Many of you may have heard of the recent visit of Shaykh Umar Vadillo to Pakistan. More information can be found [here].
(This Article was taken from the following source - www.qwmagazine.com)
My name is Umar Ibrahim Vadillo; I was born in the Basque Country in a Catholic family 46 years ago. I became a Muslim 25 years ago. Together with my community we took the initiative to restore the Gold Dinar and in 1992 we minted the first Dinars in modern history in the city of Granada, Spain
I became the founder of World Islamic Mint, the regulatory body that establishes the standards of the Dinar and Dirham worldwide. I am now the CEO of Kelantan Golden Trade, a State Company in the Sultanate of Kelantan, Malaysia. The Government of Kelantan has undertaken the introduction of the Gold Dinar throughout the State infrastructure.
Now all State companies accept the gold Dinar: you can pay water, electricity and all utilities due to State companies using Dinar and Dirham. All State employees will receive 25% of their salary in Gold Dinar and Members of the State Assembly have agreed recently to receive 50% of their salary in Gold Dinar. We have 1,500 shops that accept the gold Dinar in Kelantan. There will be by end of January 2011. Most importantly, the Gold Dinar will be used to pay Zakat according to the Sunnah (Prophetic tradition) using ‘ayn (Dinar, Dirham or any other tangible commodity) and not dayn (debt, or promissory notes).
The Muslims have been blessed with territory which is not only geographically well placed but also rich in natural resources. Would you say this is a key factor behind much of today’s violence in that region?
Muslims are not and cannot be happy with the geopolitics of today. After the fall of the Caliphate we were artificially divided into small tiny States and were forced to comply with International Law by accepting a Constitution. Constitutions are all the same all over the world. They are above Divine Law. They are a new “sacred” book. They all have three common characteristics: Central Bank, National Debt and Law of Legal Tender. The Law of Legal Tender is the notion by which the Central Bank appropriates the monopoly to create money. This notion is not Islamic since in Islam all trading MUST be done with mutual consent. And money is, of course, part of trading. All three guarantee the supremacy of capitalism as a way of living, replacing Muamalat (dealings and relations between people), our way of living. Our Muamalat is based on the Amal of the ahl al-Madina, the Practice of the People of Medina as the maximum perfection of human societies.
Central Banks are haram (prohibited) without any question, yet they are endorsed by the highest law in the land, the Constitution. National Debt is the ridiculous concept that everyone born in Indonesia today comes to the world owing 3,600 USD to someone they do not even know. It has nothing to do with Islam but it is vital to capitalism.
These three elements vital to capitalism are placed before any application of Islam is feasible. Islam is thus put aside from economic matters. A recent attempt by modernist scholars has tried over the last 50 years to Islamise capitalism and the result of that is Islamic banking, Islamic Stock Exchange, Islamic Insurance, Islamic credit cards, Islamic mortgages, and Islamic inflation and so on. This so called Islamisation is not trying to make Capitalism compliant to the Shariah, but to make the Shariah compliant to Capitalism. It is absurd and must be rejected.
The Muslims are therefore trapped between modernist forces that represent the most vivid voice of Islamic presence and secularist forces who do not want anything to do with Islam. None of these two opposing factions represents Islam.
We are also divided into ridiculous Nation States, some of which represent lines in the desert, some divide entire nations, some States like Pakistan do not exist. In the Malay world Malay Muslims are divided into a number of nations with no attempt to understand people, customs and religion. The divisions, like in the Middle East were made by the colonial powers that then left behind their “gift”, the Trojan Horse of independence: the constitution.
We should remember that all the forces that in in the turn of the XIX to XX century opposed the Caliphate were one way or the other aligned to “constitutionalism”. Constitutionalism represented the opposition to the Caliphate. The fact that we live all in constitutionalist States simply shows that we are still under subjugation and that Independence has not yet taken place Independence will not take place until the constitutions and the Central Banks are eliminated.
A modern example of how things are done is the case of Bosnia. Their independence was ratified with the acceptance of the Bosnian constitution which guarantees the Islam cannot be practiced in Bosnia, other than as a form of personal morality. This is what Islam is turned into “personal morality”. No thinking Muslim can accept this situation.
Violence due to the control of resources is nothing but the consequence of our divisions. The non-Muslim invading forces take us one by one and impose their violent control over us whenever their interests are not fully satisfied. The Gulf Area is totally subdued by the acceptance of the US dollar. The US do not have to pay for their own oil supply, they only need to print more money. Since the Dollar is no longer backed by gold, it only represents the utter submission of the Gulf States to the dominance of the USA. This is true of all States that accept the USD
Could you please define the term ‘Muamalat’, what it meant during the first generation of Muslims, what it means, if anything, to the Muslims of today and what the principle can offer to the other systems of today?
Muamalat refers to all the interactions between people as practiced by the first community in Madinah, that is, the ‘Amal of the ahl al-Madinah. This part of the Shariah constitutes 2/3 of all the jurisprudence, yet is has been ignored consistently and has practically vanished in our Muslim societies. Seen as a model, Muamalat represents our alternative to capitalism. It is not only a different form to interact with difference institutions and instruments but more profoundly a different way to think about those interactions. That is what we will call a new paradigm. Muamalat was ignored in modernist literature and instead they invented “Islamisation” as a process to “Islamise capitalism”. As a result, you have “Islamic banking”, “Islamic insurance”, “Islamic constitution”, “Islamic democracy”, “Islamic Stock Exchange” and so on. This is not only absurd but it implied a cover up of Muamalat which was simply ignored. Thus nobody knows anything about the Gold Dinar or what a Suq (market) or a Caravan is. The Muwatta of Imam Malik and after that, the Mudawwana of Sahnun are the best sources of information regarding the ‘Amal of the Ahl Al-Madinah. These are the sources. The restoration of Islam today implies the restoration of the Muamalat.
What is Shariah currency and why do we no longer use it?
The Shariah currency is the name given to the Dinar and the Dirham. They are mentioned in Qur’an and they have been the measurement for important parts of the Shariah such as zakat and in assessing the hudud (Divine punishment). Their weights are known. The weight of the Dinar is the mithqal or 72 grains of barley, that is, 4.25 grams and the weight of the Dirham is 7/10 of the mithqal or 2.975 grams.
We do not use it anymore because it was eradicated during the process of so called “independence” of the post-colonial States, the instrument were the constitutions. The Constitutions without exception grant the right to the State –seen as a capitalist entity- to monopolize the production of money in the form of banking legal tender or otherwise known as fiat money. All modern States subscribe to this “New World Order” created by the victors of World War II. That naturally includes all Muslim States. It was a condition for independence. The newly born nationalism disintegrated Islamic brotherhood (I am not referring to the organisation but the concept of brotherhood and single Ummah) and brought divisions and barriers to our people as we have today. So, by this principle I am made a foreigner in my own land which is Mecca and Madina. I am not a foreigner to the Hijaz (“the barrier”, a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia), it is my land, and it is where I belong. But not now, thanks to the invention of Saudi Arabia. Most Muslims have accepted this as a fact, yet it has no precedence in Islamic history. We are living in strange times.
The use and acceptance of fiat currency simply means that the majority of the population lives under a prison that they do not see and they do not see it because they do not have the language to understand. In other words, they have lost access to the Shariah (Islamic law). In this process of covering up, the modernist Ulema (scholars) have played a fundamental role. They themselves are a second or third generation of pure ignorance regarding these matters. This is why the Arabs live in total darkness when it comes to muamalat.
Is there a difference between what the World Trade Organisation calls trade and what Islam recognises as trade?
It is totally different. Expressions such as “free trade” or ‘free market” so often used to identify capitalism are totally misleading. Trading can only occur in conditions of “mutual consent” and “no riba” (usuary). Under those two conditions practically there is no activity in capitalism that can be called trading. The use of paper money already invalidates the contract from an Islamic point of view. Now, I am aware that this sounds extreme as this invalidates zakat and invalidates other important social interactions typically conducted with paper money today. Well, this is how I see it for myself. As for others, Allahu ‘Alim (Allah knows). In His Mercy and His Wisdom He can see what we cannot see, including what is in the hearts of the people. Will He accept the zakat of those who pay with paper money? That is not my business, but it is my business to make everything possible so that I do not have to pay in paper money and help others to do the same. And Allah knows best. The Law is clear. You cannot pay zakat using dayn; you have to pay in ‘ayn.
Trading therefore has been forbidden in this society what we have instead is “monopolistic distribution” or simply distribution but not trading. Only in remote societies near the desert can you still see something that resembles halal (permissible) trading. In urban environments there is practically nothing left. The only way to restore trading is first to introduce real currency that is the Dinar and the Dirham and second to restore the suqs. We will know that the Suqs have been restored when we see a return of the caravans. The caravans can only be restored once the suqs have been put in place.
What is an open/public market and why is it a crucial institute?
There cannot be trading without the Islamic/open/public market.
Soon after his arrival in Madinah al-Munawwara, the Prophet of Islam, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, created two institutions, a mosque and a market. He made clear by his statements and explicit injunctions that the market-place was to be a space freely accessible to everybody, with no divisions (such as shops) and where no taxes, levies or rents could be charged. Let me include some quotes because most people have never heard about this subject.
The Market is like a Mosque: …
The Messenger of Allah, may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Markets should follow the same Sunna as the mosques: whoever gets his place first has a right to it until he gets up and goes back to his house or finishes his selling. (suq al-muslimin ka-musalla l-muslimin, man sabaqa ila shay’in fa-huwa lahu yawmahu hatta yada’ahu.)” (Al-Hindi, Kanz al-’Ummal, V, 488, no. 2688)
It is a sadaqa, with no private ownership …
Ibrahim ibn al-Mundhir al Hizami relates from Abdallah ibn Ja’far, that Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn Hasan said, “The Messenger of Allah, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, gave the Muslims their markets as a charitable gift (tasaddaqa ‘ala l-muslimina bi-aswaqihim)“ (Ibn Shabba, K. Tarikh al-Madinah al-Munawwara, 304)
With no rent charged …
Ibn Zabala relates that Khalid ibn Ilyas al-’Adawi said, “The letter of ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-’Aziz was read out to us in Madinah, saying that the market was a sadaqa and that no rent
(kira’) should be charged on anyone for it.” (As-Samhudi, Wafa al-Wafa, 749)
With no taxes levied on it …
Ibrahim ibn al-Mundhir relates from Ishaq ibn Ja’far ibn Muhammad, from Abdallah ibn Ja’far ibn al-Miswar, from Shurayh ibn Abdallah ibn Abi Namir, that Ata’ ibn Yasar said, “When the Messenger of Allah, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, wanted to set up a market in Madinah, he went to the market of Bani Qaynuqa’ and then came to the market of Madinah, stamped his foot on the ground and said, ‘This is your market. Do not let it be lessened (la yudayyaq), and do not let any tax (kharaj) be levied on it.” (Ibn Shabba, K. Tarikh al-Madinah al Munawwara, 304)
Where no reservations or claims can be made Ibn Zabala relates from Hatim ibn Isma’il that Habib said that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab [once] passed by the Gate of Ma’mar in the market and [saw that] a jar had been placed by the gate and he ordered that it be taken away. … ‘Umar forbade him to put any stones on the place or lay claim to it [in any way] (an yuhajjir ‘alayha aw yahuzaha). (As-Samhudi, Wafa al-Wafa, 749)
And where no shops can be constructed…
Ibn Shabba relates from Salih ibn Kaysan …that …the Messenger of Allah, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, said: “This is your market. Do not build anything with stone (la tatahajjaru) [on it], and do not let any tax (kharaj) be levied on it.”; (As-Samhudi, Wafa al-Wafa, 747-8)
Abu r-Rijal relates from Isra’il, from Ziyad ibn Fayyad, from one of the shaykhs of Madinah that ‘Umar ibn al Khattab, radiya’llahu ‘anhu, saw a shop (dukkan) which someone had newly put up in the market and he destroyed it. (Ibn Shabba, K. Tarikh al-Madinah al-Munawwara, 750)
What are your thoughts regarding: Islamic banks, Islamic Stock Exchange, Islamic insurance, Islamic mortgages, and Islamic credit cards?
They are a Trojan horse inside Dar al Islam (area of the world under the rule of Islam). They are a shame to those people who have promoted them, making the haram halal.
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