2. It is thus I decided to begin by telling a short Sufi tale of the bird and the egg, and the story goes thus: "Once upon a time, there was a bird which did not have the power of flight. Like a chicken, she walked about on the ground, although she knew that some birds did fly. It so happened that through a combination of circumstances, the egg of a flying bird was incubated by this flightless one. In due time, the chick came forth, still with the potentiality for flight which it had always had, even from the time when it was in the egg. It spoke to its foster mother, saying 'when will I fly?' and the land bound mother bird said, 'persist in your attempts to fly, just like the others', for she did not know how to take the fledgling for its lessons in flying, even to topple it from its nest so that it might learn.
And it is curious, in a way, that the young bird did not see this. His recognition of the situation was confused by the fact that he felt gratitude to the mother bird, which had hatched him, 'without this service, he said to himself, 'surely I would still be in the egg'.
Again, sometimes he said to himself: 'anyone who can hatch me, surely she can teach me to fly. It must be just a matter of time, or of my own unaided efforts, or of some great wisdom: yes, that is it. Suddenly one day, I will be carried to the next stage by her who has brought me thus far'."
3. Ladies & gentlemen, I leave it to you to decide and form your own conclusion as to what the moral of the story is, or what it means personally for you. They tell me that Sufi tales are to be interpreted to one's best level of comprehension and understanding. Illuminations can only come after deep reflection. At various points I have asked myself whether I am the flightless chicken, constrained, but yet unwilling to accept my limitations, accepting challenges yet blocked by my own personal incapabilities, even the very significant capacity to realize and understand each and every event that besots me. At other times, I have also struggled with the thought that I could possibly be the fledgling chick, capable of flying, yet unable to take the first flight and to one day soar to heights unknown to me. There have been many critical moments, where I had the woeful misconception that the Jedi master I am beholden to, would one day show me the way.
4. To our graduands, I wish to remind you that you are our inaugural graduates, and you carry with that designation, major responsibilities. Not only do you carry with you the skills our training and our teaching gives, but you DO carry with you, our name and reputation. And with that you carry also our hopes and aspirations. I can do no better than quote Alquran: "O my son! establish regular prayer, enjoin what is just, and forbid what is wrong: and bear with patient constancy whatever betide thee; for this is firmness (of purpose) in (the conduct of) affairs. And swell not thy cheek (for pride) at men, nor walk in insolence through the earth; for Allah loveth not any arrogant boaster. And be moderate in thy pace, and lower thy voice; for the harshest of sounds without doubt is the braying of the ass." [Luqman, Ayat: 17-19]
5. I ask the students we are graduating today, to reflect and continue to ponder, and hopefully not be like the fledgling chick or the flightless chicken. This is especially important as you now move into the next phase of your life. For today, like no other, we live and face a juxtaposed world. I can do no better than quote Dickens, who in his Tale of Two Cities, described the time then as:
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way."
6. The present quagmire we are in, present opportunities for us students and practitioners of Islamic finance. Today is indeed, the best of times and the worst of times. Events have shown that institutions and countries practicing Islamic finance to be least affected by the global financial meltdown. Countries and institutions that for so long have been practicing a system that is deeply entrenched in interest, now are charging zero or close to zero interest. If their motivations could be less economics but more spiritual, these institutions could very well be implementing Islamic finance.
7. Ladies & Gentlemen, it is germane thus for us now to reflect also on the current state of Islamic finance. We have seen developments that warm our hearts on the progress we have made over the years. Islamic finance is now being espoused and leadership being sought by people and institutions that are neither Islamic in nature nor orientation. Moreover, there is nothing wrong in that. The ilm of Muslim thinkers and philosophers have underlined modern civilization as understood by the west. We can see the illumination brought to the modern world by works of Averroes, al-Ghazali, or ibni Khaldun, to name a few. Modern medicine for example could not be where it is today without the frontier-breaking works of Avicenna. Imagine also us doing our additions and multiplications, not to say exponentials, using Roman numerals. That would be both clumsy and inefficient.
8. In this past year, we have witnessed the fall of financial giants in the West. We are told of packages going into billions which are basically fiat money printed to save the various economies, and we could, if we wish to, gloat and tell the world that Islamic finance is THE solution, as it must be, for how could a system which are based on the injunctions of Allah swt, fail. However, in espousing Islamic Finance as the cure all, we must also consciously be true to ourselves and accept that Islamic Finance cannot be taken in isolation. Islamic Finance emerging as it does from the crucible of the Islamic faith, is part of the Islamic economic system. The Islamic financial system always begins with mal, wealth, which belongs to the people in trust. This mal is to be used actively in economic activities, from which emanates employment and zakat, and from there wealth distribution. Transactions engaged into by the various individuals in the Islamic economic system assume a moral-based society. From private mal comes baitulmal, which emphasizes the role of the state in ensuring the welfare of its people. Poverty would be non-existent because private mal and baitulmal would be geared towards providing for everyone. More so as Allah says:
"Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve." [Al-Baqara, ayat 62]
9. We are thus reminded that the system is a necessary, but not sufficient condition. The righteousness Allah asks us to observe as in the ayat above, calls on us to fulfill the contracts we made. The title of al Amin bestowed on the Prophet pbuh, is the apex of behaviour and governance, and it also behoves us to be so. It is the man in the system, who should be guided by the life in the hereafter, who would eventually spell success or doom. In most cases of failure of companies, it is just the devious acts of persons, acting out of greed and shameless disregard for values and beliefs that brought the downfall. We learn soon enough that neither regulation nor the lack of it is the real answer to ensuring ethical behaviour. Our programme at INCEIF thus laid great emphasis on the importance of ethics and governance, and we emphasize too on the need for all students to observe the adab in all its various dimensions. As we proceed to expand our programs elsewhere, we bring these values, and hopefully those who are touched by our programs would observe these as well, for among our students are also non-Muslims.
10. During this past year, we had the opportunity to review our programs, to make it more relevant and to better incorporate knowledge; learning and values that we felt are more needed by industry. We are most encouraged by the recognition given to us, both by the authorities and by the market. Our students and their parents may be pleased to know that the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) has recognized the CIFP as equivalent to a Masters degree. This means students with the CIFP qualification can now proceed if they wish to, pursue a doctorate qualification.
11. Market recognition comes in the form of acceptance of our programs by other educational institutions. I pray I would not be accused of self-conceit, but I must share with you my happiness that our friends in other educational institutions, both private and public, and also both domestic and foreign, are using our programs, either by adopting in total or adapting in parts. This peer recognition, by institutions which had much experience and a longer history than us in the education business, is the one we most cherish. We may quietly think we know what we are doing, but surely these other institutions do know what they are doing. Institutions like the University of Reading in the UK, the University of Bahrain in Bahrain, the Universitas Airlangga and Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Gunung Djati in Indonesia, and of course our own Universiti Malaya and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Malaysia, to name a few, are testimony of that recognition. The incorporating of our papers into their programs by these universities is tacit acceptance and recognition of what we have developed. We are also blessed today by the presence of representatives of some of our Partner Institutions, Dr Karjadi Mintaroen from Universitas Airlangga, Prof Dr Mohd Fauzi Md Jani of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Associate Professor Ahmad Kamil Mydin Meera of International Islamic University Malaysia, Prof Dr Mohd Zabid Abdul Rashid of Universiti Tun Abdul Razak and Prof Dr H Nanat Fatah Natsir of Universitas Islam Negeri Gunung Djati Bandung.
In research, our International Shari'ah Research Academy (ISRA) has engaged itself with laying out the base for research fundamentals that would not only explain the basis for Islamic finance, but would in time, lead to fresh approaches and new enlightenments.
12. Ladies & Gentlemen, we approach the New Year with much enthusiasm and spirit, for to us it shall be the season of Light, not of Darkness, it shall be the spring of hope, not the winter of despair. We shall prevail, Insya' Allah.
13. Allah s.w.t has been most kind to us at INCEIF, and it is our constant doa that Allah keeps us on the rightly guided path, siratul mustaqim. On that note, I would like to congratulate our new graduates and may Allah bless all of you. I would also like to express our utmost appreciation to everyone in today's gathering and elsewhere who in their different ways have helped us soldier on. I conclude with the doa of Musa alaihisalam, rabbi inni limaa anzalta, ilayya min khairin faqir. [al-Qasas:ayat 24] My Lord! surely I stand in need of whatever good Thou mayest send down to me.
Peace be with you, Assalamualykum wr.wb. |
