The Intellectual Challenge of the Qur’an

Issues Explained
Wednesday, 03 September 2008


The Eternal Word of the Creator to His Creation sent down through Jibreel, the Ruh al-ameen and conveyed by His final Messenger Muhammad al-Mujtaba (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) to guide mankind out of the depths of darkness to the light of the justice of Islam.

This is the Book that we recite and recite again at every opportunity to find solace and guidance in its meanings while our hearts quake with the sound of its rhythm and cadences.

However this blessed Kitaab that we have in our hands today faced many an obstacle and much opposition before its conveyance was complete. The chiefs of the Quraysh of Makkah opposed its recital and call realising that should the Message of the Qur’an be embraced by the people then the game would be up and their days of presiding over a social order based on idolatry, injustice and immorality would be numbered. Initially they chose to ignore it thinking it will die of its own accord but when they witnessed its permeation in the public atmosphere they resolved to put a stop to its dissemination by the Messenger (saw) and the early Muslim converts.

Their cowardly resolution is recorded in the Qur’an itself: ‘And those who disbelieve say: “Listen not to this Qur’ân, and make noise (laghw) in the midst of its (recitation) that you may overcome.” [TMQ 41:26]

The answer of the Mushriks to the intellectual call of the Qur’an was to ban and prevent people from hearing its recital. It is reported by Ibn ‘Abbas (ra) that Abu Jahl told people to shout in the face of the Messenger when he recited the Qur’an so that people could not hear what was being recited. Mujahid said: ‘laghw (in this ayah) refers to making noise by whistling and clapping.’ (Tafseer al-Jami’ li-ahkam al-Qur’an of al- Qurtubi). So thought was faced with obstacles and suppression. But that was not enough; the Quraysh used other means to silence the intellectual call of the Qur’an. They resorted to propaganda, torture and finally boycott. They labelled the Prophet as a madman, sorcerer or soothsayer in order to discredit him. It is reported that when Tufayl b. ‘Amr al-Dawsi came to Makkah during the early period of the Prophet’s da’wah there, Quraysh approached him to warn and prevent him from listening to the Prophet. They said: ‘O Tufayl, you have come to our town. This man who claims that he is a Prophet has ruined our authority and shattered our community. We are afraid that he would succeed in undermining you and your authority among your people just as he has done with us. Don’t speak to the man. On no account listen to anything he has to say. He has the speech of a sorcerer, causing division between father and son, between brother and brother and between husband and wife.’

But of course truth cannot be kept away from the one who seeks it and so lets listen to what happened next in Tufayl’s own words and how he came to embrace the truth: ‘The following morning I went to the Sacred Mosque to make tawaaf around the Ka’bah as an act of worship to the idols that we made pilgrimage to and glorified. I inserted a piece of cotton in my ears out of fear that something of the speech of Muhammad would reach my hearing. As soon as I entered the Mosque, I saw him standing near the Ka’bah. He was praying in a fashion which was different from our prayer. His whole manner of worship was different. The scene captivated me. His worship made me tremble and I felt drawn to him, despite myself, until I was quite close to him. Not withstanding the precaution I had taken, God willed that some of what he was saying should reach my hearing and I heard a speech that was so beautiful that I said to myself, “What are you doing, Tufayl? You are a perceptive poet. You can distinguish between the good and the bad in poetry. What prevents you from listening to what this man is saying? If what comes from him is good, accept it, and if it is bad, reject it. ” I remained there until the Prophet left for his home. I followed him as he entered his house, and I entered also and said, “O Muhammad, your people have said certain things to me about you. By God, they kept on frightening me away from your message so that I even blocked my ears to keep out your words. Despite this, God caused me to hear something of it and I found it good. So tell me more about your mission…’ Brothers and sister, that was then. Now we see a rising global Muslim consciousness and reassertion of the Islamic identity whether in the Middle East, Far East, South East Asia or in the West. And today we also hear voices in the West saying that Islam is backward, that the problem is Islam and not Muslims, that it will cause separatism and division in society, its beliefs and laws are medieval and barbaric, its political system totalitarian and its view of women is misogynistic; indeed some have crossed a certain threshold and pushed the limit and uttered what many maybe are feeling but dare not articulate right now: that perhaps even the Qur’an needs to be proscribed as its verses are not in tune with western liberal values.

Much of the western media has stoked and fanned the fire of hate and ignorance by leading this campaign, culminating in the publication of the vile cartoons of the Prophet (saw) which perhaps represents the high-water mark of gutter defamatory journalism though no one is holding their breath. Governments on their part have matched this propaganda onslaught by passing more draconian anti terror legislation, oppressive control orders, a vague and arbitrary offence of glorification and there are plans to extend the number of days an anti terror suspect can be detained without charge and consequently trial. But the striking thing about all this is that just like the Quraysh, who were unable to meet thought with thought - the backlash against Islam has been far from intellectual. The language has been sometimes one of hatred and fear as with the immigration debate or the Muslim schools issue, and at times of ignorance as we saw with the Shariah law commotion in response to the statements of the archbishop of Canterbury. Where an ostensibly sober discussion has been attempted the result always has been that the other side has not been represented - rather apologists and the emasculated have been wheeled out as the representatives of the Muslims. So Muslims in the West, what are they to do? Should they lie low and pray the storm blows over; although that seems highly unlikely given the direction of the current tide, or perhaps respond with appeasement and say what western neo-con xenophobes want to hear? Will that really place their Deen in a sure footing or will it be the slippery slope towards assimilation into the alien self destructive values of the xenophobe?

At a juncture like this it is worthwhile pausing and reflecting on the Qur’an and seeing what we can glean from how the Qur’an faced the onslaught on the Deen at its inception. A scrutiny of the verses which dealt with propaganda and attacks of the time shows that the Quranic method (minhaj) of address (khitaab) was to respond intellectually, challenging the erroneous thought by highlighting its inherent contradictions and affecting the emotions through articulating its thought in ways that opened up the hearts and minds to the eternal truths of its Message.

The Qur’an did not dwell long on the propaganda attacks but summarily dismissed them. For example, when Quraysh spread the propaganda that the Prophet has learnt the Qur’an from a Christian youth named Jabr, the Qur’an retorted: “We know indeed that they say it is a man that taught him. The tongue of him they wickedly point to is notably foreign, while this is Arabic, pure and clear.”[TMQ 16:103] Indeed the Qur’an then challenged Quraysh to bring a surah like it if they were to prove their contention that it is from man and not God. When Quraysh began their ad homonym attacks on the Prophet by claiming he was possessed, Allah (swt) instructed the Prophet to say: Say [O Prophet!] had Allah pleased, I would never have recited it to you nor would He have made it known to you. A whole life- time have I dwelt amongst you before it was revealed. Have you then no sense. [TMQ 10:16]

The Prophet told them, a life time have I spent with you and you saw no madness, so why the claim now? Read the following verses of surah at-Tur and reflect on the manner in which each of the attacks of the Mushrikeen is dealt with by highlighting the contradictions in their claims: Therefore (O Muhammad), remind and preach. By the Grace of Allâh, you are neither a soothsayer, nor a madman. Or do they say: “(Muhammad is) a poet! We await for him some calamity by time.!” Say (O Muhammad to them): “Wait! I am with you, among the waiters!” Do their minds command them this [i.e. to tell a lie against you] or are they people exceeding the bounds. Or do they say: “He (Muhammad) has forged it (this Qur’ân)?” Nay! They believe not! Let them then produce a recital like unto it (the Qur’ân) if they are truthful. Were they created by nothing, or were they themselves the creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Nay, but they have no firm Belief. Or are with them the treasures of your Lord? Or are they the tyrants with the authority to do as they like? Or have they a stairway (to heaven), by means of which they listen (to the talks of the angels)? Then let their listener produce some manifest proof. Or has He (Allâh) only daughters and you have sons? Or is it that you (O Muhammad) ask a wage from them (for your preaching) so that they are burdened with a load of debt? Or that the Ghaib (unseen) is with them, and they write it down? Or do they intend a plot (against you O Muhammad)? But those who disbelieve are themselves in a plot! Or have they an ilâh (a god) other than Allâh? Glorified be Allâh from all that they ascribe as partners (to Him) [TMQ 52:29-43]

Having swiftly dismissed the propaganda the Qur’an preferred to engage in an exposition of the viewpoint about life, beliefs and thought of the opponents in a challenging style and at the same time stir their emotions towards the truth. For example, ponder the following verse which addresses the Mushrik’s refusal to believe that man can be resurrected after death and consequently the accountability in the Hereafter:

‘O mankind! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection, then verily! We have created you from dust, then from a Nutfah (sexual discharge), then from a clot then from a little lump of flesh, some formed and some unformed (miscarriage), that We may make (it) clear to you (i.e. to show you Our Power and Ability to do what We will). And We cause whom We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed term, then We bring you out as infants then (give you growth) that you may reach your age of full strength. And among you there is he who dies (young), and among you there is he who is brought back to the miserable old age, so that he knows nothing after having known. And you see the earth barren, but when We send down water (rain) on it, it is stirred (to life), it swells and puts forth every lovely kind (of growth).’ [TMQ 22:5]

See how these verses talk about the creation of man from dust in the beginning and the stages of development of the foetus and then through the stages of adolescence and old age. The Creator who created from dust and nurtured and sustained His creation in this way can certainly resurrect him again from dust without a shadow of a doubt! It is reported that once a Mushrik, Ubayy b. Khalaf, came to the Prophet (saw) holding some dry bones in his hands and crushing them to dust and saying: who will bring these bones back to life after they have turned to dust?

The response that came challenged the man’s erroneous thought but also made him think and feel for what the correct answer must be. This incident has been recorded for us in the Qur’an in surah Yasin: Yet behold! He (stands forth) as an open opponent. And he puts forth for Us a parable, and forgets his own creation. He says: “Who will give life to these bones when they have rotted away and became dust?” Say: (O Muhammad) “He will give life to them Who created them for the first time! And He is the All-Knower of every creation!” He, Who produces for you fire out of the green tree, when behold! You kindle therewith. Is not He, Who created the heavens and the earth Able to create the like of them? Yes, indeed! He is the All- Knowing Supreme Creator. Verily, His Command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, “Be!” and it is! So Glorified is He and Exalted above all that they associate with Him, and in Whose Hands is the dominion of all things, and to Him you shall be returned.’ [TMQ 36:78-83]

Today how many in the West turn to atheism or if they believe in a God take the view that man is not accountable to God in the public sphere as religion should have no say in temporal matters.

Again and again the Qur’an challenged the Quraysh to question and think about the validity of their thoughts, social practises and way of life. The Quraysh worshipped idols and so the Qur’an relates the story of Ibrahim (as) who questioned the idolatrous practise of his people: ‘Then they (the worshippers of idols) came, towards him, hastening. He (Ibrahim) said: “Worship you that which you (yourselves) carve? “While Allâh has created you and what you make!’ [TMQ 37:94-96]

Today how many propose that manmade laws and rules should be enacted and then the people shall bow to them with obedience? Is it not demeaning for man to submit to that which is lesser than him?

The Quraysh believed that Allah had daughters and yet they mistreated their women and even buried their daughters alive and so the Qur’an pointed out this contradiction: ‘Is it for you the males and for Him the females?’ [TMQ 53:21]

Today the West claims to have liberated women but we find she is often reduced to the status of a mere sexual object. In regards to their social practise of infanticide the Qur’an asked a damning question: ‘And when the female (infant) buried alive (as the pagan Arabs used to do) shall be questioned. For what sin she was killed?’ [TMQ 81:8-9] Today we should ask what kind of society accepts the practise of indiscriminate abortions because it gets in the way of a woman’s career prospects.

The Quraysh, men and women, used to make circumbulation (tawaaf) round the Ka’bah naked and their justification for doing this was that it was the custom of their forefathers. So consider then how the Qur’an addressed this argument: ‘O Children of Adam! We have bestowed raiment upon you to cover yourselves and as an adornment, and the garment of righteousness, that is better…. [TMQ 7:26] Here the verse evokes in them a sense of shame by highlighting what clothes signify; that they are an adornment to cover shame and a mark of piety; so how can one make tawaaf, an act of worship, in such a state. The Qur’an reminds and warns them not to deceive themselves as their father Adam was deceived by Shaytan when due their fall they were stripped of their garments: ‘O Children of Adam! Let not Shaitân (Satan) deceive you, as he got your parents [Adam and Hawwa (Eve)] out of Paradise, stripping them of their garments, to show them their private parts…’ [TQ 7:27]

This also refutes their claim that they are following their forefathers as Adam and Hawa were made to feel shame due to a deception and their emulation by Quraysh would also be due to their own self deception. The Qur’an then censures them for following traditions and customs blindly without regard to whether it was according to Allah’s command or not; ‘And when they commit a Fâhisha (evil indecency such as going around the Ka’bah in a naked state, they say: “We found our fathers doing it, and Allâh has commanded us of it.” Say: “Nay, Allâh never commands of Fâhisha (evil indecency). Do you say of Allâh what you know not?’ [TMQ 7:28]

And yet today, we see the celebration and carnival of indecency and people vying to see how far they can go. Does this dignify man or does it debase him to a level beneath his stature? Not to mention the social ills that come with such degenerate values - values which if society was a ship then they would act as bores in the ship’s hull.

These are just some of the verses relating to how the Qur’an dealt with the attack on the Deen by the Quraysh and addressed their ideas and practises. Having considered these verses we can conclude that the method of the Qur’an was to respond intellectually in its clarification of the truth and exposition of the fallacy of kufr. It challenged the erroneous thought by highlighting the inherent contradiction within it or its contradiction with reality. In addition to this the Qur’an connected the correct thoughts to the emotions of the people in order to endear them to the truth through wisdom and beautiful speech. The solution that it presented was in harmony with the fitra (nature) of man and suited to his disposition as a human being. This is how the Qur’an responded and this is how we must also respond.

Today Islam is being attacked and the virtues of secular liberalism are extolled or sold to us in the guise of a reformed Islam. In such a situation we are required to robustly articulate the Islamic intellectual response. In doing so we must emulate the minhaj of the Qur’an; we must dispel the evil propaganda against our Deen by explaining Islam to those around us in a way that agrees with the mind and at the same time moves the hearts, such that when the cotton wool is taken out of the ears, the truthfulness of our message penetrates the soul of the one who hears it. And all the time we must insure that we repel the evil in ways that are best and then perhaps in the most avowed an enemy we will find a close friend:

And who is better in speech than he who invites (men) to Allâh, and does righteous deeds, and says: “I am one of the Muslims.” The good deed and the evil deed cannot be equal. Repel (the evil) with one which is better then verily! he, between whom and you there was enmity, (will become) as though he was a close friend.’ [TMQ 41:33- 34]

Q&A: The dollar crisis, rising oil & commodity prices

Monday, 26 May 2008
Question: The dollar crisis continues to persist and it its slide down is markedly visible. This has been followed by a surge in crude oil, gold and other minerals & metals prices thereby resulting in steep rise in foodstuff prices. This multi-faceted crisis is unprecedented both in terms of its intensity as well as persistence…

Is this crisis really a result of economic problems, or is it the US policies that are spurring & aggravating it?

I request you to please clarify this, may Allah reward you for it.

Answer:

Indeed this crisis has a genuine economic aspect as well, but the interference of political hands has compounded & aggravated the problem to such proportions that we see.

To fully clarify the picture, we shall explain how the crisis developed, how the political hands interfered with it and how the rise in the prices of crude oil, gold and metals affected the crisis, and finally we shall see how it developed into a food crisis.

First of all: Indeed there is a genuine crisis in the US economy which has affected the strength & influence of the US dollar, consequently the US economy has been hit by the currently widespread slowdown. The current crisis has grown to such proportions due to the following factors:

The US Trade Deficit:

The United States imports more goods & services than it exports and its consumers have a great appetite for imports. For instance, the US imported goods & services worth US$ 1,625 billion in 2003, while its exports during that year were worth US$ 1,203 billion, which leaves a deficit of US$ 449 billion and has since risen to a gigantic figure of US$ 816 billion! This difference between the imports & exports was adjusted by printed currency (US dollars) or by US government bonds. This, by its nature leads to a downturn in US Dollars though it may not be officially acknowledged.

Certainly, the US has never before experienced a trade deficit of such colossal proportions; on the contrary, it has been witnessing trade surplus and that too for many a decades, especially after World War II. Gradually, this trade surplus began to taper off over the years thanks to stiff competition from European as well as Asian countries that produce the goods at lower costs. This resulted in even higher imports of goods & services from such countries. This coincided with a huge military expenditure in the Vietnam War resulting in steeply risen balance of payment. In 1971, the US was forced to abandon supporting its dollar with gold, this was the first tremor. In the 80’s when global trade grew and industrial plants shifted from America to those countries that offered cheaper labour, economic shortfall began to show its ugly face. Also the continued imports from the countries that produced cheaper goods like Mexico, China & Malaysia led to further widening of the trade-deficit.

Thus the deficits in the trade & payment balance sowed doubts and distrust about the US economy among the investors and later this led to a slump in the value of the US dollar.

Debt:

The US Treasury department statistics showed a rise in the indebtedness of the government (the Federal administration as well as the local administrations) from US$ 4.3 trillion (US$ 4,300,000,000,000) in 1990 to a staggering US$ 8.4 trillion in 2003, further rising to about US$ 8.9 trillion in 2007. This general debt is the size of 64% of the Gross Domestic Product. Thus the US can be grouped alongside those countries that suffer most from their debts. This debt is not confined to the US governments alone but comprises firms and individuals in its web. Individual debts alone in the US have recently reached a staggering figure of US$ 6.60 trillion, while the corporate debts, ranked first have reached US$ 18.40 trillion. Thus the total debts stand at US$ 34 trillion which is three times the GDP. This, in itself is a grave economic crisis.

The Rise of the Euro:

Ever since the advent of the Euro, it became the second alternative global reserve currency after the US dollar. This was due to the fact that Euro inherited this distinguished position from the Deutsche Mark, but it even surpassed it and this adversely affected the dollar. Thus the Euro enjoys even more trust than its German predecessor with its value constantly on the rise affecting the demand for the US currency and taking its shine. Hence several investors were encouraged by this fall of dollar’s value into switching their investments from the US currency to the stronger Euro.

In addition to these, the US economy suffers from several factors foremost of them being inflation crossing 4%, unemployment in excess of 5%, an industry in disarray, poverty, poor education services, and the like…

All these factors have contributed to the dollar losing its face & value.
The dollar’s fall has forced several central banks across the globe to reduce their stocks of the US currency.

Paul Michael, a currency strategist at the HSBC says: “The central banks have for quite some time realised that they are no longer keen to boost their dollar stocks. As a result, most central banks around the world have reduced the dollar part of their assets form 73 to 64%”.

This is the real picture of the crisis confronting the US dollar.

Secondly: It is in these circumstances that the US political interference came about in order to exploit the crisis in order to serve its own interests and thus turn the crisis from being a local crisis to a global one… this is how it came about:

1. Any decrease in the value of an exporting country’s currency increases its exports because the costs of the goods becomes relatively cheaper for the importing country due to the fact that the importer pays a lower price for the goods considering that the currency of the exporting country has fallen. For instance, when an importer pays US$ 1000.00 as cost of the goods and presuming that this equals €1000.00. Now if the US dollar loses say 10% of it value, the importer will only need to pay €900.00 instead of €1000.00 on the earlier rates. Therefore the importers prefer to import goods from such countries that have lower value currencies.

It is another matter that all this is fine so long as the currency depreciation is within 5% and is still acceptable if the currency has lost up to 10% value. But if the depreciation exceeds 10%, the industrial plants that manufacture the goods suffer due to the resulting inflation, in other words, the cost of the goods increases in such countries that have lost the currency values because the purchasing power of that currency is impaired. This inflation results in higher cost of the industrial plants and thereby an increase in the prices of its goods follows. This means that the cost of the goods does not remain US$ 1000.00, but it increase. Thus if a currency loses its value beyond an acceptable limit, the cost of production increases resulting in reduced exports due to the resulting inflation. In the case of America, the loss of the dollar’s value has crossed an acceptable limit, for instance, the Euro is trading at around US$ 1.60 as compared to US$ 0.80 in 2000. Which means that the value of the US dollar has breached critical economic limits and has lost over five times….

As a result of this depression, the US exports have only grown by a meagre amount meaning that though the trade deficit has marginally been reduced, it remains and haunts the economy.

Yet in spite of these, the US has not taken any steps to correct the trade deficit, it has not opened up its oil reserve stocks for usage to bring down the cost of production for the industrial plants which would result in increased exports. In fact the Bush administration has refused to open up the oil reserves for usage in order to reduce the fuel costs which have been shooting up drastically. In other words, the US has not tried to solve the deficit problem from an economic perspective.

Similarly, it has not addressed the issue of the debt, on the other hand it has in fact it has worked to increase it further as a result of its aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq which have cost it over 2 trillion dollars! In addition the Bush administration has given loans to the wealthy US capitalists in the range of about a trillion dollars by way of tax subsidies. This is motivated by electoral & political considerations… leaving the debt as it was, or even worse.

Thus the fall of dollar has persisted and the US has taken no economic steps to rectify the situation. It then exploited this low-cost dollar to politically blackmail countries that have huge dollar reserves such as China which has dollar reserves in the range of a thousand billion dollars causing it to lose colossal sums, then it exploited India, European countries and the oil countries forcing them float their currencies and buy dollars. This increased the demand for dollars and marginally contained the US deficits.

2. Then came the collapse of the shares of US real estate mortgage firms which enabled America to transfer its crisis to the global level!

America gave loans on soft interests to housing companies, especially the real estate mortgage firms that sell houses on mortgage until the installments are paid for. Thus liquidity was available to these companies in a big way, motivating them to go soft on conditions of sale and on easier terms and even reduced rates because liquidity was no problem for these companies thanks to the cheaper state loans. The Americans went in for buying houses in a big way because cash was available to them from US banks that gave loans on easy terms. In fact the banks gave loans even to extent of the full value of the mortgage unlike the European banks that give loans only up to 60% of the mortgage value. All this was because the US government was giving cheaper credits to real estate companies, causing them to register considerable profits.

Now because of globalisation and susceptibility of one company buying out another whenever it sees a profit opportunity, the multinational companies, specialised banks and central banks as well as individuals bought shares of US real estate companies with the aim of taking profits… this caused the real estate companies to register consistent boom in the stock exchanges across the globe and especially in the US and eventually the real estate shares became the preferred form of investment at the cost of other sectors including modern technologies that were exposed to losses. Earlier, the investment of choice were the information technology and communication firms, but now the Americans, both individuals and companies preferred to buy real estate as long-term investment or for speculative trading. The real estate facilities were now so easily and widely available that banks even gave to loans to those individuals who were not in a position to pay their debts due to their reduced incomes.

This situation persisted and caused no severe problems till the current year until the burden of the loans became untenable for the government. The US then stopped the soft-loans to the mortgage & real estate sector banks; it even demanded repayment of the earlier loans which were now due. These real estate companies and mortgage banks in turn asked their customers to repay. But since unemployment, inflation and economic stagnation was rampant in the US, the house owners could neither repay the loan mortgages on the house cost nor the bank loans… real estate prices collapsed as a result of this payment default and the individuals who were in a position to repay their loans also defaulted. Thus, a house whose price was US$ 500,000 lost over half of its value and was available for US$200,000, yet as was reported in the press, no one was willing to buy even at this price. Over 2 million American owners were left encumbered with life-long financial liabilities. Consequently, due to loans default at such an enormous scale, the lending banks’ shares fell on the stock markets and mortgage companies collapsed under tremendous losses estimated to be in the range of US$ 2,000 million! This led to several real estate companies announcing their bankruptcy.

As a result of this, an enormous portion of the debts became unrecoverable bad debt.

The big banks were at last exposed to a severe jolt in the American mortgage sector, ‘Market’ magazine published by the German-Arab Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Berlin, pointed that the American ‘CitiGroup’ that opened the new year with losses incurred in the last quarter of the previous year to the tune of US$ 9.83 billion (equivalent to € 6.60 billion at the then prevalent rates). This loss to the ‘CitiGroup’ in the mortgage sector has now reached a staggering US$ 18.10 billion.

The same losses were suffered by other banking institutions; the American ‘Merryll Lynch’ announced a write-off of US$ 14.10 billion from its assets, meaning that it ran a loss of US$ 9.80 billion in the last quarter of 2007-the biggest loss in its history.
The Swiss giant ‘UBS’ was also similarly placed; it received billions of dollars from the Singapore Sovereign Fund, the ‘GIC’ to enable it to avoid going bankrupt.

This is how the shares of real estate mortgage firms collapsed in the stock markets and as a result the shares of banking institutions followed in several countries across the world that were linked to the real estate investments or directly involved in the US real estate market. This did not strictly remain confined to the specific sector, but spread to even such sectors that do not deal in real estate, but because of the effects of globalisation, and overlapping of economic sectors over each other, no sector was totally insusceptible.

It was not just that the shares of the real estate sector firms collapsed by on the American Wall Street, this phenomenon was repeated across the world; the Frankfurt exchange index fell by 7.10%, in Paris, the index lost 6.80%, the London index fell by 5.40%, in Madrid by 7.50%, Tokyo lost 3.80%, Shanghai 5.10%, Sao Paolo index fell by 6.00%, Riyadh index lost 9.80%, Dubai index fell by 9.40%, Beirut by 3.00% and Cairo lost 4.20%.

Owing to the enormity of the losses suffered, it was decided by the French President Nicholas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in their 27th March, 2008 meeting that they will urge the banks to immediately disclose the extent of bad debts with them. In January last, Brown had said that Britain faces a tough test with the global economy in difficult and dangerous times due to the credit crisis precipitated by US loans default. This statement came after the 5th largest British real estate mortgage bank; the ‘Northern Rock’ was exposed to huge losses due to the US real estate crisis.

This is how the United States passed its local crisis to the global level to such an extent that the European central banks pumped in a whopping US$ 150 billion in the last year to support real estate mortgage companies so that the resulting crisis does not adversely affect the global stock exchanges including the European exchanges due to the global reach of multi national companies that affects every country because of the maze created in the aftermath of a globalised world. Thus America exposed Europe and then supported its own real estate companies through such means.

In conclusion, the American crisis had several political & economic ramifications; the US, passing through real crises leading to the devaluation of its currency, indulged in manipulative politics (or conspired) to involve the entire world to be sunk in by a crisis that was essentially an American crisis especially after globalisation and opening up of stock exchanges in the name of ‘market economy’ and extending the reach of multinational firms to the whole world. In this environment, most countries’ stock exchanges are open to each other and affected by them.

The dollar devalued owing to America’s economic woes was thus exploited by it to reduce its trade deficit and to politically blackmail especially those countries that maintain huge dollar reserves. In the process, it also managed to convert what was essentially a US real estate mortgage firms’ crisis into a global crisis; it is another matter that America itself is not insulated from this.

Yet in spite of all these political maneuverings, the US economy has not returned to growth cycle, it is just that its’ collapse has ceased for the time being. Were it not for globalisation, open-market economy and the capitalist economic order being prevalent and dominant over the world economy, and importantly if the countries were not relying on the US dollar as the reserve currency, the American economy could not have stood on its own and sustained until now.

Thirdly: As for the rising prices of such minerals as oil, gold, iron etc., it must be observed that it followed the real estate mortgage crisis and the resulting stock & derivatives market crisis when the stock indices collapsed. In the aftermath of these crises, the investors’ confidence took a beating in such investment instruments that do not carry any intrinsic value, like bonds, shares and equity stock markets. Therefore they moved away from such investments and preferred such investment avenues that have an intrinsic value like gold and other important metals thereby creating demand for such commodities and consequently a huge upsurge in their prices; thus gold prices have already reached US% 1,000 per ounce and as the current indicators point, it is poised to even reach US$ 1,500.00 an ounce.

Indeed the United States is itself among those worst affected by the gold price upsurge. If this upward trend in gold prices persists, the value of the dollar will not be worth the paper it is printed on! Therefore, the US is expected to take steps to curb gold prices, indeed there are already pointers to that; the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has decided to sell 403 tons of gold due to its own budget deficit. However, the IMF has said that this quantity will be sold in phases over a long term. This declaration by the IMF will go a long way in curbing the (speculation) in gold prices. It is probable that this gold will be sold to central banks which may cause the central banks to increase their profit margins and thereby it may also result in increased exchange rates. Again, the IMF on 9th April, 2008 stated, that the financial crisis will cost a trillion US dollars. Such statements more than being honest reflections of the situation are designed to be speculative aimed at changing the course of economy and finance. As the English newspaper ‘Telegraph’ said in its commentary, the IMF is the last resort to emerge out of the current financial crisis, thus this statement of the IMF amounts to preparing grounds for it.

Thus the fall in dollar prices and investors’ lack of confidence in the primary US markets has pushed many of them not to invest in banknote credit instruments. A logical assessment of this reveals that the current banknote credit instruments are not fully backed in any perceptible way. In other words, in the current atmosphere, the confidence crisis will quickly spill over to other currencies. Therefore, certain central banks, like the Central Bank of China have begun to buy gold and this has pushed gold prices t its highest levels. The same applies to the price rise in other metals like silver and platinum. Further, due to increased demands of copper, zinc, aluminum and nickel from India and China, their prices have also risen. This increased demand from India and China is due to their rapid economic growth. This has been the case of the Chinese demand for the last 12 years while in the case of India, it has been there for 4 years. China has invested US$ 1 trillion in its infrastructure development and will spend another US$ 50 billion every year for the coming 15 years. On its part, India has begun its infrastructure development plan six years back. In the beginning, the investments on this plan were meager, but in the last 4 years investments have reached US$ 50 billion and it has plans to invest between US$ 30 to 40 billion annually for the next ten years. However, India does not have sufficient mineral reserves to support this investment plan; moreover, the rise in petrol prices has meant an increase in its production costs and as a result of this, there is an overall price increase.

Indeed the cause of oil price increase is related to the sinking dollar prices and the higher purchasing power for oil of countries like those in the European Union, China and India and this is driving the demand for oil. However, the chief cause for oil price upsurge is the speculative trading, and it is the American speculation that has led to it. This was meant to put together the dollars in circulation from those who want to buy oil in order to enable the US to avoid a total collapse of its currency. This is reason behind uncertain information (rather misinformation) regarding American oil reserve figures that the US puts out periodically.

Speculations play a key role in price rise; for instance, take the speculative trading in futures contracts or the speculative trading in minerals, especially gold. A higher gold price pushes such countries as China, Russia and other Asian countries to buy gold as a means of getting rid of their enormous dollar reserves. These countries no longer trust the US currency, because any decrease in its value results in severe losses to them. Similarly, China bought iron and other metals required for its industry and this pushed the iron and other metals’ prices up. Also Germany bought huge quantities of scrap iron and this caused the price surge, in fact it multiplied because a big portion of it is exported to China.

It has been known for a long time that crude oil prices increase whenever there is a surge in the value of dollar. These two are inversely linked to each other. The current condition is no different, on 17th April, 2008, the crossed the barrier of US$ 115.00 per barrel and the upswing continued with the prices crossing US$ 120.00 per barrel today on 5th May, 2008.

The oil prices have increased more than four folds since the year 2002 due to an increase in demand not just in China and other growing economies. In fact, the projections indicate that oil prices will reach US$ 130.00 per barrel by December next.

Fourth: As for the global food crisis, it has exacerbated the economic crisis arising out of the US home mortgage crisis. Another crisis has emerged which is far more severe and threatens global food security in various parts of the globe where food prices ranging from bread to even milk have shot up.

This crisis became evident recently after the increase in prices of wheat, maize and other basic food stuffs in the last few years. This worrisome trend has emerged in the past few months.

On 12th May, 2008, the British magazine ‘Economist’ published a report which said that the pulses prices increased in an unprecedented manner unheard of since the “Economist Index’ for food stuffs was instituted in 1945 and according to the magazine, this increase has been 75%. The Chicago Chamber of Commerce, whose food pulses price index is the world’s leading indicator of pulses reports a 90% increase in wheat prices, 80% in soya beans and 20% in maize prices and are still on the rise even today.

The major reasons behind the foodstuffs price rise and consequently the emergence of the food crisis:

Increase in oil prices and sliding dollar prices:

1. Certainly, the increase in oil prices has led to an increase in the prices of products required for agriculture like seeds, fertilisers, insecticides & pesticides, agricultural implements and transportation. An increase in cost of production and transport influences increase in the prices of foodstuff especially wheat and maize. For instance in the Philippines, the rice prices have risen by 70% during the last year.

On the other hand, the foodstuff prices are mostly assessed US dollars, and when the dollar loses its value, it is but natural that foodstuff prices will automatically shoot upwards.

Gratsiano observes: “loss of confidence in the dollar has pushed the investment funds to look for higher returns in the basic goods…first of all in metals and then in foodstuffs”. A number of speculators have in the past years switched their investments to the commodity markets in search of higher returns than they would earn in shares and bonds markets.

2. Climatic Conditions: Climatic conditions such as floods, droughts and cyclones affect agricultural production. For instance, Australia, one of the largest exporters of food pulses is currently facing unprecedented levels of droughts in its history. Such conditions have been compounded by an economic boom in countries such as China, India and Brazil and this has resulted in accentuated levels of meat consumption.

It is a known fact that to produce a piece of meat containing 100 calories, 700 calories of vegetation has to be fed to animals. Out of 2.13 billion tons of food grains only 1.01 tons is earmarked for human consumption. These figures are released by the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN. Consequently, as the global economy grows, cattle livestock also grow proportionately.

3. Bio-fuels from food grains:

Jean Zeigler, UN’s Special Rapporteur on the ‘Right to Food’ observed in a statement over the German Radio that intensive bio-fuel production now represents ‘crime against humanity’ because it pushes food grain prices across the world.

Bio-fuels depend on agriculture production, and during the recent years many of the industrialised countries have exploited agriculture produce and agricultural land for the production of bio fuels in order to reduce their dependence on petro oil whose prices are touching record-high levels. This is leading to increased demand for bio fuel and thereby for food grains.

Therefore in certain countries such as the United States and Brazil, agricultural land is being converted for production of maize and soy bean required for producing ethanol from them. Since 2001, the quantity of maize used in production of ethanol in the US has increased 300%. Further, the US is attempting to produce 35 billion gallons (133 billion liters) per annum of ethanol by the year 2017. The US Congress in its ‘Energy Document’ for 2005 has decided to increase maize-extracted ethanol production from 4 billion gallons in 2006 to 7.5 billion gallons in 2012.

In March 2007, the US President George Bush met his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to sign the ‘Ethanol Convention’ between the two countries for cooperation among them to develop research and development on the next generation bio fuels. They also agreed on forming a trade union for bio fuel especially in the Central Asian countries. This ‘Ethanol Convention’ between the two presidents marks the beginning of a growing phenomenon of producing food grains for extraction of bio fuels. In the grasslands and forests of Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay, the land is being set aside for production of sugarcane plantation, palm oil and soy beans for extraction of bio fuels. In Brazil alone, soy bean production has occupied some 21 million hectares of forest lands, 14.0 million hectares in Argentina. It does appear that this phenomenon will subside so long as the food grains prices continue to surge upwards. In the year 2008, it is expected that out of 2.13 billion tons of food grains, 100 million tons will be used to extract bio fuels, in other words, this 100 million tons will used for feeding cars instead of human beings!

4. Administrative & Political failures:

As regard to wheat and other strategic grains production, the EU produces some 122 million tons, China produces 106 million tons, India, 75 million tons, America produces 56 million tons and Russia produces 48 million tons of grains. The US exports 32 million tons, Canada exports 15 million tons and the EU and Argentina export 10 million tons each.

As for the Arabian countries, they all import wheat except Syria. The leading importer is Egypt, the land of Nile. It is the largest wheat importer in the world with wheat imports of 7 million tons while Algeria, that used to present itself as the land of the Atlas Mountains and farmlands during the French period, imports 5 million tons. The land of Tigris & Euphrates, Iraq imports 3 million tons, Morocco also imports 3 million tons, Yemen imports close to 3 millions as well while Tunisia imports 1 million and Jordan 500,000 tons of wheat.

During this period of a lower dollar and higher oil prices, the import cost of wheat is likely to go higher and higher, which will greatly encumber the budget of importing countries even if wheat and other food grains are made available to them at subsidised rates.
This is despite the fertile lands & water resources available to these Arab countries! Is it not surprising or even shocking that the land of Nile delta (Egypt), the land of the two rivers (Iraq), and the land of the Atlas Mountains (Algeria) happen to be the largest importer of wheat in the world!!!.

Perhaps this is what becomes evident from the recent report of the World Bank on water resources in the Middle East and Northern Africa. This explains how the wicked politics shapes the Arab world! The report concluded that in order to provide water, it is imperative to develop agriculture policies in such a way so as to reduce dependence on water consumption. The World Bank has advised to grow tomatoes, water melons etc.. Instead of wheat! As per the recommendations of Francisco Montovani, the water resources expert at the World Bank, it is not related to technological processes to be decided upon by engineers; rather it is through deeper policies!

It is known that several countries have capacity to grow wheat, but colonialist policies followed by the International Monetary Fund prevent this. The IMF recommends growing of tobacco & cotton to those countries that follow its recommendations and gives them loans and other assistance to grow such crops, while it refuses loans and other assistance for growing wheat. This is evidently meant to feed the industrial plants of the rich nations with these raw materials.

Indeed Allah (swt) has bestowed the Muslim countries with bounties of fertile lands and abundance of water resources, and if these are properly harnessed, Muslims can lead affluent lives. But this requires a rightful system from the One who has wisdom, i.e. the system of Islam, the Khilafah Rashidah which will fill the world with justice and well being. It is hoped that this will soon materialise with the command of Allah (swt).

1st Jumadah al Oolah, 1429 A.H
5th May, 2008 C.E.

Once, Leaders of Civilization: The Past and the Future

The Muslim world today is characterized by crisis upon crisis. It is weak, divided, and reduced to being pawns of the game of today's super-states. Its economies are weak. Poverty is rife, and in the majority of areas, basic health care is either unavailable or unattainable to the general population. Many in the ummah are illiterate and uneducated.





On September 26, 2001 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Carly Fiorina, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard Company gave a speech describing in awesome detail a civilization that was part of a 'super-state' and had been a beacon of knowledge and progress for the rest of the world. The following is an excerpt from Fiorina's speech entitled 'Technology, business and our way of life: What is next? :



There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world.

It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean, and from northern climes to tropics and deserts. Within its dominion lived hundreds of millions of people, of different creeds and ethnic origins.

One of its languages became the universal language of much of the world, the bridge between the peoples of a hundred lands. Its armies were made up of people of many nationalities, and its military protection allowed a degree of peace and prosperity that had never been known. The reach of this civilization's commerce extended from Latin America to China, and everywhere in between.

And this civilization was driven more than anything, by invention. Its architects designed buildings that defied gravity. Its mathematicians created the algebra and algorithms that would enable the building of computers, and the creation of encryption. Its doctors examined the human body, and found new cures for disease. Its astronomers looked into the heavens, named the stars, and paved the way for space travel and exploration.

Its writers created thousands of stories. Stories of courage, romance and magic. Its poets wrote of love, when others before them were too steeped in fear to think of such things.

When other nations were afraid of ideas, this civilization thrived on them, and kept them alive. When censors threatened to wipe out knowledge from past civilizations, this civilization kept the knowledge alive, and passed it on to others.

While modern Western civilization shares many of these traits, the civilization I'm talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600, which included the Ottoman Empire and the courts of Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo, and enlightened rulers like Suleiman the Magnificent.

Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage. The technology industry would not exist without the contributions of Arab mathematicians. Sufi poet-philosophers like Rumi challenged our notions of self and truth. Leaders like Suleiman contributed to our notions of tolerance and civic leadership.

And perhaps we can learn a lesson from his example: It was leadership based on meritocracy, not inheritance. It was leadership that harnessed the full capabilities of a very diverse population -- that included Christianity, Islamic, and Jewish traditions.

This kind of enlightened leadership -- leadership that nurtured culture, sustainability, diversity and courage -- led to 800 years of invention and prosperity.

In dark and serious times like this, we must affirm our commitment to building societies and institutions that aspire to this kind of greatness. More than ever, we must focus on the importance of leadership -- bold acts of leadership and decidedly personal acts of leadership.





Indeed, Carly Fiorina was speaking of the Islamic civilization. It was an era where Islam was the foundation of all ruling decisions and from which such extraordinary progress was made possible.





In our schools today, our children are taught about Galileo, Newton, and John Louis Stevenson. There is hardly a mention of the Muslim scientists, who were outstanding personalities of their time. It is rare for our children to learn that the Muslims brought paper from China, and it is the Muslims who developed this art form into a major industry. The impact of Muslim manufacture of paper paved the way for the printing revolution. Contrary to popular belief, it was Ibn Al-Naphis (Ala al-Din Abu al-A'la Ali ibn Abi Hazm al-Quraishi) of Damascus, an Arab Muslim physician of the thirteenth century who explained the basic principles of the modern theory of pulmonary circulation nearly three hundred and fifty years before Sir William Harvey of Kent, England, who is wrongly credited with this discovery. Christopher Columbus relied on Muslim charts and possibly even navigators. Magellan's success in the Indian Ocean owes nearly all to Ibn Majid's guidance and nautical legacy.





The question that subsequently comes to mind is, how did the Muslims fall to the level they are at today? It is quite apparent that there is no lack of intelligence or talent within the Ummah. On the contrary, Muslims are leaders in many fields outside their countries, and specifically in the western countries. On close inspection, it can be ascertained that Muslims lost their high position in the world the day they relegated Islam to their personal affairs only.





The Glorious Era of Islam, which has been described above, occurred at a time when Islam was implemented at all levels of society. Qur'an:



"Then is it only a part of the Book that ye believe in, and do ye reject the rest? but what is the reward for those among you who behave like this but disgrace in this life?- and on the Day of Judgment they shall be consigned to the most grievous penalty. For God is not unmindful of what ye do." [Al-Baqarah:85]





For society to progress it is vital that the system supports and encourages talent and hard work—unlike what occurs today under nation-state rulers in the Muslim world. A truly Islamic System is a meritocracy where Islam plays a leading role in our lives. It did not matter whether you were an Arab or Persian, a former black slave or a woman, all were equal under the law, and all had equal opportunity to reach their potential based on their abilities. Children will be given the correct education from the start and will be inculcated with a love for understanding the world as given to us by Allah (SWT). They will develop environmentally friendly technologies that will be funded and supported by the State. Teachers, who play such an important role in the growth of the young generation, will be one of the higher paid professionals. Scientists, writers, inventors will be given encouragement and financial rewards.





In the current scenario, Islam has taken a back seat. In the era where Muslims were a part [m1] of a super-state, and their discoveries were ground-breaking, the State implemented Islam at all levels including domestic policies, international relations, economics, politics, the social system and education. Muslim scientists were driven to their discoveries by their desire to understand the system that Allah (swt) laid out for us. It is said that the discipline of Algebra was founded by the Muslim mathematician Al-Jabr because he wanted to explore and understand the inheritance laws as detailed in the Qur'an. Qur'an:





"So judge between them by that which Allah hath revealed, and follow not their desires, but beware of them lest they seduce thee from some part of that which Allah hath revealed unto thee. And if they turn away, then know that Allah's Will is to smite them for some sin of theirs. Lo! And truly most men are rebellious. Is it a judgment of the time of (pagan) ignorance that they are seeking? Who is better than Allah for judgment to a people who have certainty (in their belief)?" (Al-Ma'idah: 49-50)





We have allowed our rich and unmatched heritage to be buried under the sands of time. Superficial as we have become, we cherish only the visible, the domes and the minarets, the crumbling forts and mausoleums. We as individuals and as a nation, but more importantly as the Muslim Ummah, fail to draw strength and seek guidance from the unique intellectual reservoir our ancestors had left for us. It is time that we turn a new leaf in our life, regain self-respect and confidence, shed defeatist and apologetic attitudes, and assert by deeds and not just by words that the edifice of the scientific excellence of today was built on the foundation laid by our pioneering, but sadly forgotten ancestors.





Moreover, we must understand the cause for the decline of the Ummah, and vouch to work towards its uplift. It is only when Islam will be the sole judge in all affairs (From our government to our homes), and thus the motivation for achievement that Muslims will be able to rise once again and Insha Allah become the vanguard for a new scientific, economic and cultural rebirth for the entire world, as it once did in history.

Churches Tackle Worshipers' Money Management

More congregations make financial counseling their mission

By Liz Wolgemuth


Updated on 5/14/08

When Justin Moore and his wife, Bonnie, cut up their credit cards in a show of financial freedom earlier this year, they did it in front of a group of supporters—at church.Moore, 25, works as an information technology coordinator for a staffing agency in Shelby, N.C., but for 13 weeks this spring, he served as group coordinator for a course from Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. It met weekly at his church and covered getting out of debt, living on a budget, and establishing better money-management skills. Ramsey, an author and radio-show host, created the popular program. It's basically the nuts and bolts of personal finance with a notable twist: The course shores up its advice with Scripture.

As more and more churches face their members' financial struggles, Christian believers like Moore are finding money advice where they worship. Some churches have well-established ministries that separately treat those in financial crisis and those who need to be acquainted with budget basics. Others just play host to courses taught with outside materials. Moore's church was offering the class for the first time. "We're really starting to see a change in people's lifestyles," he says. "They have this financial stress relieved. They're able to come closer to God. It just improves every other aspect of your life."

God and money. The expanding universe of church-based financial help comes as churches recognize the connection between people's relationship with money and their relationship with God, says Dave Briggs, director of the pioneering Good Sense ministry at Willow Creek Community Church, a megachurch in suburban Chicago. "A growing number of pastors are beginning to see that the spiritual growth of their congregations will be and has been hindered because of a wrong relationship with money," Briggs says. "Which can mean hoarding it, spending way too much time caring about it, or it can be mismanaging it so much that their lives are in bondage to debt, and that becomes a spiritual depressor of growth."

Good Sense was established at the church in the early 1980s and has spread through its network of affiliated churches. Now Willow Creek is getting ready to roll out a personal finance presentation that's just for 20-somethings. Briggs says young people need the same message in a different package—something other than the standard line about budgets, mortgage payments, and retirement plans.

"Debt doesn't scare 20-somethings anymore, which is really a shame," Briggs says. "So you're really dealing with a different mind-set." He points to the experience his own 29-year-old son, J. R. Briggs, had when buying a condo. The younger Briggs, a pastor in Souderton, Pa., carefully calculated exactly how much condo he could afford, and then the bank approved him for twice as much. (He went with his own math.) "Society no longer has the fences around 20-somethings to help them avoid making bad financial decisions," the elder Briggs says.

Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Mich., treats money management as a theological issue. The nine-year-old church is already well known for the innovations of its pastor, Rob Bell. Each week, 10,000 worshipers head for services in a former mall, which bears no sign. "Our belief is that there are a lot of different oppressions in our society," says Todd Monroe, Mars Hill's director of pastoral care. "But none is greater than debt and financial oppression when it comes to the lower middle class. Maybe even the middle class."

To combat the problem, Mars Hill offers Dave Ramsey's course, along with a financial mentoring program and help for people in financial crisis. The church is also launching a consultation program with financial professionals answering questions about some of the more tricky ways to get out of debt, such as declaring bankruptcy or taking out debt consolidation loans.

This sort of broad-based offering of financial help seems rooted in the missionary mentality, and it suits the Christian church, Monroe says: "I think, looking back in history, this would not be very abnormal at all."

To be clear, this money-management movement is different from the "prosperity gospel," a label used for the popular message taught by some well-known Christian ministers—perhaps the best-known is Joel Osteen—that God rewards the faithful with financial prosperity. Some have argued that the prosperity message has spread at such an astounding rate because it was born in a vacuum—churches have usually been pretty silent on the topic of personal finance, except for the occasional sermon on tithing, the practice of giving a tenth of one's income to the church. Tithing is certainly encouraged in most of these financial workshops, and that message has been criticized sometimes as self-serving, since it directly benefits churches offering the programs.

Barometer. Personal finances matter because the way people handle their money serves as a kind of barometer for how they relate to God, says Grace McGibbon. She has been leading a group of women from National Community Church in the Washington, D.C., area, through a biblically based course from Crown Financial Ministries. Most people seem surprised by how often the Bible addresses the topic of money, McGibbon says. Crown Financial says more than 2,350 verses discuss it.

Even college students, particularly those nearing graduation, are heeding biblical teaching on financial decisions. Matt Bell, a personal-finance speaker and writer who runs the website Moneypurposejoy.com, has addressed all kinds of groups and finds college students to be an especially enthusiastic crowd. "They just seem very interested in learning how to get it right with money," Bell says.

Bell went through what he describes as a "financial train wreck" when he was a couple of years out of college. He had inherited $60,000 and used it to start a business. In about two years, he'd run through his inheritance, racked up an additional $20,000 in debt, and was forced to move in with his parents. "That was a very humbling time that made me think about some of the bigger questions of life," he says. As he describes it, the experience helped draw him to faith. Today's churches may be hoping the same is true for others.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/your-money/2008/04/11/churches-tackle-worshipers-money-management.html