Friday, December 30, 2011

Top 10 Tech Acquisitions Of 2011

By Rob Preston InformationWeek
December 16, 2011 09:40 AM


While 2011 wasn't a year of historically huge tech merger and acquisition deals, activity was nonetheless vigorous. Google alone bought more than 20 companies, while the likes of HP, Oracle, SAP, Dell, and Microsoft rounded out their mature product portfolios with acquisitions. Among the strongest riptides in enterprise IT M&A: software as a service (SaaS), mobility, big data, and social networking.

What follows, in reverse order, is one editor's take on the 10 most important (though not necessarily the largest) enterprise IT acquisitions of the year. Not included on this list are the big OEM-oriented deals: Western Digital's $4.3 billion deal to buy Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, for instance, or Texas Instruments' $6.5 billion acquisition of National Semiconductor.

10. VMware and Socialcast: Virtualization market leader VMware isn't immune to social business fever, acquiring Socialcast, a maker of cloud-based communications and collaboration software that mimics "the interaction style of social networks, but with the security, management, and integration functions of an enterprise system," as my colleague David Carr reported in May. The Socialcast deal (terms weren't disclosed) followed two other cloud acquisitions by VMware: slideware maker SlideRocket in April and open source email software maker Zimbra in January 2010.

9. SAS Institute and Assetlink: This acquisition (no price tag was disclosed) isn't top 10 tech M&A material unto itself, but it's important in the context of the red hot trend it represents: the move by CMOs to apply analytics to their ad campaigns, promotions, social outreaches, and other marketing programs in order to prove and refine their effectiveness. Assetlink makes "marketing resource management" software, used to plan and budget ad spending, manage the content, create workflows, and manage leads. Its acquisition by SAS, announced in February, follows like-minded deals by IBM (it shelled out $480 million for Unica in October 2010) and Teradata ($525 million for Aprimo in December 2010).

8. Dell and Force10:Dell's acquisition of switching vendor Force10 Networks (financial terms weren't disclosed), following its $960 million deal in December 2010 to acquire storage virtualization vendor Compellent Technologies, enhances its credibility as a big league data center supplier, alongside Cisco, HP, and Brocade. Force10's market share is small--just 1%, according to Dell'Oro estimates around the time of the July 2011 deal--but its technology is considered first rate and Dell will bring it to many more customers.

7. Microsoft and Skype: Among the biggest tech deals of 2001, Microsoft's $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype is also emblematic of one of the biggest CIO trends: the consumerization of enterprise IT. The lines between business and consumer IT are blurring, and Microsoft is looking to capitalize on that trend by integrating the consumer-oriented Skype videochat software with its enterprise unified communications and messaging platforms. Speaking of consumerization, will 2012 be the year Microsoft finally lands Yahoo?

6. Oracle and RightNow: It's almost as if Larry Ellison plunked down $1.5 billion of Oracle's money to get back at a former protege, Marc Benioff, whose Salesforce.com and its cloud-based services have been stealing most of the thunder in enterprise software. Within weeks of his orchestrated rebuff of Benioff at the Oracle OpenWorld conference at San Francisco's Moscone Center, Ellison announced Oracle would be acquiring RightNow, a leading maker of SaaS-based customer service and management apps and a semi-competitor to Salesforce.

As my colleague Chris Murphy noted in a story on the RightNow deal, "Oracle, one of the tech industry's most acquisitive companies, isn't too concerned about overlapping products when it comes to buying into hot markets." Oracle had previously introduced its suite of enterprise software, Fusion, with a cloud-based option for CRM, as well as a hosted version of its PeopleSoft software licensed on a per-user, per-month basis.

5. Salesforce.com and Radian6: It wasn't among the biggest of tech acquisitions in 2011, a cash and stock deal valued at about $320 million, but it's strategically important to one of the industry's hottest vendors, as Salesforce.com pushes its "social enterprise" agenda, including its Twitter-like Chatter service. Radian6, a maker of social media monitoring and analytics services, has since become the basis of Salesforce's Social Marketing Cloud, a collection of services it rolled out in November to help companies manage their brands and engage with customers across the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

4. AT&T and T-Mobile: The biggest tech deal of 2011 ($39 billion) is actually the biggest non-starter, as competitors, regulators, trustbusters, lobbyists, and politicians dig in to stop this merger of the No. 2 and No. 4 U.S. mobile carriers. AT&T said in November that it's withdrawing its merger application from the FCC to focus instead on winning the antitrust lawsuit the Department of Justice had filed against it in August. Meantime, AT&T is reportedly trying to sell a sizable portion of T-Mobile's assets to a smaller mobile carrier in order to sway the DOJ. AT&T's incentive to compromise: It will owe T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom $6 billion in cash and compensation should the deal fall apart.


3. Google and Motorola Mobility:
Google's $12.5 billion deal to acquire this Motorola spinoff, a maker of smartphones and set-top boxes, was the second-largest tech deal of 2011. As my colleague Paul McDougall reported in August, the deal, which still must pass regulatory muster, is a clear sign that Google intends to take on Apple--and to a lesser extent RIM and Microsoft/Nokia--as a supplier of tightly integrated mobile devices, namely its Android operating system on Motorola smartphone and tablet hardware.Motorola's extensive patent portfolio also appealed to Google, as it seeks to fend off Apple and Microsoft lawsuits claiming Android squats on some of its intellectual property.[ Try these best practices on for size in the new year. IT Leader Survival Guide For 2012: 5 Must-Do's. ]

2. HP and Autonomy: This $10.3 billion deal was the biggest enterprise software acquisition of the year--too big, according to many pundits, as the price tag was almost 12 times Autonomy's 2010 revenue. But HP's CEO at the time, Leo Apotheker, since ousted and replaced by Meg Whitman, needed to make a splash amid investor concerns that the hottest IT markets were passing HP by. And no question, Autonomy's no slouch. It's a leader in enterprise content management software--search, archiving, e-discovery, and more--helping customers make sense of their big (unstructured) data.

Rob Preston,
VP and Editor in Chief, InformationWeek
rpreston@techweb.com

(Source - http://informationweek.com)

How to implement a successful security and disaster recovery plan

by Philip Owens (CSO Online (Australia))

though security issues are often top of mind for many organisations, they are often not considered as part of a disaster recovery (DR) plan.

When a disaster occurs, it pays to be prepared so that the organisation can continue to operate as usual with minimal impact or disruption. Despite having sound backup strategies in place and making intelligent decisions to protect a company’s data, many organisations leave out the disaster recovery element of their security strategy which can lead to major disruptions in the event of an actual disaster.

With the recent earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan, organisations need to be aware of the impact a natural disaster could have on their organisation from a security perspective and plan accordingly.

Conduct a security audit

Many organisations believe that having basic security measures in place such as having a firewall, making backups, patching systems and having user accounts with strong passwords are sufficient. Sadly this isn’t the case.

Loss of information can be catastrophic for an organisation. If a security attack is internal, default passwords and flaws that allow you to bypass the login mechanism are weaknesses that can be used in many different ways that administrators don’t really think about or have prepared for.

Therefore it helps to know where you stand in terms of your current security measures so that you’ll be better prepared to deal with the issues should they arise in the event of a disruption – whether it is due to a data breach, natural disaster or other unplanned event . While many organisations have IT and security administrators, it’s a good idea to have an external consultant run the audit for you.

A third party provides objectivity and a fresh perspective without having a conflict of interest. In order to identify potential security threats and issues, you will need to approach this with “malicious intent” and examine both critical and non-critical systems within the organisations. This includes looking beyond the perimeters and the highly visible systems. You should ideally look at all areas of your systems, no matter how secure you might think it is.

Choose the right technology for your organisation

The type of DR security technology that's right for your organisation will be based on your need and risk. You will need to gather the right team from different departments who can take a good look at your environment and assess the risks.

DR security technology will vary from organisation to organisation. This will depend on your company’s structure, network, applications, software and the level of complexity of your information system.

When considering which technologies to deploy, it’s always worth considering one that has universal implementation and will work with any and all types of infrastructure, systems, hardware and software. This becomes critical especially when you’re working in multiple sites within the same country and overseas.

Security products that can copy the entire environment virtually so that it can be quickly and accurately replaced in the case of a disaster should also be prioritised.

To reduce the amount of time your IT system is down during a disaster consider; Recovery Point Objective (RPO) which looks at how old the data is when recovered. Ideally, the recovery should take between 15 to 30 minutes. Compare this to traditional tape backup which could take up to 24 to 48 hours. Recovery Time Objective (RTO), which looks at how fast the system can be backed up and running on the virtual environment

Cloud-based services may also be an option for some organisations, especially as they offer organisations a cost effective option which can allow them to get their data up and running quickly.

Regularly test your disaster recovery plan

The ability of the disaster recovery plan to be effective in emergency situations can only be assessed if rigorous testing is carried out one or more times per year in realistic conditions by simulating circumstances that would be applicable in an actual emergency. The testing phase of the plan must contain important verification activities to enable the plan to stand up to most disruptive events.

When disruption hits, organisations need to ensure that they take the necessary steps to respond to malware attacks and data breaches to ensure business continuity within the organisation. This includes having an incident response plan as part of your DR strategy. Doing so will enable you to take the relevant procedures to recover your data and environment.

In conclusion

Being prepared and knowing the right steps to take is always key to managing a disruption. Having good security measures included in your DR plan will help keep your organisation running through a potential disaster and ensure your risks and costs are kept to a minimum.

Philip Owens is the director of technical services, Asia Pacific for NetIQ.

(Source - http://www.cso.com.au)


Thursday, December 29, 2011

US Warns Iran Not to Close Strait of Hormuz


The Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet warned Iran that any attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz will "not be tolerated."

A spokesman for the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet said Wednesday it will not allow any disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

"The free flow of goods and servicesthrough the Strait of Hormuz is vital to regional and global prosperity," the fleet said in a statement released to Reuters.

"Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated," the statement added.

The statement came after Iran threatened to stop ships moving through the strategic oil route as a part of a "military drill."

Last week Iranian parliament member Parviz Sarvari told an Iranian media outlet that “soon we will hold a military maneuver on how to close the Strait of Hormuz. If the world wants to make the region insecure, we will make the world insecure.”

The threat was repeated by Iran's chief naval officer on Tuesday.

Asked whether the Fifth Fleet would take specific measures in response to Iran's threat to close the Strait, the fleet said it "maintains a robust presence in the region to deter or counter destabilizing activities," without providing further detail.

However, United States has long maintained any attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz would be regarded as "an act of war."

Concerns Iran might move to close the strategically vital Strait - through which 40% of the world's oil supplies flow - began to mount after students in Tehran sacked the British embassy earlier this year.

Western officials, who said Tehran had prompted the violent demolition as a "dramatic piece of political theater." Britain, France, and the Netherlands closed their embassies in Iran and ejected Tehran's envoys from their capitals.

Several other European nations – including Italy and Germany – censured Iran for the incident.

The incident also prompted a new, more stringent round of sanctions from the European Union and United States targeting Iran.

Strait of Hormuz GNU/Wikipedia/Pascal




Wednesday, December 28, 2011

World War III Has Begun – It`s the First Asymmetric War Long Awaited by Pentagon Think Tanks

The Pentagon has already declared World War III and President Barack Obama and the Congress never even carried out their constitutional duties to approve the use of American military power for war.

One might reasonably conclude that the United States has outsourced war. Presently, World War III is being conducted on two continents – Asia and Africa – with two others – Europe and South America – looming on the horizon. Today, wars are crafted by the upper one percent of wealthy elitists who, using non-governmental organizations, television networks, non — profit “think tanks,” and public relations firms, can declare war on nations without a whimper from elected public officials.

Symmetric warfare is no longer an option for the global elites. World Wars I and II severely affected the investments of many of the global elite families as a result of the destruction of cities, factories, railways, seaports, and other infrastructures. The Korean, Vietnam, the Arab-Israeli, and Iraq wars were messy affairs that also adversely affected markets and destroyed valuable infrastructures. The Cold War never developed into a hot nuclear war because of the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), which ensured that a nuclear first strike by either the West or the East would result in total annihilation of both sides, along with the rest of the world. Even a western military attack on China would have had disastrous results for the attackers, especially since China could retaliate with a nuclear counter-attack and wipe out the U.S. Seventh Fleet and its East Asian naval bases, including Okinawa and Guam. A new type of warfare was required by the elites: asymmetric warfare – the use of unconventional warfare tactics, including information warfare, by proxies, non-state actors, agents provocateur, and fifth columns.

Largely financed by hedge fund mega-tycoon George Soros and his Central Intelligence Agency interlocutors, our present asymmetric World War III was field tested just like any new product. The “themed” revolutions were market-tested first in Serbia, and then in Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan, to oust problematic governments that did not want to get on board with the dictates of the unelected and unaccountable real controllers of the financial and political destiny of the world.

Pro-western and pro-European Union governments, comprised of a number of individuals who were funded by Soros and other non-state operations established by the global elites, for example, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderberg Group, the Trilateral Commission, Freedom House, U.S. Institute of Peace, and others funded and supported by the Houses of Rothschild, Rockefeller, Mellon, and others saw to it that new governments took root in Belgrade, Kiev, Tbilisi, and Bishkek. These new governments were not elected but took power as a result of themed street rebellions, a new manifestation of unconventional warfare.

No longer did armies, navies, and air forces have to face each other across battlefields and battle zones and theaters of warfare. One merely had to embed fifth columnists and provocateurs inside a targeted nation's capital city, media, political party apparatus, and "civil society" infrastructure to bring about the defeat of the government outside the normal political process and replace it with a new government beholden to the desires of the central banks and global oligarchs.

The beginnings of the asymmetric world war began in Belgrade, Serbia when Otpor – a Serbian resistance movement dedicated to overthrowing the Slobodon Milosevic regime – launched the first “themed revolution.” Otpor’s symbol was a clenched fist, an emblem that would reappear in the future in other capital cities from Kiev to Cairo. Otpor received massive funding from a network of western contrivances, including George Soros’s Open Society Institute, the neo-conservative-infiltrated U.S. National Endowment for Democracy, and various European Union-funded NGOs that were intimately linked to Soros’s “democracy engineering” operations.

The playbook used for Otpor in Serbia and by similar organizations in toppling the governments of Georgia in the Rose Revolution, Ukraine in the Orange Revolution, and Kyrgyzstan in the Tulip Revolution, was developed by University of Massachusetts professor Gene Sharp, the founder of the Boston-based NGO, the Albert Einstein Institute, which helped train Otpor activists in civil disobedience and popular resistance campaigns designed to overthrow governments, those democratically-elected and those not. Albert Einstein Institute-trained provocateurs launched popular resistance campaigns around the world aimed at replacing governments unwilling to acquiesce to the dictates of Western elites. Internal opposition forces, all acolytes of Sharp, for instance Kmara, which helped install the pro-Western and pro-Israeli Mikheil Saakashvili in Georgia; Pora in Ukraine that propelled pro-NATO Viktor Yushchenko into the presidency; and KelKel in Kyrgyzstan that replaced Askar Akayev with the corrupt Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

The domino effect of the themed revolutions saw Serbs helping to overthrow the Georgian government, then Serbs and Georgians flocking to Kiev to oust the Ukrainian government, and Georgians and Ukrainians being directly involved in the insurrection in Bishkek. The neo-conservatives and Sharp had borrowed a page from the Communists and the international proletarian movement that saw Communist cadres fight against capitalists and fascists in foreign civil wars, for example, the Spanish Civil War and conflicts in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Sharp was an alumnus of Harvard University’s CIA-linked Center for International Affairs, also abbreviated “CIA,” which is not coincidental. Harvard and the CIA of Langley, Virginia have long maintained a close relationship. In fact, Sharp was never interested in ensuring the will of the people to map out their own future but was putting into practice the theory of asymmetric warfare – the vanquishing of enemies through the use of proxy internal forces without the requirement for invading foreign armies and the massive death and destruction associated with such action.

Many of Sharp’s tactics have been seen in practice in many asymmetric warfare targets. These include the creation of a perception of a successful movement, even if there is not one. The use of western-controlled news networks like Fox News that showed a video clip of anti-austerity Greek rioters in Athens falsely depicted as anti-government protesters in Moscow and Al Jazeera’s use of a video erroneously showing a U.S.- and Saudi-backed bloody crackdown of pro-democracy protesters by Bahrain’s security forces as the bloody repression of protesters by Syria’s government are examples of Sharp’s propaganda and disinformation tactics.

Cultivating foreign support is another key element of Sharp’s asymmetric warfare tactics. The virtual control exercised by Soros over Human Rights Watch after the multi-billionaire hedge fund kingpin donated $100 million to the group is a case in point. The human rights NGO was at the forefront of hyping “atrocities” committed by the Qaddafi regime in Libya but remained largely silent on Libyan rebel atrocities committed against Libyan and African blacks, as well as Qaddafi loyalists. In so doing, Human Rights Watch had a powerful accomplice in the International Criminal Court, which tended to look the other way when CIA- and Saudi- and Qatari’ supported Libyan rebels were committing the massacres.

Another Sharp tactic is to seek change outside the electoral system. This tactic was evident in the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, where election results were rejected, and in the recent Russian parliamentary election, where Soros- and U.S. neocon-financed election monitoring groups like Golos rejected the outcome of the election and used shills like former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to call for the nullification of the election. Interference following the Sharp and Soros methodology can also be seen in the presidential candidacies of Russian oligarch and New Jersey Nets basketball owner Mikhail Prokhorov and the backing by western propaganda outlets like the Christian Science Monitor (now derided as the “Christian Zionist Monitor” after its takeover by interests who favor a neo-imperialist U.S. foreign policy) of Moscow street protest veteran Alexei Navalny.

Sharp and Soros are on the same page in calling for the internal opposition forces’ use of the Internet, fax, and social networks like Facebook and Twitter to advance their agendas.

In the next phases of World War III, the asymmetric warriors of the Pentagon and their adjunct non-state actors will continue to turn up the heat in the Arab World, with the revolutions in Libya, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, and Egypt, after a somewhat shaky start that saw the advancement of Islamist groups, being brought under more western and NATO control. Russia’s presidential election and a turndown in the Chinese economy, with growing village-based dissent among China’s growing middle class, will present further opportunities for the promoters of World War III. The sudden death of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Il has also resulted in a call for an expansion of social networking operations, most notably by the CIA- and Soros-infested Washington Post, inside Asia’s hermit kingdom.

Myanmar, China’s restive provinces of Tibet and East Turkestan, Lebanon, Iran, Algeria, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Nepal, Belarus, Ecuador, Bolivia, Pakistan, Laos, and the two Congos also present opportunities for the World War III architects. Those who seek to extend American and global elitist control over the entire planet will not rest until every acre of land comes under the firm control of the oligarchs of Wall Street, the spymasters of the CIA, and the globalist business cartels and families.

(Sources - http://www.strategic-culture.org)

Sunday, December 25, 2011

AKAR MELAYU: KERAJAAN MELAYU ISLAM TERAWAL DI NUSANTARA oleh by Hibatullah Yusof Al-Haj on Tuesday, 22 February 2011

by Hibatullah Yusof Al-Haj on Tuesday, 22 February 2011 at 10:08



السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته


PENDAHULUAN


Saya catat di sini kronologi kerajaan Islam paling awal di Nusantara hasil perbincangan sahabat-sahabat dalam jurai ini. Bahagian ini saya kemaskini bila ditemui bukti wujudnya kerajaan lebih awal:


KRONOLOGI SEJARAH KERAJAAN ISLAM NUSANTARA

610 M - Nabi Muhammad SAW diangkat jadi Rasul = (13 tahun sebelum Hijrah).

610 M - Rasulullah SAW menerima wahyu pertama kali

615 - 618 M - Rasulullah SAW mengutus sahabat ke seluruh penjuru dunia; Ja'far ibn Abi Thalib ke Afrika Utara, Muadz ibn Jabal ke Yaman dan Arab Selatan, Saad ibn Lubaid ke Eropa Timur, Yusuf ke Kanton/Cina (membangun masjid Kuang Ta bersama warga Cina marga Sui), Abdullah ibn Mas'ud ke Sumatera bersama Qabilah Bani Thoyk (Aceh) dan beberapa orang leluhur Aceh ikut berperang bersama Nabi SAW. Membangun Kesultanan Tace.

622 M = 1 Hijrah

625 M - Perkampungan Islam di BARUS, Sumatera = 3 Hijrah.

627 M - pembangunan masjid pertama di Aceh (bersamaan dengan Masjid Kuang Ta di Canton dan Masjid di San'a Yaman)

631 - Abdullah ibn Mas'ud berdakwah keliling Sumatera dan seluruh Nusantara.

632 - 640 M - Sayyidina Ali ibn Abi Thalib berkeliling Aceh, Malayu, Suvarnabhumi, Galunggung, Panjalu, Tarumanegara, Kalingga, Wiratha, dll.

632 M - Rasulullah SAW wafat = 11 Hijrah.

648 - 649 M - Kartikeyasingha II memimpin Kalingga bersama Sri Ratu Sima, dinikahkan oleh Sayyidina Ali dan dibimbing bersama Sayyidina Ali + Abdullah ibn Mas'ud.

650 - 655 M - Di bawah bimbingan Sayyidina Ali terbentuk jaringan silaturahmi Tace, Kalingga dan Tiongkok

655 M - Saidina Zaid bin Harithah dihantar ke LAMURI, Sumatera = 35 Hijrah.

656 - 661 M - Pangeran Borosngora, dari Panjalu, Tanah Sunda berangkat ke Kufah belajar Islam.

662 M - Ramai penduduk Kufah hijrah ke Nusantara.

664 - 665 M - Hoei Ning menulis Kitab Hinayana, iaitu ajaran Islam tentang Zuhud.

674 M - Kalingga menerapkan potong tangan pada pencuri, sesuai syariat Islam

718 M - Kesultanan ZABAJ ISLAM (Jambi) = 99 Hijrah.

718 M - Srindravarman dari Zabaj bersurat kepada Sultan Umar ibn Abdulaziz

732 M - Syekh Subakir (Muhammad Al-Baqir) mendirikan pesantren di Bukit Tidar, Magelang, Jawa

820 M - Kesultanan SAMUDERA = 205 Hijrah.

840 M - Kesultanan PERLAK = 225 Hijrah.

960 M - Kesultanan LAMURI = 349 Hijrah.

1136 M - Kesultanan LANGKASUKA = 530 Hijrah.

1267 M - Kesultanan PASAI = 665 Hijrah.

1436 M - Kesultanan ACEH DARUSSALAM = 901 Hijrah.


Menurut catatan sejarah, Islam sudah sampai ke BARUS, Sumatra 15 tahun setelah Nabi Muhammad SAW diangkat menjadi Rasul, iaitu Tahun 3 Hijrah (625 Masehi). Satu rombongan diketuai oleh Sahabat Rasulullah SAW bernama Abdullah bin Mas'ud RA bersama 100 rombongan Qabilah Tachiek direkodkan sampai ke Barus. Pada ketika itu sudah berlaku perkahwinan antara pedagang Muslim dari Tanah Arab dengan wanita Melayu. Islam sampai ke China lebih awal, iaitu sekitar 616 Masehi (7 tahun sebelum Hijrah) dibawa oleh Sahabat yang bernama Saad bin Abi Waqqas RA. Sahabat bernama Zaid bin Harithah RA di hantar ke alam Melayu pada 35 Hijrah (655 Masehi) iaitu kira-kira 40 tahun setelah Saad RA sampai ke China.


JAMBI (ZABAJ ISLAM) dipercayai merupakan kerajaan Islam paling awal di Nusantara. Secara kebetulan pula, kerajaan inilah yang juga disebut Kerajaan MELAYU. Nama MELAYU dan JAMBI digunakan bersilih-ganti dalam banyak teks sejarah. Perkataan 'MALAYU' ditemui diukir pada sebuah tugu dianggarkan berusia sekitar 1286 Masehi. Ia ditemui di Padang Rocore, berhampiran muara sungai Batang Hari. Jika ada maklumat yang kurang tepat, saya harap sahabat-sahabat tolong betulkan. Sila catat di jurai bawah, dan saya akan masukkan dalam Kronologi di atas.

______

BARUS

Berikut adalah petikan mengenai sebahagian dari sejarah Islam di Barus, semoga bermanfaat:


633-661 M

Dikatakan pemerintahan Khulafa Al Rasyidin telah menjalin hubungan dengan beberapa kerajaan di Sumatera, termasuk Batak. Tapi hubungan itu masih sekedar hubungan antar negara dalam sebuah upaya untuk menjalin hubungan kerjasama ekonomi. Kapur barus, emas, merica dan rempah-rempah lainnya. Sumatera dikenal dengan istilah Zabag. Beberapa catatan mengenai kedatangan utusan dan pelaut Muslim ke Barus dan pelabuhan Sumatera lainnya yang dikuasasi Sriwijaya pernah didokumentasikan.


661-750 M

Pelaut-pelaut Arab yang Islam mulai berdatangan secara intens di masa pemerintahan Dinasti Umayyah. Kedatangan mereka untu misi dagang tersebut telah membentuk kantong-kantong muslim di tanah Batak, khususnya Barus, yang tentunya terjadinya transfer ilmu pengetahuan kepada penduduk setempat melalui medium non-formal.


718-726 M

Islam berkembang pesat di tanah Barus. Di lain pihak Islam berkembang di Sumatera masuknya beberapa raja Sriwijaya kepada Islam. Diantaranya Sri Indra Warman di Jambi.


851 M

Seorang pedagang Arab berhasil mendokumentasikan kedatangannya di kota Barus. Laporan Sulaiman itu pada tahun 851 M membicarakan tentang penambangan emas dan perkebunan barus (kamper) di Barus (Ferrand 36).Dicatat bahwa para pendatang asing seperti Romawi, Yunani, Arab, Cina, India, Persia dan dari kepulauan Indonesia lainnya telah membangun kantong-kantong pemukiman yang lengkap dengan prasarana pendukungnya di Barus. Penambangan emas dan perkebunan kamper tersebut merupakan contoh bahwa kedua komoditas ini telah diolah secara modern dan bukan didapat secara tradisional di hutan-hutan.


Sekarang ini ahli sejarah menemukan bukti-bukti arkeologis yang memperkuat dugaan bahwa sebelum munculnya kerajaan-kerajaan Islam yang awal di Sumatera seperti Peurlak dan Samudera Pasai, yaitu sekitar abad-9 dan 10, di Barus telah terdapat kelompok-kelompok masyarakat Muslim dengan kehidupan yang cukup mapan (Dada Meuraxa dalam Ali Hasymi, Sejarah Masuk dan Perkembangan Islam di Indonesia, bandung PT Al Maarif 1987). Kehidupan yang mapan itu pula memungkinkan mereka untuk hidup secara permanen di kawasan ini yang sudah pasti didukung oleh sarana pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan agar mereka tidak tertinggal dengan pesaing lainnya.


Sebagai pelabuhan yang sangat masyhur, Barus menjadi tujuan pendidikan tertua bagi masyarakat Batak. Hal ini dikarenakan bahwa Barus merupakan wilayah Batak yang paling mudah dicapai oleh orang-orang Batak dari pedalaman yang ingin menimba ilmu. Jalan-jalan menuju Barus telah dirintis rapi oleh pedagang-pedagang Batak yang ingin menjual kemenyan dan membeli produk jadi dari Barus. Sampai era tahun 1980-an, madrasah-madrasah tradisional Barus masih menjadi primadona tujuan pendidikan di tanah Batak sebelum akhirnya digantikan oleh Mandailing dengan pesantren-pesantrennya yang sudah modern.


Masuknya gelombang pedagang dan saudagar ke Barus mengakibatkan penduduk lokal Batak di lokasi tersebut; Singkil, Fansur, Barus, Sorkam, Teluk Sibolga, Sing Kwang dan Natal memeluk Islam setelah sebelumnya beberapa elemen sudah menganutnya. Walaupun begitu, mayoritas masyarakat Batak di sentral Batak masih menganut agama asli Batak.


Kelompok Marga Tanjung di Fansur, marga Pohan di Barus, Batu Bara di Sorkam kiri, Pasaribu di Sorkam Kanan, Hutagalung di Teluk Sibolga, Daulay di Sing Kwang merupakan komunitas Islam pertama yang menjalankan Islam dengan kaffah.


Maklumat lanjut: http://islamagamaku.blogdetik.com/page/136/?s

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SAMUDERA PASAI KERAJAAN ISLAM AWAL DI NUSANTARA


Ibnu Batutah catat wilayah diperintah Sultan Mahmud Malik Zahir sebagai maju, pelabuhan besar dan gemilang. KETIKA berada di China sekitar abad ke-14, pengembara Islam terkenal, Ibnu Batutah terlihat satu bahtera asing berlabuh di pelabuhan negara itu. Selepas diselidikinya, beliau dimaklumkan yang bahtera itu milik Sultan Samudera Pasai. Kehadiran bahtera bersama wakil utusan Sultan Samudera Pasai ke China adalah secara rutin berikutan kerajaan itu perlu menyerahkan ufti kepada Kerajaan China mengikut senggang masa tertentu.

Seterusnya beberapa tahun kemudian iaitu pada 1346, ketika dalam perjalanan merentas jalan laut dari Tanah Arab ke China, Ibnu Batutah sempat mengunjungi Kerajaan Samudera Pasai yang terletak di pinggir Selat Melaka (kini Wilayah Aceh).



Wang Emas Kerajaan Pasai.


Melihat keadaan di negeri berkenaan, pengembara yang berasal dari Maghribi itu membuka helaian kertas jurnal perjalanannya, mengambil pena dan mula mencatatkan pendapatnya mengenai kerajaan berkenaan. Antara terjemahan catatannya berbunyi lebih kurang begini: “Samudera Pasai adalah negeri nan hijau dan subur, rakyat dan alamnya indah dan menawan, (ia) negeri yang menghijau dan kota pelabuhannya besar dan indah.”


Ketibaan Ibnu Batutah di negeri itu disambut baik Panglima Daulasah, Qadi Syarif Amir Sayyir Al-Syirazi, Tajuddin Al-Asbahani dan beberapa ulama ahli fiqh di kerajaan berkenaan atas perintah Sultan Mahmud Malik Zahir.


Ibnu Batutah mencatat lagi dalam jurnalnya. Pada pandangannya, Sultan Mahmud adalah penganut mazhab Syafie yang giat menyelenggarakan pengajian, perbahasan dan muzakarah mengenai Islam sehingga menyebabkan Samudera Pasai menjadi pusat tumpuan pengajian Islam ketika itu. Mengenai peribadi dan corak pemerintahan Sultan berkenaan, beliau menulis:


“Sultan sangat rendah hati dan berangkat ke masjid untuk solat Jumaat dengan berjalan kaki. Selesai solat, Sultan dan rombongan mengelilingi kota untuk melihat keadaan rakyatnya.”


Ibnu Batutah berada di Samudera Pasai selama 15 hari. Sebelum berangkat meninggalkan wilayah Nusantara itu, beliau sempat mengunjungi pedalaman Sumatera yang masih dihuni masyarakat bukan Islam.


Di situ, beliau menyaksikan beberapa perlakuan masyarakat yang mengerikan antaranya upacara bunuh diri beramai-ramai yang dilakukan golongan hamba ketika pemimpinnya mati.


Demikianlah antara beberapa catatan Ibnu Batutah mengenai Samudera Pasai, satu kerajaan silam yang hebat serta wujud lebih 600 tahun lalu malah didirikan lebih awal daripada Kerajaan Melaka.


Kini, Kerajaan Samudera Pasai sudah tiada. Susur galur dan kehebatannya hanya dikenang lewat catatan sejarah silam antaranya menerusi ‘Hikayat Raja-raja Pasai’ selain penemuan pelbagai tinggalan arkeologi yang ditemui di Wilayah Aceh. Samudera Pasai mencatat rekodnya tersendiri dalam sejarah Melayu kerana ia dianggap Kerajaan Melayu pertama yang menerima Islam. Ketika Majapahit atau Srivijaya masih berpegang kepada fahaman Hindu-Buddha, pemimpin dan rakyat Samudera Pasai sudah mengucap dua kalimah syahadah dan mentauhidkan Allah SWT.


Detik pertukaran daripada pengamalan ajaran Hindu-Buddha kepada Islam itu bermula sekitar 800 Masihi apabila sebuah kapal saudagar Islam dari Gujerat tiba di Bandar Perlak (satu daripada kawasan di wilayah Aceh). Ketibaan kumpulan saudagar diketuai Nakhoda Khalifah itu tidak saja untuk urusan perdagangan malah untuk menyebar dakwah. Penerimaan baik penduduk tempatan terhadap dakwah Islamiah selain perkahwinan campur antara gadis tempatan dengan saudagar Muslim menyebabkan Islam mula tersebar ke seluruh wilayah Aceh dalam tempoh 40 tahun saja.




Manuskrip mengenai Kerajaan Pasai


Seterusnya Kerajaan Perlak dan Kerajaan Pasai (satu lagi kerajaan yang wujud di wilayah Aceh ketika itu) disatukan sehingga wujudnya Kerajaan Samudera Pasai. Sultan pertamanya adalah Sultan Malik Al-Saleh dan baginda dikahwinkan dengan Puteri Ganggang iaitu puteri pemerintah Perlak ketika itu, Sultan Makhdum Alaiddin Malik Muhammad Amin Shah II Johan Berdaulat.


Di bawah pemerintahan berasaskan tauhid kepada Allah itu, Samudera Pasai menjadi Kerajaan Islam yang terkenal dan maju.

Kerajaan itu menjadi tumpuan kunjungan saudagar daripada pelbagai negeri seperti China, India, Siam, Arab dan Parsi malah angkatan dagangan Samudera Pasai turut merentas laut untuk menjalinkan hubungan diplomatik dengan kerajaan luar. Selain menghantar ufti ke China, Sultan Pasai turut mengirimkan utusan ke Quilon, India Barat pada 1282 Masihi.


Dagangan utama di wilayah itu adalah lada. Kemajuan perdagangan yang dialami mereka menyebabkan Samudera Pasai turut menghasilkan mata wang emas yang disebut dirham dan mata wang itu digunakan secara rasmi oleh kerajaan mereka.

Selain berkembang sebagai pusat perdagangan, Samudera Pasai turut menjadi pusat perkembangan ilmu dan Islam. Ajaran Islam menerusi kitab bertulis Arab kemudian mencetuskan penghasilan tulisan jawi yang akhirnya menjadi warisan budaya Melayu.

Terhasilnya tulisan jawi juga mencetuskan perkembangan sastera klasik Melayu antaranya penghasilan kitab ‘Hikayat Raja-raja Pasai’ yang ditulis sekitar 1360.


Selaras dengan itu juga, ilmu tasawuf turut berkembang apabila ada antara kitab tasawuf diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Melayu bertulisan jawi. Antaranya adalah Durru al-Manzum, karya Maulana Abu Ishak.


Kegemilangan Kerajaan Samudera Pasai dikatakan sama hebatnya dengan zaman kemasyhuran Melaka di Tanah Melayu.

Bagaimanapun, melewati masa, Samudera Pasai mula mengalami kemunduran apabila Kerajaan Melaka diasaskan. Kehebatan kerajaan diasaskan Paramesrawa itu menyebabkan pedagang mula beralih dari pelabuhan Samudera Pasai ke Melaka.


Seterusnya pada 1360, Samudera Pasai diserang Majapahit dan akhirnya kerajaan hebat itu ditakluki sekali gus menamatkan era kegemilangannya dalam rentetan sejarah silam Nusantara, suatu ketika dulu.

Oleh Nasron Sira Rahim

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Cerita pelik Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai


KERJA arkeologi yang dijalankan di Kampung Geudong, Aceh Utara, menemui kawasan kubur purba yang misteri. Akhirnya kajian dan penyelidikan mendapati kawasan pusara itu adalah makam diraja sebuah kerajaan silam yang masyhur iaitu Samudera Pasai.

Antara banyak makam diraja yang ditemui itu, satu daripadanya tertera nama Sultan Malik al-Saleh. Seterusnya penemuan makam itu menyingkap sejarah kehidupan tokoh berkenaan yang namanya turut disebut dalam kitab Hikayat Raja-raja Pasai. Malik al-Saleh adalah nama Merah Silu selepas beliau menganut Islam. Namanya menjadi sebutan dan amat dikenali ketika membicarakan mengenai Kerajaan Samudera Pasai.



Kedudukan kerajaan Pasai dalam Peta Perdagangan silam.



Ini disebabkan Malik al-Saleh adalah Sultan pertama Samudera Pasai malah beliaulah yang bertanggungjawab menukarkan kerajaan itu daripada mengamalkan ajaran Hindu-Buddha kepada Islam.


Cerita pengislaman tokoh itu amat pelik jika dibaca dalam Hikayat Raja-raja Pasai. Beliau dikatakan menganut Islam selepas bermimpi menemui Nabi Muhammad SAW (sejauh mana kebenarannya tidak dapat dipastikan).

Ditulis dalam hikayat itu bahawa Merah Silu disuruh mengucap dua kalimah syahadah dalam mimpinya tetapi beliau tidak tahu berbuat demikian menyebabkan baginda meludah ke dalam mulutnya.


Selepas itu, Merah Silu mampu mengucap dua kalimah syahadah dan diberi gelaran Sultan Malik al-Saleh seterusnya menjadi Sultan sebuah Kerajaan Islam bernama Samudera Pasai.


Dalam hikayat itu juga, Merah Silu diberitahu supaya hanya memakan binatang halal yang disembelih selain dalam masa 40 hari kemudian, akan datang sebuah kapal dari Makkah dan hendaklah dia menerima ajaran Islam yang dibawa seseorang yang menaiki kapal itu.

Diceritakan lagi, apabila Merah Silu terjaga daripada tidurnya, Merah Silu mendapati kemaluannya sudah disunat dan mulutnya lancar membaca 30 juzuk al-Quran.


Tidak lama selepas itu, sebuah kapal dari Makkah berlabuh di pelabuhan Samudera Pasai dan turunlah seorang ulama bernama Sheikh Ismail. Ulama itu menghadap Sultan Malik al-Saleh dan memintanya mengucap dua kalimah syahadah dan membaca al-Quran. Sheikh Ismail kemudian berjaya mengislamkan seluruh rakyat Samudera Pasai.


Sememangnya wujud banyak kisah pelik yang di luar logik akal dalam Hikayat Raja-raja Pasai antaranya ibu Malik al-Saleh iaitu Puteri Betong ditemui di perdu rebung buluh dan bapanya iaitu Merah Gajah, dibela seekor gajah.


Merah Gajah pernah mencabut rambut emas Puteri Betung lalu keluar darah pelik berwarna putih dan akhirnya Puteri Betung ghaib. Merah Silu juga pernah menahan bubu dan mendapat cacing gelang yang bertukar menjadi emas dan perak.


Selain itu, diceritakan lagi yang Merah Silu pernah berjumpa seekor semut sebesar kucing dan memakan makhluk itu.

Walaupun pelbagai kisah pelik dan mistik menyelubungi Malek al-Saleh, sesuatu yang pasti adalah kajian mendapati tokoh itu sememangnya wujud dan beliau dikenali sebagai Sultan pertama Kerajaan Islam Samudera Pasai.

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INFO: Samudera Pasai


Pahlawan terkenal Samudera Pasai dikenali Tun Beraim Bapa dan pada zaman kewujudannya, Kerajaan Samudera Pasai menjadi gemilang.

Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai terbahagi kepada tiga bahagian iaitu ‘Pembukaan dan Pengislaman Pasai’, ‘Pasai di bawah pemerintahan Sultan Ahmad Perumudal Perumal’ dan ‘Peluasan Kekuasaan Majapahit’. Samudera Pasai yang terletak di Sumatera Utara iaitu Aceh, digelar Serambi Makkah kerana orang yang hendak mengerjakan haji terlebih dulu singgah di Aceh untuk belajar di madrasah dan masjid di negeri itu. Kerajaan Samudera Pasai turut dikenali juga sebagai Samudera, Pasai dan Samudera Darussalam atau Sumatera.


http://putraaceh.multiply.com/journal/item/707

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SURAT RAJA SRIWIJAYA UNTUK KHALIFAH


S Fatimi, seorang sejarawan Malaysia menulis dan dikutip oleh Azyumardi Azradalam bukunya Islam Nusantara bahwa ada dua buah surat yang kemungkinan besar ditulis oleh Raja Sriwijaya untuk Kalifah Arab. Bagian pembukaan dari surat pertama dikutip oleh al Jahiz dalam bukunya Kitab al Hayawan (Buku Fauna) berdasarkan 3 rantai isnad.


Surat pertama ditujukan untuk Mu'awiyah dan pembukaan surat itu kalau diterjemahkan kurang lebih seperti ini:

(Dari Maha Raja) - yang istalnya berisi ribuan gajah, istananya berkilau emas dan perak, dilayani oleh ribuan puteri raja, yang menguasai dua sungai yang mengairi gaharu - untuk Muawiyah


Surat kedua lebih lengkap karena terdapat pembukaan dan isi, terdapat dalam buku Ibnu Abdul Rabbih Al Iqd al Farid (Kalung Istimewa) ditujukan untuk Kalifah Umar bin Abdul Azis memperlihatkan betapa mewahnya Maharaja dan kerajaannya:


Dari Raja Diraja - yang keturunan ribuan raja, yang diistalnya terdapat ribuan gajah, dan menguasai dua sungai yang mengairi gaharu, tanaman harum, pala dan barus, yang keharumannya menyebar sejauh dua belas mil - untuk Raja Arab, yang bertuhan esa. Saya memberimu hadiah yang tidak seberapa sebagai tanda sapa dan saya harap anda berkenan mengirim seseorang yang bisa mengajar tentang Islam dan menerangkannya kepada saya.


Ibnu Taghribirdi dalam bukunya al Nujum al Zahirah fi Muluk Misr wa al Qahirah (Perbintangan Terang Raja Mesir dan Kairo) mempunyai tambahan untuk akhir surat ini: "Saya mengirim hadiah jebat (musk), batu ratna, dupa dan barus. Terimalah dari saudara Islammu."

Fatimi memperkirakan suat-surat itu diterima Kalifah sekitar tahun 100H/717, yaitu masa pemerintahan Sri Indrawarman. Sriwijaya merupakan kerajaan Buddha dan belum ada bukti peninggalan bahwa dibawah Sri Indrawarman Sriwijaya pernah memeluk Islam.

Membaca surat ini betul-betul menimbulkan kebanggaan kepada kita, betapa Nusantara telah memiliki kerajaan yang sangat makmur di Suarnadwipa - Pulau Emas- sejak dahulu kala, dengan perdagangan dan kontak internasional, raja yang sangat percaya diri dan penuh rasa ingin tahu.


Sumber: Islam in Indonesian world, Asia Research Institute

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MISTERI SEBUAH WASIAT


"Sepeninggal aku telah wafat kelak, akan muncul sebuah negeri di bawah angin, Samudera namanya. Apabila terdengar kamu nama negeri itu, maka suruhlah sebuah bahtera untuk membawa perkakas dan alat kerajaan ke negeri itu, serta kamu Islamkan sekalian isi negeri itu, serta ajar mereka mengucap dua kalimah syahadat. Kerana dalam negeri itu kelak banyak orang yang akan jadi wali Allah. Tetapi semasa kamu hendak pergi ke negeri itu, hendaklah kamu singgah mengambil seorang fakir di negeri Mengiri, bawalah fakir itu bersama-sama." - dicatat dalam Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai.



Empayar Majapahit meliputi Pasai.

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UNTUK PERBINCANGAN


(1) Mengenalpasti dan membincangkan sama ada terdapat kawasan, negeri atau empayar Islam yang lebih awal berbanding kerajaan Pasai di Nusantara.


(2) Perkongsian maklumat mengenai gerakan dakwah Islam yang berlaku sebelum dan selepas kegemilangan kerajaan Pasai. Adakah terdapat hubungan langsung dengan Empayar Islam di Timur Tengah dari segi dakwah, atau adakah dakwah dillakukan oleh kerajaan itu sendiri.


(3) Peranan Ahlul Baits dalam tugas-tugas dakwah di Nusantara, terutamanya berdakwah di kalangan golongan bangsawan atau golongan istana.


(4) Masih wujudkah pengaruh-pengaruh Hindu/Buddha/Animisma dalam kerajaan-kerajaan Islam Nusantara yang awal-awal ini. Jika ada, apakah bentuk pengaruh-pengaruh tersebut.


(5) Apakah sistem pertahanan yang wujud di kerajaan-kerajaan Islam Nusantara zaman silam. Adakah Seni Silat merupakan ciri terpenting kemahiran ilmu peperangan di zaman berkaitan.


(Sumber - http://www.facebook.com/notes/hibatullah-yusof-al-haj)