Sunday, June 28, 2009

THE POWER OF DUA/DOA (PRAYERS)


Once Prophet Muhammad saw passed by a people who were suffering from some affliction.

"Why don't they make dua (pray) to Allah for protection," he said.


With all the suffering and disasters Muslims are facing in various parts of the world, the question can be directed to all of us today.


It is not that we have forgotten dua completely; we refer to it regularly. But, our ideas and practice regarding dua have become distorted. Often it is reduced to the level of a ritual. Generally it is considered when all our efforts have failed --- an act of last resort. It is belittled through actions and sometimes even with words. Is it any wonder that today mostly a mention of dua is meant to indicate the hopelessness of a situation.


What a tragedy, for dua is the most potent weapon of a believer. It can change fate, while no action of ours ever can. It is the essence of ibadah or worship. With it we can never fail; without it we can never succeed. In the proper scheme of things, dua should be the first and the last resort of the believer, with all his plans and actions coming in between.


Dua is conversation with Allah swt, out Creator, our Lord and Master, the All Knowing, the All Powerful. This act in itself is of extraordinary significance. It is the most uplifting, liberating, empowering, and transforming conversation a person can ever have. We turn to Him because we know that He alone can lift our sufferings and solve our problems. We feel relieved after describing our difficulties to our Creator. We feel empowered after having communicated with the All Mighty. We sense His mercy all around us after talking to the Most Merciful. We get a new commitment to follow His path for that is the only path for success. We feel blessed with each such commitment.


In every difficulty our first action is dua, as is our last. We ask Allah swt to show us the way to handle that difficulty; we seek His help in following the path He shows to us; we seek His aid in making our efforts successful. When we fall sick, we know that we cannot find the right doctor without His Will; that the best doctor may not be able to diagnose our condition without His Command; that the best treatment plan will not succeed without His Permission. We make dua for all of these. We make dua before we seek medical help, while we are receiving it and after it has been delivered. The same is true of all other difficulties we may encounter.


Dua is the essence of ibadah. A person engaged in dua affirms his belief in Tawheed (monotheism) and shuns belief in all false gods. With each dua his belief in Allah grows. He beseeches Him, affirming his own powerlessness. A person seriously and sincerely engaged in dua understands exactly the relationship between himself and the Creator and affirms it through his actions. That is the essence of worship! Additionally, such a person can never become arrogant or proud, a logical result of true worship.


Dua is our most potent weapon in all struggles of life as well as in jihad in the battlefield. During the battle of Badr, the Prophet Muhammad saw stood up all night in prayer seeking Allah's help in the battle between unequal armies that would follow the next day. In the decisive battles against the crusaders, Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi was busy day and night. His days were devoted to Jihad. His nights were spent making dua, crying, seeking Allah's help. This has been the practice of all true mujahideen.


We should make it a point to make dua for all things big and small. It is the beginning of wisdom to realise that big and small are arbitrary labels that are totally irrelevant in this context. Nothing is too big for Whom we are asking from; nothing is too small for the one who is asking. That is why we have been taught to ask Allah swt when we need something as small as shoelaces. We should ask as a beggar, as a destitute person, for that is what we in reality are in relationship to Allah. At the same time we should ask with great hope and conviction that we shall be granted our prayers. We should remember the Hadith:
"There is nothing more dear to Allah than a servant making dua to Him."

On the other hand, a prayer lacking concentration and conviction is no prayer at all.

We should make dua at all times, not only during times of distress. The Prophet Muhammad saw said:

"Whosoever desires that Allah answers his duas in unfavorable and difficult conditions, he should make plentiful dua in days of ease and comfort."

Also he said:

"The person who does not ask from Allah, Allah becomes angry with him."


We should ask for all of our needs: those related to this world as well as those related to the Hereafter. Those who only concentrate on the former are, in effect, announcing that they don't care for their life in the permanent abode. They should blame nobody but themselves for the total ruin in that world that Quran assures us awaits them. Those who only concentrate on the later are also showing lack of balance, for we need Allah's help to lead a good life here as well.


We should make dua not only for ourselves but also for our parents, brothers and sisters, spouses and children, relatives and friends, teachers and other benefactors, and destitute and struggling Muslims everywhere. We should pray for them for the good in this world as well as in the Hereafter. The Prophet saw said:

"The dua of a Muslim for his brother (in Islam) in his absence is readily accepted. An angel is appointed to his side. Whenever he makes a beneficial dua for his brother the appointed angel says, 'Aameen. And may you also be blessed with the same.'" [Sahih Muslim]


In the world that we are living in today, what do we do? We can continue to just feel frustrated and depressed. Or we can stand up before Allah swt and pray for His help, who alone can help. The dua can change our life, our outlook, and our fate. It is the most potent weapon. But it works only for those who try sincerely and seriously to use it.


BANKS AND LEGALIZED PONZI SCHEME



Last week, I saw a documentary on TV about the acts of one famous person – Bernard L Madoff. Sounds familiar? Well, he is none other than a person who has made headlines in the US in 2008 – where he has made off with USD50 Billion of other people’s money...just like that, whoosh...money gone.


Madoff confessed that all these years he had been running a Ponzi scheme and, in fact, never made any significant money by investing.


What is a Ponzi scheme?


A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment system where the investment house eats up the investors’ money, but gives them the impression that their money is producing good returns.


This is accomplished by paying dividends to earlier investors using the money coming from later investors rather than from profit. Any incidental withdrawals are also managed the same way. The system works if the amount of new money coming in is more than that required to pay these returns and withdrawals and to cover operating expenses. The scheme however fails if too many investors want to withdraw their money or enough new investors are not coming in. Both of these events are likely to happen in an economic downturn.


This is exactly what happened to Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and its disastrous results are now well known.


Banks and legalized Ponzi system


Come to think of it, one has to admit that banks are, in effect, also a legalized Ponzi scheme and therefore are also subject to the same pressures.


Banks in the US are allowed to leverage themselves up to almost 50 times their total assets, which means that when fully leveraged, a 2% loss will wipe out their assets. The bank will have therefore eaten up the investor’s money. Because 2% losses in business are common place, this asset wipe out is not an unlikely phenomenon. Under these circumstances, what keeps the bank operational and appearing healthy is the money coming in from new deposits. These new deposits are used to pay operating expenses, to service withdrawals and to pay any dividends that become due. Just as in a Ponzi scheme, if the new deposits fall below a critical level, the whole banking system will come crashing down.


This appears to have been the case in the United States at the end of 2008. This will destroy confidence in the system for a long time to come and therefore will damage the economy severely. The banks therefore needed to be supported by large infusions of cash making up for the missing new deposits that did not come in because of the economic downturn. This support will need to continue until the economy recovers to a point that the new deposits exceed the amount needed to service withdrawals, dividends and running expenses.



THE CONCEPT OF DARURAH



Yesterday, a fellow classmate has raised a question to my learned Professor on the concept of darurah in Islamic banking environment particularly in Malaysia. It is sad that after nearly 3 decades of the establishment of the first local Islamic bank in Malaysia, and based on the court cases (High Court and Court of Appeal), there seems to be still confusion in the concepts practiced by these Islamic banks.


What is darurah?


Darurah or extreme necessity, is things that which the Muslim cannot manage without. In other words, darurah is a legal instrument applicable in cases of extreme necessity or vital interest by which a person is allowed to act in a manner that would normally be forbidden. Allah swt has lifted difficulty as stated in Surah Al-Haj and Al-Ma'idah:


"And He has not laid upon you in religion any hardship" (22:78).


"Allah does not want to place you in difficulty, but He wants to purify you, and to complete His Favour to you that you may be thankful" (5:6).


However, there is another rule which governs and complements the rule of extreme necessity and need. This rule reads what has been made permissible due to extreme necessity must be dealt with great care and taken in a temporary and restricted measure.


Once we find ourselves in a darurah situation, it is obligatory to do everything in our power to move away from the situation as it is not allowed to dwell in that situation forever.


Islamic banks in Malaysia


During the earlier development stages of Islamic banking industry in Malaysia, the industry players were trying to preserve the capitalist environment and tools at the expense of the conditions imposed by Shariah – and they are doing this wrongly in the name of ijtihad and darurah.


Whether we like it or not, we can see that Islamic banks practice some kind of riba, in the same way that other conventional banks do, except that the differences are purely cosmetic. These Islamic banks tend to mislead common people by the use of Arabic names and the misrepresentation of commercial contracts as well as the introduction of certain forbidden practices such as “two transactions in one”, which are not known to be Haram by most people. Islamic banks dwell on the exceptionality of darurah in order to justify their own interpretation of Shariah, which validates banking practices, thus, they do not intend to change or eliminate the situation of darurah, because such a change would imply the end of their justifications