A man of 92 years, short, very well-presented, who takes great care in
his appearance, is moving into an old people's home today. His wife of
70 has recently died, and he is obliged to donate his home for orphan house.

After waiting several hours in the retirement home lobby, he gently
smiles as he is told that his room is ready. As he slowly walks to the
elevator, using his cane, I described his small room to him, including
the sheet hung at the window which serves as a curtain.

"I like it very much", he said, with the enthusiasm of an 8 year old boy
who has just been given a new puppy.

"Sir, you haven't even seen the room yet." I wonderingly asked.

"That has nothing to do with it", he replied.

"Happiness is something I choose in advance.

Whether or not I like the room does not depend on the furniture, or the
decor rather it depends on how I decide to see it & how I look at it."

"It is already decided in my mind that I like my room. It is a decision
I take every morning when I wake up."

"I can choose. I can spend my day in bed enumerating all the
difficulties that I have with the parts of my body that no longer work
very well, or I can get up and give thanks to heaven for those parts
that are still in working order."

"Every day is a gift, and as long as I can open my eyes, I will focus on
the new day, and all the happy memories that I have built up during my
life."

From A School Principal's speech at a graduation...

He said "Doctor wants his child to become a doctor...
Engineer wants his child to become engineer...
Businessman wants his ward to become CEO...
BUT a teacher also wants his child to become one of them!
Nobody wants to become a teacher BY CHOICE"... Very sad but that's the truth!

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

To stress his point he said to another guest;
"You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Teacher Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied,
"You want to know what I make?
(She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't
make them sit for 5 min. without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.

You want to know what I make?
(She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table)

I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them how to write and then I make them write.
Keyboarding isn't everything.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math.
They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life

( Bonnie paused one last time and then continued...)

Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN ALL YOUR LIVES,EDUCATING KIDS AND PREPARING THEM TO BECOME CEO's ,AND DOCTORS AND ENGINEERS...

What do you make Mr. CEO?

His jaw dropped; he went silent.

On His First Day In office
As President Abraham Lincoln Entered To Give His Inaugural Address, One
Man Stood Up, he Was A Rich Aristocrat.

He Said,

"Mr Lincoln, You Should Not Forget That Your Father Used To make Shoes
For My Family"
And The Whole Senate Laughed, They Thought They Had Made A Fool Of Lincoln.
But Certain People Are Made Of A Totally Different Mettle.

Lincoln Looked At The Man Directly In the Eyes And Said

"Sir, I Know That My father Used To Make Shoes For Your Family,
And There Will Be Many Others Here,
Because He made Shoes The Way Nobody Else Can.
He Was A Creator.
His Shoes Were Not Just Shoes
He Poured His Whole Soul Into Them.
I Want To Ask You,
Have You Any Complaint??
Because I Know How To Make Shoes Myself.
If You Have Any Complaint I Can Make You Another Pair Of Shoes.
But As Far As I Know,
Nobody Has Ever Complained About My Father's Shoes.
He Was A Genius,
A Great Creator
And
I Proud Of My Father.
The Whole Senate Was Struck Dumb
They Could Not Understand What Kind Of Man Abraham Lincoln Was.
He Was Proud Because His Father Did His Job So Well That Not Even A
Single Complaint Had Ever Been Heard

"Remember"
"No One Can Hurt Us Without Consent"

"It is Not What Happens To us That Hurts Us
It Is Our Response That Hurt Us"

FATWA
DEWAN SYARI’AH NASIONAL
NO: 28/DSN-MUI/III/2002
Tentang
JUAL BELI MATA UANG (AL-SHARF)

---

Menimbang :
Mengingat :
Memperhatikan :
MEMUTUSKAN :
Menetapkan : FATWA TENTANG JUAL BELI MATA UANG (AL-SHARF)

Pertama : Ketentuan Umum:
Transaksi jual beli mata uang pada prinsipnya boleh dengan ketentuan sebagai berikut:

1. Tidak untuk spekulasi (untung-untungan)
2. Ada kebutuhan transaksi atau untuk berjaga-jaga (simpanan)
3. Apabila transaksi dilakukan terhadap mata uang sejenis maka nilainya harus sama dan secara tunai (at-taqabudh).
4. Apabila berlainan jenis maka harus dilakukan dengan nilai tukar (kurs) yang berlaku pada saat transaksi dilakukan dan secara tunai.

Kedua : Jenis-jenis Transaksi Valuta Asing

1. Transaksi Spot, yaitu transaksi pembelian dan penjualan valuta asing (valas) untuk penyerahan pada saat itu (over the counter) atau penyelesaiannya paling lambat dalam jangka waktu dua hari. Hukumnya adalah boleh, karena dianggap tunai, sedangkan waktu dua hari dianggap sebagai proses penyelesaian yang tidak bisa dihindari (ِمَّما لاَ ُبَّد مِنْهُ) dan merupakan transaksi internasional.
2. Transaksi Forward, yaitu transaksi pembelian dan penjualan valas yang nilainya ditetapkan pada saat sekarang dan diberlakukan untuk waktu yang akan datang, antara 2 x 24 jam sampai dengan satu tahun. Hukumnya adalah haram, karena harga yang digunakan adalah harga yang diperjanjikan (muwa’adah) dan penyerahannya dilakukan di kemudian hari, padahal harga pada waktu penyerahan tersebut belum tentu sama dengan nilai yang disepakati, kecuali dilakukan dalam bentuk forward agreement untuk kebutuhan yang tidak dapat dihindari (lil hajah).
3. Transaksi Swap, yaitu suatu kontrak pembelian atau penjualan valas dengan harga spot yang dikombinasikan dengan pembelian antara penjualan valas yang sama dengan harga forward. Hukumnya haram, karena mengandung unsur maisir (spekulasi).
4. Transaksi Option, yaitu kontrak untuk memperoleh hak dalam rangka membeli atau hak untuk menjual yang tidak harus dilakukan atas sejumlah unit valuta asing pada harga dan jangka waktu atau tanggal akhir tertentu. Hukumnya haram, karena mengandung unsur maisir (spekulasi).

Ketiga :
Fatwa ini berlaku sejak tanggal ditetapkan dengan ketentuan jika di kemudian hari ternyata terdapat kekeliruan, akan diubah dan disempurnakan sebagaimana mestinya.
Ditetapkan di : Jakarta
Tanggal :  14 Muharram 1423 H / 28 Maret 2002 M

Pencil: I'm sorry . . . I made a mistake again . . .

Eraser: Never mind, my dear . . . you didn't do anything so wrong that
it can not be corrected . . .

Pencil:I'm sorry . . . because you get hurt because of me. Whenever I
made a mistake, you're always there to erase it. In making my mistakes
vanish, you lose a part of yourself. You get smaller and smaller each
time.

Eraser:That's true. But I don't really mind. You see, I was made to do
this. I was made to help you whenever you do something wrong. I want
you to be correct . . . always.

Pencil:I am happy that you are always there to correct me. I do not
know how I will do without you . . .

Eraser:I know one day I'll be gone. But you'll replace me with a new
one or an alternative. I love to be with you and I'm actually happy
doing my job. So please, stop worrying. I hate seeing you sad. I wish,
eventually you will learn to do your job without the need for me.

I found this conversation between the Pencil and the Eraser very
inspiring. Parents are like the Eraser whereas their children are the
Pencil. They're always there for their children, cleaning up their
mistakes and encouraging them to correct themselves. Sometimes along
the way . . . they get hurt, become reduced, older, brittle and in the
end, pass on. The Parents are aware that the children will eventually
find someone new (spouse), yet they are always happy doing their bit
for their children. They hate to see their precious ones worrying or
sad; rather they wish their children do a good job and make a lasting
mark in this world.

This is for all those loving parents out there . . . and to their
lovely children who are striving hard (as never before) to make their
mark in this world.

We never know the love of our parents for us till we have become parents."

Charles Plumb was a U.S. Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat
missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb
ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6
years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now
lectures on lessons learned from that experience.

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at
another table came up
and said, You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the
aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!

How in the world did you know that? asked Plumb. I packed your
parachute, the man replied.
Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and
said, I guess it worked!
Plumb assured him, It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't
be here today.

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, I
kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: a white
hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many
times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are
you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was
just a sailor.
Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden
table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and
folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate
of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, Who's packing your parachute? Everyone has
someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb
also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane
was shot down over enemy territory he needed his physical parachute,
his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual
parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety.

>> Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what
is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you,
congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them,
give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason.

Remaja berumur 15, tahun Saheela Ibrahim. Dia hanya remaja 'normal' yang baru-baru ini dihadapkan dengan keputusan besar. Sementara kebanyakan remaja seusianya memperdebatkan atas rencana akhir pekan, dia berdebat dgn ivy liga sekolah  yang dia ingin masuki. Setelah jatuh cinta dengan kampusnya, ia lebih memilih  dari Harvard dibandingkan dengan MIT , Princeton, Columbia, dan 11 sekolah lain.

Saheela mengaku bahwa kunci keberhasilan adalah mencari tahu apa yang Anda ingin belajar sedini mungkin - sesuatu yang dia lakukan di 5 tahun. Disamping keterampilan yang sangat baik di akademis, dia juga unggul dalam musik dan olahraga, dan fasih berbahasa Inggris, Arab, Spanyol, dan Latin. Selamat untuk Saheela! Dia seperti seorang wanita muda yang mengagumkan! Saya berharap dia yang terbaik dari keberuntungan di masa depan!