PSE Finds 4 More Shari’ah-compliant Securities
Amidst the height of CoViD-19 lockdowns and quarantine measures around the country, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) found 52 securities to be compliant with the principles of Islamic finance as of March 25, 2020, as indicated in PSE’s website. This number of Shari‘ah-compliant firms shows an increase of four firms, compared to the 48 firms that were listed during the previous review.
WordCamp Davao 2019 | Video
Voluntarily organized by WordPress Used Group of Davao, WordPress Davao 2019 is a casual, non-commercial, educational event about WordPress and its ecosystem for the WordPress local community.
SEO for Beginners | Video
Yoast’s Support Engineer Rujeman Barbarona talks about what Google does – how it finds your site and the things Google shows on SERP once it decides to rank your website. He also deals with previous Google updates and what each update does to your site so we’ll know what to avoid to rank in searches.
Ways to Drive Traffic and Earn from Your Site | Video
While traffic is stressful offline, it is blessful online. When offline, traffic brings pollution but if online, it brings honey. To know why, let’s watch this short video together…
Creating and Empowering Your Ecommerce | Video
It is a brief yet concise power talk by Orhan Fernandes, Happiness Engineer of Automattic, on using WooCommerce to breach global markets. Apart from being an introduction of Woo and its many possibilities and features and a breakdown of what encompasses a WooCommerce site, it is a helpful information to inspire the digital entrepreneur in all of us.
Short Course on Islamic Banking and Finance
Learn the basic concepts and theories of Islamic Banking and Finance with ADD-ALL’s new course: ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCE.
This introductory course is designed to provide you with the fundamentals of topics on development and issues relating to Islamic banking and finance. In addition, you will also get to learn the elements of Islamic contracts and its pillar principles. The module for this course is modeled from the practices in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which is known for its innovative approach in the development of Islamic Banking and Finance in Asia.
How to Scan a Scam
Q: I have a question regarding investment. What’s your idea about an investment [instrument] that will double your [invested] money after month, and every month it will continue to double? Is it allowed [in shari’ah] or not?
12 Financial Stories for Muslim Kids
It was then my daughter’s first summer vacation after graduation in elementary. Over lunch I was mentioning to her the articles I was planning to post at one of my blogs – www.MuslimandMoney.com – and also the book – ‘Muslim Couple and Money’ – I was currently writing then.
Curious enough, she asked, “Papa, do you have also plan to write ‘Muslim Kid and Money’ for us youngsters?”
Almost spontaneously, I replied, “Yes, I also want to… Can you help me in this project?”
PSE Finds 60 Securities Compliant with Shariah
January 10, 2018 | 12:13 am – THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) found 60 securities to be compliant with the principles of Islamic finance as of the end December 2017, it said in a quarterly review posted on Tuesday.
The review period ending December saw three firms enter the list against the quarter prior, where the PSE tallied a total of 61 Shariah-compliant firms. This includes Ionics, Inc., Keppel Philippines Properties, Inc., and Philab Holdings Corp.
Story #9: The Late-comer of Caravan
In the darkness of night, from a very far distance, they heard a voice of a young man screaming. He was imploring and demanding help. His weak and scrawny camel had remained behind the caravan and lagged entirely. He finally, exhausted, stretched out and slept. He did what he could for moving his camel, but it was in vain. Helplessly standing beside the camel, he was yelling for help. Meanwhile, the Holy Prophet, who usually moved behind – in the end of the caravan so that a weak and helpless person who parted from the caravan, would not remain alone or helpless – heard the yelling voice of the young man. As the Prophet approached him, he asked: “Who are you?”
“I am Jabir.”
“Why were you kept waiting and wondering?”
Story #8: The Black Market
The family of Imam Ja-far al-Sadiq, a great grandson of Prophet Muhammad, increased in number. And so did the cost of living. The Imam decided to do trading to increase his income through investing capital so as to meet his family expenses. He arranged an amount of one thousand Dinars and told his servant Musaddif to take that amount of one thousand Dinars and get ready for a trade journey to Egypt.
Musaddif, with that money went and purchased a type of goods usually exported to Egypt. He went and joined with a caravan of traders who were taking the same type of merchandise to Egypt and left for Egypt.
Story #7: Ascetic’s Advice
The summer heat had become intensified. The sun rays beat down Madinah”s city, garden and farms around it. In such a critical weather condition, a man named Muhammad ibn Munkadar – identified himself as one of the ascetics, pious and anchorites – arrived in Madinah. His eyes cast over a corpulent man who had obviously come out to visit and inspect his farms at that time. Because of his fatness and tiredness, he was treading by his side with the help of a few persons, certainly his friends and relatives.
He thought: “Who is this man in this hot weather of the day leading a busy worldly life?” He came nearer to this person. To his surprise, he was Imam Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn (Imam al-Baqir)!
Forthcoming Publication: “Muslim and Debt”
Debt Management and Supplication
A modified transcript of 20-minute presentation of the paper “Debt Management in Behavioral Economics and Personal Finance as Reflected in Sahifah al-Sajjadiyyah” at the 3rd International Conference on Thoughts on Human Sciences in Islam, Jakarta, Indonesia, November 16, 2016.)
Respected elders, distinguished scholars, and brothers and sisters in Islam as well as in humanity! Let me greet you all with the greetings of peace: Salamun ‘alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh!
(I’m making this presentation while assuming that all these many seats are filled with both the jinn and human beings – both the sleeping and the awake. In this unholy hour when everybody wants to sleep, I am uniquely fortunate enough to be surrounded by two esteemed Mesbahs (alluding to Dr. Ali Mesbah and Dr. Mohammad Mesbahi as fellow presenters in the same plenary session). As we all know, mesbah in Arabic, Persian and other languages means ‘lamp’. Since I believe I’m illuminated enough by two lamps, I’m optimistic that you will not mistakenly see me as a pillow or blanket.)
At the outset, let me take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the conference organizers, particularly the Director of the Sadra International Institute, and generally to all the members of the steering committee down to the drivers and guides. This is my first to come to Indonesia, although I may look like an Indonesian or even more ‘Indonesian’ compared to some Indonesians. I come from Mindanao, the land of promise and the bastion of centuries-old struggle for self-determination in this part of the world.
Before laying down my paper’s Statement of the Problem, let me first make some introductory remarks about behavioral economics and personal finance as well as about homo economicus vis-à-vis homo islamicus. I shall also clarify the kind of ‘debt’ which is the concern of this paper. After giving you the Statement of the Problem, I shall address the four secondary questions one by one and finally make a conclusion.
Story #6:– The Needy and the Wealthy
As usual, the Prophet was sitting in his place in between his Companions. They formed a circle around him and it seemed to be as if the Prophet was a bezel of a ring in between them.
Suddenly one of the Muslims, a poor man dressed in rags, came in through the door. According to the Islamic tradition, regardless of his status, anyone who enters in an assembly should sit wherever he finds an empty place, not considering whether the particular place is suitable for his social status. Therefore, that man looked around, found a vacant place, went, and sat there.
Incidentally he settled down next to a rich and wealthy man. The rich man gathered the edges of his dress and shifted on to another side away from him.
The Holy Prophet was watching and observing the behavior of the wealthy person.
He turned towards him and said: “Are afraid that something of his poverty would transfer to you?”
“No, O Messenger of Allah!”
“Did you fear that some of your wealth might adhere to him?”
“No, O Messenger of Allah!”
“Perhaps…”
“No, O Messenger of Allah!”
“Then why did you draw yourself aside and shift away from him?”
“I confess that I committed an error and made a mistake. At present, in order to compensate my error and to expiate the sin, I am ready to grant half of my wealth to this Muslim brother towards whom I have shown disrespect.”
The man in rags replied: “But I am not ready to accept this offer.”
The Companions asked: “Why?”
The man said: “I fear that I may become arrogant and ill-treat one of my Muslim brothers in the same way that this man did towards me today.”
Source: Murtada Mutahhari, THE NARRATIVES OF THE VERACIOUS, Story 17.
Financial Lesson of the Story:
- Preservation of one’s self-esteem and personal integrity.
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“Muslim Couple and Money” Published Today!
PUBLISHED TODAY!
Mansoor Limba, MUSLIM COUPLE AND MONEY: 8 PRACTICAL FINANCIAL TIPS FOR NEWLYWED MUSLIM COUPLE (MuslimandMoney.com, 2016), $2.99.
Published in both Amazon.com and Smashwords.com platforms, the eBook is a personal finance guide that reveals 8 practical financial tips for newlywed Muslim couples to help them attain financial freedom and happy marriage.
This title is part of the Muslim and Money Book Series. The other titles are “Muslim Kid and Money: 12 Financial Stories for Muslim Children” and “Muslim and Debt: 5 Practical Steps to Freedom from Debt,” which will be published soon, insha’ Allah.
Get your copy now!
Muslim Couple and Money
FORTHCOMING PUBLICATION
Mansoor Limba, MUSLIM COUPLE AND MONEY: 8 PRACTICAL FINANCIAL TIPS FOR NEWLYWED MUSLIM COUPLE (MuslimandMoney.com, 2016).
The book will be published next month (September 2016), insha’ Allah, through both Amazon.com and Smashwords.com platforms.
It is currently available as pre-release and sample pages can be downloaded free at Smashwords.com.
This title is part of the Muslim and Money Book Series. The other titles are “Muslim Kid and Money: 12 Financial Stories for Muslim Children” and “Muslim and Debt: 5 Practical Steps to Freedom from Debt.”
Ramadan and Personal Finance
The corpus of hadith has a lot of transmitted supplications recited every after the daily prayers during the month of Ramadan. One of these supplications is a short yet concise one whose English translation is as follows:
In the Name of Allah; the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.
O Allah, gladden the people of the graves,
O Allah, enrich every poor person,
O Allah, satisfy every hungry one,
O Allah, clothe every unclothed one,
O Allah, help every debtor pay his debts,
O Allah, relieve every distressed one,
O Allah, return every traveler (to his home),
O Allah release every prisoner,
O Allah, correct every wrong in the affairs of the Muslims,
O Allah, cure every sick one,
O Allah, ease our poverty by Your wealth,
O Allah, change our evil state to a good one through Your excellent state,
O Allah, relieve us of our debts, and help us against poverty.
Surely You have power over all things.
What draws our attention in this brief supplication is the fact that contrary to the common notion, most of the things asked for have something to do with material or physical welfare. Most interesting to note is the emphasis on the repayment of debt both at the beginning and the end of supplication.
This, once again, shows the multi-dimensional nature of fasting in Ramadan, and among its benefits are the lessons in personal finance that can be derived from it.
Story #5: ‘Ali and Assem
After the end of the battle of Jamal, Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib arrived in Basrah. During his stay in Basrah, once he went to visit one of his companions named ‘Ala ibn Zaid Haressi’. This man owned a very big and luxurious residence with all comforts. ‘Ali, after traversing his eyes on such big and magnificent building, said: “What is the use of such big residence in this world while you are in more need of a vast abode in the hereafter? If you wish to make use of it as a means to attain a spacious residence in the hereafter, you must welcome and entertain guests, be friendly with your blood relatives, clarify the rights of Muslims, take an advantage to vitalize and reveal the rights of others and neglect your personal greedy monopoly and individuality in its use.”
‘Ala said: “O Leader of the believers! I complain to you of my brother, Assem.”
Imam ‘Ali: “What is the complaint?”
‘Ala: “He has started the life of a recluse, dressed himself in rags, isolated himself from this world, and deserted everything and everyone.”
Imam ‘Ali: “Bring him in front of me!”
Assem was brought before the Imam, who turned the face towards him and said: “O enemy of your own life! The devil has stolen your sense. Why don’t you have sympathy for your wife and children? Do you believe that Allah, Who made the pure bounties of life licit for you, will be displeased with you if you benefit them? You are smaller than that before Allah.”
Assem: “O Leader of the believers! You are also like me, imposing the difficulties on yourself! You do not cover your body with soft dresses, nor eat delicious meals. Therefore I am doing the same thing which you are doing, and I am following the same path which you have chosen.”
Imam ‘Ali: “You are making a mistake. There is difference between me and you. I shoulder responsibilities of Leadership of Government but you do not. The duties of a Leader and Governor are something else. Allah made incumbent on the just leaders to take the weakest social classes of people as an example of their own personal lives and live in the same manner as the most empty-handed ones survived so that poverty and indigency does not leave impression on them. Therefore, I am having responsibilities and you have another obligation.” (Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermon 208)
Source: Murtada Mutahhari, THE NARRATIVES OF THE VERACIOUS, Story 16.
Financial Lessons of the Story:
- To engage in worship cannot be an excuse to abandon one’s physical necessities and social obligations.
- Both attachment to material things and abandonment of the good things in this world are condemnable in Islam.
- The Leader is supposed to serve as a model and to consider the condition of the lowest class in society.
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On the Banking System and Financial Literacy in Mindanao
MAKATI CITY (8 May) – As a financial literacy advocate and blogger, I was quite privileged to be invited last Friday (May 6) in the first forum on “The Flow of Deposits in the Mindanao Banking System: Exploring Alternatives” hosted by the Joint Ateneo Institute of Mindanao Economics (JAIME) held in Ateneo de Davao University, Davao City.