Auditor Forum

Independesi Auditor

2009-09-08T15:19:00.000-07:00

Dalam praktek kerja auditor banyak terdapat gesekan-gesekan yang terjadi antara auditor dengan auditee (sebutan untuk klien yang diaudit). Entah itu bersifat langsung maupun tak langsung, hal ini akan merubah persepsi independensi baik bagi auditor maupun orang-orang disekelilingnya.

independensi dikelompokkan ke dalam dua (2) macam, ada yang bersifat fakta (fact) ada pula yang bersifat terlihat (appearance). Ini menunjukkan bahwa dalam faktanya auditor harus benar-benar manjaga dan membentengi diri agar tidak terjebak dalam perangkap kepentingan auditee. Disisi lain, auditor juga harus menampilkan performance-nya agar orang-orang disekitarnya tidak melihat unindependesi dalam menjalankan audit ini.

Auditor adalah pihak ketiga yang seharusnya menjadi "kunci" untuk membantu end user dalam membaca asersi yang diberikan pihak manajemen, sebagaimana maksud dari service assurance itu sendiri. Bukannya untuk membantu manajemen "menipu" pihak-pihak yang sangat membutuhkan informasi-informasi yang wajar agar dapat digunakan dalam pengambilan keputusan.

Dalam kenyataannya banyak sekali auditor yang melakukan "undertable" entah apa yang mendesak atau menjadi landasan auditor untuk mengorbankan sikap profesionalnya hingga dapat memberikan opini yang tidak sesuai dengan apa yang sebenarnya. Untuk selanjutnya negara dan dunia butuh auditor-auditor profesional guna memberantas pihak-pihak yang dapat membohongi publik.

Mengenal Opini Auditor

2009-03-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

"...Manakah di antara opini-opini tersebut yang dianggap paling baik? Opini yang paling baik adalah Wajar Tanpa Pengeculian (Unqualified Opinion). Opini ini diberikan karena auditor meyakini, berdasar bukti-bukti audit yang dikumpulkan, laporan keuangan telah bebas dari kesalahan-kesalahan atau kekeliruan yang material..."

Sebagaimana diketahui, jenis-jenis opini yang lazim diberikan oleh auditor ketika mengaudit laporan keuangan adalah Wajar Tanpa Pengecualian (Unqualified Opinion), Wajar dengan Pengecualian (Qualified Opinion), Tidak Wajar (Adverse Opinion), dan Tidak Memberikan Pendapat (Disclaimer Opinion). Masing-masing opini diberikan sesuai dengan kriteria tertentu yang diketemukan selama proses audit. Kriteria tersebut dapat dilihat pada tabel 1.

Pendapat auditor yang dituangkan dalam laporan audit paling umum adalah laporan audit standar yang unqualified, yang biasa juga disebut laporan standar bentuk pendek. Bentuk laporan ini digunakan apabila terdapat keadaan berikut:

1. Bukti audit yang dibutuhkan telah terkumpul secara mencukupi dan auditor telah menjalankan tugasnya sedemikian rupa, sehingga ia dapat memastikan bahwa ketiga standar pelaksanaan kerja lapangan telah ditaati;

2. Ketiga standar umum telah diikuti sepenuhnya dalam perikatan kerja;

3. Laporan keuangan yang diaudit disajikan sesuai dengan prinsip akuntansi yang lazim yang berlaku di Indonesia yang diterapkan pula secara konsisten pada laporan-laporan sebelumnya. Demikian pula penjelasan yang mencukupi telah disertakan pada catatan kaki dan bagian-bagian lain dari laporan keuangan;

4. Tidak terdapat ketidakpastian yang cukup berarti (no material uncertainties) mengenai perkembangan di masa mendatang yang tidak dapat diperkirakan sebelumnya atau dipecahkan secara memuaskan.

Sebenarnya, ada satu pendapat lagi yang merupakan modifikasi dari pendapat Wajar Tanpa Pengecualian, yaitu Pendapat Wajar Tanpa Pengecualian dengan Bahasa Penjelasan yang Ditambahkan dalam Laporan Audit Bentuk Baku.

Pendapat ini diberikan jika terdapat keadaaan tertentu yang mengharuskan auditor menambahkan paragraf penjelasan (atau bahasa penjelasan lain) dalam laporan audit, meskipun tidak mempengaruhi pendapat Wajar Tanpa Pengecualian yang dinyatakan oleh auditor.

Keadaan dimaksud meliputi: (a) Pendapat wajar sebagian didasarkan atas laporan auditor independen lain (b) untuk mencegah agar laporan keuangan tidak menyesatkan karena keadaan-keadaan yang luar biasa, laporan keuangan disajikan menyimpang dari suatu prinsip akuntansi yang dikeluarkan oleh Ikatan Akuntan Indonesia, (c) Jika terdapat kondisi dan peristiwa yang semula menyebabkan auditor yakin tentang adanya kesangsian mengenai kelangsungan hidup entitas, namun setelah mempertimbangkan rencana manajemen auditor berkesimpulan bahwa rencana manajemen tersebut dapat secara efektif dilaksanakan dan pengungkapan mengenai hal itu telah memadai, (d) di antara dua periode akuntansi terdapat suatu perubahan material dalam penggunaan prinsip akuntansi atau dalam metode penerapannya, (e) keadaan tertentu yang berhubungan dengan laporan audit atas laporan keuangan komparatif, (f) data keuangan kuartalan tertentu yang diharuskan oleh Badan Pengawas Pasar Modal (Bapepam) namun tidak disajikan atau tidak direviu, (g) informasi tambahan yang diharuskan oleh Ikatan Akuntan Indonesia Dewan Standar Akuntan Keuangan telah dihilangkan, yang penyajiannya menyimpang jauh dari pedoman yang dikeluarkan oleh Dewan tersebut, dan auditor tidak dapat melengkapi prosedur audit yang berkaitan dengan informasi tersebut, atau auditor tidak dapat menghilangkan keraguan yang besar apakah informasi tambahan tersebut sesuai dengan panduan yang dikeluarkan oleh Dewan tersebut, dan (h) informasi lain dalam suatu dokumen yang berisi laporan keuangan yang diaudit secara material tidak konsisten dengan informasi yang disajikan dalam laporan keuangan.

Penyimpangan dari pendapat wajar tanpa pengecualian bisa diberikan karena beberapa kondisi tertentu. Misalnya, dalam hal pendapat Wajar dengan Pengecualian. Kondisi tertentu mungkin memerlukan pendapat Wajar dengan Pengecualian (Qualified), dan atau Tidak Memberikan Pendapat (Disclaimer). Pendapat ini menyatakan bahwa laporan keuangan menyajikan secara wajar, dalam semua hal yang material, posisi keuangan, hasil usaha, dan arus kas sesuai dengan prinsip akuntansi yang berlaku umum di Indonesia, kecuali untuk dampak hal yang berkaitan dengan yang dikecualikan.

Pendapat ini dinyatakan bilamana (a) Ketiadaan bukti kompeten yang cukup atau adanya pembatasan terhadap lingkup audit yang mengakibatkan auditor berkesimpulan bahwa ia tidak dapat menyatakan pendapat wajar tanpa pengecualian dan ia berkesimpulan tidak menyatakan tidak memberikan pendapat; (b) Auditor yakin, atas dasar auditnya, bahwa laporan keuangan berisi penyimpangan dari prinsip akuntansi yang berlaku umum di Indonesia, yang berdampak material, dan ia berkesimpulan untuk tidak menyatakan pendapat tidak wajar.

Dengan ungkapan lain, terdapat lima kondisi yang membutuhkan adanya penyimpangan dari laporan yang tanpa pengecualian (unqualified opinion), yaitu

Kondisi 1. Ruang Lingkup Audit Dibatasi.

Jika auditor tidak berhasil mengumpulkan bukti-bukti audit yang mencukupi untuk mempertimbangkan apakah laporan keuangan yang diperiksanya disusun sesuai dengan prinsip akuntansi yang diterima umum di Indonesia berarti bahwa ruang lingkup auditnya terbatas. Ada dua penyebab utama, yaitu pembatasan yang dipaksakan oleh klien dan yang disebabkan oleh keadaan di luar kekuasaan auditor maupun klien.

Contoh pembatasan oleh klien adalah auditor tidak diperbolehkan melakukan konfirmasi utang piutang, atau tidak diperbolehkan memeriksa aset-aset tertentu yang dimiliki oleh klien. Sedangkan contoh pembatasan yang disebabkan oleh keadaan di luar kekuasaan auditor maupun klien adalah sulit melakukan pemeriksaan fisik aset karena lokasi tidak bisa dijangkau akibat banjir atau bencana lainnya;

Kondisi 2. Laporan keuangan yang diperiksa tidak sesuai dengan prinsip akuntansi yang diterima umum di Indonesia.

Contoh kondisi ini adalah jika klien tidak bersedia mengubah kebijakan mencatat nilai aset tetap berdasarkan harga penggantian (replacement cost) dan bukannya harga historis (historical cost) yang dipersyaratkan oleh prinsip akuntansi yang umum berlaku di Indonesia. Atau, klien menilai persediaan yang dimilikinya berdasarkan harga jual (selling price) dan bukannya harga historis atau harga yang terendah antara harga historis dan harga pasar (cost or market which is lower).

Kondisi 3. Prinsip akuntansi yang diterapkan dalam laporan keuangan tidak diterapkan secara konsisten.

Jika klien mengganti suatu perlakuan prinsip akuntansi dengan prinsip akuntansi yang lain (misalnya mengganti metode pencatatan persediaan dari First In First Out (FIFO) menjadi Last In First Out (LIFO), maka perubahan tersebut harus dinyatakan dalam laporan audit. Bahkan, jika penggunaan perubahan tersebut disetujui oleh auditor, pendapat unqualified tetap tidak dapat dibenarkan;

Kondisi 4. Ada beberapa ketidakpastian yang material yang mempengaruhi laporan keuangan yang tidak dapat diperkirakan kelanjutannya pada saat laporan audit dibuat.

Contoh kondisi ini adalah kemungkinan adanya tuntutan hukum kepada klien yang belum terselesaikan sampai dengan selesainya pekerjaan lapangan oleh auditor.

Kondisi 5. Auditor tidak independen

Jika auditor tidak independen, sangat jelas bahwa ia tidak diperkenankan memberikan pendapat wajar tanpa pengecualian. Masalah independen auditor diatur secara jelas dalam standar umum auditing.

Untuk memperjelas hubungan opini yang diberikan selain unqualified dengan kondisi yang dibutuhkan, diuraikan dalam tabel 2.

Dalam memberikan opini, selain apa yang telah diuraikan di atas, auditor juga mempertimbangkan faktor materialitas dari suatu kondisi. Suatu kesalahan yang tidak material mungkin tidak akan mempengaruhi opini yang akan diberikan oleh auditor. Suatu kesalahan yang material bisa juga mempengaruhi jenis opini yang akan diberikan di luar opini wajar tanpa pengecualian. Untuk mengetahui hubungan antara tingkat materialitas, kondisi yang ada dan opini yang diberikan, tabel 3 akan menguraikannya.

Materialitas sendiri diartikan sebagai “suatu pernyataan yang salah (misstatement) dalam laporan keuangan dapat dikatakan material apabila pengetahuan akan kesalahan tersebut dapat mempengaruhi keputusan pembaca laporan keuangan yang mampu dan intelligent (Alvin A. Arens & James K. Loebbecke).”

Dalam praktik, dikenal tiga tingkatan materialitas untuk mempertimbangkan jenis laporan audit yang harus dibuat, yaitu jumlahnya tidak material, jumlahnya cukup material namun tidak melemahkan laporan keuangan secara keseluruhan, dan kesalahan dalam jumlah sangat material sehingga kebenaran keseluruhan laporan keuangan diragukan.

Rincian penjelasan masing-masing sebagai berikut:

1. Jumlahnya tidak material. Jika dalam suatu laporan keuangan yang diaudit diketemukan adanya kesalahan, namun tidak akan mempengaruhi keputusan yang akan dibuat oleh pembaca laporan keuangan, kesalahan tersebut dianggap tidak material, sehingga bisa diberikan opini Wajar Tanpa Pengecualian;

2. Jumlahnya cukup material namun tidak melemahkan laporan keuangan secara keseluruhan. Jika suatu kesalahan dapat mempengaruhi keputusan yang dibuat oleh mereka yang berkepentingan, namun keseluruhan laporan keuangan tetap tersaji dengan wajar, sehingga laporan keuangan tetap berguna. Misalnya, ada kesalahan dalam penyajian persediaan, namun akun lainnya seperti kas dan setara kas, piutang, aset tetap, dan akun lainnya telah disajikan secara wajar. Dalam kondisi ini, maka pendapat pengecualian diberikan atas kesalahan penyajian persediaan saja;

3. Kesalahan dalam jumlah sangat material sehingga kebenaran keseluruhan laporan keuangan diragukan. Jika kesalahan yang terjadi sangat material sehingga bisa menyesatkan pihak-pihak yang berkepentingan yang membuat keputusan berdasarkan kepada keseluruhan akun laporan keuangan tersebut. Dalam contoh sebelumnya, bisa saja hanya akun persediaan yang salah, namun kalau jumlah kesalahannya sangatlah besar dibandingkan keseluruhan jumlah akun lainnya, maka kesalahan satu akun persediaan tersebut dianggap material.

Opini yang Baik

Manakah di antara opini-opini tersebut yang dianggap paling baik?

Opini yang paling baik adalah Wajar Tanpa Pengeculian (Unqualified Opinion). Opini ini diberikan karena auditor meyakini, berdasar bukti-bukti audit yang dikumpulkan, laporan keuangan telah bebas dari kesalahan-kesalahan atau kekeliruan yang material.

Opini terbaik kedua adalah Wajar Dengan Pengecualian (Qualified Opinion). Opini diberikan karena meskipun ada kekeliruan, namun kesalahan atau kekeliruan tersebut secara keseluruhan tidak mempengaruhi kewajaran laporan keuangan.

Opini paling buruk adalah Tidak Wajar (Adverse Opinion). Opini diberikan karena auditor meyakini, berdasar bukti-bukti yang dikumpulkannya, bahwa laporan keuangan mengandung banyak sekali kesalahan atau kekeliruan yang material. Artinya, laporan keuangan tidak menggambarkan kondisi keuangan secara benar.

Opini Tidak Memberikan Pendapat atau Menolak Memberikan Pendapat (Disclaimer Opinion) tidak bisa diartikan bahwa laporan keuangan sudah benar atau salah. Opini diberikan karena auditor tidak bisa meyakini apakah laporan keuangan benar atau salah. Ini terjadi karena auditor tidak bisa memperoleh bukti-bukti yang dibutuhkan untuk bisa menyimpulkan dan menyatakan apakah laporan sudah disajikan dengan benar atau salah.

Perbedaan Suka & Cinta

2009-02-14T05:35:00.000-08:00

Anda tersenyum melihat orang yang anda suka, tapi mata anda akan berkaca-kaca melihat orang yang anda cinta.

Kata-katamu hanya keluar dari pikiran dengan orang yang kamu suka, tapi kata kata yang keluar berasal dari perasaan yang terdalam jika berhadapan dengan orang yang kamu cinta.

Jika orang yang kau cintai menangis, engkaupun akan ikut menangis disisinya. Jika orang yang kau sukai menangis, engkau hanya menghibur saja.

Perasaan cinta itu dimulai dari mata, sedangkan rasa suka dimulai dari telinga.
Jadi jika kau mau berhenti menyukai seseorang, cukup dengan menutup telinga.
Tapi apabila kau mencoba menutup matamu dari orang yang kau cintai, Cinta itu berubah menjadi tetesan air mata dan terus tinggal dihatimu.

Tetapi selain rasa suka dan rasa cinta…
Ada perasaan yang lebih mendalam.
Rasa yang tidak hilang .
Rasa yang tidak mudah berubah.
Rasa yang dapat membuatmu berkorban.
Rasa yang dapat membuatmu berkorban mau menderita untuknya..

Jika anda merasakan itu..
Selamat……
Berarti anda sedang menyayangi seseorang.
Dan berbahagialah kepada orang yang disayangi orang lain.

u

2009-02-07T16:50:00.001-08:00

ثبت

coba

2009-02-07T16:46:00.001-08:00

saya adalah seorang musaffir

u

2009-02-07T15:59:00.002-08:00

هذاالبحث يثبت ضعف نظرية "الجمهور" فى قضية توقيفية الرسم العثمانى فى المصحف القرأنى, حيث ان " التوقيفى" لايكون الا فى قراءة القران وليس فى رسم المصحف.

وقد اختلف العلماء فى هذه القضية الى ثلاثة مذاهب: الاول. ان الرسم العثمانى فى المصحف توقيفى من عند النبى صلعم من قبل كتاب الوحي وليس اجتهاديا. وهذا الرأي اعتمد عليه ابن المبارك ( 1090-1155 هـ 1678-1731 مـ ) وعبد العزيز الدباغ (1090-1132 هـ- 1678-1719 مـ). الثانى. ان الرسم العثمتنى هو اجتهادى من قبل أصحاب رسول الله صلعم فى عهد خليفة عثمان بن عفان, وهذا الرأي قاله الباقلانى (ت. 403 هـ- 1013 مـ) وابن خلدون (ت. 808 هـ-1405 مـ). الثالث. عند العز ابن عبد السلام (ت. 661 هـ-1266 مـ) والزركشى (ت. 794 هـ- 1391 مـ) جواز كتابة بالرسم الحديث لعامة الناس حسب قواعد الخط فى اى عصر مع الابقاء للرسم العثمانى والمحافظة عليه العلماء والخاصة كأثر من الأثار النفيسة التى حافظت عليها الاجيال المتعاقبة.

اما المصادر التى اعتمد عليها الباحث, فتتكون من كتب علوم القران وكتب فى الرسم العثمانى. ففى علوم القران قد رجع الباحث الى البرهان فى علوم القران للزركشى (ت. 1391مـ-794 هـ)والاتقان علوم القران للسيوطى (ت. 911 هـ) ومقدمتان فى علوم القران الذي حققه ارثر جفرى. اما الكتب فى الرسم العثمانى فرجع الباحث الى المصاحف لأبى بكر عبد الله بن الاشعب السجستانى (ت. 316 هـ) والمقنع فى رسم مصاحف الامصار للدانى (444 هـ). هذه المصادر كلها استقرأها الباحث قراءة مدققة مع المقارنة بالمراجع الثناوية الموثوقة التى لها علاقتها بهذا الموضوع, ويسير على منهج تاريخى. وذلك بجمع المعلومات وتحقيقها فيحللها مع شرح وبيان لتصل الى نتيجة موتوقة مرتبة.

d

2009-02-07T15:59:00.001-08:00

Tesis ini membuktikan kelemahan pendapat yang diyakini “jumhur” umat Islam terkait doktrin tauqîfî al-rasm al-‘utsmânî dalam penulisan al-Qur`an. Konteks tauqîfî dalam hal ini lebih tepat bila diposisikan dalam hasil bacaan dari teks (tilâwah).

Ada tiga pendapat yang berkembang dalam komunitas akademik hingga sekarang, pertama; pandangan yang didengungkan oleh ibnu Mubarak (w.1090-1155 H/1678-1731 M) dan ‘Abd al-‘Azîz al-Dabâgh (w. 1090-1132 H/1678-1719 M) yang melihat al-rasm al-‘utsmânî adalah tauqîfî yang diterima oleh para penulis wahyu secara taken for granted dari Nabi saw. Kedua; menurut al-Bâqilânî (w. 403 H/1013 M) dan ibnu Khaldûn (w. 808 H/ 1405 M) al-rasm al-‘utsmânî adalah produk ijtihad dari para sahabat Nabi saw pada masa ‘Utsman. Ketiga; pendapat yang dikemukakan oleh al-‘Izz ibnu ‘Abdissalâm (661 H/.1266 M) dan al-Zarkasyî (w. 794 H/1391 M) yang mengatakan, bagi orang awam selayaknya bentuk ortografi al-Qur`an disesuaikan dengan perkembangan pola penulisan, namun di sisi lain bagi orang-orang tertentu upaya tetap mempergunakan al-rasm al-‘utsmânî sebagai salah satuwarisan khazanah klasik yang layak untuk dilestarikan. Posisi peneliti berada pada kelompok ketiga, dengan revisi tauqîfî lebih rasional bila diletakkan dalam aspek tilâwah-nya.

Sumber yang dipakai dalam penelitian ini terdiri dari dua kategori. Untuk ulûm al-Qur’an peneliti merujuk pada al-Burhân fi Ulûm al-Qur'ân karya al-Zarkasyî (794 H/1391M), al-Itqân fi Ulûm Al-Qur’ân karya al-Syuyûtî (w. 911 H), dan kitab yang diedit oleh Arthur Jeffry Muqaddimatân fi Ulûm al-Qur`ân. Sementara untuk referensi ilmu al-rasm al-‘utsmânî peneliti mempergunakan Kitâb al-Masâhif karya Abû Bakar Abdillâh bin Sulaimân bin al-As'ab al-Sijistanî (w. 316 H) dan al-Muqni' fi Rasm Masâhif al-Amsâr karya al-Dâni (w. 444 H). Adapun cara pembacaan terhadap sumber peneliti mempergunakan pendekatan sejarah yang dilakukan dengan mengikuti tahapan-tahapan pengumpulan data (heuristik), melakukan verifikasi data, interpretasi dengan cara analisis dan sintesis dan terakhir menyususn kesaksian yang dapat dipercaya dalam satu penyajian yang berarti (historiografi). Selain itu peneliti juga mengkomparasikan hasil bacaan dengan beberapa buku sekunder terbaik yang layak dan memiliki otoritas dibidangnya

zaenal

2009-02-07T15:57:00.001-08:00

Apa itu Letter of Credit dan Mengapa Penting Untuk Diketahui ?

2008-12-24T16:27:00.001-08:00

Letter of Credit yang biasa disingkat dengan (L/C) merupakan salah satu instrument pembayaran yang sangat penting dalam perdagangan international. Letter of Credit sangat vital dalam memberikan keyakinan kepada pembeli (buyer) maupun penjual (seller) dalam melakukan perdagangan international (export-import).

Dengan tersedianya Letter of Credit :

Penjual (Seller/Exporter) :

Mendapat keyakinan akan ketersediaan pembayaran atas barang dan atau jasa yang diserahkan. Dengan telah dibukanya Letter of Credit oleh pihak buyer, seller tidak perlu khawatir mengenai adanya kemungkinan barang dan atau jasa yang diserahkan tidak (kurang)dibayar, sepanjang klausa (Term and Condition) yang tercantum di dalam L/C dipenuhi. Keyakinan tersebut diperoleh dengan adanya penegasan dari pihak bank pembuka L/C bahwa pihak pembeli (buyer) memiliki kemampuan yang cukup untuk membayar dan dalam hal ini bank pembuka L/C menjamin akan mendibit rekening pihak pembeli, jika pihak penjual menyerahkan dokumen-dokumen yang dipersyaratkan.

Bahkan di Indonesia, penguasaan terhadap sebuah Letter of Credit (L/C), bisa dijadikan dasar permohonan "Kredit Export (KE)" guna memperoleh dana lebih awal dari bank devisa, untuk dipergunakan sebagai modal kerja dalam memproduksi barang yang difasilitasi oleh Letter of Credit tersebut. Tentu saja pihak bank akan mengenakan bunga tertentu atas kredit tersebut, yang biasa disebut dengan bunga diskonto.

Pembeli (Buyer/Importer) :

Memperoleh keyakinan bahwa dia/mereka hanya akan membayar seller atas penyerahan barang dan atau jasa yang dipesannya sesuai dengan syarat yang telah disepakati sebelumnya yang akan dituangkan di dalam "Term and Condition" L/C yang akan dibuka. Dalam hal ini bank pembuka hanya akan mendebit rekening buyer, jika bank telah menerima dokumen yang dipersyaratkan.

Bagi mereka yang berada di bagian accounting maupun keuangan, mengenal dan mengetahui dasar mekanisme kerja letter of credit adalah penting, sehingga dapat diestimasi : kapan dan bagaimana TRANSAKSI SALES (jika perusahaan bertindak selaku seller) atau PURCHASE (jika perusahaan bertindak sebagai buyer) akan berakibat terhadap POSISI KAS perusahaan. Jika rekan-rekan di accounting atau keuangan menguasai mekanisme "Letter of Credit", maka itu merupakan nilai plus yang melengkapi keahlian dalam mengelola keuangan perusahaan (tinggal beberapa langkah menuju jenjang career yang lebih tinggi/financial controller). Menarik kan ?.

Sedangkan bagi mereka yang berkecimpung dalam dunia export-import, "Letter of Credit" adalah sesuatu yang wajib untuk dikuasai. Bagaimana tidak, atas proses export-import yang menggunakan instrument Letter Of Credit, langkah demi langkahnya harus selalu stick on (berpatokan) pada butir-butir “Term and Condition” yang tercantum di dalam Letter of Credit. Mulai dari :
(-). Packing Instruction : dimension, unit weight, quantity/volume per pack, side/front pack marking, dll.
(-). Document Required : Export License, Commercial invoice, Certificate of Inspection, Fumigation Certificate, dll.
(-). Shipping Instruction : Nominated Forwarder, Port of Departure, Notify Party, Port of Destination, Consignee Name, dll.

Penyimpangan (discrepancies) sangat kecil/sepele sekalipun terhadap instruksi (instruction) maupun permintaan (requirement) yang tercantum di dalam “Term and Condition” OTOMATIS MENGAKIBATKAN GAGALNYA REALISASI PEMBAYARAN atas sebuah transaksi yang di fasilitasi dengan Letter of Credit. Dan ini adalah tanggung jawab mereka-mereka yang berada di bagian Export-Import.

Catatan Penting :

Dalam sebuah transaksi yang menggunakan Letter of Credit, yang menjadi penentu dasar realisasi pembayaran adalah Dokumen. Sedangkan kondisi barang/jasa yang diperjual-belikan maupun hal-hal lain yang menyangkut kesepakatan seller dengan buyer, adalah diluar tanggung jawab institusi keuangan (dalam hal ini bank), artinya : bank pembuka berhak mendebit rekening buyer dan wajib membayarkannya kepada seller melalui bank yang ditunjuk begitu dokumen diterima dalam keadaan lengkap dan sesuai dengan kondisi yang dipersayaratkan, terlepas apakah barang/jasa yang diserahkan dalam keadaan yang sesuai dengan kesepakatan antara buyer dengan seller atau tidak.

mi

2008-12-24T15:16:00.000-08:00

abstract

ميا

2008-12-24T14:34:00.001-08:00

محمد شحرور

"أعتقد ألاّ مناص من بدء بزوغ تفسيرات للإسلام تتسم بالحداثة، ومن شأن هذا أن يعزز الدعاوي التي نسمعها داخل المجتمعات الإسلامية نفسها, إلى التفكير بشكل جديد في قيم الإسلام، وذلك من قادة مثل: السلطان قابوس سلطان عمان، ومن كتاب ومفكرين داعين للإصلاح مثل عبد الكريم سوروش في إيران، ومحمد شحرور في سورية، ومحمد أركون في الجزائر، ومحمد سعيد العشماوي في مصر".

mia

2008-12-24T14:28:00.001-08:00

One day an idea occurred to me when I was lecturing at the university of civil engineering about how to make compactions roads, we have what we call protector test, in which we sample and test soil used in fills in embankments. In this test we exclude and interpolate we have x and y. a hyperbole. We have a basic risk. We plot a curve and we put a line on the top of it. The line is the upper limit. Then I thought of the concept of “god limits” (hdud’illah). I returned here to the office and opened the Qur’an. Just as in mathematics we have five ways of representing limits. I found five cases in which the notion of God’s limit occurred. What they have in common is the idea that god has not set down the exact rules of conduct. But only the limits within which societies can create their own rules and laws, I have written about ideas of integrity (al-istiqama) and universal moral or ethical codes. The ideas was at first only a footnote in my last chapter, but I saw that it applied to my argument, so I corrected everything that in wrote about hudud’llah in the book in order to be consistent. Then I considered my argument to be sound.

Islamic legal theory came to recognize a variety of sources and methods from and through which the law might be derived. Those sources from which the law may be derived are the Quran and Sunna or example of the prophet. Both of which provide the subject matter of the law. Those sources through which the law may be derived represent either methods of legal reasoning and interpretation or the sanctioning instrument of consensus (ijma’), primacy of place within the hierarchy of all these sources is given to the Quran, followed by the sunna which. Though second in order of importance, provide the greatest bulk of material from which the law was derived. The third is consensus, a sanctioning instrument whereby the creative jurist, the mujtahids, representing the community at large, are considered to have reached an agreement, known retrospectively, on a technical legal ruling, thereby rendering it as conclusive and as epistemologically certain as any verse of the Quran and the sunna of the prophet . The certitude bestowed upon the case of law renders that case, together with its ruling, a material source on the basis of which a similar legal case may be solved. The mujtahids, authorized by divine revelation, are thus capable of transforming a ruling reached through human legal reasoning into the textual source by the very fact of their agreement on its validity. The processes of reasoning involved therein, subsumed under the rubric of qiyas, represent the fourth source of the law. Alternative methods of reasoning based on considerations of juristic preference (istihsan’) or public welfare and interest (istihlah) were of limited validity and was not infrequently the subject of controversy.

The two of modern reform we have identified, it is the religious utilitarianisms that succeeded in having their ideas implemented on the practical level,

Muhammad shahrur, whose recent work alkitab wal-quran advances some of the most controversial ideas in the middle east today, it is not difficult to see that his formal training as an engineer had great impact on his mode of analysis, in that in “re-reading” the Quran and the suna he draws heavily on the natural sciences, particularly mathematics and physics. His, then is unique contribution to the reinterpretation of the Quran and the Sunna in particular, and to law as a comprehensive system in general. Although shahrur modestly claims that his work represents no more than a “contemporary reading” of the Quran, being in no way an exegetical or a legal work. It is impressive in that it offers both depth and range, virtually unparalleled in modern writings on the subject

Shahrur maintains that the Quran having been constantly “preserved” by divine power, is as much the property of later generations as that of earlier or even the earliest generations, since each generation bestows on the Quran an interpretation emanating from the particular reality in which it lives, we in the twentieth century, are entitled to confer on the “remembrance” an interpretation that reflects the condition of this age. In this sense, modern Muslim is more qualified to understand the Quran for their own purposes and exigencies than earlier generations were. Thus, traditional interpretation of the Quran must not be taken as binding upon modern Muslim societies. But shahrur goes further: modern Muslims are better equipped to understand the meaning of revelation than their classical and medieval counterparts because they are far more “cultured”. The Quran speaks of the Bedouins as having been “more hard is disbelief and hypocrisy “than the other Arabs who possessed higher culture and civilization, and “likely to be ignorant of the limit which god revealed to his messenger “(9:97). the Quranic criterion of a proper comprehension of the revealed text is thus a level of high culture which the Bedouins were thought to have lacked. Since Muslims in the twentieth century enjoy a higher level of culture and scientific knowledge than their predecessors, then they are better equipped to understand revelation than these predecessors were.

Having arrogated to his generation the superior right to interpret the remembrance, shahrur goes on the draw a crucial distinction between what he calls the Quran and the book (these two words constituting the title of his work). This distinction directly emanates from yet another distinction, namely between the function of Muhammad received a body of information having to do with prophecy, religion and the like, as messenger and as prophet. As prophet Muhammad received a body of information having to do with prophecy, religion and the like. As messenger, he was the recipient of a corpus of legal instructions, in addition to that information he received as a prophet. The function of the prophet then is religious, whereas that of the messenger is legal. Now prophetic information is textually ambiguous, capable of varying interpretation. This is the Quran. On the other hand, the legal subject matter is univocal, but nevertheless capable of being subjected to ijtihad. This is the book.

In order to understand the legal message, it is necessary to draw another fundamental distinction between two contradictory, yet complementary attributes found in the book, these are straightness (istiqama) and curvature (hanifiyya). It is to be noted here that our English rendering of these two Arabic terms does not represent their immediate meaning as they have been traditionally understood but rather as shahrur perceives them by means of his own linguistics derivation. Listing numerous quranic verses in which these two terms occur, he concludes that the meaning of hanifiyya is derivation from straight path or from linearity. The opposite of hanifiyya is istiqoma, the letter being the quality of being straight or of following a linear path.

Both of these attributes are integral to the message, coexisting in a symbiotic relationship. Curvature is a natural quality, meaning that it is intrinsic to human nature as it exists in the material, objective world. Physical laws show that things do not occur in a linear, but rather in a non – linear, fashion. Motion in the natural world, for instance, is characterized by curves. All things, from minute electrons to the colossal galaxies, move in curves. In line with this perception of nature, curvature in law is seen as representing the quality of non linear movement, where customs, habits and social traditions tend to exist in harmony with the needs of particular societies, needs that tend to change from one society to another and, diachronically, within a society. It is for the purpose of controlling and restraining this change that “straightness” becomes indispensable for maintaining a legal order, but unlike curvature, straightness is not natural quality. Rather it is divinely ordained in order for it to coexist with curvature and to partake in the ordering of human societies. Thus curvature stand in need of straightness, as attested in 1:5 where man is represented as seeking the guidance of god by imploring him to “show us the straight path” on the other hand, there exists no quranic verse, shahrur maintains, in which man is portrayed as seeking curvature (hanifiyya) because curvature is pre-existing in the natural order.

The relationship between curvature and straightness is thus wholly dialectical, where constants and permutations are intertwined. This dialectic is significant because it indicates that the law is adaptable to all times and places (salih li-kulli zaman wa-makan). But what is the form of straightness that god revealed in order to complement curvature? Here shahrur advances the crux of his theory, which we may call the theory of limits (hudud). Ultimately, then man moves in curvature within these limits which represent straightness.

The theory of limits may be describes as follows ; it is the divine decree, expressed in the book and the sunna, which sets a lower and an upper limit for all human actions; the lower limit represents the minimum required by the law in a particular case, and the upper limit the maximum. Just as nothing short of the minimum is legally admissible, so nothing above the maximum may be deemed lawful. Once these limits are transcended, penalties become warrantable, in proportion to the violation committed.

Shahrur distinguishes six types of limits, the first of which is the lower

Fifth is the type in which the curvature moves between the lower and the upper limit but touches neither. The sexual relationship between men and women exemplify this type. Beginning with a point above the lower limit. Where the sexes are not to touch each other. The curvature moves upward in the direction of the upper limit where they come close to committing adultery but do not.

The early and medieval legist went wrong because they did not understand the significance of the theory of limits; what is more, they even did not realize its existence. Shahrur borrows the metaphor of a soccer match, where the teams play within and between the borders of the field not at the borders. The traditional jurists played, so to speak, at the borders and left the entire field intact.

We have already noted that shahrur’s theory of limit draws as much upon the sunna as the book. The former, in his view, represents a methodological model for legislation. Put differently, like the book, it does not necessarily provide for specific and concrete cases of legislation but rather it furnishes the methodological path (minhaj) for constructing a system of law. Those parts of the sunna that are conductive to creating the methodology and theory of limit will be taken as highly relevant. Those that do not will be taken as exclusive to the private life of the prophet and as binding upon no one but those who lived in his age.

Aside from the book and those provisions from the sunna relevant to the theory of limits. Shahrur rejects as obsolete and oppressive, for he asks, how could an analogy be drawn between the seventh and the twentieth centuries? indeed it is a credit to shahrur that he was able to dispense of qiyas by providing a substitute to it in the theory of limits. Similarly he was able to render superfluous the notion of consensus because his epistemology does not by definition require the element of certainty law in his view is ever changing as long as it moves between the limits and not beyond them. The only concept of consensus he admits is one where the majority of citizen vote on a proposed law, and once the proposal passes for law, they become committed to its implementation. The traditional notion of consensus , shahrur insists is imaginary (wahmi) and is in no way binding upon the Muslims of the modern age.

Letter of Credit

2008-12-24T06:07:00.000-08:00

Berikut ini adalah ringkasan dari cara pengurusan letter of credit (L/C) untuk kegiatan ekspor impor. Asumsinya, Anda berada dalam posisi sebagai pembeli atau importir. Adapun proses teknisnya adalah sebagai berikut:

* Buat sales contract dengan penjual,
* Datang ke bank, minta fasilitas untuk pembukaan L/C, dan
* Tunggu kiriman barang dari penjual.

Biasanya, pihak bank meminta syarat berupa:

* Collateral, bisa berupa fixed asset atau cash,
* Bayar biaya-biaya yang mungkin timbul, biasanya biaya adminstrasi, telex, dll. Pastikan informasi Anda terima dengan sejelas-jelasnya agar nantinya budget Anda tidak terlampaui.

Data-data yang diperlukan antara lain:

* Jenis barang selengkapnya agar barang sama dengan dokumen yang nantinya akan diterima,
* Jumlah barang dengan toleransinya bila diperlukan,
* Nilai barang,
* Dokumen lain yang terkait:
o Bill of lading (B/L) yang diterbitkan oleh perusahaan pengangkutan,
o Polis asuransi, agar tidak rugi bila kiriman Anda tenggelam,
o Invoice, yang mencantumkan nama barang, jumlah, nilai, dsb.
o Selain dokumen tersebut, Anda juga bisa minta dokumen pendukung lain agar “tidak tertipu”, misal certificate of analysis (untuk impor barang-barang chemical), certificate of origin, surveyor certificate, packing list, dsb.
* Tanggal pengapalan terakhir,
* Tanggal berlaku L/C,
* Pelabuhan asal dan tujuan,
* Nama dan alamat penjual serta alamat tujuan pengiriman,
* Apakah pengiriman sebagian dan transhipment diperbolehkan atau tidak, dan
* Jenis L/C, apakah sight, usance, atau lainnya.

Kalau Anda menemui kesulitan, silakan minta tolong ke bagian exim di bank. Anda juga bisa membaca “kitab suci” pelaku exim, yaitu UCP DC (Uniform Custom Practices for Documentary Credit) publikasi dari ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) No. 503.

Fair credit card offers
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Comments
1. randi
March 31st, 2005 at 5:47 pm

oh jadi ini untuk pembeli . waaks ribet juga yah.
2. adi wahyu
April 2nd, 2005 at 6:02 am

Keren juga jadi importir :-?

NB dah diupdate ;-). Nofie, jangan pindah lagi ya :D
3. Nofie
April 3rd, 2005 at 3:40 am

Insya Allah saya settle disini. Mudah-mudahan bisa rajin update. Tengkyu atas commentnya.
4. natalia
March 31st, 2006 at 11:01 am

Saya adalah lulusan salah satu perguruan tinggi jurusan pemrograman komputer.Ingin mendirikan usaha penjualan mebel yang bisa sampai menjangkau luar negri dengan menggunakan we e-commerce.
Sistem pembayaran yang saya inginkan adalah menggunakan Letter of credit.
Saya ingin tanyakan adalah :
1.syarat apa yang diperlukan coustomer saya,agar bisa melakukan pembayaran dengan Letter of credit.
2.apa Letter of credit itu dikirimkan melalui jasa pos.
3.Bagaimana saya bisa mengetahui bahwa LCs yang dikirimkan oleh coustemer adalah asli.
Tolong dijelaskan,sebab saya sama sekali buta dengan LCs.

susana2757@yahoo.co.id
natalia2757@yahoo.com
5. ani
April 6th, 2006 at 10:32 pm

aku juga…..
malah dapet tugas dari dosen soal LC
please dunk…. somebody …..

:???::???::???:
6. Ade
July 12th, 2006 at 1:15 pm

Hi,

jika B/L sudah diberikan kepada Bank apakah carrier (perusahaan angkutan) dapat menarik kembali B/L yang sudah dikeluarkan? jika ya, dengan cara apa? Saya sangat butuh jawaban Anda. Thanks.
7. swastika
November 26th, 2006 at 5:09 pm

sejauh mana sih tanggung jawab Bank akan berjalannya transaksi ekspor impor dengan letter of credit ? thanks ya
8. Beta
January 28th, 2007 at 8:15 pm

Berapa persen Collateral yg diminta bank? Apa ada tulisan mengenai aturan Collateral itu dan dimana saya bisa membacanya?

Ditunggu kabarnya

Beta
9. Beta
January 28th, 2007 at 8:16 pm

Berapa persen Collateral yg diminta bank? Apa ada tulisan mengenai aturan Collateral itu dan dimana saya bisa membacanya?

Ditunggu kabarnya

Beta
Jakarta
10. Abdullah
February 27th, 2007 at 11:23 am

Saya baru akan memulai usaha ekspor batik. Apa saja yang perlu saya ketahui? Bisakah anda mengajarkan saya soal pengiriman dan pembayaran?
11. ari
April 30th, 2007 at 1:52 am

apa keuntungan dari letter of credit?
12. Rochmat widodo
June 7th, 2007 at 12:12 pm

mhn penjelasan, rncna import via lc, pembuka lc atas nama J tech di Japan, penerima brng di Ind dgn consignee Indonesia, apakah hal ini dapat dilakukan, kalau bisa tolong klausulnya seperti apa

TKS
13. susbeye
June 26th, 2007 at 2:28 pm

bagaimana prosedur untuk ekspor, meliputi dokumen2 apa saja yang diperlukan, metode pembayaran yang dapat dilakukan,thax…
14. Eddy Chandra
November 13th, 2007 at 4:49 pm

Saya bekerja di bagian import, perusahaan saya biasanya mengimpor barang. Yang mau saya tanyakan apa perbedaan antara sight L/C dengan Usance L/C. Minta dijelaskan perbedaan, keuntungan dan kelemahannya antara sight dan usance.
Sebelumnya saya ucapkan banyak terima kasih

Eddy
15. Tito
November 30th, 2007 at 7:58 pm

saya bergerak di bidang penjualan gambir dan saya belum pernah export gambir ke luar negeri,tapi sekarang ada permintaan gambir dari importir india,perusahaan saya belum punya izin export jadi saya pinjam perusahaan teman yang sudah ada izin exportnya,jadi saya mohon penjelasan,apa yang harus saya lakukan sebagai suplayer karena customer saya tsb sudah buka l/C di bank negaranya(india) terima kasih.saya tunggu balasannya..

gambir_mahat@yahoo.com
16. Fenan
December 18th, 2007 at 6:03 pm

saya hanya mahasiswa salah satu perguruan tinggi di manado. L/C memang hebat, tapi mengapa banyak terjadi penipuan seperti contoh kasus L/C fiktif
yang pernah terjadi. Kok bisa? Apakah Bank yang kurang profesional atau L/C itu sendiri yang memiliki banyak kelemahan? Thx.. God Bless..
17. Yovita
January 4th, 2008 at 11:05 am

Pak/ Bu … aku ini bagian controller…aku mau mengecek… divisi eksport..masalah nya saya buta sama sekali ttg L/C…bisakah Bpk/Ibu memberi informasi…yg perlu diperhatikan dari proses penggunaan L/C ampe dengan sistem pembayaraannya ..
thank ya
18. eliss
January 12th, 2008 at 10:41 am

tolong jelaskan tentang keuntungan dan kerugian letter of credit, terimakasih:)
19. susana
January 29th, 2008 at 8:39 am

apa fungsi Letter of credit dan tujuan penggunaannya,makasih
20. Mey
January 31st, 2008 at 2:32 pm

aku mau tanya ttg IMCO terms itu apa yah?
Mohon penjelasan sedetail2nya karena aku buta bgt ttg hal tsb.

thanks yaaa.. :-)
21. Penonton Kecewaaaa.....
February 25th, 2008 at 9:54 pm

yah…… gimana sih pada ga tau L/C semua…. tolol yah…. ga perna sekola apa? ga perna blajar ekonomi? wuakakakaka makanya blajar sono wong pelajaran smp gitu =P
22. jill
March 9th, 2008 at 6:04 pm

saya mahasiswa fakultas hukum,, jurusan hukum internsional.. lg nyusun skripsi tenteng L/C,, mw mengankat kasus yang penelitiannya dibank.. tlng yah,, kira2 apa yah permasalahan yang bisa diangkat??? thank’s..
23. RIZKI EKA PUTRA
March 14th, 2008 at 9:44 am

terimakasih infonya! izin saya copy ya!
24. 3ela
May 25th, 2008 at 10:27 am

plz help me guys……………gw dapet tugas tentang lc ada yang bisabantu?????? plz mail ke gw ya. thx a lot……….
25. mojo
May 30th, 2008 at 11:24 am

ada yang punya data lengkap tentang l/c g???
26. fitri
June 2nd, 2008 at 6:54 pm

halo………semuanya nihau…..???????

tolong jelaskan keuntungan dan kerugian lc plz urgent banget. sebelumnya thx… GBU………..
27. fitri
June 2nd, 2008 at 6:57 pm

halo………semuanya nihau…..???????

apa kerugian dari lc. urgent guys ..sebelumnya thx… GBU………..
28. mojo
June 10th, 2008 at 6:48 pm

coba j liat di buku letter of credit karangan soepriyo adhibroto
29. adityo
June 29th, 2008 at 12:04 pm

hehehehe….
buku yang bahas soal LC dah banyak koq,
di internet juga banyak
tinggal cari di search engine,

Thanks Nofie,
banyak membantu dlm tugas2 gw…
Gud Luck!!

btw,
L/C fiktif buat tulisan cari bahan dmana ya?
30. alit
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:12 pm

i want to know, apakah benar, penjualan migas dan barang tambang Indonesia tidak mengharuskan penjualan dengan L/C?jadi bisa tanpa L/C?
31. riri
July 5th, 2008 at 3:50 pm

kalo mau tahu tentang isi UCP DC dimana ya?
thanks.
32. ical
August 18th, 2008 at 2:01 pm

untuk lc peraturannya sangat ketat,
apalagi jika kena discrepancy…
barang bisa balik lagi….

untuk mencegah kita hari lebih hati2,cek dulu
1.trac record importir/exportir
2.bank yang mempunyai kredebilitas tinggi
3.contract bisnis yg kuat
4.cek strandarisasi pengiriman barang(commcial invoice,B/L,packing list,certificat dll)

icalmelandri@gmail.com
33. vita
September 15th, 2008 at 12:20 pm

ada yang tau ga apa itu ‘Deemed B/L’..?
34. erwin
November 6th, 2008 at 6:11 pm

gue mw tw tentang L/C (letter of credit)
pembukaan L/C
35. titin
November 20th, 2008 at 8:18 am

knp LC ribet banget, sptnya menyusahkan pihak jasa angkutan utk koreksi BL nya.
Apa pihak bank yg kurang profesional atau bgmn ?
36. moz
November 22nd, 2008 at 8:12 pm

Aku bkn anak ekonomi dan gak familier ma kegiatan exim dan perdagangan internasional. boleh dong nanya sama kaya Vita. Anyone here.. tolong jelasin B/L sejelas-jelasnya, aku butuh banget as soon as posible… Insya Allah ilmu itu bermanfaat. Thank alot ta..

Looking forward to hear your thoughts.

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limit cal

2008-12-23T14:08:00.001-08:00

You are not actually finding the "true" answer of the problem, but rather the boundaries of the "limit" (infinity) of the number based on the lower limit, and upper limit of your graph.

Answer

That's not true. Limits are a precisely defined concept. At least, if you know what the context is then they are. Since you mentioned calculus, I'm going to assume you're interested in the definition of a derivative.

First, some notation. For any number x, the term |x| means the absolute value of x. So |3|=3, |-5|=5, |-2.7|=2.7, |7.8|=7.8, etc.

Suppose f:R->R. Then f'(p), the derivative of f at p (if it exists) is defined as:

lim { (f(p+h)-f(p))/h }
h->0

What does this actually mean? The intuition is this: the smaller h is, the closer (f(p+h)-f(p))/h gets to the derivative.* We say (f(p+h)-f(p))/h tends to f'(p) as h tends to 0. In other words, we can make the difference
| { (f(p+h)-f(p))/h } - f'(p) |
as small as we want, just by forcing h to be small. More formally: For any positive real number e, there is a positive real d such that, for any real h with |h|

| { (f(p+h)-f(p))/h } - f'(p) | <>

The derivative f'(p) is defined as the only real number with this property. You can never have more than one number with this property. There might not be any, in which case the function f is not differentiable at p.

* The intuition here is as follows: (p+h,f(p+h)) is a point on the curve close to (p,f(p)), the point we are interested in. The line between these points (let's call it L) is almost the same as the tangent to the curve (T), and its gradient is almost the gradient of the tangent (which is the derivative). But the gradient of L is
(f(p+h)-f(p))/h
and therefore this quantity is close to f'(p).

limit14

2008-12-23T13:36:00.000-08:00

Professor Muhammad Shahrur states the secular liberal case for Islam and 'deconstructs' the Qur'an. In the early I990s the Arab world has witnessed an extraordinary publishing phenomenon. An 800 page book on Islam, Al-kitab wa'lqur'an: qira'a mu'asira (The Book and the Qur'an: a contemporary reading), was first published by the Ahali Publishing House Damascus in 1990. The book challenges a millennium of Islamic tradition. It is highly critical of the social, political and intellectual state of contemporary Arab countries. The author has been denounced as 'an enemy of Islam' and as 'a Western and Zionist agent'. To date eleven other books have been written attacking his theses. Yet the book has been repeatedly reprinted and has sold 20 000 copies in Syria alone. And despite bans, tens of thousands of further copies, as well as pirated, faxed and photocopied versions, have circulated in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula. The author, Professor Muhammad Shahrur, is a mild-mannered professor of Civil Engineering who was born in Damascus in I938. After secondary school in Damascus Muhammad went to the Soviet Union to study engineering in Moscow. He was not a Marxist though he was challenged by the Marxist dialectic. He owed far more, he has told me, to Hegel and to Alfred North Whitehead. He returned to Syria in I964 to teach at the university and was due to do research at Imperial College London in I967. The June war with Israel that year and the consequent break in diplomatic relations between Britain and Syria put an end to that. Instead he went to Dublin and completed a Master's degree, and a PhD for a thesis on soil mechanics and foundation engineering. For the last twenty years he has been teaching at the University of Damascus. He is also a partner in an engineering consultancy. He has followed up the first book with a sequel, Dirasat islamiyya mu'asira fi l-dawla wa'l-mujtama' (Contemporary Islamic Studies on State and Society), under 400 pages, published also by Ahali of Damascus in I994, which elaborates and extends some points made in the earlier book. A third volume is promised at the end of I996. Shahrur is stating the secular liberal case for Islam. He 'deconstructs' the Qur'an and is highly critical of the tradition of fiqh (jurisprudence) that has distorted the message of Islam, and had a stifling effect on Arab Islamic society. Throughout the two books he affirms his own faith as an Arab Muslim. He follows references to the Prophet Muhammad with the letters, for the formalistic invocation, salla allahu 'alayhi wa sallam. Similarly he refers to Allah with the extolment subhanahu wa ta'ala. His methodology, the use he makes of that methodology, his historical interpretations and his own positive view of Islam are very different from conventional received traditions of Islam. I propose to outline Shahrur's methods and arguments and to assess the impact of his work. I am not an expert in fiqh or tafsir (qur'anic exegesis). Nor is it possible in the space to discuss all Shahrur's ideas. He may disagree with aspects of my presentation. This is all unavoidable when considering over 1000 pages of closely argued theology. References henceforth will be to the texts of his two books. KQ refers to the Al-kitab wa'l-qur'an, DIM to the Dirasat islamiya mu'asira. Translations from the Qur'an are from The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, the translation of Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, of which there have been many editions. Shahrur asserts the timelessness of the Qur'an. It is the word of Allah as interpreted by the Prophet Muhammad, his contemporaries and immediate successors (KQ, 36). However there is a direct dialogue between the reader and the text and today's Muslims must concentrate on that text and by-pass the intermediary of the traditions of tafsir. The Qur'an should be read as if the Prophet Muhammad had only recently died (KQ, 41). Just as the Prophet, his contemporaries and his immediate successors understood the text of the Qur'an in the light of their intellectual capacities and of their perception of the world, so we should read and understand it in the light of ours. A key concept of Shahrur's is ardiyya 'ilmiyya or ardiyya ma'rifiyya which might be translated as 'scientific premises'. (Shahrur himself prefers the rendering 'scientific background.') Seventh-century Arabia had a limited concept of the principles determining the natural world, but the history of scientific discovery has been one of continuous expansion of what was known and the diminishing of what was unknown (KQ, 43). These subsequent scientific discoveries and new hypotheses give us a greater understanding of particular passages in the Qur'an. For example, modern theories of the creation of the world and of the existence of hydrogen are anticipated in the first three verses of Surat al-Fajr (KQ 235); Darwinism in Surat al-Zumar (KQ, 280). Thus the Qur'an needs to be read and re-read in the light of developing and changing premises. Qur'an studies are dynamic. The Qur'an itself appeals to those who are rasikhu-n fi al-'ilm (those who are of sound instruction) or ulu al-albab (men of understanding) (Surat al-Imran, 7). The relationship between reader and text is bound to change over the centuries. It will continue to change to the end of time (KQ, 192). In order to understand the text of the Qur'an each word has to be analysed in the light of what we know, not as has been told us by the traditions of fiqh (KQ, 182). Shahrur looks hard at the meaning and possible variant meanings of most of the key words of the Qur'an. In this analysis he relies largely on standard classical dictionaries. His analyses enlighten and explain some points anew. I will give a few examples. The Qur'an was revealed by a process that is described sometimes as inzal, sometimes as tanzil (KQ, 147-151). Translations do not always make a distinction between the two verbal nouns. Shahrur does, looking at all the references to both words in the Qur'an, and comparing the usual nature of the difference between the second and the fourth form. Tanzil has a general sense; inzal is more specific. The fourth form of the word is always used when the Qur'an refers to the revelation being in the Arabic language and directed at a particular group of people -- the Arabs. Shahrur uses the (contemporary) analogy of the recording of a message or a video cassette (tanzil), with the act of switching it on to hear or to watch (inzal). This distinction has only become clear to us, he argues, in the light of recent developments in communications. Secondly he examines the word, ummi, often interpreted as 'illiterate', describing the Prophet Muhammad (KQ, 139-140). Ummi was applied by Jews and Christians before Islam to those who were outside the faith. They were ignorant of the faith. 'Illiterate' is a logical but misleading extension of that meaning. With the inherited pre-Islamic meaning, however, the Prophet Muhammad was ummi, insofar as he was outside the faiths of Islam and Christianity. He does not mean that he was unable to read and write. Thirdly he looks at the word banin in Surat al-Shu'ara, 133, amaddakum bi-an'am wa-banin which Pickthall translates as '(Allah) Hath aided you with cattle and sons'. Shahrur (KQ, 644) analyses this verse in the context of a long argument against patriarchal interpretations of Islam. Banin is from the root meaning 'to build' and is used here, in contrast to an'am, and means 'buildings' or 'fixed assets', as opposed to livestock or moveable assets. A fourth example seemed on a first reading to be taking the methodology to extremes. He analyses (KQ, 206-207) Su-rat al-Qadr, 3: laylat al-qadr khayrun min alf shahr, translated by Pickthall as 'The Night of Power is better than a thousand months'. The Night of Power was the night in the month of Ramadan when the Prophet Muhammad received his Call and the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to him. Shahrur puts the last two words under his etymological microscope. Alf means 'a thousand', yes, but also has the idea of creation, the bringing of things together (as in mu'allif, a writer). And shahr is connected with the root meaning 'to unsheathe (a sword), to proclaim, to make public or famous'. In other words, the meaning of the verse is that the occasion of the revelation of the Qur'an is of greater value than any other kind of fame that can be devised. On a second reading, I do not find this such a fantastic interpretation. After all a thousand months is only eighty or so years, a lifetime. The message of the Qur'an is eternal and of far greater duration than a lifetime. Shahrur also deconstructs the concepts of risala and nubuwa, the abstract nouns relating to rasu1 and nabi, which are both translated as 'prophet', though the former also has the idea of 'messenger'. The declaration of faith is that Muhammad is the rasul of Allah, not the nabi. Shahrur states (KQ, 37) that all parts of the Qur'an can be classified as either nubuwa or risala or an explanation. In the nubuwa parts of the Qur'an we find statements that cannot be challenged -- the Oneness of Allah, the firqan (based on the Ten Commandments), the natural laws, the history of previous prophets, though these parts may be reinterpreted in the light of new knowledge. Risala, on the other hand, contains ethics and rules of conduct. Some parts are absolutely fixed, like rules of worship and morals, but others such as prescribed legislation and punishment, can be subject to ijtihad (independent individual judgement). They can even be dropped, as the Khalifa 'Umar al-Khattab did with Surat al-Anfal, 41 (KQ, 38). One area to which Shahrur applies his own ijtihad relates to the question of alcohol (KQ, 477). He looks at all the verses in the Qur'an that refer to wine. Attitudes are not consistent and there is even some ambivalence. In Surat al-Nisa', 43, believers are enjoined not to come to prayer in a state of intoxication, with the implication that it is not impermissible to be intoxicated at other times. In Surat al-Baqara, 219, the sinfulness of strong drink is compared with its usefulness. And in Surat al-Ma'ida, 90-91, believers are told to turn aside from, to avoid strong drink: there is no denunciation of the practice. And in one of the descriptions of Paradise -- in Surat Muhammad, 15, there flow rivers of wine. Condemnation is not absolute. This is in contrast to the injunctions about eating pigflesh where the ban is absolute and unequivocal: hurimat 'alaykum al-mayyita wa-al-dam wa-lahm al-khanzir (Surat al- Ma'ida, 3). 'Forbidden unto you (for food) are carrion and blood and swineflesh.' There are no pigs in Paradise. In Shahrur's view Islam is a dynamic revolutionary faith, relevant for all time and all places (KQ, 555). The dynamism started from the revelation of the Qur'an itself. The Prophet Muhammad himself was the first to practise tafsir (KQ, 60). He made a distinction between the authority of the Qur'an and his own commentaries, the hadith. The Prophet Muhammad did not give instructions for his commentaries to be collected, as he did for the Qur'an (KQ, 546). The Prophet Muhammad was a fallible human being. His tafsir was as subject to revision as that of anybody else. But in the century following the death of the Prophet Muhammad the Islamic Empire became a major power under the Umayyads and a religious class developed that was separate from the wielders of political authority. This class upheld political authority and was uncritical of those possessing it. The people wielding power were content that the religious establishment invoked Allah only for things that did not challenge their power. Fiqh and authority became twins (KQ, 569, 622). The interpretation and development of Islam in the next few centuries became fossilized. Fresh interpretation was not permitted. The 'Gate of Ijtihad' was closed. But, says Shahrur, the gate of ijtihad was never closed (DIM, 218). The authority of the religious classes and the fossilization has had a harmful effect on all subsequent Islamic Arab history. The character of fiqh-dominated Islam has been conservative, formalistic, obsessed with rules, out of touch with contemporary thought and concerned with the minutiae of human relations rather than with wider social and political morality (KQ, 579, 586-88; DIM, 24, 41, 160). The faqihs were ignorant. Great medieval Arab Islamic scholars such as Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd were condemned in the Islamic world but were studied and respected in Europe. In contrast those such as al-Shafi'i, revered by the Islamic religious establishment, had no impact whatsoever on the rest of the world (DIM, 228). The faqihs and 'ulama' were concerned with what was permissible or not, not what was reasonable or not. They were unaware of their own ignorance (DIM, 225). The progressive can understand the reactionary, but the reactionary cannot understand the progressive, nor does he want to (DIM, 239). Their deleterious influence has prevailed to the present day. Contemporary Islamic philosophy goes round in circles (KQ, 30). Shahrur's purpose in his writings is to call for a new fiqh, not for a new Islam (DIM, 235). Shahrur's strictures, never ad hominem, on practices and beliefs of today's fundamentalists are equally vigorous. To imagine that the practices of seventh-century Arabia are of relevance today is ahistorical (DIM, 42). The Prophet Muhammad cleaned his teeth with a stick. The lesson to be drawn is that it is meritorious to clean your teeth, not that you use a stick for the purpose (KQ, 580). He is similarly fierce about the fundamentalists' attitude to women's dress. The status of women greatly improved at the birth of Islam. The liberation of women started with the Prophet, but should not end then (KQ, 564, 595). The Qur'an addresses men and women equally. But fiqh has imposed a patriarchal view on society. Women came to be seen as possessions to be cherished as if they were camels or cars (DIM, 326). The Qur'an stressed the voluntary nature of belief (DIM, 143): la ikrah fi al-din (Surat al-Baqara, 256) ('There is no compulsion in religion'). Fa-'man sha'a fa-liyu'min wa-man sha'a fa-liyakfur (Surat al-Kahf, 29) ('Then whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve'). If such an essential aspect of Islam as belief is voluntary, then what is the basis for thinking that dress is anything but voluntary and optional? (DIM, 329, 351). The custom in Syria today of having a party to celebrate 'the return to religion' of a girl who takes to wearing the headscarf is offensive to Islam (DIM, 327). Religion is far more than a piece of cloth. Fundamentalists and the religious establishment do not campaign with the same energy against bribery, fraud, irresponsibility, incompetence or political immorality (DIM, 175). One concept that Shahrur develops in his second book is that of istibdad (absolutism, Review Article 341 arbitrariness), which he sees as of three kinds, all described in the Qur'an and symbolized respectively by Far'un (Pharaoh), Haman and Qarun (DIM, 241, 246). The first is political absolutism, the second religious, the third economic. Each Arab and Islamic country has had its Pharaoh and its Qarun legitimized by its Haman (DIM, 259). The religious establishment has legitimized political absolutism and economic oppression. The task of contemporary Islam is to liberate people from these absolutisms. There are positive concepts that Shahrur sees at the centre of Islam, above all shura (taking counsel) and ibaha (freedom and openness) (DIM, 142). Just as fiqh and authority are one pair of twins, so freedom and science are another (DIM, 220, 299). Siru fi al-ard fa-nzur kayfa bada'a alkhalq (Surat al-'Ankabut, 20) ('Travel in the land and see how he originated creation ...') Open enquiry and research should be the basis of legislation. There are always alternative points of view and these should not be silenced (DIM, 145). Allied to this scientific approach is the need to promote an educated social conscience (DIM, 173). An Islamic state should be pluralistic. The way to resolve consequent tensions is through consultation (DIM, 193) in a democratic environment. We are beholden to use Allah's gifts of reflection (fikr) and power of reasoning ('aql) (DIM, 330). These gifts should be given total freedom to analyse rather than to memorize (DIM, 319). Shahrur's Islamic society has more in common with European and American countries than any in the Arab or Islamic world today. He has, not surprisingly, been the subject of criticism. But the popularity of Shahrur's work indicates that he is saying something that has hit a chord in contemporary Arab and Islamic thought. Shahrur has not been personally threatened, and in 1995 was an honoured participant in public debates on Islam in Lebanon and Morocco. He receives correspondence from readers all over the world. Muslims are operating in a complex and competitive world. Most Muslims are conscientious believers who, like the rest of us, try to make sense of the world. Shahrur's work resembles that of other contemporary Arab writers on religion Farah Fuda and Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd of Egypt, and Muhammad 'Abid al-Jabiri of Morocco -- who are articulating an Islamic intellectual system that repudiates that of Sayyid Qutb and his successors. In many ways Shahrur's work goes beyond religious debate. He is identifying flaws in contemporary society -- social and intellectual. People are reading his work not purely as religious commentary or an updated tafsir. They are reading a social and political analysis of closed Arab Islamic societies. The 1970s and 1980s witnessed a great Arab migration: an expansion of Arabs studying in Europe and America, a recruitment of labour and skills to Arabia and the Gulf and among Arab countries, an emigration of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese. Arabs have been able to see the strengths and limitations of their own heritage and society and compare them with others. The monopoly of information claimed by individual governments has broken down. The informational technology revolution of the 1990s has accelerated these changes to the intellectual environment. Arab Muslims have the opportunity to think for themselves in a way that was discouraged a generation ago. Shahrur's message is a contemporary message, a reassurance to the perplexed, a reassertion of the liberal tradition of Islam and an affirmation of the relevance of the faith to the pluralistic global village of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Hence the importance of his work.

limit11

2008-12-23T13:30:00.001-08:00

One fresh contribution to the contemporary study of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) is the theory of limits (nadzariyyat al-hudûd) promoted by a Syrian liberal Islamic figure, Muhammad Shahrur. According to Wael B. Hallaq, Shahrur’s theory of limits solves the epistemological deadlock of previous works (Wael B. Hallaq: 1997). Through his controversial works, al-Kitâb wal Qur’ân: Qirâ’ah Mu`âshirah, Shahrur asserts that the theory of limits is an approach within ijtihad (individual interpretation) to study the muhkamât verses (clear and direct verses of law) of the Koran. The term limit (hudûd) used by Shahrur refers to the meaning of “the bounds or restrictions of God which should not be violated, contained in the dynamic, flexible, and elastic domain of ijtihad.”

The theory of limits makes four significant contributions to the enhancement of fikh. Firstly, by the theory of limits, Shahrur makes a fundamental paradigm shift for fikh. The meaning of hudûd is perceived rigidly by the fukaha (experts in canon law) as verses and hadits concerning legal punishment (al-`uqûbât) which should not be added to nor reduced, such as hand amputation for the thief, 100 lashes for adultery, and so on. Apart from that, the theory of limits (nadzariyyat al-hudûd) offered by Shahrur tends to be dynamic and contextual, not only in regards to legal punishment (al-`uqûbât). His theory of limits also concerns other legal restrictions, such as those concerning libâsul mar’ah (woman’s attire), ta`addud al-zawj (polygamy), inheritance, and usury etc.

Secondly, Shahrur’s theory of limits offers the stipulation of minimum limits (al-hadd al-adnâ) and maximum limits (al-hadd al-a`lâ) within which to carry out Allah’s laws. It means that Allah’s laws are elastic, as long as the sentence is between the minimum and maximum limits. To Shahrur, the domain of human’s ijtihad is between that minimum and maximum limit. The elasticity and flexibility of God’s law is illustrated as the one who plays soccer within restraints, as long as it is inside the limits of the sports ground. Briefly, as long as a Muslim acts within the domain of hudûd-u-lLâh (Allah’s determination between the minimum and maximum limits) he should not be consider to be outside of Allah’s law.

Take for instance: the stipulation of hand amputation for a thief (Q.S. al-Mâ’idah: 38). To Shahrur, hand amputation is the maximum sanction (al-hadd al-a`lâ) for a thief. Its minimum limit is to be forgiven (Q.S. al-Mâ’idah: 34). Here Shahrur assumes that a judge may perform ijtihad by observing the objective conditions of the thief. Besides giving the punishment of hand amputation to enforce sharia, the judge may perform ijtihad around those maximum and minimum limits, such as giving a prison verdict. The dismissal penalty for a corrupt officer is also still between both limits. Shahrur argues that the essence of a legal punishment is daunting for the offender. Therefore state or government which do not execute hand amputation, stoning, qishas (death sentence) and several other laws in Koran and hadits, should not be accused as being infidel states as claimed by the fundamentalists.

In the case of woman’s attire (libâs al-mar’ah), Shahrur considers the minimum limit of woman’s attire to be satr al-juyûb (Q.S al-Nur: 31) or covering the chest (breasts) and genitals so as not to be naked. Its maximum limit is the covering of the whole body excluding the palms of one’s hand and one’s face. In this approach, the woman who does not wear hijab has in fact fulfilled Allah’s stipulation. On the contrary, women who cover their whole body including the face are considered to have gone beyond hudûd-u-lLâh (Allah’s limits) since it is beyond the maximum limit determined by Koran. This means that women who cover their face and their whole body are “not Islamic”.

Thirdly, through his theory of limits, Shahrur deconstructed and reconstructed the methodology of ijtihad, mainly of the verses of hudûd that have been claimed as muhkamât verses which contained single interpretations. To Shahrur, the muhkamât verses may be perceived dynamically and may have interpretational alternatives, since the Koran was revealed to respond to human problems and is valid forever. All the Koranic verses can be perceived, even pluralistically, since the meaning of a verse can develop, and sometimes have changed from the former meaning when it was revealed for the first time. Hence, an interpretation is relative according to the progress of the ages. In other word, by the theory of limits, Shahrur wants to make a productive reading (qirâ’ah muntijah) of muhkamât verses and not a repetitive and retrospective one (qirâ’ah mutakarrirah).

Fourthly, by the theory of limits, Shahrur wants to prove that Islamic teaching is truly a relevant teaching for all times and places. Shahrur assumes that the positive side of the Islamic message is that it contains two aspects of movement: constant movement (istiqâmah) and dynamic and flexible movement (hanîfiiyah). This Islamic flexibility is within the frame of theory of limits which he perceived as the bounds or restrictions that God has placed on man’s freedom of action. The analytical framework of the theory of limits is based on two main Islamic characters (the constant and the flexible) which will lead to Islam’s survival. Those two contradictory things will deliver dialectic movement (al-harakah al-jadaliyah) in knowledge and social science. Here the new paradigm is expected in the formation of the Islamic legal legislation (tasyri’), therefore it will result in an incessant dialectic and progress of the Islamic legal system. (Abdul Mustaqim, MA, Lecturer of UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta)

limit8

2008-12-23T13:26:00.000-08:00

Biografi Shahrur
BAB II
BIOGRAFI DAN PEMIKIRAN MUHAMMAD SHAHRUR

A. Biografi Muhammad Shahrur Latar Belakang Sosialnya
Syiria dengan ibukota Damaskus, tercatat sebagai negara yang memiliki
pengaruh luar biasa di blanika pemikiran dunia Islam, baik sosial, politik,
budaya dan intelektual. Seperti umumnya yang dialami negara-negara Timur
Tengah. Syiria pernah mengalami problematika modernitas, khususnya bentaran
keagamaan dengan gerakan modernisasi Barat. Problema ini muncul disebabkan
dampak dari invansi Prancis dan gerakan modernisasi Turki. Selain itu,
Syiria pernah menjadi region dari dinasti Utsmaniyyah. Problema ini pada
gilirannya, memunculkan tokoh-tokoh semisal Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi dan
Thahir al-Jaza’ri yang berusaha menggalakkan reformasi keagamaan di Syiria[1].

Reformasi al-Qasimi berorientasi pada pembentangan umat Islam dari
kecendrungan Tanzimat yang sekular dan penggugahan intelektual Islam dari
ortodoksi. Untuk itu, umat Islam harus mampu meramu rasionalitas, kemajuan,
dan modernitas dalam bingkai agama. Dalam hal ini, al-Qasimi mencanagkan
untuk menemukan kembali makna Islam yang orisinil dalam al-Qur’an dan
Al-Sunah dengan menekankan ijtihat[2].

Ide al-Qasimi kemudian dilanjutkan oleh Thaha al-Jaza’iri. Kali ini
gagasannya lebih mengarah kepada upaya pemajuan di bidang pendidikan. Dari
sinilah kemudian terlihat iklim inelektual Syiria, setingkat lebih “maju”
ketimbang negara-negara muslim Arab lainnya yang masih memberlakukan hukum
Islam secara kaku, terutama dalam hal kebebasan berekspresi. Angin segar
bagi tumbuhnya suatu imperium pemikiran di Syiria lebih nyata dan
menjanjikan dibanding negara-negara Arab lainnya, karena tidak semua negara
Arab menerima ide mengenai pembaharuan dalam Islam, misalnya yang harus
diterima Fazlur Rahman[3] dan Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd[4] yang harus hengkang
dari negaranya masing-masing. Kehadiran Muhammad Shahrur menjadi bukti
bahwa Syiria merupakan negara yang menerima ide-ide segar yang muncul dalam
pemikiran Islam.

Muhammad Shahrur yang bernama lengkap Muhammad Shahrur bin Daib Tahir
dilahirkan di Damaskus, Syiria, pada 11 April 1938 M[5]. Ayahnya bernama
Deyb bin Deyb Shahrur dan Ibunya adalah Siddiqah binti Salih Filyun[6].
Dalam kehidupan pribadiya, Shahrur dinilai tlah berhasil membentuk sebuah
keluarga yang bahagia. Dari Istri tercintanya, Azizah, ia memperoleh lima
anak dan dua cucu. Tiga anaknya yang sudah menika adalah Tariq (beristrikan
Rihab), Lays (beristrikan Olga), dan Rima (bersuamikan Luis). Sedangkan dua
lainnya adalah Basil dan Mas’un dan dua cucunya bernama Muhammad dan Kinan.
Kasih sayang Shahrur terhadap keluarganya, paling tidak, diindikasikan
dengan selalu melibatkan mereka dalam lembaran persembahan karya-karyanya.

Pendidikannnya diawali di sekolah dasar yakni Ibtida’iyah, I’dadiyah dan
Tsanawiyah ditempuh di kota kelahiraanya pada lembaga pendidikan
‘Abdurrahman al-Kawakibi. Ijazah Tsanawiyahnya ia peroleh dari sekolah itu
pada tahun 1957. Pada bulan Maret 1958 dengan beasiswa dari pemerintah ia
pergi ke Uni Soviet untuk mempelajari Teknik Sipil (Hadanah Madaniyah) di
Moskow.

Pada tahun 1959 dan tahun 1964, Shahrur menyelesaikan diplomanya di bidang
teknik tersbut dan kembali ke Syiria pada tahun 1965 serta mulai mengabdi
di Universitas Damaskus. Pada tahun yang bersamaan, Shahrur melanjutkan
studi ke Irlandia tepatnya di Universitas College, Dublin dalam bidang
studi yang sama. Pada tahun 1967, Shahrur berhak melakukan penelitian pad
Imparsial College, London, Inggris. Karen apda tahun itu, terjadi konflik
politik antara Syiria-Inggris, lalu ia keluar dari Inggris[7]. Selanjutnya
Universitas Damaskus mengirimkannya ke Irlandia untuk melanjutkan program
Megister dan Doktoralnya di bidang teknik sipil konsentrasi Mekanika
Pertanahan (Soil mechanich) dan teknik pembangunan ( Fondation Engineering)
di Universitas Nasional Irlandia. Gelar Magisternya ia dapat pada tahun
1969 dan gelar Doktoralnya pada tahun 1972 dan sejak itulah Shahrur kembali
ke Damaskus , kota kelahirannya.

Setelah tercapainya gelar Doktor, Shahrur diangkat menjai dosen di fakultas
Teknik Sipil Universitas Damaskus di Bidang Mekanika Tanah dan dasar bumi
sejak tahun 1972 sampai sekarang. Dari hasil belajarnya dilur negeri, ia
tidak hanya belajat teknik sipil, akan tetapi ia juga belajar ilmu
Filsafat, Fiqih Lughah, dan ilmu Linguistik. Ia menguasai dua macam bahasa
selain bahasa Ibunya sendiri (bahasa Arab) yaitu bahasa Rusia dan bahasa
Inggris.

Kemudian pada tahun 1995, Shahrur juga pernah di undang menjadi peserta
kehormatan dan terlibat dalam debat publik mengenai pemikiran keislamandi
Libanon dan Maroko. Meskipun dasar pendidikan Muhammad Shahrur adalah
teknik, namun ia tidak berarti ia sama sekali kososng mengenai wawasan
keislaman. Sebab akhirnya ia tertarik untuk mengkaji al-Qur’an dan Hadits
secara lebih serius dengan pendekatan filsafat bahasa dan dibingkai dengan
teori ilmu eksaktanya, bahkan ia juga menulis dan artikel tentang pemikiran
keislaman[8]. Konsen Shahrur terhadap kajian ilmu keislaman sebenarnya
dimulai sejak ia berada di Dublin, Irlandia pada tahun 1970-1980 ketika
mengambil program Magister dan Doktoralnya. Di samping itu, peranan
temannya DR. Ja’far Dik al-Bab juga sangat besar. Sebagaimana diakuinya,
berkat pertemuannya dengan Ja’far pada tahun 1958 dan 1964, Shahrur dapat
belajar banyak tentang ilmu-ilmu bahasa[9].

Dalam masa mengenyam studi di Moskow, antara tahun 1957-1964, Shahrur mulai
merasakan “benturan peradaban” anatara latar belakang ideologisnya sebagai
seorang muslim dan fenomena social-intelektual di Moskow yang komunis. Di
negara inilah, Shahrur mulailah berkenalan dan kemudian mengagumi pemikiran
marxisme. Sungguhpun ia tidak mengklaim sebagai penganut aliran
tersebut[10]. Namun demikian ia mengakui banyak berhutang budi pada sosok
Hegel[11] –terutama dialektikanya- dan Alfred North White Head[12].

Sebuah proses yang wajar yang dialami seseorang ketika mengalami
perbenturan cultural sebagaimana dialami oleh Shahrur adalah munculnya
berbagai pandangan baru yang cenderung berbeda dan kontradiktif. Hal ini
kemudian melahirkan berbagai pertanyaan yang berusaha mendobrak kemapanan
prespektif dan keyakinan, baik terkait dengan moralitas maupun doktrin
teologis. Kegelisahan ini juga dialami oleh Shahrur.

Kegelisahan ini belanjut hingga ia menempuh program magister dan
doktoralnya di Universitas Dublin Irlandia. Berdasarkan pengakuannya, sejak
tahun 1970, Shahrur mencoba melakukan kajan ulang terhadap berbagai konsep
yang selama ini sudah dianggap baku dalam doktrin teologi Islam. Ia mulai
tertarik untuk mengkaji tema-tema terkait dengan al-Qur’an, antara lain
konsep al-Zikr, ar-Risalah dan an-Nubuwah. Sepuluh tahun berlalu, Shahrur
masih bergelut dengan berbagai peranyaan yang belum terjawab secara
memuaskan. Shahrur merasakan bahwa kajiannya sejak tahun 1970-1980 tersebut
tidak membuahkan hasil.

Pada tahun 1980 Shahrur bertemu dengan Ja’far Dikki al-Bab seorang Doktor
ilmu bahasa lulusan Unversitas Moskow tahun 1973 sekaligus teman sejawatnya
sebagai tenaga pengajar di Universitas Damaskus. Pertemuan yang dilanjutkan
dengan rangkaian diskusi serius dan intensif hingga tahun 1986 ini,
merupakan “fase pencerahan” dalam diri Shahrur yang secara konsekuen
membentuk pola pikir Shahrur dan kecendrungannya untuk mendalami filsafat
bahasa dan humanisme. Fase tersebut menunjukkan pengaruh besar yang
diperoleh Shahrur dari pemikiran Ja’far tentang rahasia bahasa Arab.

B. Dasar Pemikiran Muhammad Shahrur
Mengetahui dasar pemikiran seorang tokoh merupakan hal yang mutlak untuk
diketahui sebelum kita masuk untuk mengetahui pemikirannya. Karena dasar
pemikiran merupakan pijakan yang dijadikan titik tolak yang sudah barang
tentu sangat mempengaruhi seluruh kontruksi dan bangunan pemikiran
seseorang. Shahrur dalam pola pemikirannya bertolak dari pada Landasan
Metodologis.
Dalam melakukan pembacaan terhadap al-Qur’an, Shahrur menjadikan linguistik
sebagai dasar pandangan dalam membaca al-Qur’an (majhad lughawi), karena ia
disamping sebagai eksak (teknik sipil), ia juga seorang ahli filsafat
bahasa[13].

Memang pada dasarnya secara akademis Shahrur tidak memahami dan mendalai
bahasa Arab, akan tetapi pengetahuannya tentang bahasa Arab tidak bias
diremehkan, terutama sejak pertemuannya dengan temannya yaitu Ja’far Dikki
al-Bab. Shahrur dalam menyampaikan pemikirannya dalam al-Kitab al-Qur’an:
Qira’ah Mu’ashirah menggunakan suatu metode kebahasaan yang terilhami oleh
ilmu linguistik modern. Metode tersebut dinamakan dengan al-manhaj
at-tarikh al-ilmi (metode histories ilmiah)[14]. Akan tetapi Shahrur
sendiri tidak membahas secara detail tentang manhaj yang dipergunakannya.
Dan Ja’far Dikki al-Bab merupakan orang yang paling berperan dalam
pemahaman metode yang dibawakan Shahrur.

Metode Shahrur yang disebut sebagai al-manhaj at-tarikh al-ilmi merupakan
sebuah metode yang digali dari teori linguistik Ibn Jinni dan a-Jurjani.
Kristalisasi dari kedua tokoh tersebut meyatu menjadi teori Farisian yang
dikembangkan oleh Abu al-Farisi[15]. Sintesa tersebut secara garis besar
memberikan ketentuan-ketentuan bahwa bahasa adalah suatu tatanan, bahasa
merupakan bentuk realitas social, dan struktur bahasa selalu berkaitan
dengan fungsi iblaqh (fungsi penyampai), serta adanya korelasi antara
bahasa dan pemikiran.

Dari Abu al-Farisi, Shahrur menganut prinsip sebagai berikut :
1. Bahwa bahasa merupakan sebuah system (anna al-lughah nizam)
2. Bahasa merupakan fenomena sosiologis dan kontruksi bahasanya sangat
terkait dengan konteks dimana bahasa itu disampaikan.
3. Ada keterkaitan (at-talazum) antara bahasa dan pemikiran[16].
Metode linguistik Shahrur secara utuh sebagai bahan pembacaan terhadap
al-Qur’an secara keseluruhan memberikan aturan-aturan sebagai berikut:
Bahasa sebagai medium komunikasi antara manusia sehingga menimbulkan adanya
keterkaitan antara dan ucapan dan pikiran manusia. Maksudnya manusia sejak
awal telah berbicara yaitu melalui suara untuk mengkomunikasikan
tujuan-tujuan (pikirannya) kepada orang lain. Sementara proses pemikiran
manusia tidaklah terbentuk sekali waktu, akan tetapi terbentuk secara
bertahap dari ilmu pengetahuan inderawi kemudian meningkat menjadi
pengatahuan abstrak.

Begitu pula tatanan bahasa, ia tidak langsung terbentuk secara sempurna
tetapi melalui proses benturan dengan peradaban yang sejalan dan sesuai
dengan perkembangan pengetahuan manusia.
Dengan menggunakan metode linguistiknya, Shahrur kemudian membangun teori
batas (teori hudud), yang di dasarkan atas pemahaman terhadap dualitas
yakni al-hanif dan al-istiqamah.

C. Karir dan Karya Muhammad Shahrur
a. Karir Akademis dan Pemeritahan Muhammad Shahrur
Setelah menyelesaikan program doktoralnya di Dublin, Shahrur menjadi salah
satu staf pengajar di Universitas Damaskus di Syiria. Di universitas inilah
Shahrur memulai karir akademiknya.
Disamping menjadi dosen, Shahrur juga menjadi konsultan teknik. Pada tahun
1982-1983, Shahrur dikirim pihak Universitas untuk menjadi satf ahli pada
al-Saud Consult, Saudi Arabia. Selain itu, bersama beberapa rekannya di
fakultas, Shahrur membuka biro konsultan teknik (an engineering
consultancy/ dar al-istisyarat al-handasiyah) di Damaskus[17].
Tidak ada data dan penjelasan yang penulis dapatkan dari karir Shahrur
dalam bidang pemerintahan. Karir Shahrur hanya berada dalam lingkup
akademis, yakni sebagai dosen di Universitasnya.
b. Karya-karyanya
Syiria merupakan negara yang sangat kondusif dalam menyokong aktualisasi
ide-ide dan pemikiran Shahrur sehingga ia menjadi muslim moderen yang cukup
produktif. Produktifitasnya terlihat ketika Shahrur menghasilkan berbagai
karya tulis yang dibukukannya. Buku pertama yang ia terbitkan adalah
al-Kitab wa al-Qur’an: al-Qira’ah al-Mu’asirah pada tahun 1990. Buku
tersebut merupakan hasil pengendapan pemikiran yang cukup panjang, sekitar
20 tahun. Pada fase pertama, yaitu tahun 1970-1980, Shahrur merasa kajian
keislaman yang selama ini dilakukan kurang membuahkan hasil dan tidak ada
teori baru yang diperoleh. Karena dirinya merasa terkungkung dalam
kerangkeng literature-literatur keislaman klasik yang cenderung memandang
Islam sebagai ideology, baik dalam bentuk pemikiran kalam atau fiqih.
Sebagai implikasinya, pemikiran keislaman mengalami kejumudan dan tidak
bergerak sama sekali, karena selama ini pemikiran keislaman dianggap
final[18]. Menurut Eickelman-Piscatori, sebagaimana dikutif Bisri Efendi,
buku tersebut secara umum mencoba melancarkan kritik terhadap kebijakan
agama konvensional maupun kepastian radikal keagamaan yang tidak toleran[19].

Pada tahun 1994, Shahrur merampungkan buku keduanya dengan judul Dirasat
Islamiyah Mua’sirah fi al-Daulah wa al-Mujtama. Dalam buku ini Shahrur
secara spesifik menguraikan dan membahas tema-tema sosial-politik yang
berkait erat dengan permasalahan masyarakat (al-mujtama’) dengan negara
(al-Daulah), tetapi tetap pada tawaran metodologisnya dalam memahami
al-Qur’an sebagaimana tertuang dalam buku pertamanya. Secara tegas dan
konsisten Shahrur membangun konsep keluarga, masyarakat, negara, dan
tindakan kesewenang-wanangan (al-Istibdad) dalam prespektif al-Qur’an .
Dalam buku inipun Shahrur menjelaskan dan menguraikan berbagai tanggapan
terhadap buku pertamanya di samping menegaskan bahwa ia berbeda dengan
mereka dalam metodologi.

Di tahun 1996 Shahrur meluncurkan buku ketiganya yang berjudul al-Islam wa
al-Iman: Manzumah al-Qiyam. Buku ini dicetak dan diterbitkan oleh al-Ahali
Publishing House. Dalam buku ini Shahrur mencoba untuk mengkaji
konsep-konsep klasik mengenai rukun Islam dan rukum iman, suatu yang
penting dalam Islam. Setelah mengkaji cukup lama terhadap ayat-ayat
al-Qur’an, yang berkaitan dengan kedua konsep diatas, Shahrur menemukan
pemahaman yang berbeda dengan ulama terdahulu[20]. Selain kedua konsep di
atas, buku ini berbicara tengtang kebebasan manusia, perbudakan dan tentang
ritual ibdah yang terangkum dalam konsep al-Ibad wa al-‘Abid. Hal lain yang
menjadi kajian buku ini tentang hubungan anak dan orang tua dan terakhir
tentang sejarah monoteisme dalam al-Qur’an[21].

Buku terakhir Shahrur adalah, Nahw Usul Jadidah LI al-Fiqh al-Islami,
ditulis pada tahun 2000. Khusus dalam buku ioni, melalui refleksi yang
sangat mendasar, ia menyuguhkan satu model pembacaan, khususnya yang
terkait dengan isu-isu perempuan, soal waris, wasiat, poligami, dan
kepemimpinan, yang masih actual dan belum terpecahkan secara konprehensif
hingga dewasa ini[22].

Dalam bidang teknik sipil sebagai latar belakan pendidikannya, Shahrur
menerbitkan beberapa buku antara lain: Handasah al-Asasiyah (tiga Juz),
Handasah al-Turabiyah. Selian dalam bentuk buku Shahrur juga menulis di
majalah dan jurnal antara lain dapat dijumpai Muslim Politic Report (14
Agustus 1997) dengan judul : “The Devine Text and Pluralism in Moslem
Socities” dan “Islam in The 1995 Beijing World Conference On Women” dalam
Kuwait Newspaper. Artikel terakhir telah dimuat dalam buku Islam Liberal
yang diedit oleh Charles Khuzman.

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2008-12-23T13:19:00.001-08:00

Professor Muhammad Shahrur states the secular liberal case for Islam and ‘deconstructs’ the Qur’an.

In the early I990s the Arab world has witnessed an extraordinary publishing phenomenon. An 800 page book on Islam, Al-kitab wa’lqur’an: qira’a mu’asira (The Book and the Qur’an: a contemporary reading), was first published by the Ahali Publishing House Damascus in 1990. The book challenges a millennium of Islamic tradition. It is highly critical of the social, political and intellectual state of contemporary Arab countries. The author has been denounced as ‘an enemy of Islam’ and as ‘a Western and Zionist agent’. To date eleven other books have been written attacking his theses. Yet the book has been repeatedly reprinted and has sold 20 000 copies in Syria alone. And despite bans, tens of thousands of further copies, as well as pirated, faxed and photocopied versions, have circulated in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula.

The author, Professor Muhammad Shahrur, is a mild-mannered professor of Civil Engineering who was born in Damascus in I938. After secondary school in Damascus Muhammad went to the Soviet Union to study engineering in Moscow. He was not a Marxist though he was challenged by the Marxist dialectic. He owed far more, he has told me, to Hegel and to Alfred North Whitehead. He returned to Syria in I964 to teach at the university and was due to do research at Imperial College London in I967. The June war with Israel that year and the consequent break in diplomatic relations between Britain and Syria put an end to that. Instead he went to Dublin and completed a Master’s degree, and a PhD for a thesis on soil mechanics and foundation engineering. For the last twenty years he has been teaching at the University of Damascus. He is also a partner in an engineering consultancy.

He has followed up the first book with a sequel, Dirasat islamiyya mu’asira fi l-dawla wa’l-mujtama’ (Contemporary Islamic Studies on State and Society), under 400 pages, published also by Ahali of Damascus in I994, which elaborates and extends some points made in the earlier book. A third volume is promised at the end of I996.

Shahrur is stating the secular liberal case for Islam. He ‘deconstructs’ the Qur’an and is highly critical of the tradition of fiqh (jurisprudence) that has distorted the message of Islam, and had a stifling effect on Arab Islamic society. Throughout the two books he affirms his own faith as an Arab Muslim. He follows references to the Prophet Muhammad with the letters, for the formalistic invocation, salla allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Similarly he refers to Allah with the extolment subhanahu wa ta’ala.

His methodology, the use he makes of that methodology, his historical interpretations and his own positive view of Islam are very different from conventional received traditions of Islam.

I propose to outline Shahrur’s methods and arguments and to assess the impact of his work. I am not an expert in fiqh or tafsir (qur’anic exegesis). Nor is it possible in the space to discuss all Shahrur’s ideas. He may disagree with aspects of my presentation. This is all unavoidable when considering over 1000 pages of closely argued theology.

References henceforth will be to the texts of his two books. KQ refers to the Al-kitab wa’l-qur’an, DIM to the Dirasat islamiya mu’asira. Translations from the Qur’an are from The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, the translation of Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, of which there have been many editions.

Shahrur asserts the timelessness of the Qur’an. It is the word of Allah as interpreted by the Prophet Muhammad, his contemporaries and immediate successors (KQ, 36). However there is a direct dialogue between the reader and the text and today’s Muslims must concentrate on that text and by-pass the intermediary of the traditions of tafsir. The Qur’an should be read as if the Prophet Muhammad had only recently died (KQ, 41). Just as the Prophet, his contemporaries and his immediate successors understood the text of the Qur’an in the light of their intellectual capacities and of their perception of the world, so we should read and understand it in the light of ours. A key concept of Shahrur’s is ardiyya ‘ilmiyya or ardiyya ma’rifiyya which might be translated as ‘scientific premises’. (Shahrur himself prefers the rendering ‘scientific background.’) Seventh-century Arabia had a limited concept of the principles determining the natural world, but the history of scientific discovery has been one of continuous expansion of what was known and the diminishing of what was unknown (KQ, 43). These subsequent scientific discoveries and new hypotheses give us a greater understanding of particular passages in the Qur’an. For example, modern theories of the creation of the world and of the existence of hydrogen are anticipated in the first three verses of Surat al-Fajr (KQ 235); Darwinism in Surat al-Zumar (KQ, 280). Thus the Qur’an needs to be read and re-read in the light of developing and changing premises. Qur’an studies are dynamic. The Qur’an itself appeals to those who are rasikhu-n fi al-’ilm (those who are of sound instruction) or ulu al-albab (men of understanding) (Surat al-Imran, 7). The relationship between reader and text is bound to change over the centuries. It will continue to change to the end of time (KQ, 192).

In order to understand the text of the Qur’an each word has to be analysed in the light of what we know, not as has been told us by the traditions of fiqh (KQ, 182).

Shahrur looks hard at the meaning and possible variant meanings of most of the key words of the Qur’an. In this analysis he relies largely on standard classical dictionaries. His analyses enlighten and explain some points anew. I will give a few examples.

The Qur’an was revealed by a process that is described sometimes as inzal, sometimes as tanzil (KQ, 147-151). Translations do not always make a distinction between the two verbal nouns. Shahrur does, looking at all the references to both words in the Qur’an, and comparing the usual nature of the difference between the second and the fourth form. Tanzil has a general sense; inzal is more specific. The fourth form of the word is always used when the Qur’an refers to the revelation being in the Arabic language and directed at a particular group of people -- the Arabs. Shahrur uses the (contemporary) analogy of the recording of a message or a video cassette (tanzil), with the act of switching it on to hear or to watch (inzal). This distinction has only become clear to us, he argues, in the light of recent developments in communications.

Secondly he examines the word, ummi, often interpreted as ‘illiterate’, describing the Prophet Muhammad (KQ, 139-140). Ummi was applied by Jews and Christians before Islam to those who were outside the faith. They were ignorant of the faith. ‘Illiterate’ is a logical but misleading extension of that meaning. With the inherited pre-Islamic meaning, however, the Prophet Muhammad was ummi, insofar as he was outside the faiths of Islam and Christianity. He does not mean that he was unable to read and write.

Thirdly he looks at the word banin in Surat al-Shu’ara, 133, amaddakum bi-an’am wa-banin which Pickthall translates as ‘(Allah) Hath aided you with cattle and sons’. Shahrur (KQ, 644) analyses this verse in the context of a long argument against patriarchal interpretations of Islam. Banin is from the root meaning ‘to build’ and is used here, in contrast to an’am, and means ‘buildings’ or ‘fixed assets’, as opposed to livestock or moveable assets.

A fourth example seemed on a first reading to be taking the methodology to extremes. He analyses (KQ, 206-207) Su-rat al-Qadr, 3: laylat al-qadr khayrun min alf shahr, translated by Pickthall as ‘The Night of Power is better than a thousand months’. The Night of Power was the night in the month of Ramadan when the Prophet Muhammad received his Call and the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to him. Shahrur puts the last two words under his etymological microscope. Alf means ‘a thousand’, yes, but also has the idea of creation, the bringing of things together (as in mu’allif, a writer). And shahr is connected with the root meaning ‘to unsheathe (a sword), to proclaim, to make public or famous’. In other words, the meaning of the verse is that the occasion of the revelation of the Qur’an is of greater value than any other kind of fame that can be devised. On a second reading, I do not find this such a fantastic interpretation. After all a thousand months is only eighty or so years, a lifetime. The message of the Qur’an is eternal and of far greater duration than a lifetime.

Shahrur also deconstructs the concepts of risala and nubuwa, the abstract nouns relating to rasu1 and nabi, which are both translated as ‘prophet’, though the former also has the idea of ‘messenger’. The declaration of faith is that Muhammad is the rasul of Allah, not the nabi. Shahrur states (KQ, 37) that all parts of the Qur’an can be classified as either nubuwa or risala or an explanation. In the nubuwa parts of the Qur’an we find statements that cannot be challenged -- the Oneness of Allah, the firqan (based on the Ten Commandments), the natural laws, the history of previous prophets, though these parts may be reinterpreted in the light of new knowledge. Risala, on the other hand, contains ethics and rules of conduct. Some parts are absolutely fixed, like rules of worship and morals, but others such as prescribed legislation and punishment, can be subject to ijtihad (independent individual judgement). They can even be dropped, as the Khalifa ‘Umar al-Khattab did with Surat al-Anfal, 41 (KQ, 38).

One area to which Shahrur applies his own ijtihad relates to the question of alcohol (KQ, 477). He looks at all the verses in the Qur’an that refer to wine. Attitudes are not consistent and there is even some ambivalence. In Surat al-Nisa’, 43, believers are enjoined not to come to prayer in a state of intoxication, with the implication that it is not impermissible to be intoxicated at other times. In Surat al-Baqara, 219, the sinfulness of strong drink is compared with its usefulness. And in Surat al-Ma’ida, 90-91, believers are told to turn aside from, to avoid strong drink: there is no denunciation of the practice. And in one of the descriptions of Paradise -- in Surat Muhammad, 15, there flow rivers of wine. Condemnation is not absolute. This is in contrast to the injunctions about eating pigflesh where the ban is absolute and unequivocal: hurimat ‘alaykum al-mayyita wa-al-dam wa-lahm al-khanzir (Surat al- Ma’ida, 3). ‘Forbidden unto you (for food) are carrion and blood and swineflesh.’ There are no pigs in Paradise.

In Shahrur’s view Islam is a dynamic revolutionary faith, relevant for all time and all places (KQ, 555). The dynamism started from the revelation of the Qur’an itself. The Prophet Muhammad himself was the first to practise tafsir (KQ, 60). He made a distinction between the authority of the Qur’an and his own commentaries, the hadith. The Prophet Muhammad did not give instructions for his commentaries to be collected, as he did for the Qur’an (KQ, 546). The Prophet Muhammad was a fallible human being. His tafsir was as subject to revision as that of anybody else.

But in the century following the death of the Prophet Muhammad the Islamic Empire became a major power under the Umayyads and a religious class developed that was separate from the wielders of political authority. This class upheld political authority and was uncritical of those possessing it. The people wielding power were content that the religious establishment invoked Allah only for things that did not challenge their power. Fiqh and authority became twins (KQ, 569, 622). The interpretation and development of Islam in the next few centuries became fossilized. Fresh interpretation was not permitted. The ‘Gate of Ijtihad’ was closed. But, says Shahrur, the gate of ijtihad was never closed (DIM, 218). The authority of the religious classes and the fossilization has had a harmful effect on all subsequent Islamic Arab history. The character of fiqh-dominated Islam has been conservative, formalistic, obsessed with rules, out of touch with contemporary thought and concerned with the minutiae of human relations rather than with wider social and political morality (KQ, 579, 586-88; DIM, 24, 41, 160). The faqihs were ignorant. Great medieval Arab Islamic scholars such as Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd were condemned in the Islamic world but were studied and respected in Europe. In contrast those such as al-Shafi’i, revered by the Islamic religious establishment, had no impact whatsoever on the rest of the world (DIM, 228). The faqihs and ‘ulama’ were concerned with what was permissible or not, not what was reasonable or not. They were unaware of their own ignorance (DIM, 225). The progressive can understand the reactionary, but the reactionary cannot understand the progressive, nor does he want to (DIM, 239). Their deleterious influence has prevailed to the present day. Contemporary Islamic philosophy goes round in circles (KQ, 30). Shahrur’s purpose in his writings is to call for a new fiqh, not for a new Islam (DIM, 235).

Shahrur’s strictures, never ad hominem, on practices and beliefs of today’s fundamentalists are equally vigorous. To imagine that the practices of seventh-century Arabia are of relevance today is ahistorical (DIM, 42). The Prophet Muhammad cleaned his teeth with a stick. The lesson to be drawn is that it is meritorious to clean your teeth, not that you use a stick for the purpose (KQ, 580).

He is similarly fierce about the fundamentalists’ attitude to women’s dress. The status of women greatly improved at the birth of Islam. The liberation of women started with the Prophet, but should not end then (KQ, 564, 595). The Qur’an addresses men and women equally. But fiqh has imposed a patriarchal view on society. Women came to be seen as possessions to be cherished as if they were camels or cars (DIM, 326). The Qur’an stressed the voluntary nature of belief (DIM, 143): la ikrah fi al-din (Surat al-Baqara, 256) (‘There is no compulsion in religion’). Fa-’man sha’a fa-liyu’min wa-man sha’a fa-liyakfur (Surat al-Kahf, 29) (‘Then whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve’).

If such an essential aspect of Islam as belief is voluntary, then what is the basis for thinking that dress is anything but voluntary and optional? (DIM, 329, 351). The custom in Syria today of having a party to celebrate ‘the return to religion’ of a girl who takes to wearing the headscarf is offensive to Islam (DIM, 327). Religion is far more than a piece of cloth. Fundamentalists and the religious establishment do not campaign with the same energy against bribery, fraud, irresponsibility, incompetence or political immorality (DIM, 175).

One concept that Shahrur develops in his second book is that of istibdad (absolutism, Review Article 341 arbitrariness), which he sees as of three kinds, all described in the Qur’an and symbolized respectively by Far’un (Pharaoh), Haman and Qarun (DIM, 241, 246). The first is political absolutism, the second religious, the third economic. Each Arab and Islamic country has had its Pharaoh and its Qarun legitimized by its Haman (DIM, 259). The religious establishment has legitimized political absolutism and economic oppression. The task of contemporary Islam is to liberate people from these absolutisms.

There are positive concepts that Shahrur sees at the centre of Islam, above all shura (taking counsel) and ibaha (freedom and openness) (DIM, 142). Just as fiqh and authority are one pair of twins, so freedom and science are another (DIM, 220, 299). Siru fi al-ard fa-nzur kayfa bada’a alkhalq (Surat al-’Ankabut, 20) (‘Travel in the land and see how he originated creation ...’) Open enquiry and research should be the basis of legislation. There are always alternative points of view and these should not be silenced (DIM, 145). Allied to this scientific approach is the need to promote an educated social conscience (DIM, 173). An Islamic state should be pluralistic. The way to resolve consequent tensions is through consultation (DIM, 193) in a democratic environment. We are beholden to use Allah’s gifts of reflection (fikr) and power of reasoning (‘aql) (DIM, 330). These gifts should be given total freedom to analyse rather than to memorize (DIM, 319).

Shahrur’s Islamic society has more in common with European and American countries than any in the Arab or Islamic world today. He has, not surprisingly, been the subject of criticism.

But the popularity of Shahrur’s work indicates that he is saying something that has hit a chord in contemporary Arab and Islamic thought. Shahrur has not been personally threatened, and in 1995 was an honoured participant in public debates on Islam in Lebanon and Morocco. He receives correspondence from readers all over the world. Muslims are operating in a complex and competitive world. Most Muslims are conscientious believers who, like the rest of us, try to make sense of the world. Shahrur’s work resembles that of other contemporary Arab writers on religion Farah Fuda and Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd of Egypt, and Muhammad ‘Abid al-Jabiri of Morocco -- who are articulating an Islamic intellectual system that repudiates that of Sayyid Qutb and his successors.

In many ways Shahrur’s work goes beyond religious debate. He is identifying flaws in contemporary society -- social and intellectual. People are reading his work not purely as religious commentary or an updated tafsir. They are reading a social and political analysis of closed Arab Islamic societies.

The 1970s and 1980s witnessed a great Arab migration: an expansion of Arabs studying in Europe and America, a recruitment of labour and skills to Arabia and the Gulf and among Arab countries, an emigration of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese. Arabs have been able to see the strengths and limitations of their own heritage and society and compare them with others. The monopoly of information claimed by individual governments has broken down. The informational technology revolution of the 1990s has accelerated these changes to the intellectual environment. Arab Muslims have the opportunity to think for themselves in a way that was discouraged a generation ago.

Shahrur’s message is a contemporary message, a reassurance to the perplexed, a reassertion of the liberal tradition of Islam and an affirmation of the relevance of the faith to the pluralistic global village of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Hence the importance of his work.

limit7

2008-12-23T13:08:00.000-08:00

Dalam matematika, konsep limit digunakan untuk menjelaskan sifat dari suatu fungsi, saat argumen mendekati ke suatu titik, atau tak hingga; atau sifat dari suatu barisan saat indeks mendekati tak hingga. Limit dipakai dalam kalkulus (dan cabang lainnya dari analisis matematika) untuk mencari turunan dan kekontinyuan.

limit6

2008-12-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

In my book "Al'Kitab W'al Qu'ran" (The Book and the Qu'ran), published in 1990, I addressed fundamental questions, such as: What is the basis for authority? What is the basis for our relationship to one another, or to the state? To what extent our ideas have been shaped by reading, or a misreading, of fundamental religious texts, particularly the Qu'ran?

If someone listened to programs about Islam on Arab televisions, he or she would see that the shaykhs preaching on TV say that Islam is good and Muslims are not good, as if Islam is something free in space. My understanding of meaning of Islam and of the situation of the Muslim world, starts with the definition of what Islam is. I differentiate between "Islam" and "Islamization".

"Islam" as such is the holy Qu'ran. But "Islamization" is what people see in the phenomenon, which can be understood by sociology. There is no need for a new Islam, but there is a need for a new Islamization, because Islamization is bounded by history and geography, unlike Islam itself which is a pure teaching and commandment.

After the first century of Islamic history, new methods of Islamization were created, with principles such as usul al fiqih (jurisprudence) and ilim al-qalam (theology). These sciences were created by political officials, within the framework of an oppressive political authority. Therefore, it is impossible to find in the usul al-fiqih, both in its Sunni or Shi'a versions, a place for concepts such as "constitution", "the rights of the people", or "the rights of the government". There is only elaboration on how to justify the power of ruler.

But now, the Middle East is facing new concepts such as constitution, pluralism, civil society, democracy and opposition. So, the problem is how these concepts can be introduced into the Islamic religious tradition.

I consider that, since religion has an important normative role in the Middle Eastern societies, it is impossible to ignore it. Liberals tried to do so, and they failed in their attempt to transport Western political formula to the Arab/Muslim states. Marxists wanted to impose a secularization, to deconstruct religion, and also failed.

Anyhow, there could be secularism in the Arab or Islamic states, but it would not solve anything. The Middle East problem is not secularism, but democracy. The secular state has been there for seventy years, it was imposed upon society and it did not work. A religious state was created in Iran and it is the strongest state in the Middle East, because it emerged from religion and appealed to the culture of the people among whom it appeared.

I began working with the analysis of the Qu'ran in 1970. For twenty years I worked on the book "Al'Kitab W'al Qu'ran". In 1982 I found the difference between the kitab (book) and the Qu'ran. The Qu'ran is not the whole book, but parts of it that deal with prophecy. The shari'a (Islamic law) is the message, which is called "The Mother of the Book". The Qu'ran and "The Mother of the Book", prophecy and message, were put together and this is al-kitab (the book).

After establishing the difference between the message and the prophecy, I focused on al-furqan. It is said in the Qu'ran that the same al-furqan was given to Moses, Christ and to Mohammad. With this information I began to cross-examine the verses, and concluded that al-furqan are the Ten Commandments which are the same to all prophets, but the law is different between Moses and Mohammad, or Jesus Christ.

Therefore, the Ten Commandments are main pillar of Islam. Then I began to approach the problem of predestination, which is a notion widespread in the Arab/Muslim world. The Mu'tazilite ideas about the Qur'an is that it is a created text, and not the eternal word of God. This necessary for understanding the text in a different way.

The term "word" in Arabic has two different plurals. One plural of kalimeh (word), is kalimat. The other plural of kalimeh, is kalam. Kalimeh, with the plural kalimat, is word as an objective being. Kalimeh, with the plural kalam, is the word which, is pronounced. All the beings in the universe are words of God, because His words have no language. The word "sun" for God is the sun itself. The world "sun" in English is shams in Arabic, but for God "sun" is the sun itself. So, the Qur'an, as a word, is created, because if it is not created, it means that God is an Arab.

I concluded that there is no basis in the Qur'an for predestination. The only predestination that exists are the universal laws for all humanity. Such as the one who rules that everyone will die. It is not defined in advance how long each one will live, but it is only written that everyone will die some day.

After this theological part of my work, I analyzed the legal system of the Qur'an and identified three different parts in the legal aspects of the Qur'an: the code of moral, the legal system, and the rituals. From the analysis of the legal verses, I reached the possibility of pluralism and democracy in Islam.

For example the execution of murderer, which is the upper limit of punishment to murder, and nobody can exceed it. But if anyone wants to give a lower punishment, it is perfectly acceptable. As there are upper limits in the Qur'an, there are also lower limits in it, for example, incest is a lower limit of marriage rules.

I believe there is room for pluralism and civil society within the limits defined by God. Thee is no need for "fatwa" anymore, but for "istifta'a", or referendum. If a society wants to abolish polygamy, they could do so, but only through a referendum, not by a force, so long as such referendum is bounded by the upper and lower limits set-out by God. Polygamy in Tunisia and Turkey was prohibited by force, in the name of progress and development, and the result is that if a man is caught with women and says that she is his second wife he goes to prison. But if he says she is a lover, it is accepted and both are freed.

I reviewed the principles of jurisprudence and I can say we are not in need for a "mufti" (the person who issues a fatwa). Instead, a nation bounded by the limits of God can exercise the process of legislation through a parliament. In reviewing the Qur'an, we can see the are two determinations for Haram (forbidden things). God only defines Haram. This is because haram has two implications, the first is that haram is exhaustive, the second is that it is eternal. To commit a murder is forbidden in Mecca, in Boston, in China, and in the seventh century as well as in the twentieth century. This is haram, and nobody is capable of making it halal, because it is absolute.

The Prophet's doctrines are within the prohibited and non-prohibited domain. What Prophet Mohammed did in his life was to establish the rules of prohibited and non-prohibited things in the field of halal. But, he did not touch the field of haram. The field of halal is everything in exception to what is divinely defined as haram. Therefore, Islamic law served to organize everyday life, and a parliament has the same task of regulating the field of halal.

limit5

2008-12-23T07:38:00.000-08:00

قال الشواف ولا شك أن المقصود من بحث هنا هو الحد الذي بمعنى الحظر والمنع. فما قاله محمد شحرور بأن الوقوف عند الحد لا على الحد إن هو إلا لعب بالألفاظ يخالف الواقع الصحيح الذي يفهمه العقل لمعنى الحد لأن هذا المعنى تعريف للحد وهو حكم على واقع الحد ما هو، أي معنى توصل إليه العقل عن طريق الإدراك العقلي وليس عن طريق التصور أو التخيل وإلا فقد الحد معناه ولم يعد يمثل واقعا معينا يفهمه العقل.[1]

[1] منير الشواف، تهافت القراءة المعاصرة، (دم: الشواف للنشر والدراسات، 1993)، ص 546

limit 4

2008-12-23T06:24:00.000-08:00

Muhammad Shahrur and the Hermeneutics of Synthesis: Popularizing the "Theory of Limits."

I will not attempt a comprehensive review of the epistemologies of modernist thinkers in Islam. Hallaq has already done so, dividing them into two broad groups, the "utilitarians" and the "liberals."

In brief, the utilitarian tendency couches its theory chiefly in terms of public interest (maslaha) and necessity (dharura). These two concepts, already present in classical legal theory and particularly in the oeuvres of the Imams Shatibi and Tufi are appropriated by Islamic utilitarianism and their scope expanded, resulting in an essentially humanist law that often lacks coherence and consistency and retains only tenuous links to the sacred texts. Among the utilitarians, Hallaq covers the thought of ‘Abduh, Rida, Khallaf, al-Fasi and al-Turabi. Hallaq’s critical evaluation of this tendency is that it lacks a clear methodology and resorts to "mere juristic devices"

which amount to "nothing short of subjectivism." Concepts of public interest and necessity are spoken of "without a methodology that can control the premises, conclusions and the lines of reasoning these concepts require."

The second tendency, that of Islamic liberalism, is characterized by its understanding of revelation "as both text and context." It does not base its arguments on utilitarian concepts like public interest, but rather insists that interpretation of texts must consider "the spirit and broad intention behind the specific language of texts", since the connection between the text and modern society does not turn "upon a literalist hermeneutic" that ignores contexts.Among the liberals Hallaq covers ‘Ashmawi, Rahman and Shahrur, whose theory we intend to introduce here.

The key elements of Shahrur’s theory, is as far as I understand it, are the following. The Qur’an is God’s speech revealed to the prophet but addressed to all mankind in every generation; it is a "Remembrance" (dhikr), which God has taken upon himself to preserve (Q 15:9). What this means is that every generation must interpret the Qur’an in a manner that makes it relevant to its circumstances and we are not bound by the understanding of other (previous) generations. Their understanding was correct for their own time but we must arrive at an understanding that is relevant to our own lived reality. The preservation of the "Remembrance" makes it our property as much as that of earlier generations and confers upon us the right to interpret it based on our own reality.

The second key element of the theory is the dual concept of "curvature" (hanifiyya) and straightness (istiqama). Man is by nature crooked (non-linear) and so is the world and all nature. God sends down a guidance that checks that curvature and confers straightness upon it, and this guidance, this straight path (as-sirat al-mustaqim) is God’s law. God sets boundaries within which man may operate through the Qur’an and Sunnah. These limits, or hudud, represent boundaries, as in a football field, between which man may operate in his crookedness but which may not be breached. Neither upper nor lower limits nor other boundaries may be crossed without breaking the law and thus warranting proportionate penalties.

Shahrur applies his theory to a number of instances in Muslim law and some of the examples are directly relevant to human rights law and some of the injunctions under discussion. I will restrict myself to these, referring the reader to Hallaq for a more detailed discussion.

Shahrur considers the verse in the Qur’an (5:38) "as for the thief, male and female, cut off their hands" and considers this verse to be an upper limit standing alone. Here the stipulated penalty is an upper limit that may not be exceeded. In other words amputation is the maximum penalty for theft and it is for every generation to define the nature and magnitude of theft that calls for this maximum penalty. Shahrur’s theory therefore leads to conclusions that are the opposite of An-Na’im’s. Whereas An-Na’im would have the Muslim world drop the limit of amputation from its statutes as "cruel and inhuman", Shahrur would retain it as a maximum punishment subject to proportionality. In Nigeria, for instance, given the magnitude of theft in financial crimes and the danger to the economy and the reputation of Nigerians world wide, a law that provides for amputation of crooks involved in this kind of theft beyond a specified magnitude and under strictly defined criteria as to their personal circumstances and the circumstances of the crime would not be cruel. Amputation is one possible punishment for theft, certainly the maximum and the society may choose not to invoke the maximum penalty for reasons of, say, general poverty. However, where it is inflicted there should be proportionality so that those who commit the same offence with more gravity are not given a more lenient penalty than petty thieves. In my view this position addresses the concerns of Muslim critics of the manner of shari’ah implementation and represents a more just and proportionate interpretation of the law which remains faithful to the text.

A second example in criminal law has to do with the verse of the punishment for zina or illicit intercourse. Here God commands (Q 24:2) that "the adulterer and the adulteress, scourge ye each one of them with a hundred lashes". This is a maximum limit. But then God follows up immediately in the same verse with the words "let not pity for the twin withhold you from obedience to God" and thus makes this limit at the same time a minimum. In this case there is no option to 100 lashes, it is a maximum and a minimum. As for whether it is cruel, I have already responded to that earlier.

The third example of relevance to this discussion is inheritance. The general tenor of the verse (Q4:11) is that the male receives "the equivalent of the portion of two females." Shahrur here argues that what we have is a determination of the Upper limit for men and the Lower Limit for women, irrespective of whether the woman was a bread-winner. Where a son and a daughter are, for example, the only ones inheriting the estate, the woman must never be given less than 33.3% and the man never more than 66.6%. Should society, given its objective conditions at a particular time, choose to give the daughter 40% and the man 60% or share the estate equally for example, it would be moving freely in the range set by these limits. What it may not do is give the daughter less than half the son’s share or, which is the same thing, give the son more than twice the daughter’s share.

On polygamy, Shahrur examines closely the verse (Q4:3) "And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly with the orphans, marry of the women who seem good to you, two, three or four. And if you fear that you will not deal justly then one only…" Here, according to him, there are two types of limits, qualitative and quantitative. The quantitative limits have always been clear: a permissible lower limit of one wife and an upper limit of four that may not be breached. The "qualitative limit" is deduced from the text and context, because the entire discussion is held in the context of orphans, who are children that have lost their fathers and are in need of care. God here permits, after one wife, that a Muslim marry a woman who has lost her husband and take care of her and her orphan children, treating them fairly by dealing with them as he would with his own biological children. Shahrur therefore sees polygamy in this context as a noble practice that provides a home and care for orphans and preserves not just the permissibility of the practice but the logic of its link with the care of orphans. On this reading the "justice" commanded is not between wives but between orphan children and the children of the house, such that those who interpret another verse declaring the impossibility of justice among wives as prohibiting polygamy are mistaken. Several other examples can be drawn but these suffice.

Shahrur’s theory is likely to be controversial mainly because it leads to a reading of the law that is radical and unprecedented. But it has the advantage of constituting a coherent theory that can underlie a new hermeneutic of the Qur’an. The theory holds potentials for new and more flexible interpretations of the text that are adaptable to societies in different contexts, all within clearly defined boundaries. It shows the shari’ah as capable of accommodating change without capitulating to the demands of western society, and upholds the virtues of the law and its own internal logic, which stand to scrutiny. In doing this, the Muslim world produces scholarship that is not apologetic and subservient, but which, at the same time, is not inflexible and irrelevant to the needs of modern societies. It is this type of theorization that needs to be encouraged as part of the process of producing new epistemological frameworks that hold the potential for synthesis. Human Rights activists should look in this direction.

Conclusion

I started this paper by stating the two principal theses I intended to propound. The first is that liberty, as understood in contemporary western thought, is only attainable within the context of an independent polity. The question of the Human Rights of Muslim people is therefore best addressed at the level of the political, by dismantling the monarchical and dictatorial structures propped up by western powers and giving the people the freedom and independence to act in their own, as opposed to foreign interests. Islamic law, or rather the particular interpretations of Islamic Law that are applied in these societies, are but one out of a battery of discourses-political, social, cultural, mythological, historical-that are produced by the discursive formation and that complement, legitimate and reinforce its basic structures. It is the structure, and not the super-structure, that must be attacked and dismantled to pave the way for new interpretations and more egalitarian discourses.

The second thesis is that in view of the intricate link between law and the social, any attempt to reinterpret Islamic law must be based on a new hermeneutic that, instead of attacking Islam and seeking the abandonment of its teachings, provides a different way of examining the text and drawing conclusions consistent with progressive discourses. In other words the success of any reform of the shari’ah is dependent entirely on its authenticity, viewed primarily as belief in and loyalty to the theoretical constants of the law, with the Qur’an and authentic traditions as a minimum. It is my view that Human Rights scholarship has failed in this regard, particularly in respect of the complicated questions of penalties, inheritance and polygyny

I have tried to articulate these theses and in the process covered a range from western political thought, to a criticism of human rights theories and finally to Islamic legal theory and epistemology. I concluded by introducing Shahrur’s "Theory of Limits" , showing how he has proposed a controversial, but brilliant approach that permits reinterpretations of Qur’anic verses that seemed hitherto completely fixed and not brooking of new perspectives.

I am certain that Shahrur’s theory is not perfect, and will go through debate and refinement. It is also possible that other scholars will come up with competing hermeneutics. The point made is that a new hermeneutic is indeed possible, but it requires academic rigour and an affiliation to Islam. Only then can Human Rights scholars succeed in finding the much-needed synthesis between Islam and the principles of Human Rights which they seek to defend and promote.

limit 3

2008-12-23T06:16:00.001-08:00

Khazanah pemikiran islam kontemporer semakin maju seiring dengan
perkembangan zaman dan peningkatan potensi keilmuan kaum muslimin. Hal ini bisa
kita lihat pada perkembangan pemikiran pada abad 20 yang menelorkan berbagai
macam teori-teori baru berkaitan dengan hokum islam. Tengok saja misalnya Hassan
Hanafi, Asghar Ali Engineer, Fazlurrahman dls. Menariknya, fenomena pemikiran
keislaman ini ternyata tidak hanya muncul dari sarjana-sarjana agama yang senantiasa
bergelut dengan turats-turats dan pemikiran keislaman, tetapi juga muncul dari
kalangan saintifik islam yang peduli terhadap islam dan kedinamisannya.
Salah satu pemikir tersebut adalah Mohammad Shahrour. Seorang sarjana
teknik yang memiliki kontribusi pemikiran keislaman yang menimbulkan pro dan
kontra didunia muslim sendiri. Pemikiran Shahrour muncul lebih sebagai tanggapan
atas kegelisahannya dalam melihat fenomena pemikiran Islam yang seolah
menetapkan hokum dikehidupan sekarang dengan menggunakan alat yang
sepantasnya dipakai pada zaman lampau. Hal ini menimbulkan kesan seolah-olah
Islam tidak sholihun likulli zaman wal makan, tetapi hanya sesuai dengan masyarakat
Arab pada zaman rasulullah dan sahabat. Oleh karena itu, menurut Shahrour perlu
adanya reinterpretasi terhadap nash agar nash tersebut sholihun likulli zaman wal
makan.
Sekilas Biografi Shahrour
Shahrour lahir tahun 1938 di perempatan Salihiyyah, Damaskus. Shahrour
adalah anak kelima dari seorang tukang celup. Orang tua Shahrour memutuskan untuk
mengirimkannya tidak pada pondokan (kuttab) atau sekolah keagamaan (madrasah)
tetapi justru ke sekolah dasar dan menengah di al-Midan, di pinggiran kota sebelah
selatan Damaskus yang berada diluar batas dinding kota.
Pada tahun 1957, dia dikirim ke Saratow, dekat Moskow, untuk belajar Teknik
Sipil (hingga 1964), dan beberapa tahun kemudian, tepatnya di tahun 1968 dia dikirim
kembali untuk belajar di University College di Dublin untuk memperoleh gelar M.A
dan Ph.D dibidang mekanika tanah dan Teknik Pondasi (hingga 1972). Kemudian dia
diangkat sebagai professor jurusan teknik sipil di Universitas Damaskus(1972-1999)
disamping mengelola sebuah perusahaan kecil milik pribadi dibidang Teknik.
Muhammad Shahrour tidak tergabung dengan institusi islam manapun, dan dia tidak
pernah menempuh pelatihan resmi atau memperoleh sertifikat dalam ilmu-ilmu
keislaman.
Untuk menyebarluaskan pemikirannya, Shahrour menggunakan media
penerbitan buku. Hal ini terbukti dengan diterbitkannya karya pertamanya al-kitab wa
al-quran : Qiraah Muashirah pada tahun 1990. Banyak penentangan yang diterima
Shahrour setelah penerbitan karyanya tersebut, terutama dari para pemegang otoritas
keagamaan yang mapan. Banyak tuduhan bernada miring dialamatkan kepada
Shahrour, diantaranya ia pernah dianggap telah dibayar oleh organisasi asing/zionis
untuk merusak otoritas dan kesatuan umat Islam. Tetapi apapun yang dituduhkan
kepada Shahrour, pemikiran Shahrour merupakan sumbangan ilmiah yang patut
dihargai dalam khazanah pemikiran islam kontemporer.
Latar Belakang Konstruksi Pemikiran Shahrour
Permasalahan yang mendorong shahrour untuk melakukan kajian keislaman
secara global berangkat dari dua realitas yang saling berkaitan, yaitu realitas
kehidupan masyarakat kontemporer dan realitas doktrin dalam Islam (turats). Cara
memandang terhadap kedua hal ini berimplikasi pada timbulnya polarisasi golongan
ditengah masyarakat, yaitu golongan literalis (tekstual) dan golongan modernis
(kontekstual).
Golongan literalis berkeyakinan secara ketat kepada literal dan tradisi yang
diturunkan sejak zaman rasulullah. Mereka berpendapat bahwa apa yang cocok pada
zaman rasulullah dan zaman sahabat merupakan sesuatu yang final, yang absolut,
yang senantiasa sesuai dengan zaman, kapanpun dan dimanapun. Tradisi yang
diwariskan dari rasulullah harus senantiasa dilestarikan tanpa memandang realitas
masyarakat sekitarnya.
Sebaliknya, golongan modernis cenderung menolak semua bentuk warisan
islam, bahkan termasuk al-quran. Kelompok ini tergila-gila dengan paham-paham
sekulerisme, nasionalisme dan modernisme yang kebanyakan berkiblat pada barat.
Mereka menganggap tradisi yang diwariskan dari zaman rasulullah hanya menjadi
penghambat kemajuan untuk mencapai modernisme. Agama hanya sebagai narkotik
yang digunakan sebagai apologi oleh kaum yang lemah dan tertindas.
Pada perkembangannya, menurut shahrur kedua kelompok ini gagal dalam
menggapai cita-cita ideal kehidupan masyakarat, sehingga hal ini mendorongnya
untuk memunculkan kelompok ketiga, yaitu kelompok yang menyerukan untuk
kembali pada Al-quran dengan paradigma yang baru. Menurut Shahrur, seharusnya
umat Islam mengkaji Al-quran dengan melihat realitas masyarakat sekitarnya.
Pemahaman Al-quran harus sesuai dengan konteks dimana mereka hidup. Bukan
malah memahami Al-quran dengan menggunakan paradigma umat terdahulu yang
tentu saja berbeda kondisinya dengan keadaan sekarang.
Hal ini menjadi landasan pemikiran Shahrour yang mencoba mendialogkan
tradisi (turats) dan modernitas (mu’ashirah). Turats dimaknai sebagai produk-produk
pemikiran yang ditinggalkan oleh generasi salaf untuk generasi khalaf sebagai
landasan berpikirnya, sedangkan al-muashirah merupakan interaksi antara manusia
dengan produk pemikir kontemporer. Keduanya merupakan hasil kreativitas manusia
yang bebas untuk diapresiasi dan dikembangkan tetapi tidak boleh disakralkan.
Dalam hal ini, umat islam diharapkan mampu mengadopsi pengetahuan kontemporer
yang didapatkannya pada produk pemikiran ulama’ klasik sehingga akan
menghasilkan produk baru dalam hukum yang sesuai dengan konteks kehidupan
masyarakat.
Realitas historis pada saat al-quran diturunkan, merupakan suatu bentuk
penafsiran terhadap ayat-ayat Al-quran. Penafsiran ini tidak bersifat final, tetapi masih
memungkinkan untuk timbulnya penafsiran-penafsiran yang lain dalam konteks yang
berbeda, meskipun menurut Shahrur hal ini tidak berlaku untuk aspek-aspek ibadah,
hudud dan sirathal mustaqim. Dalam hal ini, Hadits merupakan contoh nyata salah
satu bentuk model penafsiran rasulullah saw terhadap Al-quran yang sesuai dengan
konteks ruang dan waktu disaat rasulullah hidup. Lebih jauh Shahrur memiliki
pandangan tersendiri dalam melihat Al-quran dan sumber-sumber hukum lain dalam
islam.

limit 2

2008-12-23T05:54:00.001-08:00

The theory of limits makes four significant contributions to the enhancement of fikh. Firstly, by the theory of limits, Shahrur makes a fundamental paradigm shift for fikh. The meaning of hudûd is perceived rigidly by the fukaha (experts in canon law) as verses and hadits concerning legal punishment (al-`uqûbât) which should not be added to nor reduced, such as hand amputation for the thief, 100 lashes for adultery, and so on. Apart from that, the theory of limits (nadzariyyat al-hudûd) offered by Shahrur tends to be dynamic and contextual, not only in regards to legal punishment (al-`uqûbât).

This article was published in Indonesian at 6/9/2004

One fresh contribution to the contemporary study of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) is the theory of limits (nadzariyyat al-hudûd) promoted by a Syrian liberal Islamic figure, Muhammad Shahrur. According to Wael B. Hallaq, Shahrur’s theory of limits solves the epistemological deadlock of previous works (Wael B. Hallaq: 1997). Through his controversial works, al-Kitâb wal Qur’ân: Qirâ’ah Mu`âshirah, Shahrur asserts that the theory of limits is an approach within ijtihad (individual interpretation) to study the muhkamât verses (clear and direct verses of law) of the Koran. The term limit (hudûd) used by Shahrur refers to the meaning of “the bounds or restrictions of Godwhich should not be violated, contained in the dynamic, flexible, and elastic domain of ijtihad.”

Secondly, Shahrur’s theory of limits offers the stipulation of minimum limits (al-hadd al-adnâ) and maximum limits (al-hadd al-a`lâ) within which to carry out Allah’s laws. It means that Allah’s laws are elastic, as long as the sentence is between the minimum and maximum limits. To Shahrur, the domain of human’s ijtihad is between that minimum and maximum limit. The elasticity and flexibility of God’s law is illustrated as the one who plays soccer within restraints, as long as it is inside the limits of the sports ground. Briefly, as long as a Muslim acts within the domain of hudûd-u-lLâh (Allah’s determination between the minimum and maximum limits) he should not be consider to be outside of Allah’s law.

Take for instance: the stipulation of hand amputation for a thief (Q.S. al-Mâ’idah: 38). To Shahrur, hand amputation is the maximum sanction (al-hadd al-a`lâ) for a thief. Its minimum limit is to be forgiven (Q.S. al-Mâ’idah: 34). Here Shahrur assumes that a judge may perform ijtihad by observing the objective conditions of the thief. Besides giving the punishment of hand amputation to enforce sharia, the judge may perform ijtihad around those maximum and minimum limits, such as giving a prison verdict. The dismissal penalty for a corrupt officer is also still between both limits. Shahrur argues that the essence of a legal punishment is daunting for the offender. Therefore state or government which do not execute hand amputation, stoning, qishas (death sentence) and several other laws in Koran and hadits, should not be accused as being infidel states as claimed by the fundamentalists.

In the case of woman’s attire (libâs al-mar’ah), Shahrur considers the minimum limit of woman’s attire to be satr al-juyûb (Q.S al-Nur: 31) or covering the chest (breasts) and genitals so as not to be naked. Its maximum limit is the covering of the whole body excluding the palms of one’s hand and one’s face. In this approach, the woman who does not wear hijab has in fact fulfilled Allah’s stipulation. On the contrary, women who cover their whole body including the face are considered to have gone beyond hudûd-u-lLâh (Allah’s limits) since it is beyond the maximum limit determined by Koran. This means that women who cover their face and their whole body are “not Islamic”.

Thirdly, through his theory of limits, Shahrur deconstructed and reconstructed the methodology of ijtihad, mainly of the verses of hudûd that have been claimed as muhkamât verses which contained single interpretations. To Shahrur, the muhkamât verses may be perceived dynamically and may have interpretational alternatives, since the Koran was revealed to respond to human problems and is valid forever. All the Koranic verses can be perceived, even pluralistically, since the meaning of a verse can develop, and sometimes have changed from the former meaning when it was revealed for the first time. Hence, an interpretation is relative according to the progress of the ages. In other word, by the theory of limits, Shahrur wants to make a productive reading (qirâ’ah muntijah) of muhkamât verses and not a repetitive and retrospective one (qirâ’ah mutakarrirah).

Fourthly, by the theory of limits, Shahrur wants to prove that Islamic teaching is truly a relevant teaching for all times and places. Shahrur assumes that the positive side of the Islamic message is that it contains two aspects of movement: constant movement (istiqâmah) and dynamic and flexible movement (hanîfiiyah). This Islamic flexibility is within the frame of theory of limits which he perceived as the bounds or restrictions that God has placed on man’s freedom of action.The analytical framework of the theory of limits is based on two main Islamic characters (the constant and the flexible) which will lead to Islam’s survival. Those two contradictory things will deliver dialectic movement (al-harakah al-jadaliyah) in knowledge and social science. Here the new paradigm is expected in the formation of the Islamic legal legislation (tasyri’), therefore it will result in an incessant dialectic and progress of the Islamic legal system. []

limijt

2008-12-23T05:50:00.000-08:00

The two of modern reform we have identified, it is the religious utilitarianisms that succeeded in having their ideas implemented on the practical level,

Shahrur distinguishes six types of limits, the first of which is the lower

Theory of Anwar

2008-12-23T02:56:00.001-08:00

Islamic legal theory came to recognize a variety of sources and methods from and through which the law might be derived. Those source from which the law may be derived are the Quran and sunna or example of the prophet. Both of which provide the subject matter of the law. Those sources through which the law may be derived represent either methods of legal reasoning and interpretation or the sanctioning instrument of consensus (ijma’), primacy of place within the hierarchy of all these sources is given to the Quran, followed by the sunna which. Though second in order of importance, provide the greatest bulk of material from which the law was derived. The third is consensus, a sanctioning instrument whereby the creative jurist, the mujtahids, representing the community at large, are considered to have reached an agreement, known retrospectively, on a technical legal ruling, thereby rendering it as conclusive and as epistemologically certain as any verse of the Quran and the sunna of the prophet . the certitude bestowed upon the case of law renders that case, together with its ruling, a material source on the basis of which a similar legal case may be solved. The mujtahids, authorized by devine revelation, are thus capable of transforming a ruling reached through human legal reasoning into the textual source by the very fact of their agreement on its validity. The processes of reasoning involved therein, subsumed under the rubric of qiyas, represent the fourth source of the law. Alternative methods of reasoning based on considerations of juristic preference (istihsan’) or public welfare and interest (istihlah) were of limited validity and were not infrequently the subject of controversy.

The two of modern reform we have identified, it is the religious utilitarianists who succeeded in having theire ideas implemented on the practical level,

Muhammad shahrur, whose recent work alkitab wal-quran advances some of the most controversial ideas in the middle east today, it is not difficult to see that his formal training as an engineer had great impact on his mode of analysis, in that in “re-reading” the quran and the suna he draws heavily on the natural sciences, particularly mathematics and physics. His, then is unique contribution to the reinterpretation of the quran and the sunna in particular, and to law as a comprehensive system in general. Although shahrur modestly claims that his work represents no more than a “contemporary reading” of the quran, being in no way an exegetical or a legal work. It is impressive in that it offers both depth and range, virtually unparalleled in modern writings on the subject

Shahrur maintains that the quran having been constantly “preserved” by divine power, is as much the property of later generations as that of earlier or even the earliest generations, since each generation bestows on the quran an interpretation emanating from the particular reality in which it lives, we in the twentieth century, are entitled to confer on the “remembrance” an interpretation that reflects the condition of this age. In this sense, modern muslim are more qualified to understand the quran for their own purposes and exigencies than earlier generations were. Thus, traditional interpretation of the quran must not be taken as binding upon modern muslim societies. But shahrur goes further: modern muslims are better equipped to understand the meaning of revelation than their classical and medieval counterparts because they are far more “cultured”. The quran speaks of the Bedouins as having been “ more hard is disbelief and hypocrisy “ than the other arabs who possessed higher culture and civilization, and “likely to be ignorant of the limit which god revealed to his messenger “ (9:97) . the Quranic criterion of a proper comprehension of the revealed text is thus a level of high culture which the Bedouins were thought to have lacked. Since muslims in the twentieth century enjoy a higher level of culture and scientific knowledge than their predecessors, then they are better equipped to understand revelation than these predecessors were.

Having arrogated to his generation the superior right to interpret the remembrance, shahrur goes on the draw a crucial distinction between what he calls the quran and the book (these two words constituting the title of his work). This distinction directly emanates from yet another distinction, namely between the function of Muhammad received a body of information having to do with prophecy, religion and the like, as messenger and as prophet. As prophet Muhammad received a body of information having to do with prophecy, religion and the like. As messenger, he was the recipient of a corpus of legal instructions, in addition to that information he received as a prophet. The function of the prophet, then is religious, whereas that of the messenger is legal. Now prophetic information is textually ambiguous, capable of varying interpretation. This is the quran. On the other hand, the legal subject matter is univocal, but nevertheless capable of being subjected to ijtihad. This is the book.

In order to understand the legal message, it is necessary to draw another fundamental distinction between two contradictory, yet complementary attributes found in the book, these are straightness (istiqama) and curvature (hanifiyya). It is to be noted here that our English rendering of these two Arabic terms does not represent their immediate meaning as they have been traditionally understood but rather as shahrur perceives them by means of his own linguistics derivation. Listing numerous quranic verses in which these two terms occur, he concludes that the meaning of hanifiyya is derivation from straight path or from a linearity. The opposite of hanifiyya is istiqoma, the letter being the quality of being straight or of following a linear path.

Both of these attributes are integral to the message, coexisting in a symbiotic relationship. Curvature is a natural quality, meaning that it is intrinsic to human nature as it exist in the material, objective world. Physical laws show that things do not occur in a linear, but rather in a non – linear, fashion. Motion in the natural world, for instance, is characterized by curves. All thing, from minute electrons to the colossal galaxies, move in curves. In line with this perception of nature, curvature in law is seen as representing the quality of non linear movement, where customs, habits and social traditions tend to exist in harmony with the needs of particular societies, needs that tend to change from one society to another and, diachronically, within a society. It is for the purpose of controlling and restraining this change that “ straightness” becomes indispensable for maintaining a legal order, but unlike curvature, straightness is not natural quality. Rather it is divinely ordained in order for it to coexist with curvature and to partake in the ordering of human societies. Thus curvature stand in need of straightness, as attested in 1:5 where man is represented as seeking the guidance of god by imploring him to “show us the straight path” on the other hand, there exists no quranic verse, shahrur maintains, in which man is portrayed as seeking curvature (hanifiyya) because curvature is pre-existing in the natural order.

The relationship between curvature and straightness is thus wholly dialectical, where constants and permutations are intertwined. This dialectic is significant because it indicates that the law is adaptable to all times and places (salih li-kulli zaman wa-makan). But what is the form of straightness that god revealed in order to complement cvurvature? Here shahrur advances the crux of his theory, which we may call the theory of limits (hudud). Ultimately, then man moves in curvature within these limits which represent straightness.

Shahrur distinguishes six types of limits, the first of which is the lower

coba

2008-12-21T19:26:00.000-08:00

shahrour maintains that the qur'an having been constantly "preserved" by divine power

Mig33 Easy

2008-12-21T06:35:00.000-08:00

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Quadratic equation

2008-12-18T16:21:00.000-08:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about quadratic equations and their solutions. For more general information about quadratic functions, see Quadratic function.

In mathematics, a quadratic equation is a polynomial equation of the second degree. The general form is

ax^2+bx+c=0,\,\!

where a ≠ 0. (If a = 0, the equation becomes a linear equation.)

The letters a, b, and c are called coefficients: the quadratic coefficient a is the coefficient of x2, the linear coefficient b is the coefficient of x, and c is the constant coefficient, also called the free term or constant term.

Quadratic equations are called quadratic because quadratus is Latin for "square"; in the leading term the variable is squared.
Plots of real-valued quadratic function ax2 + bx + c, varying each coefficient separately
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Quadratic formula
* 2 Discriminant
* 3 Geometry
* 4 Examples
* 5 Quadratic factorization
* 6 Application to higher-degree equations
* 7 History
* 8 Derivation
* 9 Alternative formula
* 10 Floating point implementation
* 11 Viète's formulas
* 12 Generalizations
o 12.1 Characteristic 2
* 13 See also
* 14 Notes
* 15 References
* 16 External links

[edit] Quadratic formula

A quadratic equation with real or complex coefficients has two, but not necessarily distinct, solutions, called roots, which may or may not be real, given by the quadratic formula:

x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt {b^2-4ac}}{2a} ,

where the symbol "±" indicates that both

x_+ = \frac{-b + \sqrt {b^2-4ac}}{2a} and \ x_- = \frac{-b - \sqrt {b^2-4ac}}{2a}

are solutions.

[edit] Discriminant
Example discriminant signs
■ <0:>0: 3⁄2x2+1⁄2x−4⁄3

In the above formula, the expression underneath the square root sign:

\Delta = b^2 - 4ac , \,\!

is called the discriminant of the quadratic equation.

A quadratic equation with real coefficients can have either one or two distinct real roots, or two distinct complex roots. In this case the discriminant determines the number and nature of the roots. There are three cases:

* If the discriminant is positive, there are two distinct roots, both of which are real numbers. For quadratic equations with integer coefficients, if the discriminant is a perfect square, then the roots are rational numbers—in other cases they may be quadratic irrationals.
* If the discriminant is zero, there is exactly one distinct root, and that root is a real number. Sometimes called a double root, its value is:

x = -\frac{b}{2a} . \,\!

* If the discriminant is negative, there are no real roots. Rather, there are two distinct (non-real) complex roots, which are complex conjugates of each other:

\begin{align} x &= \frac{-b}{2a} + i \frac{\sqrt {4ac - b^2}}{2a} , \\ x &= \frac{-b}{2a} - i \frac{\sqrt {4ac - b^2}}{2a}. \end{align}

Thus the roots are distinct if and only if the discriminant is non-zero, and the roots are real if and only if the discriminant is non-negative.

[edit] Geometry
For the quadratic function:
f (x) = x2 − x − 2 = (x + 1)(x − 2) of a real variable x, the x-coordinates of the points where the graph intersects the x-axis, x = −1 and x = 2, are the roots of the quadratic equation: x2 − x − 2 = 0.

The roots of the quadratic equation

ax^2+bx+c=0,\,

are also the zeros of the quadratic function:

f(x) = ax^2+bx+c,\,

since they are the values of x for which

f(x) = 0.\,

If a, b, and c are real numbers and the domain of f is the set of real numbers, then the zeros of f are exactly the x-coordinates of the points where the graph touches the x-axis.

It follows from the above that, if the discriminant is positive, the graph touches the x-axis at two points, if zero, the graph touches at one point, and if negative, the graph does not touch the x-axis.

[edit] Examples

* 7x + 15 − 2x2 = 0 has a strictly positive discriminant Δ = 169 and therefore has two real solutions:

x_1=\frac{-7-\sqrt{169}}{2\cdot(-2)}=\frac{-7-13}{-4} =\frac{20}{4}= 5

and

x_2=\frac{-7+\sqrt{169}}{2\cdot(-2)} = \frac{-7+13}{-4}=\frac{6}{-4}=-\frac{3}{2}.

* x2 − 2x + 1 = 0 has a discriminant Δ whose value is zero, therefore it has a double solutionx_0=-\tfrac{-2}{2}=1
* x2 + 3x + 3 = 0 has no real solution because Δ = − 3 < 0. But it has two complex solutions x_1\! and x_2\!:

x_1 = \frac{-3 - \sqrt{3} i}{2}\text{ and }x_2 = \frac{-3 + \sqrt{3} i}{2}.

[edit] Quadratic factorization

The term

x - r\,

is a factor of the polynomial

ax^2+bx+c, \

if and only if r is a root of the quadratic equation

ax^2+bx+c=0. \

It follows from the quadratic formula that

ax^2+bx+c = a \left( x - \frac{-b + \sqrt {b^2-4ac}}{2a} \right) \left( x - \frac{-b - \sqrt {b^2-4ac}}{2a} \right).

In the special case where the quadratic has only one distinct root (i.e. the discriminant is zero), the quadratic polynomial can be factored as

ax^2+bx+c = a \left( x + \frac{b}{2a} \right)^2.\,\!

[edit] Application to higher-degree equations

Certain higher-degree equations can be brought into quadratic form and solved that way. For example, the 6th-degree equation in x:

x^6 - 4x^3 + 8 = 0\,

can be rewritten as:

(x^3)^2 - 4(x^3) + 8 = 0\,,

or, equivalently, as a quadratic equation in a new variable u:

u^2 - 4u + 8 = 0,\,

where

u = x^3.\,

Solving the quadratic equation for u results in the two solutions:

u = 2 \pm 2i.

Thus

x^3 = 2 \pm 2i\,.

Concentrating on finding the three cube roots of 2 + 2i – the other three solutions for x will be their complex conjugates – rewriting the right-hand side using Euler's formula:

x^3 = 2^{\tfrac{3}{2}}e^{\tfrac{1}{4}\pi i} = 2^{\tfrac{3}{2}}e^{\tfrac{8k+1}{4}\pi i}\,

(since e2kπi = 1), gives the three solutions:

x = 2^{\tfrac{1}{2}}e^{\tfrac{8k+1}{12}\pi i}\,,~k = 0, 1, 2\,.

Using Eulers' formula again together with trigonometric identities such as cos(π/12) = (√2 + √6) / 4, and adding the complex conjugates, gives the complete collection of solutions as:

x_{1,2} = -1 \pm i,\,
x_{3,4} = \frac{1 + \sqrt{3}}{2} \pm \frac{1 - \sqrt{3}}{2}i\,

and

x_{5,6} = \frac{1 - \sqrt{3}}{2} \pm \frac{1 + \sqrt{3}}{2}i.\,

[edit] History

The Babylonians, as early as 1800 BC (displayed on Old Babylonian clay tablets) could solve a pair of simultaneous equations of the form:

x+y=p,\ \ xy=q \

which are equivalent to the equation:[1]

\ x^2+q=px

The original pair of equations were solved as follows:

1. Form \frac{x+y}{2}
2. Form \left(\frac{x+y}{2}\right)^2
3. Form \left(\frac{x+y}{2}\right)^2 - xy
4. Form \sqrt{\left(\frac{x+y}{2}\right)^2 - xy} = \frac{x-y}{2}
5. Find x,\ y by inspection of the values in (1) and (4).[2]

In the Sulba Sutras in ancient India circa 8th century BCE quadratic equations of the form ax2 = c and ax2 + bx = c were explored using geometric methods. Babylonian mathematicians from circa 400 BCE and Chinese mathematicians from circa 200 BCE used the method of completing the square to solve quadratic equations with positive roots, but did not have a general formula. Euclid, the Greek mathematician, produced a more abstract geometrical method around 300 BCE.

In 628 CE, Brahmagupta, an Indian mathematician, gave the first explicit (although still not completely general) solution of the quadratic equation:

\ ax^2+bx=c

“ To the absolute number multiplied by four times the [coefficient of the] square, add the square of the [coefficient of the] middle term; the square root of the same, less the [coefficient of the] middle term, being divided by twice the [coefficient of the] square is the value. (Brahmasphutasiddhanta (Colebrook translation, 1817, page 346)[3] ”

This is equivalent to:

x = \frac{\sqrt{4ac+b^2}-b}{2a}.

The Bakhshali Manuscript dated to have been written in India in the 7th century CE contained an algebraic formula for solving quadratic equations, as well as quadratic indeterminate equations (originally of type ax/c = y). Mohammad bin Musa Al-kwarismi (Persia, 9th century) developed a set of formulae that worked for positive solutions. His work was based on Brahmagupta. A Catalan Jewish mathematician Abraham bar Hiyya Ha-Nasi (also known by the Latin name Savasorda) introduced the complete solution to Europe in his book Liber embadorum in the 12th century. Bhāskara II (1114–1185), an Indian mathematician–astronomer, gave the first general solution to the quadratic equation with two roots.[4]

The writing of the Chinese mathematician Yang Hui (1238-1298 AD) represents the first in which quadratic equations with negative coefficients of 'x' appear, although he attributes this to the earlier Liu Yi. The first appearance of the general solution in the modern mathematical literature is evidently in an 1896 paper by Henry Heaton[5].

[edit] Derivation

The quadratic formula can be derived by the method of completing the square, so as to make use of the algebraic identity:

x^2+2xh+h^2 = (x+h)^2.\,\!

Dividing the quadratic equation

ax^2+bx+c=0 \,\!

by a (which is allowed because a is non-zero), gives:

x^2 + \frac{b}{a} x + \frac{c}{a}=0,\,\!

or

x^2 + \frac{b}{a} x= -\frac{c}{a} \qquad (1)

The quadratic equation is now in a form to which the method of completing the square can be applied. To "complete the square" is to find some constant k such that

x^2 + \frac{b}{a}x + k = x^2+2xh+h^2,\,\!

for another constant h. In order for these equations to be true,

\frac{b}{a} = 2h\!

or

h = \frac{b}{2a}\,\!

and

k = h^2,\,\!

thus

k = \frac{b^2}{4a^2}.\,\!

Adding this constant to equation (1) produces

x^2+\frac{b}{a}x+\frac{b^2}{4a^2}=-\frac{c}{a}+\frac{b^2}{4a^2}.\,\!

The left side is now a perfect square because

x^2+\frac{b}{a}x+\frac{b^2}{4a^2} = \left( x + \frac{b}{2a} \right)^2

The right side can be written as a single fraction, with common denominator 4a2. This gives

\left(x+\frac{b}{2a}\right)^2=\frac{b^2-4ac}{4a^2}.

Taking the square root of both sides yields

\left|x+\frac{b}{2a}\right| = \frac{\sqrt{b^2-4ac\ }}{|2a|}\Rightarrow x+\frac{b}{2a}=\pm\frac{\sqrt{b^2-4ac\ }}{2a}.

Isolating x, gives

x=-\frac{b}{2a}\pm\frac{\sqrt{b^2-4ac\ }}{2a}=\frac{-b\pm\sqrt{b^2-4ac\ }}{2a}.

[edit] Alternative formula

In some situations it is preferable to express the roots in an alternate form.

x =\frac{2c}{-b \mp \sqrt {b^2-4ac\ }} .

This alternative requires c to be nonzero; for, if c is zero, the formula correctly gives zero as one root, but fails to give any second, non-zero root. Instead, one of the two choices for ∓ produces a division by zero, which is undefined.

The roots are the same regardless of which expression we use; the alternate form is merely an algebraic variation of the common form:

\begin{align} \frac{-b + \sqrt {b^2-4ac\ }}{2a} &{}= \frac{-b + \sqrt {b^2-4ac\ }}{2a} \cdot \frac{-b - \sqrt {b^2-4ac\ }}{-b - \sqrt {b^2-4ac\ }} \\ &{}= \frac{4ac}{2a \left ( -b - \sqrt {b^2-4ac} \right ) } \\ &{}=\frac{2c}{-b - \sqrt {b^2-4ac\ }}. \end{align}

The alternative formula can reduce loss of precision in the numerical evaluation of the roots, which may be a problem if one of the roots is much smaller than the other in absolute magnitude. The problem of c possibly being zero can be avoided by using a mixed approach:

x_1 = \frac{-b - \sgn b \,\sqrt {b^2-4ac}}{2a},
x_2 = \frac{c}{ax_1}.

Here sgn denotes the sign function.

[edit] Floating point implementation

A careful floating point computer implementation differs a little from both forms to produce a robust result. Assuming the discriminant, b2 − 4ac, is positive and b is nonzero, the code will be something like the following.

t := -\tfrac12 \big( b + \sgn(b) \sqrt{b^2-4ac} \big) \,\!
r_1 := t/a \,\!
r_2 := c/t \,\!

Here sgn(b) is the sign function, where sgn(b) is 1 if b is positive and −1 if b is negative; its use ensures that the quantities added are of the same sign, avoiding catastrophic cancellation. The computation of r2 uses the fact that the product of the roots is c/a.

See Numerical Recipes in C, Section 5.6: "Quadratic and Cubic Equations".

[edit] Viète's formulas

Viète's formulas give a simple relation between the roots of a polynomial and its coefficients. In the case of the quadratic polynomial, they take the following form:

x_+ + x_- = -\frac{b}{a}

and

x_+ \cdot x_- = \frac{c}{a}.

The first formula above yields a convenient expression when graphing a quadratic function. Since the graph is symmetric with respect to a vertical line through the vertex, when there are two real roots the vertex’s x-coordinate is located at the average of the roots (or intercepts). Thus the x-coordinate of the vertex is given by the expression:

x_V = \frac {x_+ + x_-} {2} = -\frac{b}{2a}.

The y-coordinate can be obtained by substituting the above result into the given quadratic equation, giving

y_V = - \frac{b^2}{4a} + c = - \frac{ b^2 - 4ac} {4a}.

[edit] Generalizations

The formula and its derivation remain correct if the coefficients a, b and c are complex numbers, or more generally members of any field whose characteristic is not 2. (In a field of characteristic 2, the element 2a is zero and it is impossible to divide by it.)

The symbol

\pm \sqrt {b^2-4ac}

in the formula should be understood as "either of the two elements whose square is

b^2-4ac,\,

if such elements exist. In some fields, some elements have no square roots and some have two; only zero has just one square root, except in fields of characteristic 2. Note that even if a field does not contain a square root of some number, there is always a quadratic extension field which does, so the quadratic formula will always make sense as a formula in that extension field.

[edit] Characteristic 2

In a field of characteristic 2, the quadratic formula, which relies on 2 being a unit, does not hold. Consider the monic quadratic polynomial

\displaystyle x^{2} + bx + c

over a field of characteristic 2. If b = 0, then the solution reduces to extracting a square root, so the solution is

\displaystyle x = \sqrt{c}

and note that there is only one root since

\displaystyle -\sqrt{c} = -\sqrt{c} + 2\sqrt{c} = \sqrt{c}.

In summary,

\displaystyle x^{2} + c = (x + \sqrt{c})^{2}.

See quadratic residue for more information about extracting square roots in finite fields.

In the case that b ≠ 0, there are two distinct roots, but if the polynomial is irreducible, they cannot be expressed in terms of square roots of numbers in the coefficient field. Instead, define the 2-root R(c) of c to be a root of the polynomial x2 + x + c, an element of the splitting field of that polynomial. One verifies that R(c) + 1 is also a root. In terms of the 2-root operation, the two roots of the (non-monic) quadratic ax2 + bx + c are

\frac{b}{a}R\left(\frac{ac}{b^2}\right)

and

\frac{b}{a}\left(R\left(\frac{ac}{b^2}\right)+1\right).

For example, let a denote a multiplicative generator of the group of units of F4, the Galois field of order four (thus a and a + 1 are roots of x2 + x + 1 over F4). Because (a + 1)2 = a, a + 1 is the unique solution of the quadratic equation x2 + a = 0. On the other hand, the polynomial x + ax + 1 is irreducible over F4, but splits over F16, where it has the two roots ab and ab + a, where b is a root of x2 + x + a in F16.

This is a special case of Artin-Schreier theory.

Fungsi

2008-12-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

Graph of example function,

The mathematical concept of a function expresses dependence between two quantities, one of which is known (the independent variable, argument of the function, or its "input") and the other produced (the dependent variable, value of the function, or "output"). A function associates a single output to each input element drawn from a fixed set, such as the real numbers (), although different inputs may have the same output.

There are many ways to give a function: by a formula, by a plot or graph, by an algorithm that computes it, or by a description of its properties. Sometimes, a function is described through its relationship to other functions (see, for example, inverse function). In applied disciplines, functions are frequently specified by their tables of values or by a formula. Not all types of description can be given for every possible function, and one must make a firm distinction between the function itself and multiple ways of presenting or visualizing it.

One idea of enormous importance in all of mathematics is composition of functions: if z is a function of y and y is a function of x, then z is a function of x. We may describe it informally by saying that the composite function is obtained by using the output of the first function as the input of the second one. This feature of functions distinguishes them from other mathematical constructs, such as numbers or figures, and provides the theory of functions with its most powerful structure.

[edit] Introduction

Functions play a fundamental role in all areas of mathematics, as well as in other sciences and engineering. However, the intuition pertaining to functions, notation, and even the very meaning of the term "function" varies between the fields. More abstract areas of mathematics, such as set theory, consider very general types of functions, which may not be specified by a concrete rule and are not governed by any familiar principles. The characteristic property of a function in the most abstract sense is that it relates exactly one output to each of its admissible inputs. Such functions need not involve numbers and may, for example, associate each of a set of words with its own first letter.

Functions in algebra are usually expressed in terms of algebraic operations. Functions studied in analysis, such as the exponential function, may have additional properties arising from continuity of space, but in the most general case cannot be defined by a single formula. Analytic functions in complex analysis may be defined fairly concretely through their series expansions. On the other hand, in lambda calculus, function is a primitive concept, instead of being defined in terms of set theory. The terms transformation and mapping are often synonymous with function. In some contexts, however, they differ slightly. In the first case, the term transformation usually applies to functions whose inputs and outputs are elements of the same set or more general structure. Thus, we speak of linear transformations from a vector space into itself and of symmetry transformations of a geometric object or a pattern. In the second case, used to describe sets whose nature is arbitrary, the term mapping is the most general concept of function.

In traditional calculus, a function is defined as a relation between two terms called variables because their values vary. Call the terms, for example, x and y. If every value of x is associated with exactly one value of y, then y is said to be a function of x. It is customary to use x for what is called the "independent variable," and y for what is called the "dependent variable" because its value depends on the value of x.^[1]

Restated, mathematical functions are denoted frequently by letters, and the standard notation for the output of a function ƒ with the input x is ƒ(x). A function may be defined only for certain inputs, and the collection of all acceptable inputs of the function is called its domain. The set of all resulting outputs is called the range of the function. However, in many fields, it is also important to specify the codomain of a function, which contains the range, but need not be equal to it. The distinction between range and codomain lets us ask whether the two happen to be equal, which in particular cases may be a question of some mathematical interest.

For example, the expression ƒ(x) = x² describes a function ƒ of a variable x, which, depending on the context, may be an integer, a real or complex number or even an element of a group. Let us specify that x is an integer; then this function relates each input, x, with a single output, x², obtained from x by squaring. Thus, the input of 3 is related to the output of 9, the input of 1 to the output of 1, and the input of −2 to the output of 4, and we write ƒ(3) = 9, ƒ(1)=1, ƒ(−2)=4. Since every integer can be squared, the domain of this function consists of all integers, while its range is the set of perfect squares. If we choose integers as the codomain as well, we find that many numbers, such as 2, 3, and 6, are in the codomain but not the range.

It is a usual practice in mathematics to introduce functions with temporary names like ƒ; in the next paragraph we might define ƒ(x) = 2x+1, and then ƒ(3) = 7. When a name for the function is not needed, often the form y = x² is used.

If we use a function often, we may give it a more permanent name as, for example,

The essential property of a function is that for each input there must be a unique output. Thus, for example, the formula

does not define a real function of a positive real variable, because it assigns two outputs to each number: the square roots of 9 are 3 and −3. To make the square root a real function, we must specify, which square root to choose. The definition

for any positive input chooses the positive square root as an output.

As mentioned above, a function need not involve numbers. By way of examples, consider the function that associates with each word its first letter or the function that associates with each triangle its area.

[edit] Definitions

Because functions are used in so many areas of mathematics, and in so many different ways, no single definition of function has been universally adopted. Some definitions are elementary, while others use technical language that may obscure the intuitive notion. Formal definitions are set theoretical and, though there are variations, rely on the concept of relation. Intuitively, a function is a way to assign to each element of a given set (the domain or source) exactly one element of another given set (the codomain or target).

[edit] Intuitive definitions

One simple intuitive definition, for functions on numbers, says:

A function is given by an arithmetic expression describing how one number depends on another.

An example of such a function is y = 5x−20x³+16x⁵, where the value of y depends on the value of x. This is entirely satisfactory for parts of elementary mathematics, but is too clumsy and restrictive for more advanced areas. For example, the cosine function used in trigonometry cannot be written in this way; the best we can do is an infinite series,

That said, if we are willing to accept series as an extended sense of "arithmetic expression", we have a definition that served mathematics reasonably well for hundreds of years.

Eventually the gradual transformation of intuitive "calculus" into formal "analysis" brought the need for a broader definition. The emphasis shifted from how a function was presented — as a formula or rule — to a more abstract concept. Part of the new foundation was the use of sets, so that functions were no longer restricted to numbers. Thus we can say that

A function ƒ from a set X to a set Y associates to each element x in X an element y = ƒ(x) in Y.

Note that X and Y need not be different sets; it is possible to have a function from a set to itself. Although it is possible to interpret the term "associates" in this definition with a concrete rule for the association, it is essential to move beyond that restriction. For example, we can sometimes prove that a function with certain properties exists, yet not be able to give any explicit rule for the association. In fact, in some cases it is impossible to give an explicit rule producing a specific y for each x, even though such a function exists. In the context of functions defined on arbitrary sets, it is not even clear how the phrase "explicit rule" should be interpreted.

[edit] Set-theoretical definitions

As functions take on new roles and find new uses, the relationship of the function to the sets requires more precision. Perhaps every element in Y is associated with some x, perhaps not. In some parts of mathematics, including recursion theory and functional analysis, it is convenient to allow values of x with no association (in this case, the term partial function is often used). To be able to discuss such distinctions, many authors split a function into three parts, each a set:

A function ƒ is an ordered triple of sets (F,X,Y) with restrictions, where
F (the graph) is a set of ordered pairs (x,y),
X (the source) contains all the first elements of F and perhaps more, and
Y (the target) contains all the second elements of F and perhaps more.

The most common restrictions are that F pairs each x with just one y, and that X is just the set of first elements of F and no more. The terminology total function is sometimes used to indicate that every element of X does appear as the first element of an ordered pair in F; see partial function. In most contexts in mathematics, "function" is used as a synonym for "total function".

When no restrictions are placed on F, we speak of a relation between X and Y rather than a function. The relation is "single-valued" when the first restriction holds: (x,y₁)∈F and (x,y₂)∈F together imply y₁ = y₂. Relations that are not single valued are sometimes called multivalued functions. A relation is "total" when a second restriction holds: if x∈X then (x,y)∈F for some y. Thus we can also say that

A function from X to Y is a single-valued, total relation between X and Y.^[2]

The range of F, and of ƒ, is the set of all second elements of F; it is often denoted by rng ƒ. The domain of F is the set of all first elements of F; it is often denoted by dom ƒ. There are two common definitions for the domain of ƒ some authors define it as the domain of F, while others define it as the source of F.

The target Y of ƒ is also called the codomain of ƒ, denoted by cod ƒ; and the range of ƒ is also called the image of ƒ, denoted by im ƒ. The notation ƒ:X→Y indicates that ƒ is a function with domain X and codomain Y.

Some authors omit the source and target as unnecessary data. Indeed, given only the graph F, one can construct a suitable triple by taking dom F to be the source and rng F to be the target; this automatically causes F to be total. However, most authors in advanced mathematics prefer the greater power of expression afforded by the triple, especially the distinction it allows between range and codomain.

Incidentally, the ordered pairs and triples we have used are not distinct from sets; we can easily represent them within set theory. For example, we can use {{x},{x,y}} for the pair (x,y). Then for a triple (x,y,z) we can use the pair ((x,y),z). An important construction is the Cartesian product of sets X and Y, denoted by X×Y, which is the set of all possible ordered pairs (x,y) with x∈X and y∈Y. We can also construct the set of all possible functions from set X to set Y, which we denote by either [X→Y] or Y^X.

We now have tremendous flexibility. By using pairs for X we can treat, say, subtraction of integers as a function, sub:Z×Z→Z. By using pairs for Y we can draw a planar curve using a function, crv:R→R×R. On the unit interval, I, we can have a function defined to be one at rational numbers and zero otherwise, rat:I→2. By using functions for X we can consider a definite integral over the unit interval to be a function, int:[I→R]→R.

Yet we still are not satisfied. We may want even more generality in some cases, like a function whose integral is a step function; thus we define so-called generalized functions. We may want less generality, like a function we can always actually use to get a definite answer; thus we define primitive recursive functions and then limit ourselves to those we can prove are effectively computable. Or we may want to relate not just sets, but algebraic structures, complete with operations; thus we define homomorphisms.

[edit] History

The idea of a function dates back to the Persian mathematician, Sharaf al-Dīn al-Tūsī, in the 12th century. In his analysis of the equation $x 3 + d = b x 2$ for example, he begins by changing the equation's form to $x 2 (b - x) = d$ . He then states that the question of whether the equation has a solution depends on whether or not the “function” on the left side reaches the value $d$ . To determine this, he finds a maximum value for the function. Sharaf al-Din then states that if this value is less than $d$ , there are no positive solutions; if it is equal to $d$ , then there is one solution; and if it is greater than $d$ , then there are two solutions.^[3]

The history of the function concept in mathematics is described by da Ponte (1992). As a mathematical term, "function" was coined by Gottfried Leibniz in a 1673 letter, to describe a quantity related to a curve, such as a curve's slope at a specific point.^[1] The functions Leibniz considered are today called differentiable functions. For this type of function, one can talk about limits and derivatives; both are measurements of the output or the change in the output as it depends on the input or the change in the input. Such functions are the basis of calculus.

The word function was later used by Leonhard Euler during the mid-18th century to describe an expression or formula involving various arguments, e.g. ƒ(x) = sin(x) + x³.

During the 19th century, mathematicians started to formalize all the different branches of mathematics. Weierstrass advocated building calculus on arithmetic rather than on geometry, which favoured Euler's definition over Leibniz's (see arithmetization of analysis).

At first, the idea of a function was rather limited. Joseph Fourier, for example, claimed that every function had a Fourier series, something no mathematician would claim today. By broadening the definition of functions, mathematicians were able to study "strange" mathematical objects such as continuous functions that are nowhere differentiable. These functions were first thought to be only theoretical curiosities, and they were collectively called "monsters" as late as the turn of the 20th century. However, powerful techniques from functional analysis have shown that these functions are in some sense "more common" than differentiable functions. Such functions have since been applied to the modeling of physical phenomena such as Brownian motion.

Towards the end of the 19th century, mathematicians started to formalize all of mathematics using set theory, and they sought to define every mathematical object as a set. Dirichlet and Lobachevsky are traditionally credited with independently giving the modern "formal" definition of a function as a relation in which every first element has a unique second element, but Dirichlet's claim to this formalization is disputed by Imre Lakatos:

There is no such definition in Dirichlet's works at all. But there is ample evidence that he had no idea of this concept. In his [1837], for instance, when he discusses piecewise continuous functions, he says that at points of discontinuity the function has two values: ...

(Proofs and Refutations, 151, Cambridge University Press 1976.)

Hardy (1908, pp. 26–28) defined a function as a relation between two variables x and y such that "to some values of x at any rate correspond values of y." He neither required the function to be defined for all values of x nor to associate each value of x to a single value of y. This broad definition of a function encompasses more relations than are ordinarily considered functions in contemporary mathematics.

The notion of a function as a rule for computing, rather than a special kind of relation, has been studied extensively in mathematical logic and theoretical computer science. Models for these computable functions include the lambda calculus, the μ-recursive functions and Turing machines.

The idea of structure-preserving functions, or homomorphisms led to the abstract notion of morphism, the key concept of category theory. More recently, the concept of functor has been used as an analogue of a function in category theory.^[4]

[edit] Vocabulary

A specific input in a function is called an argument of the function. For each argument value x, the corresponding unique y in the codomain is called the function value at x, or the image of x under ƒ. The image of x may be written as ƒ(x) or as y. (See the section on notation.)

The graph of a function ƒ is the set of all ordered pairs (x, ƒ(x)), for all x in the domain X. If X and Y are subsets of R, the real numbers, then this definition coincides with the familiar sense of "graph" as a picture or plot of the function, with the ordered pairs being the Cartesian coordinates of points.

The concept of the image can be extended from the image of a point to the image of a set. If A is any subset of the domain, then ƒ(A) is the subset of the range consisting of all images of elements of A. We say the ƒ(A) is the image of A under f.

Notice that the range of ƒ is the image ƒ(X) of its domain, and that the range of ƒ is a subset of its codomain.

The preimage (or inverse image, or more precisely, complete inverse image) of a subset B of the codomain Y under a function ƒ is the subset of the domain X defined by

So, for example, the preimage of {4, 9} under the squaring function is the set {−3,−2,+2,+3}.

In general, the preimage of a singleton set (a set with exactly one element) may contain any number of elements. For example, if ƒ(x) = 7, then the preimage of {5} is the empty set but the preimage of {7} is the entire domain. Thus the preimage of an element in the codomain is a subset of the domain. The usual convention about the preimage of an element is that ƒ⁻¹(b) means ƒ⁻¹({b}), i.e

Three important kinds of function are the injections (or one-to-one functions), which have the property that if ƒ(a) = ƒ(b) then a must equal b; the surjections (or onto functions), which have the property that for every y in the codomain there is an x in the domain such that ƒ(x) = y; and the bijections, which are both one-to-one and onto. This nomenclature was introduced by the Bourbaki group.

When the first definition of function given above is used, since the codomain is not defined, the "surjection" must be accompanied with a statement about the set the function maps onto. For example, we might say ƒ maps onto the set of all real numbers.

[edit] Restrictions and extensions

Informally, a restriction of a function ƒ is the result of trimming its domain.

More precisely, if ƒ is a function from a X to Y, and S is any subset of X, the restriction of ƒ to S is the function ƒ|_S from S to Y such that ƒ|_S(s) = ƒ(s) for all s in S.

If g is any restriction of ƒ, we say that ƒ is an extension of g.

[edit] Notation

It is common to omit the parentheses around the argument when there is little chance of ambiguity, thus: sin x. In some formal settings, use of reverse Polish notation, x ƒ, eliminates the need for any parentheses; and, for example, the factorial function is always written n!, even though its generalization, the gamma function, is written Γ(n).

Formal description of a function typically involves the function's name, its domain, its codomain, and a rule of correspondence. Thus we frequently see a two-part notation, an example being

where the first part is read:

"ƒ is a function from N to R" (one often writes informally "Let ƒ: X → Y" to mean "Let ƒ be a function from X to Y"), or
"ƒ is a function on N into R", or
"ƒ is a R-valued function of an N-valued variable",

and the second part is read:

maps to

Here the function named "ƒ" has the natural numbers as domain, the real numbers as codomain, and maps n to itself divided by π. Less formally, this long form might be abbreviated

though with some loss of information; we no longer are explicitly given the domain and codomain. Even the long form here abbreviates the fact that the n on the right-hand side is silently treated as a real number using the standard embedding.

An alternative to the colon notation, convenient when functions are being composed, writes the function name above the arrow. For example, if ƒ is followed by g, where g produces the complex number e^ix, we may write

A more elaborate form of this is the commutative diagram.

Use of ƒ(A) to denote the image of a subset A⊆X is consistent so long as no subset of the domain is also an element of the domain. In some fields (e.g. in set theory, where ordinals are also sets of ordinals) it is convenient or even necessary to distinguish the two concepts; the customary notation is ƒ[A] for the set { ƒ(x): x ∈ A }; some authors write ƒ`x instead of ƒ(x), and ƒ``A instead of ƒ[A].

[edit] Function composition

Main article: Function composition

The function composition of two or more functions uses the output of one function as the input of another. The functions ƒ: X → Y and g: Y → Z can be composed by first applying ƒ to an argument x to obtain y = ƒ(x) and then applying g to y to obtain z = g(y). The composite function formed in this way from general ƒ and g may be written

This notation follows the form such that .

The function on the right acts first and the function on the left acts second, reversing English reading order. We remember the order by reading the notation as "g of ƒ". The order is important, because rarely do we get the same result both ways. For example, suppose ƒ(x) = x² and g(x) = x+1. Then g(ƒ(x)) = x²+1, while ƒ(g(x)) = (x+1)², which is x²+2x+1, a different function.

In a similar way, the function given above by the formula y = 5x−20x³+16x⁵ can be obtained by composing several functions, namely the addition, negation, and multiplication of real numbers.

[edit] Identity function

Main article: Identity function

The unique function over a set X that maps each element to itself is called the identity function for X, and typically denoted by id_X. Each set has its own identity function, so the subscript cannot be omitted unless the set can be inferred from context. Under composition, an identity function is "neutral": if ƒ is any function from X to Y, then

[edit] Inverse function

Main article: Inverse function

If ƒ is a function from X to Y then an inverse function for ƒ, denoted by ƒ⁻¹, is a function in the opposite direction, from Y to X, with the property that a round trip (a composition) returns each element to itself. Not every function has an inverse; those that do are called invertible.

As a simple example, if ƒ converts a temperature in degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit, the function converting degrees Fahrenheit to degrees Celsius would be a suitable ƒ⁻¹.

The notation for composition reminds us of multiplication; in fact, sometimes we denote it using juxtaposition, gƒ, without an intervening circle. Under this analogy, identity functions are like 1, and inverse functions are like reciprocals (hence the notation).

[edit] Specifying a function

A function can be defined by any mathematical condition relating each argument to the corresponding output value. If the domain is finite, a function ƒ may be defined by simply tabulating all the arguments x and their corresponding function values ƒ(x). More commonly, a function is defined by a formula, or (more generally) an algorithm — a recipe that tells how to compute the value of ƒ(x) given any x in the domain.

There are many other ways of defining functions. Examples include recursion, algebraic or analytic closure, limits, analytic continuation, infinite series, and as solutions to integral and differential equations. The lambda calculus provides a powerful and flexible syntax for defining and combining functions of several variables.

[edit] Computability

Main article: computable function

Functions that send integers to integers, or finite strings to finite strings, can sometimes be defined by an algorithm, which gives a precise description of a set of steps for computing the output of the function from its input. Functions definable by an algorithm are called computable functions. For example, the Euclidean algorithm gives a precise process to compute the greatest common divisor of two positive integers. Many of the functions studied in the context of number theory are computable.

Fundamental results of computability theory show that there are functions that can be precisely defined but are not computable. Moreover, in the sense of cardinality, almost all functions from the integers to integers are not computable. The number of computable functions from integers to integers is countable, because the number of possible algorithms is. The number of all functions from integers to integers is higher: the same as the cardinality of the real numbers. Thus most functions from integers to integers are not computable. Specific examples of uncomputable functions are known, including the busy beaver function and functions related to the halting problem and other undecidable problems.

[edit] Functions with multiple inputs and outputs

The concept of function can be extended to an object that takes a combination of two (or more) argument values to a single result. This intuitive concept is formalized by a function whose domain is the Cartesian product of two or more sets.

For example, consider the multiplication function that associates two integers to their product: ƒ(x, y) = x·y. This function can be defined formally as having domain Z×Z , the set of all integer pairs; codomain Z; and, for graph, the set of all pairs ((x,y), x·y). Note that the first component of any such pair is itself a pair (of integers), while the second component is a single integer.

The function value of the pair (x,y) is ƒ((x,y)). However, it is customary to drop one set of parentheses and consider ƒ(x,y) a function of two variables (or with two arguments), x and y.

The concept can still further be extended by considering a function that also produces output that is expressed as several variables. For example consider the function mirror(x, y) = (y, x) with domain R×R and codomain R×R as well. The pair (y, x) is a single value in the codomain seen as a cartesian product.

There is an alternative approach: one could instead interpret a function of two variables as sending each element of A to a function from B to C, this is known as currying. The equivalence of these approaches is expressed by the bijection between the function spaces and $(C B) A$ .

[edit] Binary operations

The familiar binary operations of arithmetic, addition and multiplication, can be viewed as functions from R×R to R. This view is generalized in abstract algebra, where n-ary functions are used to model the operations of arbitrary algebraic structures. For example, an abstract group is defined as a set X and a function ƒ from X×X to X that satisfies certain properties.

Traditionally, addition and multiplication are written in the infix notation: x+y and x×y instead of +(x, y) and ×(x, y).

[edit] Function spaces

The set of all functions from a set X to a set Y is denoted by X → Y, by [X → Y], or by Y^X.

The latter notation is motivated by the fact that, when X and Y are finite, of size |X| and |Y| respectively, then the number of functions X → Y is |Y^X| = |Y|^|X|. This is an example of the convention from enumerative combinatorics that provides notations for sets based on their cardinalities. Other examples are the multiplication sign X×Y used for the cartesian product where |X×Y| = |X|·|Y| , and the factorial sign X! used for the set of permutations where |X!| = |X|! , and the binomial coefficient sign used for the set of n-element subsets where

We may interpret ƒ: X → Y to mean ƒ ∈ [X → Y]; that is, "ƒ is a function from X to Y".

[edit] Pointwise operations

If ƒ: X → R and g: X → R are functions with common domain X and common codomain a ring R, then one can define the sum function ƒ + g: X → R and the product function ƒ ⋅ g: X → R as follows:

for all x in X.

This turns the set of all such functions into a ring. The binary operations in that ring have as domain ordered pairs of functions, and as codomain functions. This is an example of climbing up in abstraction, to functions of more complex types.

By taking some other algebraic structure A in the place of R, we can turn the set of all functions from X to A into an algebraic structure of the same type in an analogous way.

LIMIT

2008-12-18T15:05:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, the concept of a "limit" is used to describe the behavior of a function as its argument or input either "gets close" to some point, or as the argument becomes arbitrarily large; or the behavior of a sequence's elements as their index increases indefinitely. Limits are used in calculus and other branches of mathematical analysis to define derivatives and continuity.

In formulas, limit is usually abbreviated as lim (see below).

The concept of the "limit of a function" is further generalized to the concept of topological net, while the limit of a sequence is closely related to limit and direct limit in category theory.

[hide]

[edit] Limit of a function

Main article: Limit of a function

Suppose ƒ(x) is a real-valued function and c is a real number. The expression:

means that ƒ(x) can be made to be as close to L as desired by making x sufficiently close to c. In that case, we say that "the limit of ƒ of x, as x approaches c, is L". Note that this statement can be true even if . Indeed, the function ƒ(x) need not even be defined at c. Two examples help illustrate this.

Consider as x approaches 2. In this case, f(x) is defined at 2 and equals its limit of 0.4:

f(1.9)	f(1.99)	f(1.999)	f(2)	f(2.001)	f(2.01)	f(2.1)
0.4121	0.4012	0.4001	0.4	0.3998	0.3988	0.3882

As x approaches 2, ƒ(x) approaches 0.4 and hence we have . In the case where , ƒ is said to be continuous at x = c. But it is not always the case. Consider

The limit of g(x) as x approaches 2 is 0.4 (just as in ƒ(x)), but ; g is not continuous at x = 2.

Or, consider the case where ƒ(x) is undefined at x = c.

In this case, as x approaches 1, f(x) is undefined (0/0) at x = 1 but the limit equals 2:

f(0.9)	f(0.99)	f(0.999)	f(1.0)	f(1.001)	f(1.01)	f(1.1)
1.95	1.99	1.999	undef	2.001	2.010	2.10

Thus, f(x) can be made arbitrarily close to the limit of 2 just by making x sufficiently close enough to 1.

[edit] Formal definition

Whenever a point x is within δ units of p, f(x) is within ε units of L

Karl Weierstrass formally defined a limit as follows:

Let f be a function defined on an open interval containing c (except possibly at c) and let L be a real number.

means that

for each real ε > 0 there exists a real δ > 0 such that for all x with 0 < |x − c| < δ, we have |f(x) − L| < ε.

or, symbolically,

0 \ \ \exists \delta > 0 \ \ \forall x (0 < |x - c| < \delta \ \implies \ |f(x) - L| < \varepsilon)." src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/8/9/f/89f08eb7819f6c492a525598f90484a6.png">

Compared to the informal discussion above, the fact that ε can be any arbitrarily small positive number corresponds to being able to bring f(x) as close to L as desired. The δ marks some "sufficiently close" distance for values of x from c such that f(x) stays within a distance less than ε from the limit L.

The formal (ε, δ)-definition of limit is sometimes called the delta-epsilon form because it uses the Greek letters delta (δ) and epsilon (ε). The use of the particular Greek letters δ and ε is merely traditional; the definition would, of course, be unchanged if different letters or symbols were used. (The ∀ above is a symbol used in universal quantification for "for all.") An alternative definition without quantifiers can be found at non-standard calculus.

Caution: It should be noted that this definition provides a way to recognize a limit without providing a way to calculate it. One often needs to find a limit using informal methods, especially when f(x) is discontinuous at c, for example, when f is a ratio with a denominator that becomes 0 at c. One should check that the result actually meets the Weierstrass definition in such cases.

[edit] Limit of a function at infinity

A related concept to limits as x approaches some finite number is the limit as x approaches positive or negative infinity. This does not literally mean that the difference between x and infinity becomes small, since infinity is not a real number; rather, it means that x either grows without bound positively (positive infinity) or grows without bound negatively (negative infinity).

For example, consider f(x) = 2x/(x + 1).

f(100) = 1.9802
f(1000) = 1.9980
f(10000) = 1.9998

As x becomes extremely large, the value of f(x) approaches 2, and the value of f(x) can be made as close to 2 as one could wish just by picking x sufficiently large. In this case, we say that the limit of f(x) as x approaches infinity is 2. In mathematical notation,

S, f(x) is within ε of L">

For all x > S, f(x) is within ε of L

Formally, we have the definition

if and only if for each ε > 0 there exists an S such that S. " src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/d/5/2/d52a692c29b4f52c8b794655e0cd98e5.png">

Note that the S in the definition will generally depend on ε. A similar definition applies for

If one considers the domain of f to be the extended real number line, then the limit of a function at infinity can be considered as a special case of limit of a function at a point.

[edit] Limit of a sequence

Main article: Limit of a sequence

Consider the following sequence: 1.79, 1.799, 1.7999,... We could observe that the numbers are "approaching" 1.8, the limit of the sequence.

Formally, suppose x₁, x₂, ... is a sequence of real numbers. We say that the real number L is the limit of this sequence and we write

to mean

For every real number ε > 0, there exists a natural number n₀ such that for all n > n₀, |x_n − L| < ε.

Intuitively, this means that eventually all elements of the sequence get as close as we want to the limit, since the absolute value |x_n − L| is the distance between x_n and L. Not every sequence has a limit; if it does, we call it convergent, otherwise divergent. One can show that a convergent sequence has only one limit.

The limit of a sequence and the limit of a function are closely related. On one hand, the limit of a sequence is simply the limit at infinity of a function defined on natural numbers. On the other hand, a limit of a function f at x, if it exists, is the same as the limit of the sequence x_n = f(x + 1/n).

[edit] Useful identities

, where S is a scalar multiplier.
, where b is a constant.

The following rules are only valid if the limits on the righthand side exist and are finite.

, if the denominator containing the limit does not equal zero

If any of the limits in the righthand side is undefined or infinite, these rules do not necessarily work.

For example, but is undefined.

[edit] Limits of extra interest

[edit] L'Hôpital's rule

This rule uses derivatives and has a conditional usage. (It can only be directly used on limits that "equal" 0/0 or ±∞/±∞. Other indeterminate forms require some algebraic manipulation usually involving setting the limit equal to y, taking the natural logarithm of both sides, and then using l'Hôpital's rule.)

For example:

[edit] Summations and integrals

A short way to write the limit is .

[edit] Topological net

Main article: Net (topology)

All of the above notions of limit can be unified and generalized to arbitrary topological spaces by introducing topological nets and defining their limits. The article on nets elaborates on this.

An alternative is the concept of limit for filters on topological spaces.

Pajak dan Transfer Pricing

2008-12-15T17:47:00.000-08:00

IDENTIFIKASI DAN PERLAKUAN PERPAJAKAN ATAS TRANSAKSI TRANSFER PRICING

PENDAHULUAN
Perkembangan yang pesat dari ilmu pengetahuan khususnya perkembangan teknologi informasi berupa makin luasnya pemakaian internet, telah banyak mengubah kehidupan masyarakat dunia. Transaksi internasional yang mencakup barang, jasa dan modal cenderung berorientasi global, dimana batas-batas suatu negara semakin kabur dan dengan sarana internet perdagangan dapat berlangsung tanpa batas. Hal ini membuat arus barang, jasa maupun modal akan masuk dan atau keluar dari suatu Negara tanpa hambatan. Kegiatan perdagangan lintas Negara membuat pertumbuhan perusahaan multinasional makin pesat. Perusahaan multinasional tersebut, di luar negara tempat kedudukannya mengoperasikan cabang atau anak perusahaan. Pendirian anak perusahaan di berbagai negara merupakan strategi bisnis perusahaan untuk memenangkan persaingan seperti mempertahankan dan mengembangkan pangsa pasar, menguasai sumber-sumber daya yang relatif terbatas. Dalam perusahaan multinasional tersebut, hampir sebagian besar transaksi dan aktivitas ekonomi terjadi antar mereka, seperti transaksi penjualan, pembelian bahan baku, pemberian jasa, penggunaan hak kekayaan intelektual, pemberian pinjaman dan sebagainya.
Keberhasilan operasi-operasi bisnis di luar negeri sangat berkaitan dengan kemampuan untuk beradaptasi dengan faktor-faktor lingkungan yang sangat banyak jumlahnya. Salah satu mekanisme yang digunakan oleh perusahaan multinasional untuk beradaptasi adalah teknik pricing atas sumber daya, jasa dan teknologi yang ditransfer dari satu perusahaan anak ke perusahaan anak yang lain dalam sistem multinasional. Transfer pricing bervariasi dari suatu perusahaan ke perusahaan lain, industri ke industri dan negara ke negara. Transfer pricing dapat mempengaruhi hubungan-hubungan sosial, ekonomi, dan politik dalam entitas-entitas bisnis multinasional. Transaksi-transaksi yang terjadi antar negara juga mengakibatkan perusahaan-perusahaan multinasional menerima banyak pengaruh dari lingkungan yang menciptakan sekaligus mengurangi kesempatan-kesempatan untuk meningkatkan laba perusahaan melalui penyesuaian-penyesuaian harga internal. Faktor-faktor seperti perbedaan tarif pajak, tarif impor, persaingan, laju inflasi, nilai valuta asing, resiko-resiko politik, kepentingan-kepentingan mitra usaha patungan membuat keputusan-keputusan transfer pricing semakin rumit. Dan pada akhirnya keputusan tentang transfer pricing umumnya menimbulkan trade-off yang kadang-kadang tidak terduga dan mungkin jarang bisa dijelaskan.
Sebagaimana disebutkan di atas, salah satu faktor yang membuat keputusan transfer pricing semakin rumit adalah perbedaan tarif pajak antar negara. Transfer pricing dapat membuat potensi penerimaan pajak suatu negara berkurang atau hilang. Perusahaan multinasional memiliki kecenderungan untuk menggeser kewajiban perpajakannya dari negara-negara yang memiliki tarif pajak yang tinggi ke negara-negara yang menetapkan tarif pajak rendah. Sehingga dengan demikian terjadi pergeseran dasar pengenaan pajak dari satu negara ke negara lainnya. Hal inilah yang membuat masalah transfer pricing menjadi masalah internasional karena banyak negara yang memiliki kepentingan, terutama bagi negara berkembang seperti Indonesia yang dalam transaksi yang mengandung transfer pricing menjadi negara sumber penghasilan.Transfer pricing dapat menimbulkan distorsi penerimaan negara.

DEFINISI DAN METODE TRANSFER PRICING
Beberapa definisi mengenai transfer pricing atau transfer price yang diutarakan beberapa ahli antara lain adalah :

Menurut Tsurumi dalam Gunadi ( 1997 ), dalam suatu grup perusahaan, transfer pricing merupakan harga yang diperhitungkan untuk pengendalian manajemen (management control ) atas transfer barang dan jasa dalam satu grup perusahaan.
Menurut Charles T.Horngren, George Foster dan Srikant Datar dalam Akuntansi Biaya, harga transfer merupakan harga yang dikenakan oleh satu subunit (segmen, departemen, divisi dan sebagainya ) untuk produk atau jasa yang dipasok ke subunit lain dalam organisasi yang sama.
Menurut Ralph Estes dalam Kamus Akuntansi, harga transfer adalah suatu harga internal yang dibebankan oleh satu unit ( seperti divisi, perusahaan anak, atau departemen ) dari suatu perusahaan pada unit lainnya dalam perusahaan yang sama.
Menurut Don R.Hansen dan Maryanne M.Moven dalam Management Accounting, harga transfer adalah harga yang ditagihkan untuk barang yang ditransfer dari satu divisi ke divisi lainnya.

Menurut Sophar Lumbantoruan, harga transfer adalah penentuan harga atau balas jasa atas suatu transaksi antar unit dalam satu perusahaan atau antar perusahaan dalam satu grup.
Dari berbagai definisi di atas dapat ditarik suatu kesimpulan bahwa pada prinsipnya transfer pricing adalah suatu metode penentuan harga antar perusahaan dalam satu grup yang sama.
Menurut Charles T.Horngren, George Foster dan Srikant Datar, ada tiga metode umum untuk menentukan harga transfer yaitu
Harga transfer berdasarkan pasar
Perusahaan dapat memilih untuk menggunakan harga dari produk atau jasa sejenis yang tercantum dalam, katakanlah jurnal perdagangan. Perusahaan juga dapat memilih harga internalnya sama dengan harga eksternal yang dikenakan terhadap konsumen luar.
Harga transfer berdasarkan biaya
Contoh-contoh meliputi biaya variabel produksi, biaya produksi penuh dan biaya produk penuh. Biaya produksi penuh meliputi semua biaya produksi termasuk biaya dari fungsi usaha ( riset dan pengembangan, desain, pemasaran, distribusi, dan pelayanan konsumen ). Biaya-biaya tersebut dapat merupakan biaya aktual maupun biaya yang dianggarkan.
Harga transfer hasil negosiasi
Dalam beberapa kasus, subunit perusahaan bebas untuk menegosiasikan harga transfer antar mereka. Subunit dapat menggunakan informasi mengenai biaya dan harga pasar dalam negosiasi, tetapi tidak ada persyaratan bahwa harga transfer yang dipilih harus mempunyai hubungan tertentu ke biaya atau harga pasar. Harga transfer hasil negosiasi tersebut sering digunakan ketika harga transfer berfluktuasi dan terus berubah. Harga transfer hasil negosiasi merupakan hasil dari proses tawar-menawar antara divisi penjual dan divisi pembeli.
Sedangkan menurut Don R.Hansen dan Maryanne M.Moven, tiga metode yang lazim digunakan dalam penetapan harga transfer adalah :
Harga transfer berdasarkan harga pasar

Apabila terdapat pasar luar dengan persaingan sempurna untuk produk yang ditransfer, maka harga transfer yang sesuai adalah harga pasar. Dengan harga pasar tidak ada divisi yang memperoleh manfaat di atas beban divisi lain. Dalam hal ini, harga pasar mencerminkan biaya kesempatan ( opportunity cost) divisi penjual dan divisi pembeli
Harga transfer yang dinegosiasikan
Dalam banyak kasus, pembeli atau penjual mampu mempengaruhi harga sampai derajat tertentu ( sebagai contoh melalui jumlah yang besar atau melalui penjualan produk yang erat kaitannya tetapi berbeda, atau melalui penjualan produk yang unik ). Apabila tidak terdapat pasar dengan persaingan sempurna, harga transfer yang dinegosiasikan adalah pilihan yang baik. Dalam hal ini, biaya kesempatan divisi penjual dan divisi pembeli berbeda, dan mereka menetapkan harga batas atas dan batas bawah untuk harga transfer. Harga transfer yang dinegosiasi menawarkan harapan untuk melengkapi ketiga kriteria kesesuaian tujuan, otonomi dan akurasi evaluasi kinerja.
Harga transfer berdasarkan biaya
Penggunaan harga transfer berdasarkan biaya tidak lazim direkomendasikan, tetapi, apabila transfer menimbulkan dampak yang kecil terhadap profitabilitas kedua divisi, pendekatan ini dapat diterima. Perusahaan yang menggunakan penetapan harga transfer berdasarkan biaya mensyaratkan bahwa seluruh transfer berlangsung pada suatu bentuk biaya. Tiga bentuk dari penetapan harga transfer berdasarkan biaya yang akan dipertimbangkan adalah :
Full cost
Full cost meliputi direct materials, direct labor, variable overhead dan bagian dari fixed overhead. Penetapan harga transfer full cost dapat merusak insentif dan mengganggu ukuran-ukuran kinerja dan akan menutup kemungkinan pemberlakuan harga transfer yang dinegosiasikan.
Full cost plus markup
Rumusan full cost plus markup mungkin dapat digunakan untuk menggambarkan harga transfer yang dinegosiasi. Dalam beberapa kasus, suatu rumusan full cost plus markup mungkin menjadi hasil dari negosiasi, bila demikian, cara ini hanyalah sebuah contoh lain dari penetapan harga transfer yang dinegosiasi. Tetapi, penggunaan full cost plus markup untuk mewakili semua harga negosiasi adalah tidak mungkin.
Variable cost plus fixed fee
Seperti full cost plus markup, variable cost plus fixed fee merupakan pendekatan yang dapat digunakan dalam penetapan harga transfer, dengan tingkat fixed fee dapat dinegosiasikan. Metode ini memiliki satu keunggulan dibandingkan full cost plus markup yaitu apabila divisi penjual sedang beroperasi di bawah kapasitas, maka variable cost adalah opportunity cost-nya. Dengan mengasumsikan bahwa fixed fee dapat dinegosiasikan, pendekatan variable cost adalah sama dengan penetapan harga transfer yang dinegosiasi.

PERATURAN PERPAJAKAN TENTANG HUBUNGAN ISTIMEWA DAN TRANSFER PRICING

Pasal 10 ayat 1 Undang-undang No.17 Tahun 2000 Tentang Pajak Penghasilan
Pasal 10 ayat 1 berbunyi :
Harga perolehan atau harga penjualan dalam hal terjadi jual beli harta yang tidak dipengaruhi hubungan istimewa sebagaimana dimaksud dalam Pasal 18 ayat (4) adalah jumlah yang sesungguhnya dikeluarkan atau diterima, sedangkan apabila terdapat hubungan istimewa adalah jumlah yang seharusnya dikeluarkan atau diterima.

Penjelasan :
Pada umumnya dalam jual beli harta, harga perolehan harta bagi pihak pembeli adalah harga yang sesungguhnya dibayar dan harga penjualan bagi pihak penjual adalah harga yang sesungguhnya diterima. Termasuk dalam harga perolehan adalah harga beli dan biaya yang dikeluarkan dalam rangka memperoleh harta tersebut, seperti bea masuk, biaya pengangkutan dan biaya pemasangan.

Dalam hal jual beli yang dipengaruhi hubungan istimewa sebagaimana dimaksud dalam Pasal 18 ayat (4), maka bagi pihak pembeli nilai perolehannya adalah jumlah yang seharusnya dibayar dan bagi pihak penjual nilai penjualannya adalah jumlah yang seharusnya diterima. Adanya hubungan istimewa antara pembeli dan penjual dapat menyebabkan harga perolehan menjadi lebih besar atau lebih kecil dibandingkan dengan jika jual beli tersebut tidak dipengaruhi oleh hubungan istimewa. Oleh karena itu dalam ketentuan ini diatur bahwa nilai perolehan atau nilai penjualan harta bagi pihak-pihak yang bersangkutan adalah jumlah yang seharusnya dikeluarkan atau yang seharusnya diterima

Pasal 18 ayat 3 Undang-undang No.17 Tahun 2000 Tentang Pajak Penghasilan
Pasal 18 ayat 3 berbunyi :
Direktur Jenderal Pajak berwenang untuk menentukan kembali besarnya penghasilan dan pengurangan serta menentukan utang sebagai modal untuk menghitung besarnya Penghasilan Kena Pajak bagi Wajib Pajak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa dengan Wajib Pajak lainnya sesuai dengan kewajaran dan kelaziman usaha yang tidak dipengaruhi oleh hubungan istimewa.

Penjelasan :
Maksud diadakannya ketentuan ini adalah untuk mencegah terjadinya penghindaran pajak, yang dapat terjadi karena adanya hubungan istimewa. Apabila terdapat hubungan istimewa, kemungkinan dapat terjadi penghasilan dilaporkan kurang dari semestinya ataupun pembebanan biaya melebihi dari yang seharusnya. Dalam hal demikian, Direktur Jenderal Pajak berwenang untuk menentukan kembali besarnya penghasilan dan atau biaya sesuai dengan keadaan seandainya di antara para Wajib Pajak tersebut tidak terdapat hubungan istimewa. Dalam menentukan kembali jumlah penghasilan dan atau biaya tersebut dapat dipakai beberapa pendekatan, misalnya data pembanding, alokasi laba berdasar fungsi atau peran serta dari Wajib Pajak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa dan indikasi serta data lainnya.
Demikian pula kemungkinan terdapat penyertaan modal secara terselubung dengan menyatakan penyetoran modal tersebut sebagai utang, maka Direktur Jenderal Pajak berwenang untuk menentukan utang tersebut sebagai modal perusahaan. Penentuan tersebut dapat dilakukan misalnya melalui indikasi mengenai perbandingan antara modal dengan utang yang lazim terjadi antara para pihak yang tidak dipengaruhi oleh hubungan istimewa atau berdasar data atau indikasi lainnya.
Dengan demikian bunga yang dibayarkan sehubungan dengan utang yang dianggap sebagai penyertaan modal itu tidak diperbolehkan untuk dikurangkan, sedangkan bagi pemegang saham yang menerima atau memperolehnya dianggap sebagai dividen yang dikenakan pajak

Pasal 18 ayat 3A Undang-undang No.17 Tahun 2000 Tentang Pajak Penghasilan
Pasal 18 ayat 3A berbunyi :
Direktur Jenderal Pajak berwenang melakukan perjanjian dengan Wajib Pajak dan bekerja sama dengan pihak otoritas pajak negara lain untuk menentukan harga transaksi antar pihak-pihak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa sebagaimana dimaksud dalam ayat (4), yang berlaku selama suatu periode tertentu dan mengawasi pelaksanaannya serta melakukan renegosiasi setelah periode tertentu tersebut berakhir.

Penjelasan :
Kesepakatan harga transfer ( Advance Pricing Agreement/APA ) adalah kesepakatan antara Wajib Pajak dengan Direktur Jenderal Pajak mengenai harga jual wajar produk yang dihasilkannya kepada pihak-pihak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa (related parties ) dengannya. Tujuan diadakannya APA adalah untuk mengurangi terjadinya praktik penyalahgunaan transfer pricing oleh perusahaan multinasional. Persetujuan antara Wajib Pajak dengan Direktur Jenderal Pajak tersebut dapat mencakup beberapa hal antara lain harga jual produk yang dihasilkan, jumlah royalti dan lain-lain, tergantung pada kesepakatan.
APA dapat bersifat unilateral, yaitu merupakan kesepakatan antara Direktur Jenderal Pajak dengan Wajib Pajak atau bilateral, yaitu kesepakatan antara Direktur Jenderal Pajak dengan otoritas perpajakan negara lain yang menyangkut Wajib Pajak yang berada di wilayah yurisdiksinya.

Pasal 18 ayat 4 Undang-undang No.17 Tahun 2000 Tentang Pajak Penghasilan
Pasal 18 ayat 4 berbunyi :
Hubungan istimewa sebagaimana dimaksud dalam ayat (3) dan ayat (3a), Pasal 8 ayat (4), Pasal 9 ayat (1) huruf f, dan Pasal 10 ayat (1) dianggap ada apabila :
Wajib Pajak mempunyai penyertaan modal langsung atau tidak langsung paling rendah 25% ( dua puluh lima persen ) pada Wajib Pajak lain, atau hubungan antara Wajib Pajak dengan penyertaan paling rendah 25% (dua puluh lima persen) pada dua Wajib Pajak atau lebih, demikian pula hubungan antara dua Wajib Pajak atau lebih yang disebut terakhir; atau
Wajib Pajak menguasai Wajib Pajak lainnya atau dua atau lebih Wajib Pajak berada di bawah penguasaan yang sama baik langsung maupun tidak langsung; atau
Terdapat hubungan keluarga baik sedarah maupun semenda dalam garis keturunan lurus dan atau ke samping satu derajat.

Penjelasan :
Hubungan istimewa di antara Wajib Pajak dapat terjadi karena ketergantungan atau keterikatan satu dengan yang lain yang disebabkan karena :
kepemilikan atau penyertaan modal;
adanya penguasaan melalui manajemen atau penggunaan teknologi
Selain karena hal-hal tersebut di atas, hubungan istimewa di antara Wajib Pajak orang pribadi dapat pula terjadi karena adanya hubungan darah atau karena perkawinan
Pasal 2 ayat 1 Undang-undang No.18 Tahun 2000 Tentang Pajak Pertambahan Nilai Barang dan Jasa dan Pajak Penjualan Barang Mewah

Pasal 2 ayat 1 berbunyi :
Dalam hal Harga Jual atau Penggantian dipengaruhi oleh hubungan istimewa, maka Harga Jual atau Penggantian dihitung atas dasar harga pasar wajar pada saat penyerahan Barang Kena Pajak atau Jasa Kena Pajak itu dilakukan.

Penjelasan :
Pengaruh hubungan istimewa seperti dimaksud dalam Undang-undang ini ialah adanya kemungkinan harga yang ditekan lebih rendah dari harga pasar. Dalam hal ini, Direktur Jenderal Pajak mempunyai kewenangan melakukan penyesuaian Harga Jual atau Penggantian yang menjadi Dasar Pengenaan Pajak dengan harga pasar wajar yang berlaku di pasaran bebas.
Pasal 2 ayat 2 Undang-undang No.18 Tahun 2000 Tentang Pajak Pertambahan Nilai Barang dan Jasa dan Pajak Penjualan Barang Mewah

Pasal 2 ayat 2 berbunyi :
Hubungan istimewa dianggap ada apabila :
Pengusaha mempunyai penyertaan langsung atau tidak langsung sebesar 25% (dua puluh lima persen ) atau lebih pada Pengusaha lain, atau hubungan antara Pengusaha dengan penyertaan 25% ( dua puluh lima persen ) atau lebih pada dua Pengusaha atau lebih, demikian pula hubungan antara dua Pengusaha atau lebih yang disebut terakhir; atau
Pengusaha menguasai Pengusaha lainnya atau dua atau lebih Pengusaha berada di bawah penguasaan Pengusaha yang sama baik langsung maupun tidak langsung atau
Terdapat hubungan keluarga baik sedarah maupun semenda dalam garis keturunan lurus satu derajat dan/atau ke samping satu derajat.

Penjelasan :
Hubungan istimewa antara Pengusaha Kena Pajak dengan pihak yang menerima penyerahan Barang Kena Pajak dan/atau Jasa Kena Pajak dapat terjadi karena ketergantungan atau keterikatan satu dengan yang lain yang disebabkan karena :
faktor kepemilikan atau penyertaan;

adanya penguasaan melalui manajemen atau penggunaan teknologi
Selain karena hal-hal tersebut di atas, hubungan istimewa di antara orang pribadi dapat pula terjadi karena adanya hubungan darah atau karena perkawinan.
Ketentuan dalam Perjanjian Penghindaran Pajak Berganda ( P3B )
Sehubungan dengan masalah transfer pricing yang melibatkan banyak negara maka di P3B mengatur tentang hubungan istimewa, yaitu pada Pasal 9 UN Model. Pasal ini mengatur tentang perusahaan-perusahaan yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa yaitu antara induk perusahaan yang berdomisili di salah satu negara dan anak perusahaan yang berdomisili di negara lainnya.

Pasal 9 UN Model berbunyi :
1. Apabila :
Suatu perusahaan dari satu Negara pihak pada persetujuan, baik secara langsung maupun tidak langsung turut serta dalam manajemen, pengawasan atau modal suatu perusahaan di Negara pihak persetujuan lainnya, atau
Orang atau badan yang sama, baik secara langsung maupun tidak langsung turut serta dalam manajemen, pengawasan atau modal suatu perusahaan dari suatu Negara pihak pada persetujuan dan suatu perusahaan dari Negara pihak pada persetujuan lainnya, dan dalam kedua hal itu antara kedua perusahaan dimaksud dalam hubungan dagangnya atau hubungan keuangannya diadakan atau diterapkan syarat-syarat yang menyimpang dari yang lazim berlaku antara perusahaan-perusahaan yang sama sekali bebas satu sama lain, sehingga laba yang timbul dinikmati oleh salah satu perusahaan yang apabila syarat-syarat itu tidak dapat dinikmati oleh perusahaan tersebut, dapat ditambahkan pada laba perusahaan itu dan dikenai pajak.

Apabila suatu negara pihak pada persetujuan mencakup laba satu perusahaan di Negara itu dan dikenai pajak laba yang telah dikenai pajak di Negara lainnya dan laba tersebut adalah laba yang memang seharusnya diperoleh perusahaan-perusahaan independen, maka Negara lain itu akan melakukan penyesuaian-penyesuaian atas jumlah laba yang dikenai pajak. Penyesuaian-penyesuaian itu harus memperhatikan ketentuan-ketentuan lain dalam persetujuan ini dan apabila dianggap perlu, pejabat-pejabat yang berwenang dari kedua Negara pihak pada persetujuan saling berkonsultasi.
Surat Edaran Direktur Jenderal Pajak Nomor SE-04/PJ.7/1993 tanggal 9 Maret 1993 Tentang Petunjuk Penanganan Kasus-Kasus Transfer Pricing
Peraturan ini merupakan petunjuk bagaimana perlakuan perpajakan atas kasus transfer pricing, berisi contoh-contoh transaksi yang melibatkan pihak-pihak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa. Transaksi antar pihak tersebut dapat mengakibatkan kekurang wajaran harga, biaya atau imbalan lain yang direalisasikan dalam suatu transaksi usaha. Bentuk kekurang wajaran dapat terjadi atas penentuan :
Harga penjualan

Harga pembelian
Alokasi biaya administrasi dan umum ( overhead cost )
Pembebanan bunga atas pemberian pinjaman oleh pemegang saham ( share holder loan )
Pembayaran komisi, lisensi, franchise, sewa, royalti, imbalan atas jasa manajemen, imbalan atas jasa teknik dan imbalan atas jasa lainnya
Pembelian harta perusahaan oleh pemegang saham ( pemilik ) atau pihak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa yang lebih rendah dari harga pasar
Penjualan kepada pihak luar negeri melalui pihak ketiga yang kurang/tidak mempunyai substansi usaha ( misalnya dummy company, letter box company atau reinvoicing center )

IDENTIFIKASI DAN PERLAKUAN PERPAJAKAN ATAS TRANSAKSI TRANSFER PRICING
Untuk menangani dan menyelesaikan transaksi transfer pricing yang melibatkan pihak-pihak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa , yang mungkin melibatkan otoritas pajak negara lain serta dalam rangka mengamankan penerimaan negara dari pajak maka otoritas pajak harus memperhatikan hal-hal sebagai berikut :

Mengetahui motivasi perusahaan tersebut melakukan transfer pricing
Mengidentifikasi adanya rekayasa transfer pricing
Memperhatikan hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan prinsip arm’s length dalam menangani masalah transfer pricing
Metode-metode untuk menentukan arm’s length
Penerapan Advance Pricing Agreement
Menurut Gunadi, pada tahun 1985 telah dilakukan penelitian oleh tim UNTC dari PBB yang diketuai oleh DR.Silvain Plasschaert tentang transfer pricing di Indonesia. Hasil penelitian tersebut menyimpulkan ada beberapa motivasi transfer pricing di Indonesia yaitu :
pengurangan obyek pajak terutama pajak penghasilan
pelonggaran pengaruh pembatasan kepemilikan luar negeri
penurunan pengaruh depresiasi rupiah
menguatkan tuntutan kenaikan harga atau proteksi terhadap saingan impor
mempertahankan sikap low profile tanpa mempedulikan tingkat keuntungan usaha
mengamankan perusahaan dari tuntutan atas imbalan atau kesejahteraan karyawan dan kepedulian lingkungan ( ekologi dan masyarakat )
memperkecil akibat pembatasan, ketidakpastian atas resiko kegiatan perusahaan luar negeri
Penelitian tersebut membuktikan bahwa praktik transfer pricing dapat dipicu oleh motivasi pajak atau non pajak. Motivasi pajak atas transfer pricing dilakukan dengan merelokasi penghasilannya ( revenues ) ke negara-negara yang menerapkan tarif pajak yang relatif rendah ( low tax countries ) dan sebaliknya membebankan biaya-biaya usahanya lebih besar ke negara-negara yang menerapkan tarif pajak yang relatif tinggi (high tax countries ) sehingga perusahaan tersebut memperoleh penghematan pajak secara global. Perbedaan tarif pajak penghasilan antar negara seperti Indonesia 30%, Singapura 27%, Hongkong 18%, atau bahkan Bahama, Bermuda dan Cayman Islands yang tidak memiliki pajak sama sekali, makin mendorong perusahaan untuk melakukan transfer pricing. Manipulasi pajak lain yang dilakukan oleh perusahaan multinasional adalah mendirikan vehicle company atau letter box company di negara-negara yang termasuk tax haven countries. Negara seperti Cayman Islands, British Virgin Island dan Mauritius merupakan negara tax haven countries yang memberikan subsidi pajak berupa tarif pajak yang relatif rendah atau bahkan membebaskannya kepada para investor, menyediakan infrastruktur keuangan yang canggih (sophisticated financial infrastructures) dan jaminan kerahasiaan ( secrecy )
Strategi transfer pricing dengan memanfaatkan perbedaaan tarif pajak antar negara yang bertujuan untuk melakukan penghindaran pajak ( tax avoidance ) akan sangat merugikan negara-negara yang termasuk high tax countries karena negara-negara tersebut akan kehilangan potensi penerimaan pajak yang seharusnya diperoleh. Masalah transfer pricing akan makin parah apabila dimaksudkan untuk melakukan penggelapan pajak ( tax evasion ), untuk itu maka perusahaan multinasional yang melakukan penggelapan pajak dianggap melakukan tindakan kriminal di bidang perpajakan. Dari sisi hukum, penggelapan pajak karena transfer pricing telah menyimpang dari ketentuan perpajakan yang berlaku karena secara substansi negara seharusnya dapat memajaki perusahaan multinasional tersebut dalam jumlah yang lebih besar. Sehingga dengan demikian akan dikenai sanksi pidana perpajakan, untuk Indonesia sesuai dengan Undang-undang Nomor 16 Tahun 2000 diatur dalam Pasal 39 bahwa perbuatan kriminal pajak akan dikenai sanksi pidana penjara paling lama 6 ( enam ) tahun dan denda paling tinggi 4 ( empat ) kali jumlah pajak terutang yang tidak atau kurang dibayar. Perbedaan antara penghindaran pajak dan penggelapan pajak sangat tipis dan dari sisi etika bisnis, praktik transfer pricing dapat menimbulkan moral hazard karena bertentangan dengan ketentuan yang berlaku.
Penanganan transfer pricing atas barang dagangan, teknologi, merek dan jasa antara pihak-pihak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa memang tidak mudah. Modus operandi semakin canggih seiring dengan perkembangan transaksi internasional dan era globalisasi. Di Indonesia transaksi-transaksi yang melibatkan perusahaan multinasional tidak lepas dari rekayasa transfer pricing, terutama oleh Wajib Pajak yang berbentuk Penanaman Modal Asing ( PMA ) maupun Bentuk Usaha Tetap ( permanent establishment ). Perusahaan PMA tersebut umumnya bergerak di bidang manufaktur dan mempunyai hubungan kepemilikan dengan perusahaan induk atau anak perusahaan lain di negara yang lain.

Perusahaan di Indonesia umumnya dijadikan cost center, dengan cara perusahaan di Indonesia membeli bahan baku dari perusahaan induk atau perusahaan anak lain yang berafiliasi dengan harga yang tinggi, ini akan makin sulit apabila bahan baku yang diimpor tidak mempunyai harga pembanding di pasar internasional. Kemudian bahan baku tersebut diolah menjadi barang setengah jadi yang nantinya diekspor kembali ke perusahaan induk atau perusahaan anak lainnya di negara lain dengan harga yang sama dengan biaya produksi atau bahkan lebih rendah dari biaya produksinya. Perusahaan di Indonesia juga dapat dijadikan tempat untuk memproduksi bahan baku yang hasilnya dipasarkan ke pasar lokal maupun ke negara ketiga.
Beberapa petunjuk yang dapat digunakan sebagai indikasi awal adanya rekayasa transfer pricing pada perusahaan di Indonesia adalah
Dalam laporan audit dapat diketahui bahwa sebagian besar transaksi baik pembelian maupun penjualan dilakukan dari dan ke perusahaan-perusahaan lain yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa ( related parties )
Dalam laporan audit juga dapat diketahui bahwa struktur modal, umumnya perusahaan di Indonesia lebih banyak mengandalkan pinjaman ( baik yang berasal dari sindikasi perbankan maupun perusahaan induknya ) daripada modal sendiri. Hal ini dikenal dengan thin capitalization ( debt-equity ratio )
Terjadi pembayaran royalti atau imbalan jasa baik jasa teknik maupun jasa manajemen dari perusahaan di Indonesia kepada perusahaan-perusahaan lain yang termasuk perusahaan related parties, walaupun perusahaan di Indonesia tersebut mengalami kerugian selama bertahun-tahun
Apabila perusahaan di Indonesia tersebut dalam operasi normal perusahaan menghasilkan laba maka akan terjadi pembayaran dividen dalam jumlah besar kepada para pemegang sahamnya.
Perusahaan tetap dapat beroperasi normal walaupun selama bertahun-tahun menderita kerugian, karena memang perusahaan di Indonesia di setting sebagai pusat biaya atau pusat penampungan kerugian. Hal ini dapat terlihat dari persentase Harga Pokok Penjualan yang tinggi terhadap Penjualan dan kecilnya Gross Profit.

Memanfaatkan celah pada peraturan tentang P3B yang dikenal dengan istilah treaty shopping. Treaty shopping adalah negara ketiga memanfaatkan suatu P3B dengan cara menggunakan penduduk dari salah satu negara pihak pada persetujuan yang berhak menikmati treaty protection. Transaksinya biasanya merupakan transaksi segitiga. Berkaitan dengan transfer pricing, treaty shopping dilakukan dengan melakukan rekayasa arus dana melalui negara mitra perjanjian untuk mendapatkan keringanan pajak.
Terdapat transaksi-transaksi yang melibatkan negara-negara tax haven countries.
Apabila salah satu perusahaan dalam satu grup menderita kerugian terus menerus tetapi secara keseluruhan perusahaan tersebut memperoleh laba maka patut dicurigai adanya praktek transfer pricing. Sebab perusahaan yang independen tidak mau perusahaannya menderita rugi berkepanjangan.

Sebagaimana telah disebutkan di atas, bahwa transaksi transfer pricing melibatkan pihak-pihak yang memiliki hubungan istimewa maka harga yang terjadi tentu tidak bersifat arm’s length. Bagi perusahaan multinasional, transfer pricing merupakan salah satu alat untuk memobilisasi laba usaha agar tujuan perusahaan secara global dapat tercapai, sedangkan otoritas pajak tetap menginginkan agar transaksi yang melibatkan perusahaan-perusahaan dalam satu grup tetap bersifat arm’s length. Untuk keperluan ini, OECD telah mengeluarkan petunjuk untuk menangani masalah transfer pricing pada tahun 1995. Pada dasarnya OECD menerapkan prinsip arm’s length dalam menghadapi masalah transfer pricing karena prinsip ini membuat perusahaan-perusahaan dalam satu grup memiliki kondisi yang sama dengan perusahaan yang tidak memiliki hubungan istimewa.

Beberapa hal yang perlu diperhatikan dalam melaksanakan prinsip arm’s length adalah :
Analisa tentang transaksi yang bisa dibandingkan
Dasar menerapkan prinsip arm’s length adalah perbandingan transaksi antara pihak-pihak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa dengan transaksi antara pihak-pihak yang independen. Faktor penting dalam menilai apakah transaksi dapat dibandingkan adalah mempertimbangkan perbedaan-perbedaan ekonomis yang menjadi latar belakang timbulnya transaksi tersebut.
Pengakuan atas transaksi yang dilakukan
Otoritas pajak berkepentingan untuk menerima transaksi yang dilakukan oleh pihak-pihak yang memiliki hubungan istimewa sebagaimana adanya. Karena apabila dilakukan koreksi terhadap transaksi tersebut, dapat terjadi double taxation karena negara lain belum tentu memiliki pendapat yang sama. Otoritas pajak dapat mengabaikan transaksi dalam hal :

Apabila substansi ekonomis dari transaksi tersebut berbeda dari formalitasnya
Substansi dan formalitasnya sama, tetapi secara keseluruhan transaksi tersebut berbeda dari transaksi yang terjadi antara pihak-pihak yang independen.

Evaluasi terhadap transaksi secara terpisah atau secara gabungan
Untuk memperoleh harga pasar yang wajar, prinsip arm’s length perlu diterapkan terhadap setiap transaksi. Transaksi dapat dilihat secara terpisah atau gabungan, mungkin ada transaksi kontrak dalam satu paket tetapi diperlakukan sebagai transaksi terpisah. Oleh karena itu, setiap bagian dari transaksi yang menjadi unsur paket tersebut perlu diteliti. Setelah transfer pricing untuk setiap bagian dari transaksi itu ditentukan, maka secara keseluruhan dapat dilihat apakah transaksi tersebut sudah arm’s length atau belum.
Penerapan arm’s length dalam suatu interval
Penggunaan metode-metode arm’s length menimbulkan angka yang berbeda, hal ini menunjukkan bahwa ada beberapa faktor yang berbeda yang mempengaruhi transaksi tersebut. Apabila terdapat interval angka dan deviasi dari angka-angka terlalu besar maka terdapat kemungkinan data yang dipakai tidak dapat dipercaya.
Penggunaan data yang berasal dari beberapa tahun
Otoritas pajak dapat menggunakan data Wajib Pajak yang meliputi data tahun terjadinya transaksi dan tahun-tahun sebelumnya untuk memperoleh fakta dan situasi yang lebih akurat yang mempengaruhi transaksi antara pihak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa. Dengan demikian otoritas pajak mempunyai data pembanding atas transaksi tersebut. Di Indonesia hal ini telah diatur dalam Pasal 18 ayat 3 Undang-undang Nomor 17 Tahun 2000 Tentang Pajak Penghasilan.

Kerugian yang diderita
Perusahaan yang mengalami kerugian tetapi secara keseluruhan grup perusahaan tersebut memperoleh laba, mungkin tidak mendapat kompensasi yang wajar dan ini perlu diteliti lebih lanjut karena mungkin terjadi transfer pricing.
Akibat kebijakan pemerintah
Dalam beberapa kasus, Wajib Pajak sering mengatakan hahwa harga barang harus disesuaikan dengan kebijakan pemerintah seperti pengendalian harga, pemberian subsidi di sektor tertentu, pengawasan devisa, dll. Oleh karena itu intervensi pemerintah tersebut harus diperlakukan sebagai kondisi pasar di negara tertentu.

Kompensasi yang disengaja
Dalam hal ini perusahaan-perusahaan dalam satu grup telah tahu bahwa transaksi telah diatur sehingga salah satu perusahaan memberikan manfaat tertentu kepada perusahaan lain dalam satu grup dan menerima manfaat dalam bentuk lain dari perusahaan lain tersebut.
Penggunaan patokan harga untuk keperluan bea masuk
Otoritas pajak dapat menggunakan patokan harga yang berasal dari data bea cukai untuk menilai apakah sudah sesuai dengan prinsip arm’s length. Dalam praktik, aparat bea cukai telah menggunakan prinsip arm’s length pada saat barang ditransfer, pada saat itu aparat bea cukai membandingkan harga barang yang diimpor oleh pihak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa dengan barang yang diimpor oleh pihak yang tidak mempunyai hubungan istimewa.
OECD menyebutkan beberapa metode untuk menentukan arm’s length yaitu :
Comparable uncontrolled price method
Berdasarkan pendekatan ini, harga transfer ditetapkan dengan mengacu pada harga yang digunakan dalam transaksi-transaksi yang sebanding antara perusahaan-perusahaan independen atau antara korporasi dengan pihak ketiga yang tidak berhubungan.Walaupun metode ini mudah diaplikasikan dalam teori, tetapi tidak mudah dalam praktik. Perbedaan-perbedaan dalam kualitas, kuantitas,merek dagang, brand, dan level ekonomis dari pasar umumnya menyebabkan perbandingan antara harga untuk harga atau jasa antara pihak-pihak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa dan transaksi sejenis yang tidak dipengaruhi oleh hubungan istimewa secara langsung sangat sulit dilakukan.

Resale price method
Metode ini melihat harga transaksi antara pihak-pihak yang independen setelah terjadinya transaksi antara pihak-pihak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa, menyangkut barang yang sama. Harga tersebut dikurangi dengan gross margin (resale price margin) yang pantas yang merupakan jumlah yang ditetapkan oleh penjual untuk menutup kembali harga pokok berikut biaya operasi lainnya. Sisanya setelah dikurangi biaya-biaya yang berkaitan dengan pembelian barang tersebut, misalnya bea masuk, menghasilkan arm’s length price. Resale price margin dari transaksi antar perusahaan dalam satu grup dapat ditentukan dengan merujuk pada resale price margin yang diharapkan oleh penjual atas barang yang dibeli dan dijual berdasarkan transaksi yang sejenis yang tidak dipengaruhi oleh hubungan istimewa
Cost plus method
Penentuan arm’s length dimulai dengan besarnya jumlah yang dikeluarkan oleh pemasok harta atau jasa dalam transaksi yang dipengaruhi oleh hubungan istimewa. Kemudian jumlah tersebut ditambahkan suatu markup sehingga menunjukkan laba sesuai dengan keadaan pasar. Besarnya cost plus markup itu sebaiknya ditentukan dengan mengacu pada cost plus markup yang diperoleh pemasok yang sama atas transaksi sejenis yang tidak dipengaruhi oleh hubungan istimewa.

Profit split method
Metode ini mencari laba yang akan dibagi di antara mereka yang ada dalam satu grup dari transaksi yang dipengaruhi oleh hubungan istimewa. Kemudian laba tersebut dibagi di antara perusahaan-perusahaan yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa tersebut dengan pertimbangan ekonomis sehingga pembagian itu kurang lebih mencerminkan laba seandainya transaksi itu tidak dipengaruhi oleh hubungan istimewa.
Transactional net margin method
Metode ini menetapkan margin laba bersih yang didasarkan atas perbandingan tertentu terhadap biaya, penjualan atau aktiva yang diperoleh Wajib Pajak. Karena itu, net margin dari Wajib Pajak yang dipengaruhi oleh hubungan istimewa seharusnya ditetapkan dengan mengacu pada net margin Wajib Pajak tersebut dalam transaksi yang sama tetapi yang tidak dipengaruhi oleh hubungan istimewa.

Kesepakatan harga transfer ( Advance Pricing Agreement/APA ) sebagai yang dimaksud dalam Pasal 18 ayat 3A Undang-undang Nomor 17 Tahun 2000 dapat digunakan untuk menyelesaikan masalah transfer pricing. APA umumnya dimulai dengan permintaan Wajib Pajak kepada otoritas pajak, kemudian Wajib Pajak mempresentasikan cara perhitungan harga biaya dengan memberikan semua data yang berkaitan dengan perhitungan tersebut. Pihak otoritas pajak kemudian melakukan semacam audit untuk memastikan bahwa perhitungan harga biaya tersebut dapat diterima. APA umumnya berlaku untuk suatu periode tertentu. Keuntungan dari APA selain memberikan kepastian hukum dan kemudahan penghitungan pajak, Fiskus tidak perlu melakukan koreksi atas harga jual dan keuntungan produk yang dijual Wajib Pajak kepada perusahaan dalam grup yang sama. Sehingga fiskus tidak perlu lagi melakukan penelitian apakah transaksi yang dipengaruhi hubungan istimewa sudah arm’s length atau belum.
Pasal 18 ayat 3 Undang-undang Nomor 17 Tahun 2000 Tentang Pajak Penghasilan memberikan kewenangan kepada otoritas pajak Indonesia dalam hal ini Direktur Jenderal Pajak untuk menentukan kembali besarnya penghasilan dan pengurangan serta menentukan utang sebagai modal. Penghitungan kembali ini hanya bertujuan menghitung besarnya Penghasilan Kena Pajak. Jumlah yang dihitung atau jumlah yang dikurangi harus sesuai dengan kewajaran dan kelaziman usaha yang tidak dipengaruhi oleh hubungan istimewa, sehingga dalam melakukan penghitungan kembali tidak dapat dilakukan secara sembarangan. Jadi sesuai dengan Pasal 18 ayat 3 maka penghitungan kembali hanya dapat dilakukan apabila terdapat hubungan istimewa antara pihak-pihak yang melakukan transaksi dan harga atas transaksi tersebut tidak sesuai dengan kewajaran dan kelaziman usaha.

Sedangkan Surat Edaran Direktur Jenderal Pajak Nomor SE-04/PJ.7/1993 tanggal 9 Maret 1993 berisi panduan bagi aparat pajak untuk menangani transaksi transfer pricing atau yang mengandung indikasi adanya transfer pricing dan bagaimana perlakuan perpajakannya. Surat edaran ini memuat berbagai bentuk kekurang wajaran harga, biaya atau imbalan lain yang direalisasikan dalam suatu transaksi usaha. Dalam menyelesaikan kasus tersebut juga digunakan berbagai metode untuk menentukan arm’s length price sebagaimana metode-metode yang digunakan oleh OECD.
Bentuk kekurang wajaran harga, biaya atau imbalan lain yang direalisasikan dalam suatu transaksi usaha dalam Surat Edaran ini dan perlakuan perpajakannya adalah
Harga penjualan
Dalam penyelesaian kasus atas kekurang wajaran harga penjualan, maka untuk menentukan harga wajar dari transaksi penjualan ini, ketentuan ini menggunakan dua pendekatan yaitu
pendekatan transaksi melalui metode comparable uncontrolled price, dalam hal terdapat kesulitan untuk mendapatkan harga pasar sebanding untuk barang yang sejenis atau serupa maka metode cost plus atau metode resale price digunakan.
pendekatan laba apabila ketiga metode di atas sulit digunakan, pendekatan laba dapat dilakukan dengan pendekatan laba perusahaan sebanding (comparable profit) atau tingkat hasil investasi ( return on investment ) dari usaha yang sama, serupa atau sejenis.
Harga pembelian
Dalam penyelesaian kasus atas kekurang wajaran harga pembelian, maka untuk menentukan harga wajar dari transaksi pembelian ini, pertama-tama dicari harga pasar sebanding untuk barang yang sama, sejenis atau serupa atas pembelian atau impor dari pihak yang tidak ada hubungan istimewa atau antar pihak-pihak yang tidak ada hubungan istimewa. Apabila ditemui kesulitan maka pendekatan harga jual minus dapat diterapkan.
Alokasi biaya administrasi dan umum ( overhead cost )
Kasus ini terjadi apabila terjadi alokasi biaya kantor pusat oleh Bentuk Usaha Tetap di Indonesia, alokasi biaya administrasi dan umum diperbolehkan sepanjang sebanding dengan manfaat yang diperoleh masing-masing BUT dan besarnya biaya yang dapat dialokasikan dihitung berdasarkan faktor-faktor tertentu yang dapat mencerminkan dengan baik proporsi manfaat yang diterimanya.
Pembebanan bunga atas pemberian pinjaman oleh pemegang saham ( share holder loan )
Ketentuan ini memuat penentuan kembali utang sebagai modal dalam kerangka bahwa pemberi pinjaman dalam hal ini pemegang saham belum menyetor penuh modalnya. Aplikasi ini adalah menentukan bagian pinjaman sejumlah modal yang belum disetor tersebut sebagai modal ( penyertaan kreditur yang sekaligus juga merupakan pemodal ) dan bunga pinjaman atas pinjaman tersebut dianggap sebagai pemberian dividen. Dengan demikian pembayaran bunga yang dianggap sebagai dividen tidak dapat dikurangkan sebagai biaya dalam perhitungan Penghasilan Kena Pajak.

Pembayaran komisi, lisensi, franchise, sewa, royalti, imbalan atas jasa manajemen, imbalan atas jasa teknik dan imbalan atas jasa lainnya
Untuk menentukan harga wajar dari transaksi tersebut dapat digunakan pendekatan transaksi ( penggunaan metode-metode arm’s length ). Tetapi karena transaksi ini merupakan transaksi transfer pricing atas intangibles ( hak atas kekayaan intelektual ) maka dalam penentuan harga wajar perlu dipertimbangkan faktor seperti tarif yang berlaku untuk intangible serupa pada bidang industri yang sama, harga penawaran, karakter dan keunikan intangible, nilai jasa dari pemegang hak.

Pembelian harta perusahaan oleh pemegang saham ( pemilik ) atau pihak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa yang lebih rendah dari harga pasar
Untuk menentukan harga wajar atas transaksi pembelian maka digunakan harga pasar wajar sebanding untuk barang yang sama atau serupa atau sejenis
Penjualan kepada pihak luar negeri melalui pihak ketiga yang kurang/tidak mempunyai substansi usaha ( misalnya dummy company, letter box company atau reinvoicing center )
Digunakan pendekatan substansi bisnis, sehingga untuk penghitungan pajak, transaksi penjualan dari perusahaan Indonesia ke perusahaan di luar negeri dengan perantaraan perusahaan letter box company dianggap tidak ada, sehingga harga jual ditentukan kembali.

Pasal 9 ayat 2 UN Model mengatur bahwa apabila terjadi transaksi antara dua pihak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa dan transaksi tersebut tidak arm’s length maka salah satu Negara pihak pada persetujuan dapat melakukan penyesuaian. Bila penyesuaian yang dilakukan oleh negara tersebut tidak diikuti oleh negara lainnya (correlative adjustment) maka akan terjadi pengenaan pajak berganda terhadap penghasilan yang sama di tangan orang yang berbeda.

Menurut Rachmanto Surahmat untuk meminimalisir terjadinya pengenaan pajak berganda tersebut maka ada dua alternatif yang bisa ditempuh yaitu
Misalnya, perusahaan X yang berdomisili di Negara A melakukan transaksi dengan perusahaan dalam grupnya, yaitu perusahaan Y di Negara B. Penyesuaian telah dilakukan terhadap X karena transaksinya tidak didasarkan pada arm’s length. Langkah yang ditempuh B dalam rangka correlative adjustment adalah dengan melakukan penetapan kembali pajak yang terutang.

Dengan mekanisme pengkreditan pajak sebagaimana diatur dalam pasal 2 Model P3B. Y dapat mengkreditkan pajak yang dibayar oleh X ( sebagai akibat penyesuaian ) di A.
Uraian di atas menjelaskan bagaimana identifikasi suatu transaksi apakah mengandung transfer pricing atau tidak dan menguraikan perlakuan perpajakan atas transaksi-transaksi transfer pricing.

KESIMPULAN
Transaksi transfer pricing adalah transaksi yang terjadi antara pihak-pihak yang mempunyai hubungan istimewa, sehingga harga yang terjadi tidak bersifat arm’s length.
Implementasi transfer pricing cenderung dilakukan oleh perusahaan multinasional dengan tujuan untuk penghindaran pajak.
Implikasi pajak yang signifikan dari transaksi transfer pricing adalah berkurangnya atau hilangnya potensi penerimaan pajak yang seharusnya diperoleh.
Peraturan perpajakan Indonesia untuk menangani kasus transfer pricing sudah memadai hanya untuk aturan teknis pelaksanaannya perlu dibuat secara khusus. Misalnya dengan peningkatan status peraturan dari Surat Edaran menjadi peraturan yang lebih tinggi.
Kesepakatan harga transfer ( Advance Pricing Agreement ) mempunyai peranan penting dalam penyelesaian kasus transfer pricing dan yang lebih penting lagi dapat memberikan kepastian hukum kepada para Wajib Pajak
Persetujuan Penghindaran Pajak Berganda ( P3B ) dapat menyelesaikan masalah transaksi transfer pricing antara negara yang terikat perjanjian P3B dengan correlative adjustment.

PENULARAN HIV/AIDS

2008-12-14T16:22:00.000-08:00

Cara penularan :

Lewat cairan darah:
Melalui transfusi darah / produk darah yg sudah tercemar HIV
Lewat pemakaian jarum suntik yang sudah tercemar HIV, yang dipakai bergantian tanpa disterilkan, misalnya pemakaian jarum suntik dikalangan pengguna Narkotika Suntikan
Melalui pemakaian jarum suntik yang berulangkali dalam kegiatan lain, misalnya : peyuntikan obat, imunisasi, pemakaian alat tusuk yang menembus kulit, misalnya alat tindik, tato, dan alat facial wajah
Lewat cairan sperma dan cairan vagina :
Melalui hubungan seks penetratif (penis masuk kedalam Vagina/Anus), tanpa menggunakan kondom, sehingga memungkinkan tercampurnya cairan sperma dengan cairan vagina (untuk hubungan seks lewat vagina) ; atau tercampurnya cairan sperma dengan darah, yang mungkin terjadi dalam hubungan seks lewat anus.
Lewat Air Susu Ibu :
Penularan ini dimungkinkan dari seorang ibu hamil yang HIV positif, dan melahirkan lewat vagina; kemudian menyusui bayinya dengan ASI.
Kemungkinan penularan dari ibu ke bayi (Mother-to-Child Transmission) ini berkisar hingga 30%, artinya dari setiap 10 kehamilan dari ibu HIV positif kemungkinan ada 3 bayi yang lahir dengan HIV positif.

Secara langsung (transfusi darah, produk darah atau transplantasi organ tubuh yang tercemar HIV) l Lewat alat-alat (jarum suntik, peralatan dokter, jarum tato, tindik, dll) yang telah tercemar HIV karena baru dipakai oleh orang yang terinfeksi HIV dan tidak disterilisasi terlebih dahulu.

Karena HIV - dalam jumlah yang cukup untuk menginfeksi orang lain- ditemukan dalam darah, air mani dan cairan vagina Odha. Melalui cairan-cairan tubuh yang lain, tidak pernah dilaporkan kasus penularan HIV (misalnya melalui: air mata, keringat, air liur/ludah, air kencing).

Melalui hubungan seksual dengan seseorang yang terinfeksi HIV tanpa memakai kondom l Melalui transfusi darah l Melalui alat-alat tajam yang telah tercemar HIV (jarum suntik, pisau cukur, tatto, dll) l Melalui ibu hamil yang terinfeksi HIV kepada janin yang dikandungnya atau bayi yang disusuinya.

Dalam satu kali hubungan seks secara tidak aman dengan orang yang terinfeksi HIV dapat terjadi penularan. Walaupun secara statistik kemungkinan ini antara 0,1% hingga 1% (jauh dibawah risiko penularan HIV melalui transfusi darah) tetapi lebih dari 90% kasus penularan HIV/AIDS terjadi melalui hubungan seks yang tidak aman.

karena kegiatan sehari-hari Odha tidak memungkinkan terjadinya pertukaran cairan tubuh yang menularkan HIV. Kita tidak tertular HIV selama kita mencegah kontak darah dengan Odha dan jika berhubungan seks, kita melakukannya secara aman dengan memakai kondom

Seorang Odha kelihatan biasa, seperti halnya orang lain karena tidak menunjukkan gejala klinis. Kondisi ini disebut "asimptomatik" yaitu tanpa gejala. Pada orang dewasa sesudah 5-10 tahun mulai tampak gejala-gejala AIDS.

Hubungan seksual secara anal (lewat dubur) paling berisiko menularkan HIV, karena epitel mukosa anus relatif tipis dan lebih mudah terluka dibandingkan epitel dinding vagina, sehingga HIV lebih mudah masuk ke aliran darah. Dalam berhubungan seks vaginal, perempuan lebih besar risikonya daripada pria karena selaput lendir vagina cukup rapuh. Disamping itu karena cairan sperma akan menetap cukup lama di dalam vagina, kesempatan HIV masuk ke aliran darah menjadi lebih tinggi. HIV di cairan vagina atau darah tersebut, juga dapat masuk ke aliran darah melalui saluran kencing pasangannya.

AIDS tidak ditularkan melalui :

Makan dan minum bersama, atau pemakaian alat makan minum bersama.
Pemakaian fasilitas umum bersama, seperti telepon umum, WC umum, dan kolam renang.
Ciuman, senggolan, pelukan dan kegiatan sehari-hari lainnya.
Lewat keringat, atau gigitan nyamuk

Jumlah Penderita HIV cenderung Meningkat

2008-12-11T15:36:00.000-08:00

Ketika jumlah penderita Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) di negara lain mulai turun, di Indonesia tren penderita penyakit mematikan ini justru naik. Setengah dari total jumlah penderita AIDS di Tanah Air adalah kaum remaja.

Genderang perang terhadap AIDS pun ditabuh. Dalam memperingati Hari AIDS Sedunia di Jakarta, Ahad (2/12), Wakil Presiden Jusuf Kalla meresmikan berdirinya yayasan sosial yang terdiri dari tujuh perusahaan. Yayasan menyediakan layanan kesehatan guna pencegahan serta penanganan AIDS di lingkungan kerja.

Dalam kegiatan itu digelar juga jalan santai dan lomba lari. Kampanye mencegah HIV/AIDS juga disampaikan lewat musik hasil kreativitas remaja. Peserta dari 22 provinsi membawakan rap karya mereka masing-masing berdurasi menit. Contohnya Vito asal Sulawesi Tengah.

Data aktivis kesehatan hingga Maret 2007 menyebutkan 8.988 kasus AIDS dan 5.640 HIV. Angka yang mengejutkan 57 persen kasus terjadi di usia remaja antara 15 hingga 29 tahun. Mayoritas yakni 62 persen terinfeksi narkoba jarum suntik dan 37 persen dari seks tidak aman.

Cara lainnya adalah dengan menggelar Pekan Kondom Nasional sejak 1 hingga 8 Desember. Tujuannya mencegah penyebaran virus VIV/AIDS. Di Nusa Tenggara Timur, misalnya. Wakil Gubernur NTT memasang kondom disaksikan bawahannya. Ini adalah bagian dari kampanye Pekan Kondom Nasional.

Namun tetap saja ada yang menganggap kampanye penggunaan kondom sama saja dengan melegalkan seks pranikah dan seks bebas. Unjuk rasa menentang pekan kampanye kondom pun tak terelakkan seperti di Jakarta dan Bandung.

Kampanye penggunaan kondom sebenarnya bukan barang baru. Pada 2005 diluncurkan anjungan tunai mandiri (ATM) kondom. Penempatannya di antaranya di lokalisasi seperti di Lokalisasi Tanjung Elmo, Jayapura, Papua. Cukup dengan tiga koin Rp 500 sebuah kondom langsung tersedia dari mesin ATM.

Namun hingga kini kampanye penggunaan kondom masih menuai pro dan kontra. Mencegah penyebaran HIV/AIDS dengan menggunakan kondom memang satu solusi. Namun tentunya yang paling efektif dengan tidak melakukan seks bebas dan tidak menggunakan narkoba.

Penyebab AIDS

2008-12-10T16:00:00.000-08:00

HIV yang baru memperbanyak diri tampak bermunculan sebagai bulatan-bulatan kecil (diwarnai hijau) pada permukaan limfosit setelah menyerang sel tersebut; dilihat dengan mikroskop elektron.

AIDS merupakan bentuk terparah atas akibat infeksi HIV. HIV adalah retrovirus yang biasanya menyerang organ-organ vital sistem kekebalan manusia, seperti sel T CD4⁺ (sejenis sel T), makrofag, dan sel dendritik. HIV merusak sel T CD4⁺ secara langsung dan tidak langsung, padahal sel T CD4⁺ dibutuhkan agar sistem kekebalan tubuh dapat berfungsi baik. Bila HIV telah membunuh sel T CD4⁺ hingga jumlahnya menyusut hingga kurang dari 200 per mikroliter (µL) darah, maka kekebalan di tingkat sel akan hilang, dan akibatnya ialah kondisi yang disebut AIDS. Infeksi akut HIV akan berlanjut menjadi infeksi laten klinis, kemudian timbul gejala infeksi HIV awal, dan akhirnya AIDS; yang diidentifikasi dengan memeriksa jumlah sel T CD4⁺ di dalam darah serta adanya infeksi tertentu.

Tanpa terapi antiretrovirus, rata-rata lamanya perkembangan infeksi HIV menjadi AIDS ialah sembilan sampai sepuluh tahun, dan rata-rata waktu hidup setelah mengalami AIDS hanya sekitar 9,2 bulan.^[25] Namun demikian, laju perkembangan penyakit ini pada setiap orang sangat bervariasi, yaitu dari dua minggu sampai 20 tahun. Banyak faktor yang mempengaruhinya, diantaranya ialah kekuatan tubuh untuk bertahan melawan HIV (seperti fungsi kekebalan tubuh) dari orang yang terinfeksi.^[26]^[27] Orang tua umumnya memiliki kekebalan yang lebih lemah daripada orang yang lebih muda, sehingga lebih beresiko mengalami perkembangan penyakit yang pesat. Akses yang kurang terhadap perawatan kesehatan dan adanya infeksi lainnya seperti tuberkulosis, juga dapat mempercepat perkembangan penyakit ini.^[25]^[28]^[29] Warisan genetik orang yang terinfeksi juga memainkan peran penting. Sejumlah orang kebal secara alami terhadap beberapa varian HIV. ^[30] HIV memiliki beberapa variasi genetik dan berbagai bentuk yang berbeda, yang akan menyebabkan laju perkembangan penyakit klinis yang berbeda-beda pula.^[31]^[32]^[33] Terapi antiretrovirus yang sangat aktif akan dapat memperpanjang rata-rata waktu berkembangannya AIDS, serta rata-rata waktu kemampuan penderita bertahan hidup.

Penularan seksual

Transmisi HIV secara seksual terjadi ketika ada kontak antara sekresi cairan vagina atau cairan preseminal seseorang dengan rektum, alat kelamin, atau membran mukosa mulut pasangannya. Hubungan seksual reseptif tanpa pelindung lebih berisiko daripada hubungan seksual insertif tanpa pelindung, dan risiko hubungan seks anal lebih besar daripada risiko hubungan seksual dan seks oral. Seks oral tidak berarti tak berisiko karena HIV dapat masuk melalui seks oral reseptif maupun insertif.^[34] Kekerasan seksual secara umum meningkatkan risiko penularan HIV karena pelindung umumnya tidak digunakan dan sering terjadi trauma fisik terhadap rongga vagina yang memudahkan transmisi HIV.^[35]

Penyakit menular seksual meningkatkan risiko penularan HIV karena dapat menyebabkan gangguan pertahanan jaringan epitel normal akibat adanya borok alat kelamin, dan juga karena adanya penumpukan sel yang terinfeksi HIV (limfosit dan makrofag) pada semen dan sekresi vaginal. Penelitian epidemiologis dari Afrika Sub-Sahara, Eropa, dan Amerika Utara menunjukkan bahwa terdapat sekitar empat kali lebih besar risiko terinfeksi AIDS akibat adanya borok alat kelamin seperti yang disebabkan oleh sifilis dan/atau chancroid. Risiko tersebut juga meningkat secara nyata, walaupun lebih kecil, oleh adanya penyakit menular seksual seperti kencing nanah, infeksi chlamydia, dan trikomoniasis yang menyebabkan pengumpulan lokal limfosit dan makrofag.^[36]

Transmisi HIV bergantung pada tingkat kemudahan penularan dari pengidap dan kerentanan pasangan seksual yang belum terinfeksi. Kemudahan penularan bervariasi pada berbagai tahap penyakit ini dan tidak konstan antarorang. Beban virus plasma yang tidak dapat dideteksi tidak selalu berarti bahwa beban virus kecil pada air mani atau sekresi alat kelamin. Setiap 10 kali penambahan jumlah RNA HIV plasma darah sebanding dengan 81% peningkatan laju transmisi HIV.^[36]^[37] Wanita lebih rentan terhadap infeksi HIV-1 karena perubahan hormon, ekologi serta fisiologi mikroba vaginal, dan kerentanan yang lebih besar terhadap penyakit seksual.^[38]^[39] Orang yang terinfeksi dengan HIV masih dapat terinfeksi jenis virus lain yang lebih mematikan.

Kontaminasi patogen melalui darah

Poster CDC tahun 1989, yang mengetengahkan bahaya AIDS sehubungan dengan pemakaian narkoba.

Rute transmisi ini terutama berhubungan dengan pengguna obat suntik, penderita hemofilia, dan resipien transfusi darah dan produk darah. Berbagi dan menggunakan kembali syringe yang mengandung darah yang terkontaminasi dengan HIV tidak hanya merupakan risiko utama infeksi HIV, tetapi juga hepatitis B dan hepatitis C. Berbagi penggunaan jarum suntik merupakan penyebab sepertiga dari semua infeksi baru HIV dan 50% infeksi hepatitis C di Amerika Utara, Republik Rakyat Cina, dan Eropa Timur. Risiko terinfeksi dengan HIV dari satu tusukan dengan jarum yang digunakan orang yang terinfeksi HIV diduga sekitar 1 banding 150. Post-exposure prophylaxis dengan obat anti-HIV dapat lebih jauh mengurangi risiko itu.^[40] Pekerja fasilitas kesehatan (perawat, pekerja laboratorium, dokter, dan lain-lain) juga dikhawatirkan walaupun lebih jarang. Jalur penularan ini dapat juga terjadi pada orang yang memberi dan menerima rajah dan tindik tubuh. Kewaspadaan universal sering kali tidak dipatuhi baik di Afrika Sub Sahara maupun Asia karena sedikitnya sumber daya dan pelatihan yang tidak mencukupi. WHO memperkirakan 2,5% dari semua infeksi HIV di Afrika Sub Sahara ditransmisikan melalui suntikan pada fasilitas kesehatan yang tidak aman.^[41] Oleh sebab itu, Majelis Umum Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa, didukung oleh opini medis umum dalam masalah ini, mendorong negara-negara di dunia menerapkan kewaspadaan universal untuk mencegah transmisi HIV melalui fasilitas kesehatan.^[42]

Risiko transmisi HIV pada resipien transfusi darah sangat kecil di negara maju. Di negara maju, pemilihan donor bertambah baik dan pengamatan HIV dilakukan. Namun demikian, menurut WHO, mayoritas populasi dunia tidak memiliki akses terhadap darah yang aman dan "antara 5% dan 10% infeksi HIV dunia terjadi melalui transfusi darah yang terinfeksi".^[43]

Penularan masa perinatal

Transmisi HIV dari ibu ke anak dapat terjadi in utero selama minggu-minggu terakhir kehamilan dan saat persalinan. Bila tidak ditangani, tingkat transmisi antara ibu dan anak selama kehamilan dan persalinan sebesar 25%. Namun demikian, jika sang ibu memiliki akses terhadap terapi antiretroviral dan melahirkan dengan cara bedah caesar, tingkat transmisi hanya sebesar 1%.^[44] Sejumlah faktor dapat memengaruhi risiko infeksi, terutama beban virus pada ibu saat persalinan (semakin tinggi beban virus, semakin tinggi risikonya). Menyusui meningkatkan risiko transmisi sebesar 4%.^[45]

Gejala dan komplikasi AIDS

2008-12-10T15:59:00.001-08:00

Gejala-gejala utama AIDS.

Berbagai gejala AIDS umumnya merupakan hasil dari kondisi yang tidak akan terjadi pada orang-orang yang memiliki sistem kekebalan tubuh yang baik. Kebanyakan kondisi tersebut adalah akibat infeksi yang disebabkan oleh bakteri, virus, fungi dan parasit, yang biasanya dikendalikan oleh elemen-elemen sistem kekebalan tubuh yang dirusak HIV. Infeksi oportunistik umum didapati pada penderita AIDS.^[7] HIV mempengaruhi hampir semua organ tubuh. Penderita AIDS juga berisiko lebih besar menderita kanker seperti sarkoma Kaposi, kanker leher rahim, dan kanker sistem kekebalan yang disebut limfoma.

Biasanya penderita AIDS memiliki gejala infeksi sistemik; seperti demam, berkeringat (terutama pada malam hari), pembengkakan kelenjar, kedinginan, merasa lemah, serta penurunan berat badan.^[8]^[9] Infeksi oportunistik tertentu yang diderita pasien AIDS, juga tergantung pada tingkat keseringan terjadinya infeksi tersebut di wilayah geografis tempat hidup pasien.