saw that if that was allowed,
all other countries would follow suit. The problem is that US did
not have enough gold for all the paper money they have printed.
And thus…
August 1971: Richard Nixon, theAmerican President, finally
issued Executive Order ending the direct convertibility of dollars to
gold which ended the Bretton Wood agreement.
Money in Islam is based on the hadith:
Nixon proclaimed: “We gave our words, but we don’t have to
keep it.”
“Gold for gold, silver for silver, wheat for wheat, barley for barley,
dates for dates, and salt for salt – like for like, equal for equal, and
hand-to-hand; if the commodities differ, then you may sell as you
wish, provided that the exchange is hand-to-hand.”
So when the US discarded Bretton Wood, they had to find other
alternatives.
In Surah Al –Imran: 75, Allah speaks about the double-standard
of the Jews. This verse mentions of dinar. Another verse, Surah
Yusof: 20, “And they sold him for a reduced price - a few dirhams”
mentions the word dirham.
Definition of money in Sunnah is gold and silver. However when
they are scarce, a commodity that is abundant in supply and has
intrinsic value can be used as money. These commodities are
created byAllah.
Animals will die and mangoes will rot. Thus these cannot be used
.
as money. So four mangoes exchanged with one is fine
MODERN MONEY (FIAT AND ELECTRONIC
MONEY)
What Judeo-Christian alliance did was to establish military control
and colonized nations E.g: Malaya, and didn’t de-colonize until they
have put institutions that can act as their proxy, through which they still
control the countries.
Article 4, Section 2b of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s
Articles of Agreement prohibits countries who are members of the
IMF from linking their currency to gold. IMF as international agent
has made haram what Allah has made halal i.e.prohibiting usage
of gold as money. This is an act of Syirik!
1934: the United States Gold Reserve Act outlawed most private
possessions of gold coins, gold bullion and gold certificates, forcing individuals to sell it to the government for exchange of paper
money at the price of USD20 per ounce. Whoever violates that
law will be imprisoned.
1973: King Faisal imposed oil embargo into USA.
The US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger then managed to
get King Faisal to agree to sell oil only in USD (and invest their
profits in US treasuries, bonds and bills in return for protection of
SaudiArabian oilfields).
All countries purchasing oil from OPEC had to do so- buy with
US dollars or ‘Petrodollar’. Since then, USD flew and became
international currency! Paper money is backed by oil and not
gold. Oil is now functioning as gold.
This is what Tun Dr. Mahathir realized when he proposed gold to
the OIC as alternative to the fictitious money.
Hadith [Sahîh Muslim]
“The Last Hour will not arrive until the Euphrates uncovers a
treasure of gold, so whoever finds it should take nothing from it.”
“The hour shall not occur until the Euphrates will disclose a
mountain of gold over which people will fight. Ninety- nine out
of which hundred shall be killed and every one of them will say’
Perchance I shall be the one to succeed.”
Interpretation of ‘mountain of gold’: Something in abundance
that functions as gold that people will fight for but the believers
should not touch it. Gold is allowed in Islam, so that ‘abundance’
could not be gold. You can wait for that mountain, but we can
also say it’s already happening. (Abundance here most likely
mean petrodollar or dollar backed by black gold).
To be continued in Part II –
The future of money, dajjal & monetary system, riba’&
alternative for Muslim
Page
8
Legal Matters
Columnist : Assoc. Prof. Dr Che Zuina Ismail
I
Legal Issues in Islamic Banking
and Finance
n Malaysia, the application of Islamic law is limited
to marriage, divorce, marital property, sucession
and many other family related matters.Although the
Constitution of Malaysia in Article 3 declares that Islam is the religion of the Federation, it was construed
by the Supreme Court as to mean matters pertaining to rituals. In matters relating to contracts and commerce
in general, reliance are made to statutes introduced by the
Parliament and if in the absence of any written laws on the
matter, reference is made to statutes and principles of English laws. Written law or statutes in matters of contract and
commerce are largely based on the principles of English
laws or taken from countries with English law tradition with
some local modifications (Wu and Vohrah, 1991). As such,
Islamic banking and financing contracts although approved
by the Shariah committee are still subjected to these laws.
However, this situation sometimes presents some issues.
Some of the issues will be discussed in further details.
There are two specific provisions governing Islamic Banking in Malaysia. One is the Islamic Banking Act 1983 (IBA)
which exclusively governs Islamic banking in Malaysia
and the other is Banking and Financial Institutions Act
1989 (BAFIA) which regulates conventional banks and
Islamic Banking Divisions (IBDs). The natures of these
laws are somewhat different as the IBA has been enacted
to cope with the matters of Islamic Banking whereas BAFIA has been enacted to govern conventional banking.
Therefore, the provision in BAFIA itself specifically provides that “the Act shall not apply to Islamic Banks” (Section 124(6) of Banking and Financial Institution Act, 1989).
As such, one can loosely say that the IBA, as the name
implies, is an Islamic statute while BAFIA is a conventional
or civil statute to govern their respective banks. The nature of dual banking system; a full-fledged Islamic banking
system operating on a parallel basis with a sophisticated
conventional banking system is unique. Although some
special laws were introduced to regulate the practice of
banking and finance including the Shariah-based, the
general rule is that the banks and other financial institutions
also need to be mindful of other legislation pertaining to
their activities. This includes the application of general law
in matters such as contracts, obligations, and commerce.
Page
9
Many of these laws have not taken into account the practice
of Islamic banking and finance. At times the courts and the
practitioners face the difficulties of finding the suitable principles to be applied in the cases involving Islamic banking and
finance. As the aims and operations of the Islamic banks
are required to comply with the Shariah, the court of law has
to consider this aspiration in deciding a dispute, while at the
same time has to enforce the provision of the existing law.
Many of the jurisdictions have not made any special legislation on what is constituted Islamic banking and financial contracts. Like it or not the Islamic banks have to operate their
business within the existing legal framework and at many
times the banks and also the courts face some challenges
in applying the suitable legal principles in their contracts.
Besides the difficulty in ascertaining the appropriate legal
principles to be applied to Islamic banking cases as pointed
earlier, it is found that some of these principles contradict the
provision of Shariah. For example, the provision related to
interest. However the issue is not critical if the differences are
related on points of what is termed as fiqh (reasoning based
on interpretation of the texts i.e. al-Quran and al-Sunnah).
Nevertheless, it will post some controversial issues if the laws
contradict the general or fundamental principles of the Shariah.
The freedom given for the judges to choose principles of Shariah would eventually create differences and varying code of law
intended to be used. In order to avoid these possible issues, it is
importantforthecourttoascertainwhichprinciplesoflawshould
be applied in matters relating to Islamic banking and finance.
There are several legislations which have been referred to in
the conduct of Islamic banking business i.e. Takaful Act 1984,
Companies Act 1965, Securities Commission Act, Stamp
Duty Act 1949, National Land Code, the Contracts Act 1950,
Real Property Gains Tax Act 1967, Hire Purchase Act 1967,
Sale of Goods Act 1957 and Development Financial Institutions Act 2002. Some of the issues pertaining to the above
application have been mentioned above, especially differing of
opinions adopted by the ShariahAdvisory Committee of the Islamic banks upon which the court may have problem to adopt.
In Malaysia this has been resolved through the establishment
of the Central or National Shariah Supervisory Council in 1997
and later was entrenched further through the provision of the
new Central Bank Act 2009. This Council has the authority to
coordinate and streamline certain decisions that are of importance. Bank Negara Malaysia or the Central Bank since a decade ago has been actively issuing guidelines which function
as a subsidiary legislation to explain Islamic principles related to
Islamic banking and finance. The same was also done by the
Security Commission of Malaysia pertaining to Islamic Capital Market especially the Sukuk or Islamic Securities or Bond.
Overall the extract of what can be considered as fundamentals of Islamic banking and business contracts are as below:
(1) Prohibition of riba which is in modern banking practice
in form of interest payment or charge. In the middle east this
may also include all type of legal stratagems to allow interest
(2) Prohibition of fraud, gambling and lesion (gharar)
CONTINUED................................................................LEGAL ISSUES IN ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCE
(3) Banking activities must be based on profit making permissible by the Shariah.
The above extract is probably consonant to the nature of legislation in Malaysia pertaining to Islamic banking and finance
such as Islamic Banking Act 1983 and Takaful Act 1984 which
are largely supervisory in nature such as licensing and procedures. These legislations have little or nothing, provision on the
fundamentals and conditions of Islamic banking and finance
contracts. It is therefore expected that in Malaysia general laws
on contracts and commerce shall be applicable generally to all
types of transactions and businesses including that of Islamic
banking. The role of National Shariah Supervisory Council is
only as a mechanism to determine the application of Islamic
Shariah and not to supplement or replace the existing provisions of these general laws which may include the application
of English law in the absence of any written laws in the country.
Despite the existence of several referred provisions pertaining to the Islamic banking matters, there is still an unsolved
major issue regarding the issue of jurisdiction of the court in
determining the case involving Islamic banking and Takaful matters; whether it is the jurisdiction of the Shariah or
civil court. This is certainly an issue of great importance and
urgency as there are a large number of cases involving Islamic Banking still awaiting decisions and settlements in courts.
Malaysia practices dual court system, and during the early
stage of Islamic banking there was a question as to which
court shall have the jurisdiction to administer Islamic banking
cases. Now by the decision of appeal court, the Civil Court
shall have the jurisdiction to hear and decide cases on Islamic
banking on the basis that commercial matters including that
of Islamic banking is within the Federal jurisdiction (Hidayat,
2007). The fear that the judges of the civil court are not trained
in the matters of Shariah is now allayed by the new Central
Bank Act 2009 mentioning that the Court shall refer questions
on the Shariah law to the resolution of the Shariah Council or
the Council itself for answers (Aishath et.al, 2010). Although
this is a step forward in the development of Islamic bank in
Malaysia, it is, however still do not answer the question on
what are the precise legal principles that should be applied, as
Shariah Council’s proceeding and its decision is undisclosed.
This has been explained by Norhashimah (1997A) while
commenting on the case of Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd. v Adnan Bin Omar (unreported), where it deals with the issue of
jurisdiction of Shari’ah Court over Islamic banking cases. The
court in that case had decided that BIMB is a corporate body
which has no religion, and consequently it is not within the
jurisdiction of Shari’ah Courts. List II (State List) of the Ninth
Schedule to the Federal Constitution stated that the Shari’ah
Courts shall have jurisdiction only over persons professing the
religion of Islam and in respect only of any matters included
in the State List. NH Chan J held that the matter was rightly
brought before the civil court because Islamic Institutions such
as BIMB and Syarikat Takaful are corporate institutions created
by statute and do not have a religion (Norhashimah, 1997B).
Another interesting case which attracted the application of doctrine of separate legal entity in Islamic banking is the case of Dato’
Hj Nik Mahmud bin Daud v. Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd. [1996].
The fact disclosed that a Bay’ Bithaman Ajil financing agreement
was entered into by plaintiff and BIMB to develop his piece of land
in Kelantan. The land is held under the Kelantan Malay Reservation Enactment 1930; whereby section 7(i) prohibits any transfer
or transmission or vesting of any right or interest of Malay in reservation land to or in any person not being Malay. The issue here is
whether there is a transfer or a vesting of right or interest involving
non-Malay. This is due to the fact that BIMB is a bank with neither
Malay nor a native of Kelantan. However, to reconcile this matter
and to enable the bank to register the charge, Schedule D of the
1930 Enactment allows Rulers in Council to grant Malay status
to a bank
for
the
purpose of
registering
a charge
document
(Norhashim a h ,
1997C).
It seems
that the
more Islamic Shariah is appreciated as source of law the lesser the challenge will
be. For this reason, country like Malaysia where the legal system
has minimal reference to Islamic law, many steps have been
taken to minimize this challenge compared to other countries.
At the same time, it is realized that in order to support a strong
banking system, the legal framework must also be clear, consistence and fully understandable by all parties involved in the industries. In Malaysia, new legislation pertaining to the substance
of Islamic banking contracts is now being tabled in the Parliament
to be introduced as legal law in the middle of 2013. The introduction of this law will certainly provide a more clear and consistent
atmosphere for Islamic banking industry in Malaysia in the future.
References
Federal Constitution
Ahmad Hidayat Buang (2007). “Islamic Contracts in a Secular Court Setting?
Lessons FromMalaysia”,Arab Law Quarterly, Vol. 21, Part 4, (2007), pp.317-340
Aishath Muneeza, et.al. (2010). “The Paradox Struggle Between the Islamic and
Conventional Banking System”, Journal ofAsia Pacific Studies, Vol.1, no.2 (2010),
pp.200-203.
Norhashimah Mohd. Yasin (1997A). Islamic Banking: Case Commentaries
Involving al-Bay’ BithamanAjil [1997] 3 MLJ p. cxcii.
Norhashimah Mohd. Yasin (1997B). Islamic Banking: Case Commentaries
Involving al-Bay’ BithamanAjil [1997] 3 MLJ pp. cxcv-cxcvi.
Norhashimah Mohd. Yasin (1997C). Islamic Banking: Case Commentaries
Involving al-Bay’ BithamanAjil [1997] 3 MLJ pp. cc-cci.
Norhashimah Mohd Yasin (2009).Islamic Banking in Malaysia: Legal Hiccups and
Suggested Remedies. Journal IIUM. Kuala Lumpur: IIUM’s Publisher .Vol. 9. p. 4.
Wu M.A & Vohrah,B (1991). The Commercial Law of Malaysia, Longman
Malaysia, p.xxxii.
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