For decades, monied Arab oil interests sought investment opportunities overseas and made no mention of Shariah compliance. Wealthy Saudi princes and Kuwaiti Sheikhs bought up Western real estate, equities and businesses with gusto. Moreover, in some of these Arab nations, such as Jordan, Kuwait and even Saudi Arabia, Shariah-compliance was a minor factor on the financial scene. Banks operated much the same as banks in the rest of the world.
Almost suddenly, in more recent times, banks in these nations began to convert to “Islamic banking” and when wealthy Muslims from Arab nations in particular sought investment opportunities abroad, they began to set conditions, insisting on Shariah compliance. (This is how Church’s Fried Chicken, formerly owned by a Shariah-compliant financing firm, banned the sale of pork products at its retail outlets.)
These same attached strings are being used on a much higher level to compel governments to allow Shariah to penetrate through the financial back door. The latest victim of this extortion appears to be South Korea…
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/02/12/201002120025.asp?
