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Civis Britannia sum. A legal essay by Ahmad Thomson, page 22

EDITORIALBy Abu Bakr Rieger.

COVER STORYFar from retiring: Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad.

FINANCEDollar on a downward spiral. Seven countries that mayabandon the US dollar.

INTERVIEWMother of all money? Conversation about thefinancial system.

MARKETSHalal market analysis. The industry is undergoing a shift.

LAWCivis Britannia sum. A legal essay by Ahmad Thomson.

WORLDEURASIAThe Western Balkans. An assesment by the European Union.Muslims in Croatia. Interview with Mufti Sevko Omerbasic.

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Freiburg attracts many tourists, page 54

CONCEPTANDEDITORIAL

WORLDGLOBALModern polit ics. On the polit ical consequences of terrorism.

GERMANYForced to change. An evaluation of Muslim organisations.

INTERVIEWAl-Andalus shines on. The new Mosque of Granada in focus.

MEDIALeagues ahead. Germany: Islamische Zeitungleads the discourse.

CULTUREThe poets and Islam. A Muslim perspectiveon European t hought.

LITERATUREA visit to Globalia. On the famous bookby Jean-Christophe Rufin.

TRAVELPearl of the Black Forest. Europe is to be found in itssmaller cities.

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CHIEF EDITORAbu Bakr Rieger

PUBLISHERIZMedien GmbHBeilsteinerstr. 121

12681 BerlinGermany

ASSOCIATE EDITORSulaiman Wilms

DISTRIBUTIONIZMedien GmbH

PRINTINGmsk marketingservicekln

GLOBALIA Magazine reserves theright to shorten letters. Readersletters, guest articles and quotationsdo not necessarily represent the

opinions of the Editors, nor doarticles by named authors.

PHONE+49 (0)30 240 48974

MOBILE+49 (0)179 967 8018

FAX+49 (0)30 240 48975

[email protected]

WEBSITEwww.globaliamagazine.com


4/56GLOBALIA | Issue 01 | January 2008

EDITORIAL


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EDITORIAL

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Dear Readers,

We are very pleased to present to you our new

magazine, which is published in Berlin:

GLOBALIA Magazine.

After some preparation we are finally ready

to launch a media project consisting of

tradit ional printed publications, a creative

website, and a progressive multimedia

offering.

Together with some new partners we hope

to build a strong place in the market for this

truly global magazine over the course of 2008.

The world is in constant change, and to

understand the way it is today we have to

think i n global terms. The extraordinarytechnical achievements of recent years have

expanded our horizons,yet they also threaten

our freedom, our tradit ions and our cultural

distinctions. The relationship between

economics and politics has also changed

dramatically over the past decades.The new

models which seek to explain our situation

be it the meaning of our lives, our cultures,

or our sciences must take a complete view.

GLOBALIA strives to indicate some of these

new views and ideas.

The new models which seek to explain our

situation be it the meaning of our lives, our

cult ures, or our sciences must take a complete

view. GLOBALIA strives to indicate some of these

new views and ideas.

EDITORIAL

BY ABU BAKR RIEGER

a sinister world in which everything was

forbidden. In 2004 the French author Jean-

Christophe Rufin published a similarly eerienovel entitled Globalia. In Globalia, Rufin

describes a world devoid of history in which,

he explains, everything is allowed.Rufin is one

of the great European thinkers who, in the age

of technology, sees not only politi cal

sovereignty threatened, but human freedom

itself. At a literary fair in Cologne, Rufin was

asked where he saw hope for the human

species.The Frenchmans simple answer was,

We need a Book.

I hope you enjoy this and the forthcoming

Issues of GLOBALIA Magazine.

Warmest regards,

Abu Bakr Rieger

Editor

People make history. Trade between people

brings peace. One of our aims is to stimulate

discussion between the elites who trade

globally.We wil l examine especially the points

of view of important business-people,thinkers

and artists from the new urban centres of

this world such as Berlin, Istanbul, Dubai and

Kuala Lumpur.

Our editorial objective, and with that our journalistic goal, is to portray the latest

developments on the great continents. As

Muslims we will of course be observing the

new, constructive role that Muslims have to

play.

In this Issue we acknowledge the work of

one of Asias great polit ical figures, Dr.

Mahathir bin Mohamad. The success he

brought Malaysia is undisputed. His effortsto defend its political sovereignty against t he

machinations of global speculation deserve

a review for t hey too are a story of success.

Like Tayyib Erdogan, the similarly successful

Turkish Prime Minister, Mahathir has often

defended Islam against false accusations.

Neither polit ician would accept the idea that

terrorism can be Islamic .

When the visionary George Orwell published

his famous future-novel 1984, he described


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COVER STORY

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into the country. He ensured that Malaysia

was able to develop quickly and at the same

time remain stable. The analyst considersMahathirs greatest service to be his attempt

to build up international relations. Mahathir,

continues Chandra, was always active on

behalf of people who were oppressed,

whether in Palestine, Bosnia or Iraq. During

the Balkan War Malaysia stood f irmly at the

side of the persecuted Muslims.

Though some years have passed since he left

power, Mahathirs advice is stil l soughtthroughout the world. He does not leave

Istanbul before meeting in private with Turkish

Prime Minister Tayyib Erdogan. The two

Muslim politicians may belong to different

generations, but they both embody the

possibility of a meeting between Islam and

modernity.Both agree that Islamic terrorism

is nothing but a cynical neologism. Muslim

terrorists may exist, but, both are convinced,

there certainly can be no Islamic terrorism.

Both of them are of the view that the Muslims

can achieve a real future only with an

economic concept, not w ith anarchic violence.

Neither politician sees a contradiction in

adhering to Islamic tradit ion while being open

to technical progress.

And indeed, Mahathirs powerful political

philosophy follows all of the categories ofreason. His thinking was put to the practical

test on at least one occasion in the economic

sphere. The assault on Malaysias national

integrity in t he 1990s was not by armies and

tanks, it was by other methods. Currency

speculators attacked the national economy

and with it the ringgit. The Prime Ministers

response was to remain cool. Mahathir

understood that it was his countrys polit ical

sovereignty that was at stake. Mahathir, a

Muslim, followed the logic of the

On the war in Iraq

What has this war gained for America and

Britain? Nothing except the unnecessary death

of American soldiers, destruction of Iraq andhigher oil prices. There is no democracy in

Iraq, for which American soldiers were

supposed to die. Invading a country today

does not end in conquest and subjugation of

the people. The occupying forces would be

continuously attacked by guerillas and

terrorists.War is no longer an option for even

the most powerful countries in the settlement

of international disputes.

An appeal to the American people, Perdana

Global Peace Initiative

On Collateral damage

If the innocent people who died in the attack

on Afghanistan and those who have been

dying from lack of food and medical care in

Iraq are considered collateral, are the 3,000

who died in New York, and the 200 in Bali

also just collateral whose deaths are necessary

for operations to succeed?

2003, speech to the Non-Aligned Movement

in Kuala Lumpur

On suicide bombings

Suicide is expressly forbidden in Islam. It is

a grave sin. And the deliberate killing of

innocent civilians is either murder or an act

of terror. We should not shy away from

accepting that. Once we have done that we

could, of course,explain and understand the

causes of suicide bombing and acts of terror.

This is not difficult to do in the case ofPalestine.

23 May 2003, Interview with Amir Taheri

On capitalism

Its quite obvious that when the Eastern Bloc

was stil l there, it was a tustle between capi-

tali sm and communism. Once communismwas defeated, capitalism could expand and

show its true self. It is no longer constrained

by the need to be nice so that people will

choose their so-called free-market system as

opposed a central ly planned system. So

because of that, nowadays there is nothing

to restrain capital, and capital is demanding

that it should be able to go anywhere and do

whatever i t likes.

1 February 2007, interview wi th t he US-

American broadcaster PBS

On currency trading

I mention all t hese because society must be

protected from unscrupulous profiteers. I know

I am taking a big risk to suggest it, but I am

saying that currency trading is unnecessary,

unproductive and immoral. It should be

stopped. It should be made illegal.We dont

need currency trading. We need to buy money

only when we want to finance real trade.

Otherwise we should not buy or sell currenciesas we sell commodities.

20 September 1997, at the annual seminar of

the World Bank in Hong Kong

Prosperity and peace

Prosperous countries, on the other hand,

are more likely to be peaceful and less of a

burden to the rest of the world. A prosper-

thy-neighbour policy would therefore give a

better return than a beggar-thy-neighbour

policy.20 September 1997, at the annual seminar of

the World Bank in Hong Kong

BEETWEEN WAR

AND FINANCESELECTED QUOTES



COVER STORY

THE MUSLIM WORLD TODAYEXCERPTS FROM A TALK BY TUN DR. M AHATHIR BIN MOHAM AD IN ISTANBUL

That t here should be European Muslims at all

is a blessing. I believe that many Europeans

are now accepting Islam because they have

lost faith in Christianity or they themselves

feel spiritually lost. We should be happy andgrateful to Allah, subhanahu wa taala, that

there are still Europeans who are Muslim.

But there is little that is pleasing about the

present situation of European Muslims and

indeed of Islam and the Muslims generally.

Today we hear open condemnation of Islam

as a religion which promotes terrorism. (...)

We see Muslim countries being invaded and

Muslims slaughtered. And we see Muslims

and their countries unable to help or prot ect

their brot hers and sisters because they are all

weak or they do not really regard other

Muslims as their brothers. (...)

Yet we see many Muslim countries richer

then they have ever been before, richer than

even their rich detractors. We see Muslim

countries holding the key to the well-being

and prosperity of the world, but t his has not

been used in the interests of Islam and theMuslims. (...) In the midst of this wealth we

see Muslims and Muslim countries languish-

ing in poverty and misery, unable even to

feed themselves, much less to develop and

prosper their communities and nations. (...)

We see a state of denial among other Muslimswhere they claim that although they are being

oppressed and looked down upon, although

they are poverty-stricken and miserable,

actually they are better off than their

tormentors and oppressors. In fact some

contend that being miserable, poor and

oppressed is what makes them good Muslims.

(...) This is self-deception of a high degree. In

reality this world is as much for the Muslims

as it is for those of other faiths.

The question is, have we t ried? The obvious

answer is that we have not. If we look back

we must notice that the greatness of the

Islamic civilization was due to the efforts

made and work done by the early Muslims.

(...) We know that at one time the Muslims

were the most successful people. They

succeeded in building a great civilization. (...)

Muslims are certainly backward in this field.

They have become the consumers of theproducts of modern knowledge and are quite

incapable of even producing their own basic

needs. In fact even for their own defence they

have to source their weapons from the non-

Muslims.

(...) But there is also Fard al-Kifayah, which

must be performed by a member or some

members of the Muslim community. Failing

which, the whole community would bear the

sin,which the individual performance of Fard

al-Ayn cannot expiate. Thus it is incumbent

upon a Muslim community to have experts

in t he fields of defence, in agriculture and

food production, in medicine and so on, so

that the community is well provided for and

can look after its well-being.

(...) If we want Islam to be respected, to w in

support if not convert non-Muslims we

have to show that Muslims are good,

successful people. In the fi rst place we must

develop a good capacity for governing our

communities and countries. Most M uslim

countries today are not well-governed and are

not capable of development.They are largely

consumer communities or nations incapable

of industrialising and producing their modern

needs. The education standards are low and

as I said earlier they do not produce greatscholars as they did in t he past. In a fast

changing world they are not innovative,

always depending on others to come up wit h

new ideas or products which they then buy

at inflated prices.

Tun Dr.Mahathirs lecture The European

Muslims Role and Responsibility was

given at the Eurasian Symposium of the

European Muslim Union in Istanbul inJanuary 2007.


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FINANCE

It is no secret that the dollar is on a down-

ward spiral. Its value is dropping,and the Fed

isnt doing a whole lot to change that. As a

result, a number of countries are considering

a shift away from the dollar to preserve their

assets. Here are seven of the countries

currently considering a move f rom the dollar,

and how they wil l affect i ts value and the US

economy.

Saudi Arabia

The Telegraph reports that for the fi rst time,

Saudi Arabia has refused to cut interest rates

along w ith the US Federal Reserve. This is

The Greenback is losing more and more buying power.

It is no secret that the dollar is on a downward

spiral. Its value is dropping, and the Fed isnt

doing a whole lot to change that. As a result , some

countries are considering a shift away from the

dollar to preserve their assets. These states areconsidering a move from the dollar.

DOLLAR ON A DOWNWARD SPIRALSEVEN COUNTRIES THAT MAY ABANDON THE US DOLLAR

seen as a signal t hat a break from the dollar

currency peg is imminent. The kingdom is

taking appropriate measures to protect

itself from letting the dollar cause problems

for it s own economy. They are concerned

about t he threat of inflation and do not want

to deal with recessionary conditions in the

US. Hans Redeker of BNP Paribas believes

this creates a very dangerous situation for

the dollar, as Saudi Arabia alone has

management of $800 billion. Experts fearthat a break from the dollar in Saudi Arabia

could set off a stampede from the dollar

in the Middle East, a region that manages

$3,500 billion.

South Korea

In 2005, Korea announced its intention to

shift its investments to currencies of countries

other than the US. Although t hey are simply

making plans to diversify for the future, that

does not mean a large dollar drop isnt in the


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FINANCE

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works. There are whispers that the Bank of

Korea is planning to sell $1 bill ion of US bonds

in the near future, after a $100 million salethis past August.

China

After already dropping the dollar peg in 2005,

China has more trouble up its sleeve.

Currently, China is threatening a nuclear

option of huge dollar liquidation in response

to possible t rade sanctions intended to force

a yuan revaluation. Although China doesnt

want any undesirable phenomena in theglobal f inancial order, its large sum of US

dollars does serve as a bargaining chip .As

we have noted in the past, China has the

power to take the wind out of the dollar.

Venezuela

Venezuela holds litt le loyalty to the dollar. In

fact they have shown overt disapproval,

choosing to establish barter deals for oil.

These barter deals, established under HugoChavez, allow Venezuela to t rade oil wi th 12

Latin American countries and Cuba without

using the dollar, shorting the US its usual

subsidy.Chavez is not shy about this decision,

and has publicly encouraged others to adopt

similar arrangements. In 2000, Chavez

recommended to OPEC that t hey take

advantage of high-tech electronic barter and

bi-lateral exchanges of its oil with its

developing country customers, or in other

words,stop using the dollar,or even the euro,

for oil t ransactions. In September, Chavez

instructed Venezuelas state oil company

Petroleos de Venezuela SA to change its dollar

investments to euros and other currencies in

order to mitigate risk.

Sudan

Sudan is, once again, planning to convert its

dollar holdings to the euro and other

currencies. Addi t ional ly, they have

recommended commercial banks,government

departments, and private businesses to do

the same. In 1997, the Central Bank of Sudan

made a similar recommendation in response

to US sanctions from former President Clinton,

but the implementation failed. This time

around, 31 Sudanese companies have become

subject to sanctions, preventing them from

doing trade or financial transactions with the

US. Officially, the sanctions are reported to

have had litt le effect, but there are indications

that the economy is suffering due to these

restrictions.A decision t o move Sudan awayfrom the dollar is intended to allow the

country to work around these sanctions as

well as any implemented in the future.

However, a Khartoum committ ee recently

concluded that proposals for a reduced

dependence on the dollar are not feasible .

Regardless, it is clear that Sudans intent is

to attempt a break from the dollar in the

future.

Iran

Iran is perhaps the most likely candidate for

an imminent abandonment of the dollar.

Recently,Iran requested that its shipments to

Japan be traded for yen instead of dollars.

Further, Iran has plans in the works to create

an open commodity exchange called the Iran

Oil Bourse. This exchange would make it

possible to trade oil and gas in non-dollar

currencies, the euro in particular. Although

the oil bourse has missed at least three of i ts

announced opening dates, it serves to make

clear Irans intentions for the dollar. As of

October 2007, Iran receives non-dollar

currencies for 85% of its oil exports, and has

plans to move the remaining 15% to

currencies like the United Arab Emirates

dirham.

Russia

Iran is not alone in it s desire to establish an

alternative to trading oil and other

commodities in dollars. In 2006, Russian

President Vladimir Putin expressed interest in

establ ishing a Russian stock exchange which

would allow oil, gas, and other goods to be

paid for in roubles. Russias intentions are

no secret in the past, they have made it clear

that they are wary of holding t oo many dollar

reserves. In 2004, Russian Central Bank First

Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev remarked,

Most of our reserves are in dollars, and that

is a cause for concern. He went on to explain

that, after considering the dollars rate against

the euro,Russia is discussing the possibility

of changing the reserve structure. Then in

2005, Russia put an end to its dollar peg,

opting to move towards a euro alignment.

They have discussed pricing oil in euros, a

move that could produce a large shift away

from the dollar and towards the euro, as

Russia is the worlds second-largest export er.

What does this all mean?Countries are growing weary of losing money

on the falling dollar. Many of them want to

protect their f inancial interests,and a number

of them want to end the US oversight that

comes with using the dollar.Although i ts not

clear how many of these countries will actually

follow through on an abandonment of the

dollar, it is clear that its status as a world

currency is in trouble.

Obviously, an abandonment of the dollar is

bad news for the currency. Simply put, as

demand lessens,its value drops.Additionally,

the revenue generated from the use of the

dollar wi ll be sorely missed if it is lost. The

dollars status as a cheaply-produced US

export is a vital part of the American economy.

Losing this status could rock the financial

lives of both Americans and the worldwide

economy.

Text The Muslim Observer


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INTERVIEW

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Source of wealth: South African worker in a gold mine.

today is in the service of fewer and fewer

people, is used as a means for total economic

consolidation (call it globalisation) and has

successfully freed itself from the need to

satisfy any moral or ethical requirements. In

other words, the global use of capital is

guaranteed through the free market

economy and as such cannot be brought into

question. The necessary liquidity is based on

increasing indebtedness and a growth of the

money supply, which have taken on alarming

proportions. While this steadily growing

indebtedness forces a growing slice of the

gross domestic product to be spent servicinginterest payments, money is being printed

wi thout end until the trees are used up, so

to speak and the M3, as the broadest

measure of money supply,grows at 12 to 13

per cent annually in the USA and the

Eurozone. In poorer regions, money supply is

growing considerably faster.

In other words, in order to guarantee the

liquidity needed for globalisation and to

finance the indebtedness it causes, the

Western countries are today creating new

money at a rate of up to 13 per cent per

annum.

Globalia: Where does this money come

from?

Mohamed Abbas: The new money doesnt

bring any new value along wit h it, since it is

born in a magical fashion it is created out

of nothing and it is not backed up by

inherent value like gold. Instead it borrow s

its value, as it were, from existing money,

with the result that every year the existingmoney loses a corresponding share of its

purchasing power. The M3 growth rate is

clearly closer to real inflation than the too-

low,glossed-over inflation figures that central

banks use for their official reports.

Interestingly, the US Federal Reserve (the Fed)

stopped measuring and publishing the M3 at

the end of 2006,most likely in order to allow

it to keep driving its miraculous reproduction

of money higher and higher, unencumbered

by bothersome criticism.

For the Eurozone this means that in seven

years, tw ice as many euros will be in

circulation as there are today.Although thisought to provoke some reflection, no-one

seems to resist. While the state uses this

situation to finance its financial mis-

management, the citizen is left struggling

with more and more cheap money, and in

the long-term we as workers and normal

salaried employees are the ones who suffer

from this ruinous monetary policy.

Globalia: Is that why the topic of gold is

more popular than ever?

Mohamed Abbas: As you might probably

know, e-dinar works with Emirates Gold (the

largest gold and silver producer in the Middle

East) to produce the Gold Dinar and Silver

Dirham as the traditional currency of the

Muslims in accordance with the exact

historical standards. The Dinar and Dirham

were used for more than 1200 years, all the

way from China to Europe and Africa,as the

most important means of payment, and are

the most significant and enduring bi-metallic

currency in the history of humankind. The

Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham are therefore

highly symbolic in character. On a practical

level, gold and silver are ideal to avoid the

aforementioned inflation. Since gold and silver

are not created out of nothing, rather haveto be wrestled out of the ground, then

transported and refined, they have a

guaranteed inherent value which is based on

a combination of the cost of obtaining and

producing them, their rarity, and demand in

the market. This inherent value prevents a

reduction in purchasing power. Historically,

gold and silver are regarded as immune to

inflation.When inflation is high, gold and sil-

ver prices therefore rise more quickly some-

thing we have certainly seen in recent years.



INTERVIEW

Globalia: Does this mean we should

return to some kind of gold standard?

Mohamed Abbas:As you likely know, the last

off icial gold standard, which was anchored

in the Bretton-Woods Agreement, was finally

dissolved by President Nixon in 1971. That

meant the removal of what was then a partial

backing of the US dollar by gold. At t he same

time this was the formal end of gold as the

reserve currency.The wondrous reproduction

of paper money which began in 1971 resulted

in extreme inflation and raging interest rates up until 1980 both were well over 10 per

cent and one of the biggest bull-runs on gold

in history, in which its per-ounce price rose

by 2000 per cent in ten years; in 1971 gold

cost 44 US dollars and by 1980 it cost 850.

Although the only way to reconstruct the

necessary fiscal discipline would be to link

money growth to gold governments have

amply demonstrated their inability to maintain

such discipline themselves such a process

could no longer be implemented in the

developing w orld today. We have already

passed the point of no return and are on

course for a financial collision in the world

economy. Even if it were possible to reinstate

a partial gold standard, the resulting

deceleration in economic expansion and

money supply growth would tend to bring an

economic and financial collapse forward in

the West rather than delay it something

which, incidentally, does not apply to the

poorest countries in the world, as I wil l

explain. Thus for the rich countr ies there

remains only the unattractive prospect of

confronting their own collapse with open

eyes.

Lets look briefly at some key figures. While

the worlds above-ground gold stocks

including all bullion, jewellery and coins

amount to around 160,000 tons (nearly USD

4 billion at todays market price), the

worldwide paper value including money,

stocks and shares,bonds and derivatives lies

somewhere between USD 250 and 400 bill ion,

depending on which estimates and sources

you choose. To give you a visual idea, all the

gold in the world could be stored easily in a

medium sized hall.

One of the effects of a new gold standard

would be that the retroactive backing of the

worlds paper money by gold w ould cause a

50 to 100-fold increase in the gold price

something which in reality would not be

feasible.

A new gold standard can only be implemented

after the inevitable collapse of the world

financial system. The question is not if, but

when. Only then will gold f ind its way back

to its historical role as the mother of all

money.

Globalia:Can you tell us something about

the reality of the Gold Dinar and the

Silver Dirham in the past, and their basis

in Islamic Law?

Mohamed Abbas:As I mentioned before, the

Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham are the

tradit ional currency of the Muslims, and were

used as an accepted means of payment all

the way from China to Europe and Africa for

more than 1200 years. They are the most

important and enduring bi-metallic currency

in the history of man.A lesser known fact is

that the first European gold and silver

currencies of the late Middle Ages were based

on, and also copied, the Muslim coins. The

Muslim coins quickly established themselves

in the trading centres of that time such as

Venice and Barcelona, and found their way

from there to the largest cities and royal

houses of northern Europe. The spread of

European gold and silver currencies in the

late Middle Ages, in turn, laid the foundation

for the flourishing of science, arts and trade

in the European Renaissance.

For Muslims the use of gold and silver is not

some kind of backwards-looking romanticism.

This is demonstrated by the payment of Zakat

(a 2.5% tax calculated on standing wealth),

which has to be paid in gold and silver and

also by normal daily t ransactions.

Globalia: Why is that?

Mohamed Abbas:The Quran specifies that a

means of payment must possess an inherent

value that corresponds to its purchasing

power.All t ypes of promise of payment and

our modern paper money is nothing other

than that are forbidden and cannot be used

in payment transactions, because they are

inextricably linked to interest, and Muslims

may not have involvement with interest. For

example, as soon as new paper money is

created, it is loaned at an internal interest

rate by the Central Bank to the commercial

banks, who in turn lend it at higher interest

rates to their customers. In the context of the

fractional-reserve system this business is

extremely profi table. The fractional-reserve

system means that a commercial bank is able

to lend out the same single euro between 20

and 40 times. At f ive per cent int erest per

year, the bank is earning 100 to 200 per cent

annually from the interest on loans covered

by its customers cash deposits. Such a

miraculous increase of wealth is of course

only possible if you accept money created

out of nothing, and would fail miserably with

a physical gold and silver currency. That is

why Islam prohibit s promises of payment as

a means of payment. The Prophet

Muhammad, may the blessings and peace of

Allah be upon him,said:A time w ill certainly

come upon mankind when nothing will be of

use except a Dinar and a Dirham. In the year

695 of t he Christian calendar, the Khalif


15/5615

INTERVIEW

14

Abdalmalik minted the first Dirhams, thereby

establishing the official standard of Umar

ibn Al-Khattab. In the follow ing years, on the

order of the Khalif, the Dirham was produced

in all t he regions of Islam with the inscription,

Allah is Unique,Allah is Eternal . In addition

he ordered that all human and animal figures

be removed from the coins and that t hese be

replaced by letters.This order was upheld for

the next 1200 years.Typical inscriptions were

La ilaha illAllah (There is no god except

Allah) and Alhamdulillah (All praise is due

to Allah) on one side with the prayer on theProphet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam (May

the peace and blessings of Allah be upon

him) and sometimes verses from the Quran

on the other side. Gold and silver remained

the official currency of Islam until the fall of

the Khalifate at the beginning of the 20th

century.

Globalia: But have there not been many

attempts to islamicise the dominant

financial system and bring the

corresponding products into line?

Mohamed Abbas: Yes, there is an outright

euphoria about Islamic Banking.

Interestingly, the Western banking giants such

as HSBC, Citybank and UBS can be seen

striving the hardest to attract previously

neglected Muslim customers with theirIslamic Banking schemes. From the reasons

I gave earlier, we see Islamic Banking as

nothing more than an insignificant variation

on the Western banking model, and in no

way an acceptable alternative to i t, from an

Islamic perspective.The only difference is in

the semantics and the calculation model

through which the banks siphon off their

profit s from the customer.Since they havent

changed the basics such as the mythical

reproduction of money, the means of payment

wit hout inherent value, and so on Islamic

Banking is just as weak and sickly as the

Western model.

Globalia: Do you see the Dinar as an

alternative for the peoples and regions

which have been hit especially hard by

globalisation? If so, how do you think it

will t ake shape?

Mohamed Abbas: The gold and coin trade in

the Western world is naturally very strictly

regulated for example through taxation.The Muslims must of course respect these

laws. But we see a natural market for the

Dinar in the poorest countries of the world,

in which a small stratum of extremely rich

individuals stand on top of the impoverished

masses. These lands have not yet had the

opportunit y to form a middle class. As soon

as a middle class has formed, an ever larger

proportion of t he population profit f rom the

continually expansive and, in the medium-

term, ruinous monetary policies, and so they

take no interest in an alternative money

system which tends towards being more

restrictive.

We have been presenting our ideas and

concepts in Malaysia and Indonesia since the

end of the 1990s, and now our work is

beginning to bear fruit. In Indonesia theinterest is enormous. No wonder, given the

Rupiahs annual devaluation of over 30 per

cent, and an average daily income of less

than one US dollar. If w e set these key figures

against an annual increase in gold price of

20 to 25 per cent, then the advantages of a

gold currency for Indonesia become obvious

and above all because they simply have

nothing to lose.

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim

country with some 200 million Muslims.In our

work with developing countries we orient

ourselves around the motto: If you havenothing to lose you can only win. We are

confident that Indonesia in particular will

soon take defini te steps towards a gold and

silver currency.

Globalia: Can you give us some final

words from your practical experience?

Mohamed Abbas: It is interesting that the

Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham enjoy greatpopularity with coin collectors and precious

metal investors throughout the world. This

certainly has to do with their outstanding

quality, their cost-effectiveness, and the fact

that the coins can only be purchased through

us.That gives them a certain exclusivity.

Impression from the gold bazar in Kuwait



M ARKETS

Halal is currently in t he process of undergoing

a paradigm shift. With the staging of the 1st

Malaysian International Halal Showcase,

MIHAS, in August 2004, and the simultaneous

publication of t he pilot of The Halal Journal,

Halal became, for the first time, the defining

factor for a new market. At the inaugural

World Halal Forum in May 2006,

representatives from every sector of the Halal

industry assembled in Kuala Lumpur; at t hat

point, Halal became an industry.

Indeed, if Halal lives up to its inherent

potential, it will represent a paradigm shift

in the global market. Halal is a market

parameter that is based on belief in, and

consequent obedience to a Divine command.

While kosher commands market respect in a

similar field, it pales into insignif icance whenplaced alongside the emerging potential of

the Halal market.With close to 2 billion people

having Halal as their number one choice and

the majority of the other 4.5 billion people

generally amenable to eating Halal the

market implications are staggering. It is small

wonder, therefore, that many of the biggest

names in every sector of the market have

sharpened their focus on Halal.

The biggest f ood manufacturers, meat and

poultry suppliers, ingredient suppliers,

restaurant chains,shipping companies,banks

and retailers are elbowing each other for their

place around the Halal buffet t able with their

eyes on the choicest cuts.

Similarly, governments, NGOs and agencies

are shifting their attention onto the Halal

sector as a means of gaining market share for

their national produce, and in some cases as

a means of developing their own national

economies. While the market swirls wi th

superlatives there are a host of not

insignificant hurdles to be surmounted before

Halal can make the critical metamorphosis

from an emerging bud into a fully-opened

flower.

There are four key areas within the Halal

As the Halal market continues to expand, we see

it entering a new phase. The early adaptors have

established their posit ions, and the floodgates are

opening. The aroma of revenue is in the air, but

there is more than just following your nose.

HALAL M ARKET ANALYSIS

THE INDUSTRY IS UNDERGOING A SHIFT

industry that will need to be tackled with a

great deal of skill and intelligence.These are:

Integrity

Capacity

Finance

Communication

These four issues form the core components

for the future development of the Halal

industry, whether viewed from a

governmental, corporate or private company

perspective.The focus may shift, but the issuesremain the same.

Halal Integrity: the cornerstone

Halal and Haram form a part of the

fundamental behavioural parameters sent

down to us by Allah, via the final Messenger,

Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant

him peace, to mankind. Without the

Messenger, and the Deen of Islam,we would

not have this guidance, nor this opportunity.

There are some Quranic verses in Surat

Ibrahim that are relevant to all of us in the

Halal industry:

Do you do not see how Allah makes a

likeness of a good word: a good tree

whose roots are firm and whose branches

are in heaven? It bears its fruit regularly

by the permission of its Lord.Allah makes

likenesses for people so that perhaps

they may pay heed. The likeness of a

corrupt word is that of a rotten tree,

uprooted on the surface of the earth. It

has no staying power.

Given that the global food industry, for the

most part, had litt le or no interest in the Halal

sector unti l comparatively recently, most of

the application of Halal has been based on

converting existing procedures from non-

Halal and Haram form a

part of the fundamental

behavioural parameters

sent down to us by Allah,

via the final Messenger

to mankind, Muhammad.


17/56



M ARKETS

A halal seal which has been issued in Malaysia

Halal to Halal, rather than building them as

Halal compliant from the ground up.

Halal compliance has in general been

promoted and established by small

independent Islamic bodies that have audited

and certified the predominantly non-Muslim

producers, thereby ensuring that the Muslim

consumer has Halal meat available for

purchase.

While this arrangement has enabled a viable

Halal market to emerge, it contains an

inherent imbalance that has led to its own

set of problems. Halal certif ication is a

profitable and as yet unregulated activity;

with Halal certification a pre-requisite to

accessing the Muslim markets,food producers

have generally, and understandably, taken

the line of least resistance when it comes to

getting Halal certification.

In the last decade we have witnessed a

proliferation of break-away Islamic bodies

competing with each other, often fiercely, for

a share of the lucrative certification market.

Undercutting on price and turn-around time

has become commonplace, often wit h insults

and allegations following closely behind.

Government-run certif ication agencies, where

they exist, have fared only slight ly better.Often bogged down in a maze of bureaucratic

procedure, and with litt le or no incentive to

be efficient, Halal certif ication and even

renewals can take months,making efficient

production almost impossible.This aspect of

Halal integrity has become the most critical

issue facing the Halal industry, and it is

essential that we, as an industry, get it right.

Halal certi fication must become an eff icient,

transparent and industry-compliant procedure

in the Halal market, and the extent to which


19/5619

M ARKETS

18

we succeed in establishing excellence in the

arena of Halal integrity will determine our

success in the overall market.

Making profit is permitted,it is in itself Halal.

However, if w e let the profit motive have too

much power, and compromise the integrity of

either our products on one hand or our

services on the other,we will have let slip t he

very component upon w hich this vast market

rests. Quite simply, the market needs more

Halal-certif ied products, and there is no way

to achieve this without improving thecertification process. With the right

foundations in place,Halal can be developed

to overlap with many other market factors

such as environmental and social compliance,

health awareness, fair t rade and animal

welfare.

All of these elements fall within the broader

scope of the meaning of Halal, and they are

all strengthening market forces in their ownright. The stakeholders in the Halal industry

must become leaders in these fields also.We

cannot simply leave others to champion

causes such as fair trade or animal welfare

without constructive input and collaboration

from the Halal industry. Animal welfare in

particular is an issue of enormous importance

to us.Animals must be well fed, watered and

not stressed; they do not see the knife, nor

witness the slaughter, nor even the residue

of slaughter, of other animals.

Our scientif ic communities similarly have an

obligation to test the hypothesis that Halal

treatment and slaughter, as well as being

kinder to t he animal, also produces the best

meat; safer, healthier, cleaner, and with a

better shelf life. Allah has commanded

mankind to eat Halal and Tayyib, and we

therefore have a responsibility to demonstrate,

by scientifi c methodology,why it i s better for

us, and the best choice from all points of

view.

Developing Capacity

It is not just the corporate sector that is

gearing up to meet the expanding demand

in the Halal market; an increasing number of

national governments have made Halal an

actual, or a least a potential, tool for the

development of the national economy. And

so they should. There are of course varying

approaches to Halal depending on where you

look, but both the Muslim and non-Muslimmajority countries have recognised that Halal

warrants a closer look in order to take it to

the next level.

The biggest challenge for the non-Muslims

involved in the Halal market is to gain an

authentic understanding of their Muslim

customers beliefs, requirements and

preferences.The best means of nurturing this

understanding is through a genuine

collaboration with the Muslims within their

own borders, those who, at both the

production and certi fication stages, are the

ones giving them access to the Halal market

in the first place. Certainly, in places such as

Thailand and the Phil ippines, the development

of the Halal industry in the Muslim majority

areas of the country has been put forward as

an effective way to gain stability andeconomic progress.

For the Muslim world in general, the

challenges and opportunities that exist in the

Halal market are many and complex. Mostly

underdeveloped, the Muslim countries are

primarily net importers of food. The Muslim

food producers have, for the most part, not

seen any need to develop Halal standards for

their own domestic use, nor the need to give

Halal any definition or status under the law.

For these reasons, and others, the Muslims

have up until now been slow to recognise the

opportunities that exist in this market.

This is not an easy challenge, as the causes

of delay and inefficient channels of delivery

are usually embedded in the actual structure

of government in many countries.Inefficiency

is an integral part of the system.Clearly,those

Muslim lands still under the direct rule of an

Amir,King or Sultan have a certain advantage

if they can give an order and then see it

carried out without the all-too-familiarbureaucratic turf wars.

Putting Our Money Where Our

Mouth Is

Ethical investment, environmental concern

and fair t rade are terms that are showing up

on Wall Street as well as the High Street.

Being a good corporate citizen has an effect

on the bottom line. It was at one time thought

that the average burger-eater or coffee-drinker

did not care very much about ethical corporate

behaviour.But it has been proven otherwise,

and there are a growing number of major

brands that are following down those paths

that were first cut through the corporate

jungle by men and women more at home in

dungarees and sandals than pin-stripe suits.

Doing good is turning out to be good business.

However, at present, as in the Halal market,

those organisations that are leading the way

in energy conservation, environmental

concern, fair t rade and animal welfare are all

lead by non-Muslims. How many times do

we, as Muslims, ask Allah to give us good in

this world and good in the Next? The plot of

Allah, or if you prefer, circumstance and

common interest have made the Halal market

precisely the arena in which this supplication

can be fulfilled.


20/56


21/5621

M ARKETS

20

Big producers find the new market att ractive

succeeded when he heard on of the baristas

say, We are not in the coffee business, serving

people;we are in the people business, serving

coffee.

Making the Transition

In order to enable our industry to shift gear,

we have to develop all of the pieces at the

same t ime. Integrity; Capacity; Finance;

Communication.We need all of them to move

ahead in concert to allow the metamorphosis

to take place.

This is where the hard work really begins.Sofar, we have talked; now we need to

strategise, plan, commit, act.There are a host

of obstacles in front of us;different standards;

certification issues; competiti on, greed,

indifference; government bureaucracy and

polit ical manoeuvring.Al l of these need to be

overcome.

But the wind and the tide are in our favour.

Things move w hen there is a convergence of

common interest towards a common goal,

and, in principle, there are enough elements

in harmonious alignment to move to the next

stage of growth.

Stakeholders, large and small, representing allthe elements of the Halal value chain want

to see growth and change.There are enough

committed individuals of high integrity who

would like to see this industry,and this market

succeed.For many of them,their commitment

to Halal goes far beyond the limits of their

job description, beyond their corporation and

beyond financial consideration.

For those fortunate ones, the Halal industryis, literally, giving them the best of both

worlds. We all have the opportunity to play

an active role in the development of a dynamic

new market paradigm, one that t ranscends

race, national boundaries and geography, one

that promises considerable financial reward,and at the same time, most importantly, is

pleasing t o Allah.

We continually ask for good in this world and

good in the Next. Our chosen industry gives

us the opportunity to have that. Let us not

waste that chance.

For more informat ion, contact

[email protected]

Text Abdul Hamid Evans

The Halal industry is today in a similar zone to the one occupied

by the organic, environmental and fair trade sectors a decade

or two ago in that they were niche product ranges aiming for

the mainstream and upmarket shelves.



LAW

No-one in this day and age can begin an

article with a Latin t itle without providing a

quote or two: In the bygone days of Empire,

the Australian sheep farmer, the Gold Coast

witch doctor and the Bengali peasant shared

a common bond. All owed allegiance to the

British sovereign; all were Brit ish subjects by

virtue of that allegiance.As Edmund Burke put

it, these were ties which, though light as air,

are as strong as links of iron. In a momentof diffi culty or danger, a mans Briti sh

citizenship could easily be his most valuable

possession. In 1849, when Don Pacifico, a

Jewish merchant of M alta, was refused

compensation by the Greek government for

injuries he had suffered at the hands of some

of its citizens, Lord Palmerston, Britains Prime

Minister, sent the British navy to blockade

Piraeus. British subjects the world over,

Palmerston told the House of Commons at thetime, could boast as proudly of t heir

citizenship as St.Paul did when he said:Civis

Romanus sum. (Time, March 8, 1971)

This plea, Civis Romanus sum I am a

Roman cit izen , sufficed in ancient Rome to

stop arbitrary condemnation, bonds and

scourging. No Roman citi zen could be

condemned unheard; by the Valerian Law he

could not be bound; and by the Sempronian

Law i t was forbidden to scourge him or beat

him wit h rods. When the chief captain

commanded that Paul should be examined

by scourging , Paul asked a centurion: Is it

lawful for you to scourge a man that is a

Roman, and uncondemned? (Acts 22:24-5)

I therefore fearlessly challenge the verdict

which this ... House is to give, said Lord

Palmerston on the 25th of June 1850,quoting

Cicero, ... whether, as the Roman, in days of

old,held himself free from indignity,when he

could say Civis Romanus sum ; so also a

British subject, in whatever land he may be,

shall feel confident that the watchful eye and

the strong arm of England will protect him

against injustice and wrong.

Implicit in this oath of allegiance and the

protection afforded through it is that anyonewho had not given their allegiance was not

entit led to such protection. If Paul had not

been a Roman citizen, there would have been

no restriction on his being examined by

scourging , that is, on his being tortured in

order to elicit information.

If Don Pacifico had not been a British subject,

Lord Palmerston would not have ordered the

blockade of Piraeus in order to secure justice

for him.

Indefinite detention without charge, without

hope, without independent legal representation

or t rial; torture, and evidence obtained through

torture used in court we are all aware that t hese

things happen.

CIVIS BRITANNIA SUM

A LEGAL ESSAY BY AHM AD THOM SON

As with everything in life, empires come and

go. The Pax Britannica has gone the way of

the Pax Romana and the Pax Americana isa far cry from its predecessors.

President Bush has publicly declared that

those who murder innocent woman and

children are evil. He is right and yet he

appears to be oblivious of the hundreds of

thousands of innocent woman and children

who have been killed by means of the

American military-industrial complex since

the end of World War II in countries such as

Vietnam, Argentina, Columbia, Peru, Chile,

Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine to name but

a few.

But then of course none of t hese victims had

given their allegiance to the United States of

America and therefore, follow ing that

ancient reasoning, they were not entit led to

its protection.

And although international human rights law

is not based on any oath of allegiance and is

meant to apply to everyone, equally,

everywhere in practice it is often observed

selectively.

The human rights of the victims of Srebrenica,

for example, did not save them from theirfate and yet the UN troops who collected

their weapons and then betrayed their trust

were immune from prosecution.

And although, for example, the Attorney

General advised that regime change was not

permissible under international law as a

justif ication for the invasion of Iraq, the

inevitable civilian collateral damage of the

shock and awe bombing spree that was

deemed necessary in order to have a tyrant


23/5622 23

LAW

and his henchmen ultimately hanged was

accepted as unavoidable, wi th no remedies

or compensation either for the victims or their

surviving relatives in accordance with human

rights law.These are the harsh realities of the

world in which we live harsh realities which

impinge on our daily lives even in the Brit ish

Isles.

A Brit ish cit izen may say, Civis Britannia

sum I am a British citizen. But for an

unfortunate few, a combination of rendition

for torture and Guantanamo Bay style

detention camps has guaranteed, inter alia,

the arrest of people who were kidnapped

and exchanged for a bounty of a few hundred

dollars, and of journalists who did not take

the precaution of being embedded that is,

of accepting to be told what they may and

may not report.

Indefinite detention wit hout charge, wit hout

hope, wi thout independent legal representa-

tion or t rial; torture,and evidence obtained

through torture used in court we are all

aware that these things happen.

We all hope that we will not fall under

suspicion, maybe even be wounded or

executed by mistake we are all aware that

these things happen.

We all know that under the current legislation,

which we are told has been promulgated to

protect us, anyone can be arrested on the

grounds of a suspicion which does not even

have to be reasonable and if deemed

necessary, we can, for example,be extradited

to t he USA even when there is no prima facie

evidence to support either the extraditionrequest or indeed a prosecution in the UK.

We are told that such measures are

intell igence-led but what if t he intelligence

is mistaken,or worse still , cynically uncaring

or disinterested? What if being called

Muhammad or Khan is enough to warrant

arrest?

It is not surprising, in this climate, that neo-

con think-tanks seek to marginalise

London: police and young Muslims in front of a Mosque in Brixton


24/56


25/56

GLOBALIA | Issue 01 | January 2008 25

LAW

mainstream Muslims and misrepresent

Muslim organisations in the name of

promoting social cohesion, while knowingfull well that the intended result of their

strategy should result in the opposite, so that

ult imately their quarry should be cowed into

tolerating their intolerance.

This is why I found the presentation of Justice

Albie Sachs at the Minority Lawyers

Conference 2007 such a source of inspiration

and hope:

Here stood a man who had been given a

unique experience in life, who had not only

wi tnessed what appeared impossible, but

who had taken part in making what appeared

to be impossible happen.

He had spoken the truth in the court of a

tyrant. He had spoken out against ignorance

and bias, blind prejudice, inhuman treatment,

arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and

instit utional murder to t he extent that t he

people whom he criticised tried without

success to have him blown up and ki lled.

And then when the apartheid state was

dismantled, he did not busy himself w ith

seeking revenge, but rather he busied himself

wi th establishing justice and making his part

of the world a better place.

As Justice Albie Sachs humbly concluded,

wit hout a trace of bitt erness in his voice, If

this could happen in South Africa, then it can

happen anywhere.

Published in The Muslim Lawyer, Volume

5, Issue 1, Dhul-Qada 1428, November

2007.

Text Ahmad Thomson

24



EURASIA

The fight against corruption and organisedcrime is acknowledged by the Commission to

have been in the focus of the Albanian

leaderships endeavours. However, it states

that corruption remains widespread in the

country.The report acknowledges that Tirana

has continued to investigate and prosecute

human trafficking vigorously,and that border

controls have been strengthened. However,

Albania remains a significant transit country

for human beings. Civil society in Albania is

described as weak. Its representatives, the

report says, are not sufficiently involved in

policy-making, and they lack resources,

organisational capacity, advocacy skill s and

regional links. Albanias economy has been

growing fast, and the Commission considers

that macroeconomic stability has been

maintained even while the external deficit

has further widened, due to the crisis in theenergy sector. However, the rule of law is

seen as influencing Albanias economic

development. Inadequate implementation

of the rule of law continues to impede the

smooth functioning of the market economy

and affects the business climate, the progress

report concludes.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Commission says that Bosnia and

Herzegovina has been lagging behind in the

Despite some economic progress, the European

Union says that corrupt ion, organised crime and

ethnic tensions are continuing to obstruct

progress in the Western Balkans.

IN THE WESTERN BALKANS

AN ASSESSM ENT BY THE EUROPEAN UNION

reform agenda. This is blamed in part on

complex institut ional arrangements,

disregard of the Dayton Agreement, andnationalist rhetoric. Limited capacity has

been recorded in democracy and the rule of

law, and polit icians in Sarajevo and Banja

Luka, the capitals of Bosnias two autonomous

entit ies, are criticised for not demonstrat ing

a willingness to take further political

responsibility. Urgent measures are needed

to ensure effective functioning of state-level

institutions, the report says

In addition, the Commission says it is not

aware of any progress in coordination

between the central state and its two entities,

the Bosnian Serbs Republika Srpska and the

Federation that brings together mostly

Bosniaks (Muslims) and Croats. Overall

performance of executive and legislative

institutions has remained poor.Discussions on

constitutional reform have stalled, the report

notes.

Bosnia has made little progress in the fight

against corruption, which remains

widespread and constitutes a serious

problem. The Commission considers that

more determined action is needed,and notes

that the National Anti-Corruption Strategy

has not been implemented properly.As in al l

Western Balkans countries, the inadequaciesin the fight against organised crime and

corruption remain a cause of concern in

Bosnia. The legal framework to fight

organised crime is in place but law

implementation needs to be improved.

While it is recognised that Bosnia has made

strides in reducing its dependence on the

international community through the

replacement of international judges and

prosecutors by local ones, the report notes

At one of the mass graves in Srebrenica.

AlbaniaWhile Albania is recognised as a country that

continuously played the constructive role in

regional stabilit y, the European Commission

considers that the political system has not

improved because of the democratic culture

that dominates in Albania. Political parties

lack of will to cooperate continued to hold

back reforms, particularly in the electoral and

judicial field, says this years progress report.

It notes that judicial reforms have made very

limit ed progress during the year, and the

judiciarys function has been of a poor standard

because of corruption and shortfalls in

independence, transparency and efficiency .


27/5627

EURASIA

26

that the fragmentation of the judicial system

and disparities in the legal framework

continue to hamper the operation of thejudiciary. Human rights and the protection

of minori ties remain problem areas, due in

part to religious intolerance. Further efforts

are necessary to combat intolerance and

ethnic discrimination, the report says.

The report points out that cooperation with

the International Criminal Tribunal for the

former Yugoslavia, ICTY, has improved and

that it i s now at a generally satisfactorylevel. However, it recalls that full cooperation

with the ICTY is a precondition for signing a

Stabil isation and Association Agreement as

part of Bosnias integration with the EU, and

to meet key European Partnership priorities.

The report says that Bosnia has made little

progress in establishing a functioning market

economy. The economy it self has expanded

rapidly, and overall macroeconomic stabil ity

has been maintained,but there are sti ll threats

to fiscal sustainabili ty. The persistence of

very high unemployment remains a major

cause of concern, the report says.The slow-

down in reforms is seen as the result of an

unfavourable political climate and weak

domestic consensus on the fundamentals of

economic policy.

Macedonia

Frequent tensions and problems in achieving

constructive dialogue between major polit ical

actors have undermined the effective

functioning of political institutions and led to

a slowdown of reforms in Macedonia,

according to the European Commissions

assessment of this EU candidate which has

yet to start accession talks with Brussels.The

report says that the absence of

communication between key leaders in the


28/56

country and the behaviour of the opposition

have had a negative influence on the work

of political institutions. The boycott ofParliament by one of the major opposition

parties as well as the poor quality of

cooperation between the President and the

Prime Minister has hindered the effective

functioning of the political instit utions, the

report says. The Commission notes that the

fight against graft in the country has yielded

some results, but recalls that corruption is

widespread and constitutes a very serious

problem. The coordination of activit ies

among the different instit utions in the fight

against organised crime is assessed as

uneven. The report notes that whil e large

quantities of drugs have been seized,

insufficient progress has been made intackling human trafficking.

The report on Macedonia notes that the

country has made some progress in political

criteria, while implementation of the 2001

Ohrid Agreement, which brought an end to

a six-month conflict between ethnic Albanian

guerrillas and the security forces, continues

to contribute to the consolidation of

democracy and the rule of law. Further efforts

are needed to implement the agreement fully

and to consolidate confidence between the

GLOBALIA | Issue 01 | January 2008

EURASIA

Kosovo: Muslim grandfather with his grandson.

political parties representing the different

ethnic communit ies, the report says.

It is said that the country has been

implementing administrative reform gradually,

while it is confirmed that the second phase

which relates to fiscal decentralisation, has

begun. Public administrat ion remains weak

and inefficient, and civil service legislation is

lit tle used, the report says. The economy in

Macedonia has registered a markedly

accelerated growth, and the Commissions

assessment is that macroeconomic stabilityhas been maintained as structural reforms

have made further progress.

It acknowledges that Skopje has made further

efforts to improve its ability to assume the

obligations of membership. However, it says

that Macedonia sti ll faces major shortcomings

in implementing and enforcing legislation

effectively. The report concludes that

Macedonia cannot,as yet,participate fully in

EU policies because its institutional and

administrative capacity is insufficient.

Kosovo

Despite delays determining its long-term

status, UN-administered Kosovo has managed

to maintain stability regarding democracy

and the rule of law. The status issue has

continued to dominate Kosovos politics,noted the report, which is the third in a row

to be published separately from Serbia.

The Assemblys work has shown improvement

during the past year, but t he Commission

considers that the Assemblys law-making

and administrative capacities need

strengthening.

The efficiency of public administration has

shown some improvement, but in the


29/5629

EURASIA

Globalia: How do you view the situa-

tion of the Muslims in your region?

Mufti Sevko Omerbasic:The situation of the

Muslims in my Region is little different f rom

that of the Muslims in other regions it is

not very good.The period of transition has

produced shortcomings among Muslims,even among intellectuals.The Muslims have

a wrong approach to their Deen. Ignorance

about Islam and its discourse can be seen

both among the Ulama and the common

people.This requires a questioning of ones

own relation to the Deen.

Globalia: With whom are the Muslims

cooperating?

Muf ti Sevko Omerbasic: Muslims in the

Balkans have lived for a long time under

communism, which has consumed both

their material and their spiritual substance.

After communism the Muslims of the

Balkans experienced a lot of suffering. The

Muslims in these regions have lived long

in isolation without knowing what other

Muslims were doing in the rest of the world.

New forms of spreading Islam with new

people are necessary in order to attainfuture visions. The cooperation among the

Muslims in the Balkans is better than among

those in the West. There are communities

who are in contact wi th each other:Croatia,

Bosnia, Montenegro, Sanjak and Slovenia.

There is close cooperation with Macedonia

and Kosovo. We want to strengthen these

ties.

Globalia:What are the main problemsin your Region?

Muft i Sevko Omerbasic: Despite our

considerable difficulties in Croatia we

should not be discontented with the

situation. Fundamental changes in polit ics

and in state structures demand a new

approach to religion.Even though we might

be behind, we are striving to catch up w ith

the Muslim in Western Europe. Since thebreak-up of the former federation of

Yugoslavia,eight new madrasas, three high

schools and many Islamic institutions have

established.

Globalia:What kind of assistance would

you like to receive from abroad?

Mufti Sevko Omerbasic:The Muslims in the

region are able to solve their problems with-out help from others, as demonstrated by

the reconstruction of our Mosques in

Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Sanjak.

Cooperation with other Muslims is, however,

important to us to improve our activit ies and

creativity.

Globalia:How do you view the situation

of the young Muslims?

Mufti Sevko Omerbasic:The situation of the

young Muslims is quite serious because

they have come out of the war with

wounded souls. Those who grew up under

communism had no education in the basics

of t he Deen.Young people are on the ot her

hand part of the Internet revolution, they

have a sounder, better approach to Islam,

so there may be conflicts with the older

generation.

MUSLIMS IN CROATIAINTERVIEW WITH MUFTI SEVKO OM ERBASIC

assessment of the report s authors, Kosovos

central and local administration remains weak

and inefficient. Civil servants are still

vulnerable to political influence, the report

says. The judicial system in Kosovo also has

serious inadequacies, according to t he

document. It is weak and vulnerable, while

operating in a complex legal environment in

which there is considerable uncertainty.

Responsibilities in the field of combating

money-laundering have been t ransferred only

partially from the UN administration toKosovos provisional institutions. Uneven

progress can be reported in combating

money-laundering. Investigations in a number

of cases were concluded but no court

sentences have been handed down yet,

report says.It also notes the lack of specialised

prosecutors to deal w ith money-laundering,

and says that economic crimes remain a major

challenge.

Kosovo is one of the main traffic routes for

drugs to Western Europe, according to t he

Commission. However, the report notes also

that there is no strategy to prevent or combat

the illegal transport and use of drugs. Drug

trafficking remains a serious problem. The

report recalls that the number of cases of

organised crime investigated increased

substantially in the first half of 2007.

The economy has also been influenced by

Kosovos unresolved status. As the report

notes, economic development continues to

be seriously impeded by political uncertainties,

insufficient rule of law, limited production

capacity and weak infrastructure. The report

concludes that Kosovo has made litt le

progress towards establishing a functioning

market economy.

Article Gjeraqina Tuhina, BrusselsText Malik Sezgin

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GLOBAL

of asceticism and democracy) is a matter up

for debate.The space in which freedom can

operate, claims Sloterdijk, is shrinking, and weare living through nothing other than a

transition to post-liberal forms: We have the

choice between a party-dictatorial mode, as

in China, a state-dictatorial mode, as in the

Soviet Union, an electoral-dictatorial mode,

as in the USA, and finally a media-dictatorial

mode as in Berlusconis Italy. Berlusconism is

the European test-balloon of the emerging

Neo-authori tarian Age.

Today, professing a belief i n democracy is

conditional on an answer to the question,

What kind of democracy? But the prevailing

superficial debate does not wish to make

time for that. We as Muslims, however,

required as we are to embrace democratic

values obediently, are the very people to begin

asking.What are human rights worth without

civil rights? What does global democracy

mean today? Is China a democracy? Or is

China perhaps a kind of new capitalist Ideal

State with unfettered freedom for capital,

and with a government that undertakes the

dirty work of monitoring the workers, as the

Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek so

powerfully states. Zizek also identifies the

creeping erosion of the democratic form in

that enthusiastic role-model, the West. He

examines the weight of real possibilities forpolitical participation, comparing them wit h

the Close-doors button in a lift . Involvement

is becoming abstract,inconsequential;to the

politically minded human being,participation

appears almost illusory.

Of course, Earth remains an unsett led place,

and compared wi th large tracts of our planet,

life between Berlin and Baden-Baden is still

fairly cosy. But this cosiness may be deceptive.

The Melilla refugee drama showed that the

worlds new divide does not lie between

cultures, it separates the Rich and the Poor.

Materially speaking we Germans still live ina sheltered zone.The establishment of Camps

around the edges of our affluent society and

the emergence of the political figure of Homo

Sacer, who has nothing left but his body, is

the fault of the modernism of our global

principles of order. Our corporations are

marauding in Africa and they are not

establishing a Nomos. It i s in our relationship

with the South that the gaping chasm is

revealed between the Christian claim ofEurope and its actual policies.

In the Islamic world, it is widely known that

the political realm is cleft with deep

contradictions. In the Arabian lands, led by

despots and little more than makeshift

dictatorships,the masses that democracy will

bring them civil rights and a just distribution

of prosperity. Zakat, which is an indicator ofthe just distribution of prosperity f rom wit hin

Islam,has been degraded in the Islamic world

to a politically insignificant ritual. And yet

the Muslim intellect remains unsettled by the

hypocritical question aimed at Islamic nations

whether they are capable of democracy?

when everyone knows full well that barely a

despot would remain a day in power without

the support of t he West. Our wealth depends

to a considerable degree on the daily battlefor a share of scarce resources. What would

happen i f democratically elected governments

in Riyadh or Tripoli were to sell their oil to third

parties?

The much-vaunted Enlightenment of which

we are so proud here in the West persists in

avoiding the economic realm.We still believe

in endless growth, in the reduction of debt

mountains and in our natural right to acquire

the worlds resources.

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GERM ANY

32

After decades of a somewhat informalexistence, the Muslims have recently come

under the spotl ight of public scrutiny, which

has triggered an interest in the subject of

Islam. Mounir Azzaoui, a former spokesman

for the Central Council of Muslims in Germany

(Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland,ZMD),

stated that the last five years were

characterised by crises, terrorist attacks, a

debate about cartoons and statements by

the Pope. Every three months or so we had

something even bigger to discuss.

Introducing Muslims in GermanyA notable Muslim presence emerged in

Germany with the arrival of the Gastarbeiter,

or guest-workers. From the 1960s onwards,

workers from w hat was then Yugoslavia and

later from Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco came

to Germany.At first the influx was regulated

by restricting the duration of stay,but before

long a more permanent immigration had

evolved, the main factor in this process being

regulations governing the unity of immigrant

families.

Cologne: joint press conference wit h the heads of Muslim organisations in Germany.

Existing Islamic organisations will have to evolve

if they want to represent the Deen and the next

generation of Muslims in Germany. Creative

projects are crucial.

FORCED TO CHANGEAN EVALUATION OF MUSLIM ORGANISATIONS

The landscape of German Muslim now

comprises immigrants, their children (who

are noticeably better integrated into Germansociety than their parents), and a growing

number of new indigenous Muslims

(estimates range from 60,000 to 200,000).

Observers estimate that there are currently

3.4 million Muslims in Germany, roughly three

quarters of w hich are either Turkish citizens

or t heir descendents. Representat ive polls

show that 84 per cent of all Muslims want to

stay in Germany;600,000 of them are alreadyGerman cit izens.

In order to meet their religious needs, Muslims

founded associations which went about

opening temporary prayer rooms, and these

were the first visible signs of a Muslim

presence in Germany. Gradually,Muslims and

their organisations searched for more

permanent places to practice their religion.

Today there are more than 2,000 prayer rooms

in which the daily prayers are established, and

Text Sulaiman Wilms, Berlin


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GERM ANY

159 recognisable mosque buildings have been

erected. Another 140 large-scale mosques

are currently at the planning stage.

Organised Islam in Germany

Organised Islam has until now been

dominated numerically by organisations that

are constituted and separated along ethnic

lines, and of these, four are currently sett ing

the tone. The strongest of t hese are two

Turkish mosque associati ons: the Turkish-

state-influenced DITIB, which has the

greatest number of Mosques, and the inde-pendent Union of Islamic Cultural Centres

(Verband der Islamischen Kulturzentren,VIKZ).

Two umbrella organisations also exist: the

Central Council of Muslims in Germany

(Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland,ZMD)

and the Islamic Council of Germany (Islamrat

fr die Bundesrepublik Deutschland), the

dominant member of the latter being the Mi lli

Grs Islamic Community (IGMG),which has

Turkish roots.The most important member of

the Central Council i s the Arab-rooted Islamic

Community in Germany (Islamische

Gemeinschaft i n Deutschland, IGD). Both

umbrella organisations have dozens of other

members, but none of these rival the IGMG

or IGD in membership numbers or political

leverage.

Dr. Ayyub Khler, veteran German Muslimand President of the Central Council, sees

the internal tasks of his umbrella

organisation in the support of and care for

the communities and member organisations.

These, he says, are matters of religious and

social education and training. Then there is

the support we offer in legal and theological

matters as well as activities to improve

conditions for practising the religion.

More and more young M uslims consider theThe new mosque in Duisburg, a former industrial centre in the Ruhr Conurbation, is oneexample of more than a hundred in the coming years.

GLOBALIA | Issue 01 | January 2008


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INTERVIEW

vast reserves of knowledge that are sti ll drawn

upon today by the World Islamic Community

and by non-Muslims as well. As a living

element, a living existential element Islam

has been erased from the surface of the Iberian

peninsula, so it is a sign of the vitalit y, validity

and relevance of Islam that people are taking

it on existentially in their daily lives.

Globalia:The history of Spain is vast and

extraordinary.What are the sentiments of

the non-Muslim population towards this

momentous undertaking of reviving the

Deen in Spain?

Abdulhasib Castieira: I would say in the last

thirty years, since the death of General Franco,

there has been an increase in sympathy

towards Islam in intellectual circles, academic

circles and among those knowledgeable about

culture and history. The Islamic era was one

of the greatest times in Spain. This may sound

natural and true to us as Muslims, but to the

Spanish people it i s something very new. For

the last five hundred years we have been

taught that the country was a Christian

country invaded by Islam, and that they

destroyed our unity.This has been basically the

official Catholic version of history up unti l the

1970s, but now i t has completely changed, in

the textbooks and even in the discourse of the

authorities. Last year, in 2006, the Prime

Minister said that Spain is indebted to Islam

Text M uhammad Dockrat

38



INTERVIEW

A prominent place. The head of the Islamic Communit y of Spain Malik Ruiz is addressingvisitors of a celebration.

for it s history.All this is very new.People wi ll

now say Islam is not terrorism, Islam is not

backwards,w e know it in our cit ies, we know

it in our monuments, we know it in our own

history.This is the truth and it can grow faster

in Spain then in any other European country.

Globalia: What is the role played by the

Spanish Muslim community and the

Mosque of Granada in establishing

spiritual kinship throughout Europe?

Abdulhasib Castieira: I think amongeveryone who comes to Granada and there

are many Muslims from the United Kingdom,

Germany and France who come for holidays

and cultural visits, everyone recognises that

Granada has a very strong meaning and a very

significant place in the hearts and memory

of the Muslims,and it is there that our mosque

is located. Not only that but we are situated

in the most historical quarter opposite the

Alhambra Palace, and our mosque has

become a model for all of Europe in that i t is

a mosque open to all people, not only

Muslims. It fulfi ls the role of Ibadah, which

is the first role of a Mosque, and it is the

heart of the community and also a place of

interaction with society. Every day there are

many activit ies. Every day of the year it is

open to people, to the non-Muslims of

Granada but also to visitors, researchers,

teachers, university groups and schools.

The Mosque of Granada is one of the founding

members of t he EMU. We have attended all

the assemblies and general meetings of the

organisation. We have a strong contribut ion

to make because we join history and the

present day, and I think Granada will become

a place of hospitality, meeting, protection

and discussion for all European Muslims.

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