Few days ago i was watching a talk by a scholar on tv and he recommended that muslims should pay their zakat in gold and silver to combat raging inflation and price hike, and help poor and needy in doing so
As Muslims are bound to pay 2.5% of all their savings ,investments, jewlery etc after each year. It is an obligatory charity for their poor brethren in faith.If they pay it in the form of gold and silver coins instead of paper money then the beneficiary would get real value of money if he/she want to use it after some time. But paper money will most probably lose its worth against rising prices of basic necessities of life.
I think this is very noble idea, simply becasue more and more people in poor or developing countries are getting poorer because of inflation. And this is a good way to help these people :k:
Problem with that theory is....how does a poor person know whether the Gold they were getting was pure or an alloy of base metals......given that there are NO Gold Coins issued by the Pakistan Govt, or for that matter any Muslim Govt, other than Canada, South Africa and may be USA.
Problem with that theory is....how does a poor person know whether the Gold they were getting was pure or an alloy of base metals......given that there are NO Gold Coins issued by the Pakistan Govt, or for that matter any Muslim Govt,other than Canada, South Africa and may be USA.
Nice thought though....:)
These countries issue Gold coins ? I did not know that :)
Have you seen then. What is their size /weight ?
. I M O the idea is brilliant if followed on massive scale. Of course it needs popular support of scholars word wide.
Availability of gold or silver coins is not a problem in pakistan. Many companies make them and they are pretty reliable.
The psyche behind this idea is to encourage poor people to have some saving of their own. Becasue paper money is liquid cash, and it is losing its worth. People saving it are losing it.
during past 2 years prices basic food item have risen to about 50, 60% same is the value of gold. So if some poor person saved Rs 10,000 two years ago its current worth is about 5000 but if he saved Gold of this same worth then its current value is about Rs 15,000.
Pay Zakat in Gold
We are living in a world controlled by an economic system which is anything but Islamic. It’s based on Interest / debt based banking systems designed to enslave and dominate the masses and countries so that their natural capacities and wealth can be exploited for the benefit of the few on the top . Being a Muslim it’s our ultimate responsibility to launch a response which can transform this system toward the Islamic Ideals.
The most pivotal building block and strongest tool of exploitation of the Zionist interest / debt based economic system is paper currency backed by nothing. Paper currency is the center of gravity of the prevailing economic system and Alhamdolillah, SubhanAllah Islam has provided us a very strong weapon called Zakat which we can use to hit the lifeline of this system if we use it properly i.e. “Pay Zakat in Gold”.
To understand this we have to get hold of the economics of paper currency first. Paper currency is not backed by Gold or silver these days. Its value is determined through floating exchange rates resulting in deadly repercussions in following ways:
Fractional Reserve Banking
The most central practice in today’s economic model is Fractional Reserve banking (FRB) which is about lending a percentage of deposits to customers. Paper Currency which is printed in the quantity desired by central bank is multiplied as it passes through Fractional Reserve Systems of Conventional banks resulting in inflation. The central banks imposes a Cash Reserve Requirement i.e. CRR is 7 ~ 10% on banks (even Islamic banks) which determines the amount to be loaned out to clients of banks. It means that if a bank has Rs. 100 in deposits then it can lend Rs. 90 to its clients. The bank actually transfer this amount to the clients bank account, i.e. the same bank (or any other bank) receives it back, again making it a part of the bank deposite ready to be loaned again. The cycle continues and the money generated by central bank is multiplied many times in form of loan and expects it back with interest. Britain the Central bank regulates only 3% of the total money generated where as the remaining 97% is regulated in form of loans by commercial banks. In other words only 3 pounds of money exists to pay back 97 pounds to debt!!!
This phenomenon seems very profitable if seen in context of banking practices, but from macro economics stand point this is most contagious and is the biggest root cause of Monetary Inflation (of course there are others reasons as well) as by practicing FRB, banks gains the capacity to produce and control the money supply in the economy . Its exploitative nature is evident from Mayer Amschel Rothschild, statement which me made in 1828 "Allow me to issue and control the money of the nation, I care not who writes the law". Fractional Reserve banking is only possible if economy is backed by paper currency backed by nothing and its value is determined by floating exchange rates, if its backed strictly by gold then it is not possible to do FRB simply because a physical gold coin can only be owned by a single individual.
Paper Currency
In reality Paper currency is a hoax (pay orders, bonds, cheque and other receipts included) and digital currency (debt / credit cards are even bigger hoax), as it was supposed to be backed by gold but it’s not. The reason paper currency superseded gold and silver was that it could be produced effortlessly and multiplied many times over in form of debt by passing it through the FRB system. The result was (is) constant depreciation of its value as it multiplies with time when it passed(s) through the FRB system of banking (the sugar coated term for this phenomenon in economics is the Money Multiplier Effect). Today 3% of Britain money supply is controlled by government whereas 97% is controlled by banks inform of debt , similar is the case of USA. The result is staggering inflation and devaluation / debasement of paper currency and the hardest hit are the poor as their savings disintegrate with the rate of inflation cased by excess money supply, henceforth they have to put additional backbreaking effort just to maintain it. From Islamic stand point, Ahadith and Quranic verses describing the economic ruling are based on Dharam and Dinnars which has always been in form of gold and silver. By the way 1400 years ago a chicken price tag was 1 dinnar and today it’s still 1 dharam i.e. 3 grams of silver means zero inflation in terms of silver currency .
Paper currency is a pivotal element of Jewish / Zionist Debt / Interest based economic environment which enables them to accomplish their agenda of Economic domination and slavery (for details of this agenda read the book by Confession of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins who worked at IMF), as it allows the banks to control, issue and devalue the money supply. Devaluation of currency is practiced to keep countries under their economic rule. You must have noticed the devaluation of Rupee in the past and more significantly in recent times. The World Bank occasionally pushes Pakistani government to devalue the currency (source Dawn newspaper) simply because it increases the amount of debt in dollars and the interest on that debt (previously to pay back 1 dollar, we had to earn Rs. 60, now we have to earn Rs. 70) as a result Pakistan has to pay more out of its savings for an even longer period of time.
The Zakat System
We all know that the currency used 1400 years back was Dharam and Dinnar which were infact gold and silver coins. Zakat was implied on those whose savings were more then a specific amoung i.e. 85 grams of gold, 595 grams silver or 653 kilograms of certain grains. Minimum limit of zakat was 2.5% of the saving in dhiram, dinar or other trading goods and 5 ~ 10% on grains in stock exceeding the minimum limit. It’s the fixed amount of savings which goes to poor and deserving people of the society. If Calculated and Paid in terms of papers currency will simply result a percentage loss of its value over the years equal to an amount of monetary inflation in that society which is infact the amount papar currency has devalued.
It's estimated that the amount of gold mined throughout history is about 140,000 tons. At $1,000 per ounce, this is worth about $4 trillion. If the whole world pays Zakat on that amount (2.5%), the result would be $100 billion annually. Wheat production is expected to reach 645 million tons in the 2008/2009 season. If the whole world pays Zakat on that amount (5% for wheat), the result would total more than 32 million tons for this year. Rice production is 421 million tons for the 2007/2008 season. If the whole world pays Zakat on that amount, the result would total more than 21 million tons for this year .
This amount is many times more then needed to raise all the poors (more then half of the world population) to their feet !!!
The Alternate
Keep in view the above stated points its becomes blatantly clear that if we want to get rid of interest / debt based Zionist economic system then the most important step would be to get rid of paper currency and replace it with Gold and silver, simply because its not possible to issue, control and devalue it as done with paper currency.
As it is clear that the poor in the society are getting poorer with a rate currency is being devalued which is infact the rate of inflation, thus as Muslims our first priority should be to save the poor class from the claws of prevailing evils of the economic engine.
As we know that the zakat paid by Pakistanis is 6 ~ 7 billions of rupees. If this is paid in form of Gold and silver form then it will bring following advantages
1. Poor class will be able to develop their monetary reserves in form of Gold and Silver which they are unable to develop due to their negligible income. As we know that the price of Gold and Silver has been increasing with time, thus this will profit poor class in monetary terms.
2. If this much gold and silver is injected at the bottom of the society, it will encourage the use of gold and silver as a unit of exchange. Hence the circulation of gold and silver which a pivotal element of Islamic Economic system will begin in the society. As you might know that in some cities of Punjab dollar and pounds are used simply because a member of each family is abroad and send back his savings in form of dollars thus making it a medium of exchange for the whole city. In Malaysia use of Gold as a medium of exchange has already started, so it really happens if people initiate it.
3. This will be a move in the direction to make Gold and Silver supersede paper currency, this will be the strongest blow to the Zionist economic system as it will disable them to dominate and exploit countries which they do through fractional reserve / interest / debt based banking. Fractional reserve will not be possible in presence of gold currency thus their agenda of economic domination will be deterred effectively as they will not be able to control and manipulate the money supply as they do with paper currency.
Paying zakat to people in Pakistan is a good idea for the economy of Pakistan, but it will not really benefit the poor. The idea of zakat is to utilise wealth that would otherwise be waiting to be used.
The idea of poor people getting to save money is a no brainer on two counts:
1) Why would the poor save, when they would need the money to eat, dress and live?
2) Saving would oblige them to pay zakat too!
The global strategy for getting gold into Pakistan through charity is however a good one for Pakistan. When the poor get the gold they will have to exchange it for paper money and in turn for consumable products to remove their needs. The gold will find its way to the banks and hence you strengthen the economy of Pakistan. The benefit to the poor is minimal because the whole idea of value through inflation of gold relies on the keeper of the gold to hold on to it and not spend it. Why a poor person would need gold baffles me!
In the vein of the importance for removing poverty there are two things we can implement easily in Pakistan.
1) Food sharing
2) For educated people to offer free tuition
Then there is the reliance on industries to become mature and professional enough to gain confidence in international business. To invest in the ownership of resources. Oil, Gas, Foods, Potable Water, Minerals and Precious Substances.
Some countries rely totally on quality and service related industries to build their economies.
Pakistan should start to develop its tourism industry to attract interest.
In Pakistan the poverty is a direct result of a poor government budget because the government officials line their pockets with it, in most cases or it gets thrown into the army never to be seen again.
guys, please understand the distructiveness of the present economic model, we have to do some thing to bypass it and creat a new system backed by real wealth not by debt, the shortest way and strongest way is to pay Zakat in Gold. besides poor people do try to save a little and they dont have to pay zakat on it untill their savings are more then a specified limit, they do save little but that disintegrate with the rate of inflation, if we pay our zakat in gold, then they can spend their savings for their needs and keep gold as saving, this will build their savings in gold.
people learn economics, learn modern bankings theories, learn how Fractional reserve banking works, search the internet and how all these things are eating up the poor of this world, No surpise when Quran says in Al Baqara [FONT=Verdana,Arial]2:278 O ye who believe! Fear Allah, and give up what remains of your demand for usury, if ye are indeed believers.
[FONT=Verdana,Arial] 2:279 If ye do it not, Take notice of war from Allah and His Messenger. But if ye turn back, ye shall have your capital sums: Deal not unjustly, and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly.
No doubt it sound tantalizing *in theory, *but there are some nasty realities which should be taken under consideration.
My teacher(my mother) told me that giving out zakat in gold or silver wont change any thing for poor folks. And there are more chances that when they will go out and sell them they wont be getting any good prices.
There is general perception and common experience that when you go to buy something it price is on the higher side and when you go to sell it in a hurry, you dont get good price and often suffer a loss. So, the poor person is always needy and giving him tiny amount and gold means leaving him at the mercy of Gold merchents who most probably give him the lowest price. Considering the person is needy he cant wait till the price go up as it may take weeks or months. He need the money he will sell it at whatever price he may get.