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(1) Muslims Must Enhance Knowledge Without Compromise, 13 January 2009
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 (Bernama) -- Muslims have to enhance their knowledge by always promoting education without any compromise, said Datuk Muhammad Salleh Majid, a principal fellow with the Faculty of Economics and Management of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
"The success of Muslims depends on their knowledge, creativity and literacy," he told Bernama on Tuesday.
He said the Islamic world had to expend more because currently it was only spending 0.2 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on research and development.
The Christian world, on the other hand, spent five per cent of GDP on the same, said Muhammad Salleh, the former president of the then Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (now Bursa Malaysia).
"A simple method of disseminating knowledge is through newspapers and books, which should be increased," he said.
Muhammad Salleh said that in Pakistan the ratio of publications to the population was 23 for every 1,000, in Singapore 460 per 1,000, in the United Kingdom 2,000 per one million but in Egypt only 17 per one million.
Without knowledge, Muslims would only be able to only watch the atrocities committed by the Jews in Gaza where the weapons of the Hamas fighters are unable to overpower their weapons and strong support from the United States.
Muhammad Salleh also referred to a speech by the director-general of the Al Baraka Bank, Hafez A.B Mohamed, who had stated several facts in the hope that they would get the attention of every Muslim.
According to that speech, he said, there were only 500 universities in all of the 57 Islamic nations of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
"And, none of these universities are among the top 50 universities of the world," he added.
The literacy rate in Islamic countries was only 40 per cent compared to 100 per cent in only 15 Christian countries, he said.
He also said that in 105 years, 14 million Jews had won 180 Nobel prizes while 1.5 billion Muslims have won only three.
Several of the history makers from ancient times were all Jews such as Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Paul Samuelson and Milton Friedman.
Jews were those who made discoveries in various fields, such as Benjamin Ruben (vaccinating needle); Jonas Salk (polio vaccine); Gertrude Elion (leukemia drug); Baruch Blumberg (vaccine for Hepatitis B); Paul Ehrlich (syphilis drug); Gregory Pincus (contraceptive pill); G. Wald (science of understanding of human eye) and Willem Kloffcame (kidney dialysis).
They were also responsible for inventions that changed history: inventor of micro-processing chip, Stanley Mezor; nuclear chain reactor, Sziland; optical fibre cable, Peter Schultz; traffic lights, Charles Adler; stainless steel, Benno Strauss; sound movies, Isador Kisee; telephone microphone, Emile Berliner and video tape recorder, Charles Ginsburg.
Jews also ran influential global business: Polo (Ralph Lauren); Levi's Jeans (Levi Strauss); Starbucks (Howard Schultz); Google (Sergey Brin); Dell Computers (Michael Dell); Oracle (Larry Ellison); DKNY (Donna Karan); Baskin Robbins (Irv Robbins) and Dunkin Donuts (Bill Rosenberg).
They were also influential intellectuals and politicians, such as Henry Kissinger, US former Secretary of State; Alan Greenspan of US Federal Reserve; Madeleine Albright, former US Secretary of State; David Marshal, Singapore Chief Minister; Barry Goldwater, US politician and Robert Rubin, US Secretary of Treasury.
They were also influential global media people, such as Wolf Blitzer of CNN, Barbara Walters of ABC News, Joseph Lelyeld of New York Times, Eugene Meyer of Washington Post and Henry Grunwald of Time Magazine.
"Why were/are they so powerful and Muslims so weak?" he posed a question.
(2) 30 Years Later, Dakwah Month Is Back, 5 January 2009
By Rohana Mustaffa
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 (Bernama) -- The Jawi letter 'Kha' on a spider's web is synonymous with the nation's Maal Hijrah celebration.
The logo was introduced in 1978, simultaneously with the launch of the month-long National Dakwah Month from the 1st of Muharram.
Now, after three decades, the Dakwah Islamiah Foundation of Malaysia (Yadim) wants to revive the programme to create the dakwah awareness among Muslims.
The launch of the Dakwah Month is however planned for February/March 2009 and the likely date is Feb 15.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, as the minister in charge of the Islamic religious affairs, called for the Dakwah Month programme to be revived with the theme 'Dakwah Pemangkin Khairu Ummah' (dakwah the catalyst for the finest populace).
Information Department Director-General, Datuk Abdullah Morad, who is the Media and Publicity Committee chairman for the Dakwah Month programme told this to Bernama.
OBJECTIVE
The objective is to educate and instill awareness on the Muslim way of life be it as either the entire or contemporary concept.
The strategy to be applied is to explain to Muslims the importance of having the 'life within community' (nizamul hayah) based on civilization.
The Dakwah Month is also to make it known that Islam is the religion that unites the people apart from assembling a global evolution.
During the committee meeting held recently, Abdullah outlined that the Dakwah Month programme comprises of 10 clusters:
'Aqidah' and Life Principle
Unity of the 'Ummah'
Family
Education and 'Dakwah'
Economy and Entrepreneurship'
Health and Environment
Science and Technology
Welfare and Community
Security and Law
Arts and Culture
According to Abdullah, the respective clusters would be tasked with the specific contents of the programme.
He also said in conjunction with the Dakwah Month programme, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong would unveil the book entitled 'Integriti dan Islam: Aplikasi Berkesan Membangun Ummah' (Integrity and Islam: Effective Application To Develop The Society) published by the Malaysian Integrity Institute.
PROGRAMME'S CONTENTS
Among the programme's contents is a halal carnival on halal products from the Malay and Bumiputera small and medium-scale industries (SMI) entrepreneurs. The carnival would be held at Kuala Terengganu (east zone), Sungai Petani (north zone) and Melaka (south zone).
Abdullah said the halal concept has been widely accepted locally and internationally and it is a new enterprise that has the potential turnover worth billions of Ringgit.
However the carnival is not geared for the SMI operators to penetrate the global market but is more to create awareness on the halal aspect.
SEMINAR, DIALOGUE
A three-day seminar, 'Pengekalan Alam Melayu sebagai Rantau Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah' (retention of the Malay world for the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah region) to initiate discussions among intellectuals and ulama on the teachings of the ahlus sunnah berjamaah would be held.
An inter-faith dialogue would also be held to recognize similar aspects of different religions.
The closed-door dialogue is not a debate but to boost understanding among different religious beliefs and the event involves Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Buddhist intellectuals.
The dialogue would focus on the solution of quandaries apart from giving attention on the inter-faith harmony.
DAKWAH EXPEDITION
A two-week Dakwah Motorcycle Expedition moving through states in the Peninsula would also be held.
The expedition starts from the Putrajaya Mosque before cutting through states in the south, proceeding though the east coast and northern states before going down and ending at the National Mosque here.
Along the way, the bikers would take part in community programmes like environmental conservation, hospital visits, motivational talks and aerobic exercises at selected spots.
The expedition is opened to those aged 18 and above on low and high-powered motorcycles. About 50 vehicles, 50 policemen and a helicopter are expected to join this expedition.
Meanwhile, a dakwah vehicle expedition would also be held in Sabah and Sarawak involving government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Activities like health checks, circumcision functions, group prayer sessions and tazkirah would be held at several villages along the expedition's route.
A social service programme named 'Ops Tautan Kasih' would also be staged. Among the contents of this programme are village adoption, constructing houses for the hardcore poor and gotong-royong.
Abdullah said, the Dakwah Month's Media and Publicity Secretariat, with the collaboration of media agencies, would extend wide coverage on the event to attract participation and create awareness among Muslims on the importance of the dakwah effort as well as their responsibility as those upholding the Islamic belief.
Apart from interviews on television and radio, live coverages of dakwah events as well as talks, forums and sermons would also be held during the Dakwah Month programme.
FOCUS ON YOUTHS
Even though the programme is for the general public, it actually focuses on the younger generation who are susceptible to social problems, said Abdullah.
He said among the social problems plaguing the younger generation are drug abuse, alcoholism, illicit sex and illegal racing.
Abdullah hopes that the Dakwah Month programme would help to return the youths who have deviated to the wrong path to return to what is proper and true for them.
After 30 years, the Dakwah month is deemed as the appropriate platform for the society to be more focused in the propagation of their religious belief and the Dakwah Month celebration is expected to be on par with that of other Muslim celebrations like the Maal Hijrah, Maulidur Rasul, Nuzul Al-Quran and Isyraq Mikraj.
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