Loyal Heart

人生自古誰無死,---Ren2 sheng zi4 gu3 shui2 wu2 si3,

留得丹心照汗青.---Liu2 de2 dan xin zhao4 han4 qing.

From time immemorial,
what man was ever immune from death?
Let me but leave a loyal heart
shining in the pages of history.

Wen Tianxiang (文天祥 1236AD to 1282AD)

China To Buy USD 80 billion of Gold ?

From www.marketoracle.com

First, it used to be that the threat of central bank gold sales would damage market sentiment. Now the threat of significant sales has been met with the threat of significant purchases.

Though the dragon hoard depicted by our good friend, Ed Stein is not yet a reality, China can back its desire to own gold with plenty of cold hard cash. At nearly $1.4 trillion in dollar-based assets, and almost $2 trillion in total reserves, $80 billion would consume a paltry 6% of China's dollar reserves.

At the same time 2600 tonnes translates to roughly one-third the U.S. gold reserve -- a significant ambition by any measure. To give you an inkling of how this new synergy might work, when the International Monetary Fund announced recently it would like to sell about 400 tonnes of gold, China joined India in publicly pressing the IMF to sell its entire 3200 tonne hoard. On that news the gold market, which had been in a slow slide as a result of the IMF's announcement, turned and took another run at the $1000 mark.

Second, by becoming gold's most prominent champion, China mounts an aggressive defense of its domestic gold mining industry, and by proxy the rest of the industry as well.

Few people know that over the last few years China has quietly become the world's leading gold producer. Most of that production never leaves China's borders, but goes instead to the national reserves as a hedge against its currency holdings. China, by the simple expedient of defending its own interest, accomplishes much for the gold mining industry as a whole. By posing as a gold buyer of last resort, ready, willing and able to scoop up any sizable offer, China may have very well put a floor under the market price, though we are too early in the game at this juncture to predict what that price might be. There is no question, however, that China has put a floor under long term gold market expectations. One would have to go back to the first Central Bank Gold Agreement in 1999, which strictly limited the sale and leasing of central bank gold, to find an equivalent organized effort in defence of the long term price trend. Many feel that the original CBGA launched the current bull market in gold, and time will tell whether or not China's bold entry onto the gold scene will launch its second leg.

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Third, by elevating gold to prominence in its national reserves, China lays the groundwork for the yuan's future use as a prominent reserve currency.

There is little doubt that China would like to make the yuan the currency of choice in the East and a strong measure of gold in its reserves would do much to enhance that possibility. For a comparative history, one would have to go all the way back to the late 1960s and the time of French president Charles DeGaulle. "The Last Great Frenchman" thought it best to hedge the national interest and elevate its future economic prospects by purchasing gold. A substantial amount of metal subsequently left U.S. coffers for European national balance sheets including that of France. DeGaulle was later vindicated when gold rose twenty five times in dollar terms over a short ten year period from $35 an ounce to $875 (1971 to 1980). Some of that same gold would later play a key role in the establishment of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the euro, Europe's currency. China, by its recent actions, appears to have similar intentions both in terms of gold and the yuan.

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In one fell swoop China has done much to alter the standing gold market synergy. When Congressman Mark Kirk announced China's desire to purchase gold during an interview with Fox News' Greta van Sustern, he noted "across across the board - in private - substantial, continuing and rising concern." Chinese leaders, he added, were sharply critical in private of the US Federal Reserve's policy of "quantitative easing," the modern equivalent of printing money. Kirk went on to say that rising concerns about the dollar and anticipated inflation had prompted China to: "[fund] a second strategic petroleum reserve and they plan to buy $80 billion worth of gold. . . Both of those investments only make sense if you expect significant dollar inflation."

Note: No response from any oil rich Arab states....still keep a lot of USD ?

Silver Dirham/Currency For Iran - Hugo Salinas

. Interview with Hugo Salinas Price. Founder of the Mexican Civic Association Pro Silver, Mexico City, Mexico. November 7, 2007.

Mr. Salinas Price, why do you think it is important to monetize the silver one ounce coin in Mexico?

The monetary history of the 20th Century has been a history of increasing disorder and improvisation in the monetary affairs of the world. The disorder has come to the point where the world no longer uses real money in its transactions. Consequently, the mass of people in Mexico do not have a satisfactory and trustworthy means for creating personal savings. The silver ounce, converted into money, would be an excellent medium for personal savings.

Furthermore, we are witnessing the development of a worldwide problem: the inability of States to pay the pensions they promised to pay. Mexico is not alone in facing the problem: the financial inability to deliver the promised pensions to retirees. It is therefore urgent for the population to exert itself to the utmost in providing personal savings for retirement, and saving the monetized silver ounce would be the best means to do this. The monetized silver ounce could not be devalued.

Mr. Salinas, why are you so interested in talking to the leadership in Iran, regarding the monetization of silver in the Islamic Republic of Iran?

In my view, Iran’s unique circumstances provide several reasons which coincide to make the monetization of silver an attractive and feasible measure for the leadership of Iran.

The religious reason. The monetized silver coin could be the dirham of 3 grams pure silver (plus .28 grams of copper to provide hardness). This is the silver coin prescribed by Islamic sharia. It is entirely fitting —or even religiously indispensable — for an Islamic Republic to provide such currency for its people. This coin might, alternatively, be named the Silver Rial.

The reason of sovereignty. The Islamic Republic of Iran is truly sovereign because it is not under the control of International Bankers who are in turn, under Zionist control. Iran has the independence indispensable for taking an action that is contrary to the wishes and objectives of Zionism. Iran has a strong government based on 1. a religious foundation, 2. a highly motivated military and 3. it only lacks a sovereign monetary foundation based on real, tangible money of intrinsic worth. The introduction of the silver dirham, to circulate in parallel with the fiduciary rial, is the first step in a process of fundamental development which can take a generation to achieve.

In my humble opinion, a monetary system based upon money which has no real existence is probably incompatible with the precepts of Islam regarding justice.

The social reason. Iran is facing a threat of war on the part of the U.K/USA/Israel axis. The leadership must prepare for such war always hoping the threat does not materialize.

An excellent way to prepare the solidarity of the population with its government, is for the government to carry out a measure most unusual in our times: to provide the population with a means of saving (which is also money) by creating a monetized silver coin, the dirham. The striking difference between the policy of the Iranian government, in enacting such a benevolent and humane measure, and the worn out and unworkable policy of its adversaries who only issue worthless paper or digital money, is certain to create an unbreakable solidarity between people and government in Iran.

A tranquil and confident population, enjoying a means of savings which is reliable because it cannot be devalued, is a necessary base for a stable government. This means of savings will exist in parallel with the Iranian rial, which is at present — due to international blockage — inflating away the savings of the Iranian people, especially affecting the most humble.

The centre of gravity reason: As long as the Iranian rial is inflating, a condition which must continue for an indefinite period ahead, there is a permanent temptation for Iranian people to protect themselves from this inflation by acquiring foreign currencies such as the euro or even the dollar. If the Iranian currency itself includes a monetized silver coin, provided in abundance by the government and Central Bank, the centre of gravity is retained in Iran itself. The urgent need for protection against inflation, is readily available within the country; there is no need for accumulation of foreign currencies.

The political reason: The monetized silver dirham, in potential use as money and in actual use for savings which are not subject to devaluation will, internally, have a cohesive effect. Party divisions which will arise in other spheres of political life, will be non-existent as regards the silver dirham; all parties will support this measure. This I can predict, based on our experience in Mexico, where members of all parties are in favor of the monetization of our silver ounce, the “Libertad” coin. Our committee in Congress, working for the monetization of the silver ounce, includes members of all the different parties who are unanimous in supporting this measure. (The only opposition comes from the leaders of some parties who wish to ingratiate themselves with the Central Bank, which responds to the Federal Reserve and is thus adamantly opposed to the monetization of silver.)

Externally, as regards its neighbors, the influence of the silver dirham will inexorably extend itself into the neighboring countries. The populations of the neighboring countries will be eager to acquire the silver dirham for their savings. This will reinforce trade with these countries and with growing trade between Iran and its neighbors, the political influence of Iran in the region will only grow. The dollar and the euro will be less desirable than the silver dirham, because the quality of the silver dirham is superior to those currencies.

It has been a lamentable fact that the USA has utilized its position, as purveyor of the reserve currency of the world, as a political weapon not less important that its military power. Opposing and neutralizing the political influence of the dollar (and now the euro) would be the silver dirham, superior in quality to both of these currencies which have no physical, tangible content. Politically, therefore, the monetized silver dirham is just as important as the military power, while requiring 1. less expenditure and 2. deriving permanent benefits for the population which are not provided by military expenditures, which are completely sterile and unproductive.

The economic reason: An economy built upon money which has no intrinsic value is an unstable economy. This is a curse which hangs upon the whole world, now entering upon a grave and prolonged crisis which cannot be resolved except through painful readjustments.

Stability can only be built upon real money. The introduction of the monetized silver dirham is only the first step in the direction of stability. But the economy will begin to reap benefits immediately.

The monetized silver dirham is a step towards reality as the basis for human interaction. The process of providing this real money to the population of Iran will take a generation, as it is gradually placed in circulation in parallel with the fiduciary rial.

Paper Gold Vs Physical Gold ?

Physical Gold Drainage Backfire

Amazing what can be done when 22 million paper gold ounces is dropped on the market on a single day, the Leap Year Day of all days. Witness the leap downward in paper gold price and perceived market integrity. No need for an honest market.

The CFTC remains asleep at the wheel, or with eyes firmly fixed on their master clubhouse on Wall Street, the chain tugged hard. The end result, as described by the notorious London Trader on King World News, is that a magnificent amount of physical gold is leaving the COMEX and LBMA.

The United States remains transfixed on the paper gold price. The real action lies in the physical London gold market, where Asians are fast draining the London gold supply. Once again, a powerful dichotomy exists. The Boyz can control the paper gold price, but they are therefore gifting the Asian buyers with a hefty discount that results in truckloads of gold bullion rolling out the ramps in delivery. As desperation rises to ambush with naked gold sales devoid of metal, enabled by USGovt and UKGovt watchful eyes, the gold inventory is fast vanishing.

By Jim Willie CB - What Muslims Can Learn When Without Dinar and Dirham ?

The divergence will continue to play out, as the paper gold price might decline but the physical gold price will rise. The COMEX will become an irrelevant arena empty of inventory, even as London rots hollow. The gold price on the real physical honest side must continue upward, since supply is fast doing a vanishing act.

It is going from West to East and will not return in our generation, along with true power. The recent episode of vast paper gold sales without benefit of collateral metal cannot keep the gold price down. It is recovering. The rally to $2000 was not permitted. The event has merely marked the road with a support level. Nothing can keep gold down, nothing. It is real money in an era when paper masquerading as money is being revealed for its faulty makeup, subject to acid drips.

Discounting The Islamic Banking Supporters

Hajj Issa Bryce:

All men necessarily engage in ‘aml, action, but Allah specifies ‘aml that are salih, action that is ma’ruf, that maintains the good and soundness of a community. Coupled with the command to the ma’ruf is the command to forbid the ‘Munkar’, the opposite that damages the wholesomeness of a society. In a single day during the riots in the U.K. recently both these actions were evident, whatever may be said about these events, many destroyed property, livelihoods and some even took lives, while others rushed to protect the same. Observed were the deceitful theft from a young Malaysian and the nobility of a mourning father whose son was killed protecting his property, revealing a hope of good amid the utterly despicable politicians and abandoned, rudderless youth that abound today.

Command the good and forbid the bad is the job of today’s Muslim, not just to other Muslims but to everybody. There is an innate understanding within us all of what this means, which needs to be clarified and given direction, because the majority of those who call themselves mawlanas or ‘ulama have betrayed our young people in favour of worldly gain, following in the footsteps of the priests and rabbis. As I have said before, those who do not speak out against Islamic banking and its offshoots are to be shunned and must be considered the enemies of Islam.

The certificates of Dar al-Uloom and Islamic universities must be discounted as we discount paper money; it is the man and his knowledge that matters and you must find those men and place your trust. We do not need certification; this is not ijaza; an institution is not an isnad, indeed we must distrust the paper and look to the man and his actions and they are there for the sincere. If you are alone with your knowledge then it is only information because knowledge seeks its like as a protection against the shayateen. Allah is with the jama’ah, it is His sunnah and that of His Rasul, sallallahu alayhi wa sallim.

You must seek the company of the sincere, as Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, says, “Be with the Sadiqun”. This medium of the internet is a false god, it is what you do that matters, and what you do must be informed by being with the sadiqun. These are the people who speak the truth, whatever is happening; they are not swayed or confused by the myriad words and pictures that flood the senses on a daily basis, they go to and come from the Qur’an and bring that light into their actions and words. They are everywhere and are easily found by genuine desire for knowledge and truth.

Allah has given each of us a life, which is a debt to be repaid, this is the meaning of ‘Deen’; how you spend what He has given you. You alone are responsible for it, you cannot follow blindly, you must satisfy your own intellect and heart that you are doing the right thing. It cannot ‘seem to be right’ or ‘seen as right’, it will have to stand up to Allah’s scrutiny on the Last Day, this is why the sadiqun and salihun are critical for us, they act as a mirror for us in which we can see our faults that need addressing, because that is the power that Allah has given you, the ability to put yourself right, one who holds to the ma’ruf and avoids the munkar, thereby becoming a mirror in turn for others to follow your example, as the Rasul indicated as the relation between the Mumineen.

What is seen is your outward, your behaviour and bearing and it will undoubtedly reflect the Taqwa of your heart or lack of it. We begin by copying the Rasulullah until our hearts are moved by Iman and we continue until the inward becomes the outward through Ihsan and our forms are Da’wa confirmed by our words when necessary.

IMAGINE

By Hajj Issa Bryce :

One of the great victims of the modern era of calculation and valuation is imagination. In the reduction of values to the numerical, i.e. popularity, Van Gogh = $23,000,000, and so on, the possible has been reduced to the probable.

The possible is only limited by Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, and the probable, for man, is what he limits himself to.

I remember our shaykh, Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi telling us once that, “You do not learn adab by sitting upright and abiding by the rules, but by going beyond adab you discover its form”. I understood this to mean that living within a set pattern and applying its known shape does not allow you to see its reality. It is like having all the information on a place but never having been there; living in a house never having been outside.

Imagination is critical to belief, trust and love. When Allah speaks to us through His generous book about what went before and what will come after, it is impossible to be affected by it without imagining it. Imagination limits our behaviour for fear of consequence and spurs us ever onward with desire for reward. Taking on the behaviour of the Muslim, following the Rasulullah only has meaning for us in imagining the benefits, achieving his love and fearing separation. The people of great achievement are the people of great imagination and there is much that needs to be achieved. Imagination is not an end in itself but a necessary beginning to accomplishment. This is what places the word above the number. Today number has triumphed over speech, even though there have never been so many words; they are all subservient to profit. Elysium is obscured by Mammon, honour by avarice, heroism by pragmatism. Speech stirs the imagination and awakens the heart to possibilities but number triggers the abacus of the brain to calculate the plus and minus.

Lack of imagination has its culmination in disaster; an inability to recognise the signs written on the wall of impending destruction ties the dull to an ignominious fate. Do not make the mistake of thinking imagination is fantasy as the one is sourced in reality and the other not. The numbering of the Qur’an is by ayah, sign. The words of Allah are an indication of the Real calling on our hearts to grasp the ungraspable in order that our hearts, in turn, are grasped. The Qur’an is the recitation and not the writing; the writing of the Basmal is a trace of its resonance, which is a trace of its reality, so how absurd is the obsession of the Muslims with the number 786; transforming the sublime into number is probably a reflection of the greater obsession of counting the day’s profit.

Imagination relates to matters that are not there, it is an essential element of Iman, which is the realm of trust in what is not there and without it there is no Islam, the realm of action and dealing with what is there. The rampant obsession with number has destroyed the ability to see the possibilities in favour of probable outcomes. People can no longer imagine a society different from the one in which we live; everyone knows it is an unjust disaster but cannot see how to change it. We have knowledge of what happened in Madinah, but what gives it life for us is the imagining of that reality and it is that imagination that we must project forward towards our future in order to bring it into actuality.

If you take the example of the re-establishment of real money, i.e. gold and silver, it takes imagination to bring it into being while its enemy, the pragmatic businessmen, pooh poohs it because he cannot see it, blinded by number and process. His awakening to gold has got nothing to do with a realisation of its necessity to bring back social justice, but rather its current valuation and his fear of loss.

The imagination of the need for the return of real money comes from the perceived injustice created by financial skulduggery. Once you have an idea of something you can begin on its implementation. If you can’t imagine social justice and peace it is unlikely to occur as it can only come by implementing what is known about it. When the momentous decision to step outside the law of an unjust society is taken which culminates with a pair of Nike and a TV, now that is criminal, revealing that the lower end of the social scale is no different from the rapacious, ignominious upper.

A plan needs conception before drawing before building. It exists in the mind’s eye before its creation. Everything that comes into existence existed as a ‘source form’ on the ‘Protected Tablet’ -Lawh al-Mahfudh.

Our imagination should be limited to knowing that Allah may do whatever He wills and that He has a Sunnah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, and in His vastness and mercy, created man and sent His messengers to guide them. The message has been called ‘Huda’, guidance, ‘an-Nur’, light, ‘Sirat’, path and it has its ‘Hudud’, boundaries, and is a ‘Furqan’, a discrimination.

Allah has given us life and guidance on how to live it, which is liberating and not restrictive; free to wander in His garden respecting His boundaries which relate directly to our own humanity; to obey Allah and His Rasul is to be human. Allah gave us the great gift of imagination for a reason and it can only be to help us realise who He is, subhanahu wa ta’ala, and in that seeing follow the traces of the footsteps of the Rasulullah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallim.

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I am in my Believer’s opinion of Me

Hadith Qudsi

This contains a great secret

Your belief about Him

Is the extent of your knowledge of Him

The extent of your knowledge of Him

Is the extent of your own nafs

The nature of your knowledge of Him

Is none other than your own

Knowledge of your nafs

Your limiting of Him is the

Bounding about of your own limitless nafs

Your Lord is to you what you are to Him

And there is no escaping this

You will not do other than you intend

You will not hold Him to be other than

What He holds you to believe

For you are confined in His confining of you

So let your belief in Him soar

Out of all association

That He may release you out of all forms

And all worlds

Realise that you know nothing of Him

Till you surrender your nafs to obliteration

And achieve the goal

Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi

This is a poem given to me by my master, Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi, while residing in the zawiyya in Bristol Gardens, London, in the early 1970′s.

Finding You Always

Wherever we set foot,
it was Your street.

Whatever corner we turned,
it was Your name in the air.

We said, ‘Surely there must be a road
leading elsewhere?’

But every road we found, it led to You'

-Isma`il Anqarawi

I Am Real Money : Gold

ENDURING CHARACTERISTICS

Let's start with the basics. I have some characteristics that no other matter on Earth has...

I cannot be:

• Printed (ask a miner how long it takes to find me and dig me up)

• Counterfeited (you can try, but a scale will catch it every time)

• Mistaken (how many metals are bright yellow?)

I cannot be destroyed by:

• Fire (it takes heat at least 1945.4° F to melt me)

• Water (I don't rust or tarnish)

• Time (my coins remain recognizable after a thousand years)

I don't need:

• Feeding (like cattle)

• Fertilizer (like corn)

• Maintenance (like printing presses)

I don't have:

• Industrial Dependence (keeps my volatility lower)

• Counterparty Risk (remember MF Global?)

• Shelf life (I never expire)

As a metal, I am uniquely:

• Malleable (I spread without cracking)

• Ductile (I stretch without breaking)

• Beautiful (just ask a bride)

As money, I am:

• Liquid (easily convertible to cash worldwide)

• Portable (you can conveniently hold $50,000 in one hand)

• Divisible (you can use me in tiny fractions)

• Consistent (I am the same in any quantity, at any place)

• Private (no one has to know you own me)

"GOLD IS MONEY"

You've heard that statement before - but do you know what it really means? Money is a medium of exchange and a store of value. Almost anything can be used as money, but obviously some things work better than others. It's hard to exchange things people don't want or don't store well. Over thousands of years, I have emerged as the best form of money (along with silver).

The paper dollars in your wallet are technically just a currency, not real money. In other words, they are a government substitute for money. Money must be durable, divisible, consistent, convenient, and have value in and of itself.

• It must be durable because you can't have it disintegrating in your pocket or bank. That's why you don't use wheat; it can rot or be eaten by insects.

• It must be divisible, which is why you don't use diamonds or artwork; they can't be split into pieces without destroying the value of the whole.

• The lack of consistency is why you can't use real estate. One property is always different from another.

• It must be convenient, which is why you don't use other metals like iron. The coins would be too big to handle easily.

• It must have value in and of itself. This is why you shouldn't use paper as money.

• And one more thing: it must not be easily duplicated. Not even the kings and emperors who clipped and diluted gold coins dared to use paper as money.

My function is as money and a store of value, so the proper comparison is to your dollars or Treasury Bills (of similar nominal value). And here is where I excel and serve my purpose: since 1913, the US dollar has lost 96% of its purchasing power. I have lost none.

Remember, I am the only financial asset that is not simultaneously someone else's liability. I don't require the backing of any bank or government.