While researching for SFW this morning, we came across this article about a man named Jacques Bernard, who is the Chief Investment Officer of “National Bonds” in the United Arab Emirates.
http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Investment/10330073.html
National Bonds, as it turns out, is the shariah-compliant national savings “scheme” of the UAE. The company’s own web site even refers to it as a “scheme,” which we thought was amusing.
At first, we figured that National Bonds was just a sukuk system in which individuals could place savings in instruments that were created to be shariah-compliant. Kind of like US Savings Bonds, right?
Well, it turns out there is an interesting twist to this story.
It seems National Bonds has a prize drawing program for investors:
http://www.nationalbonds.ae/eng/Draw/overview.aspx
This program rewards people for saving by making them millionaires.
Sure seems like a lottery to us.
How is this shariah-compliant? Promoters of Shariah-Compliant Finance always seem to proclaim that gambling is prohibited. How does a lottery not qualify as gambling and how does this qualify for Shariah-compliance?
