Beware of Financial Jihadist Claims in Post-Pandemic Market
posted by Christopher W. Holton The world economy and financial markets have been beset by an unprecedented collapse brought about by the Wuhan virus pandemic. In such environments charlatans and swindlers often move in to take advantage. One particularly risk for investors will be promoters of shariah-compliant finance. Shariah complaint finance is a form of […]
More Propaganda from the Shariah Finance Industry
posted by Christopher W. Holton Bloomberg, one of the biggest financial news conglomerates in the world, has published a story about a report out of Australia by Melbourne’s Deakin Business School, which essentially calls for all investors to consider Shariah Compliant Financial products as safe havens during times of crisis. This is a tired old, […]
by Christopher W. Holton Linda Sarsour is a name that has become increasingly prominent in U.S. Leftist political circles over the past few years. As detailed by previous Center for Security Policy work, she has been carrying out the curious mission of tying the toxic doctrine of Shariah to the Western feminist movement. It turns […]
by Christopher W. Holton Increasingly, Shariah-compliant forms of financing are supplanting and replacing conventional financing in the Islamic world. For years, Pakistan has used conventional financing for infrastructure projects, such as bridges. Now the government is embarking on a plan to replace conventional methods with Shariah-compliant financing. While it is not a big surprise that […]
By Christopher W. Holton Linked below is a page on the Dubai Islamic Bank web site which purports to promote and explain Shariah-compliant car loans which, ostensibly, avoid interest charges. To be completely honest, we can’t make heads or tails of it, but one thing seems readily apparent: no one at Dubai Islamic Bank is […]
One of the most absurd declarations from those who use Shariah-Compliant Finance to spread Shariah worldwide is the claim that Shariah Finance somehow is immune to the economic cycle and market forces. Part of this stems from the fact that Shariah-Compliant Finance is the opposite of free market capitalism; it is a system of centralized […]
Interest in Shariah-compliant dress codes around the world is growing at the same time Muslims around the world choose to spend money and manage finances in a Shariah-compliant way. Now, Shariah-compliant finance companies are beginning to invest in the Shariah “fashion” industry. This illustrates that Islam is a complete way of life and Shariah is designed […]
New Products Spreading Shariah Finance
Just a year or two ago, the rise of Shariah bonds (sukuk) created the main tool by which Shariah was spread, particularly in the West. Today, new, short-term instruments are broadening and deepening the Shariah market even more, thus facilitating the spread of Shariah through the financial back door… Islamic equivalents to conventional financial instruments […]
Much of the world of Shariah-compliance is made up of smoke and mirrors, concoctions pieced together to work around Shariah prohibitions against interest and the like. The UAE central bank has greatly aided the financial jihad with the development of a short-term lending instrument that it claims is Shariah-compliant… http://www.thenational.ae/business/banking/central-bank-of-uae-launches-shariah-compliant-short-term-lending-service
The Shariah finance industry has been working hard to make inroads in East Africa. There are obstacles to this quest, including the fact that many businesses in the region don’t qualify as Shariah-compliant. The article linked below provides a vague, but not totally useless, guide to what might disqualify a business from being Shariah-compliant… http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Why-top-exchange-stocks-are-unfit-for-Sharia-investment/-/539552/2550348/-/5b16swz/-/index.html […]
Shariah Compliant Hotel Opens in London
London is getting its wish to become the Western world’s Shariah capital. At some point all Londoners will come to regret this, but right now some misguided leaders view these developments as a great thing. This is what is known as civilizational suicide… Staff at one of London’s trendiest destinations say they are in fear […]
From Indonesia… Aceh Custom Council (MAA) is launching a forest management handbook based on sharia and customary law compiled by Acehs traditional and public figures to support sustainable forest management in Sumatra. “The book describes how Islamic and custom laws established the environment, including sustainable forest management,” the chairman of MAA, H Badruzzaman, said here on Monday. […]
It’s not surprising that Islamists want to promote “Green” energy projects in the West. After all, the last thing they want is for the West to develop its own oil and gas reserves. That’s why the UAE bankrolled Matt Damon’s anti-fracking movie a couple of years ago. Now Islamists are developing Shariah-compliant investment vehicles for […]
British Ministry Seeks Input on Shariah-Compliant Student Loans
A new model for Shariah-compliant student loans has been unveiled recently by British Universities and Science Minister David Willetts. The UK government is seeking feedback from current and prospective students… https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-loans-to-help-muslim-students-go-to-university
The British government is planning to introduce student loans which will be compliant with Shariah law in order to encourage more Muslims to attend colleges and universities in the UK. If ever there was a smoking gun that Shariah-compliant loans were a sham, this is it: The principles of Shariah law recognize the value of […]
An investment fund called the Mashreq Arab Tigers Fund has announced that it will convert to becoming a Shariah-compliant fund and change its name to the Mashreq-Al-Islami Arab Tigers Fund. This isn’t particularly newsworthy, but the article linked below affords us a teaching moment. That’s because the operators of the fund recognize ahead of time that, in […]
As widely reported on the web and here on SFW yesterday, the UK has decided to go ahead and issue a sovereign sukuk. In other words, the United Kingdom will issue a government security that complies with a foreign law. The UK is the first Western nation to do so and British leaders say they […]
Why Do Islamic Charities Send Zakat to Terrorists? Because Shariah Says They Must
One of the most popular and most important subjects on SFW is the issue of Zakat. Zakat is a form of tithing in Islam and is considered one of the Five Pillars of the faith. Essentially, every Muslim who is able to do so is required to give 1/40 of his wealth each year to […]
The wearing of a covering such as a hijab, niqab, burka or other hair covering is considered mandatory under Shariah. (For a guide to Shariah-compliant female head coverings, see our earlier post on the subject: https://shariahfinancewatch.org/2009/03/04/trying-to-make-us-play-by-their-rules-muslims-protest-full-head-photos-on-drivers-licenses/ ) A wealthy Saudi woman in Minnesota used that requirement to conduct her banking business in a rather “unorthodox” fashion recently. […]
This week in Oman, the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) will hold a workshop covering “Standards on Risk Management, Corporate and Shariah Governance for Institutions offering Islamic Financial Services.” This event isn’t particularly noteworthy but it does provide a teaching moment for those who have doubts that Shariah-Compliant Finance’s first and foremost purpose is to […]
Due to the lack of Shariah scholars in the Islamic world–even in Saudi Arabia–Islamic financial institutions are literally “outsourcing” the Shariah advisory function. In Saudi Arabia, one manifestation of that is the “Shariah Review Bureau,” a separate entity that provides Shariah advisory services to a variety of Islamic financial institutions. But already Western observers will […]
America’s First Shariah-Compliant Bankruptcy
In New York, Judge Sean Lane approved Arcapita Bank’s $175 million bankruptcy loan from Goldman Sachs to pull the bankrupt Shariah-compliant entity out of receivership… There is some debate as to whether the arrangement is actually Shariah-compliant, but Arcapita’s Shariah advisory board have declared the arrangement Shariah-compliant so that’s all it takes. (Talk about a […]
The article linked below contains a brief explanation of Shariah-Compliant mortgages here in the US… Shari’ah compliant mortgage financing has been available in the United States for over a decade. Research into how these mortgages are structured reveals the details behind this Islamic finance program and how it differs from the standard FNMA mortgage loan […]
The article linked below from Bloomberg is about Alwaleed’s decision to sell off his jumbo jet, but the bigger story embedded here is his decision to refocus his fortune back home in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, which almost certainly means Shariah-compliance… Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Al Saud, the world’s 15th-richest person, sold his […]
Sukuk Issuance Hit $131 Billion in 2012
KFH Research reports that Shariah-compliant bond (sukuk) issuances reached $131 billion during 2012, a 54% increase over 2011. As we have reported previously on SFW, sukuk are fast becoming the weapon of choice for promoting Shariah through Shariah-Compliant Finance. Here is how that works: • As we know from historical records and contemporary statements from […]
Note that this mechanism is essentially a convoluted construct to replicate interest payments, without calling them interest payments… The Islamic Bank of Britain has reported a 63% rise in take-up of its home financing products for the first three quarters of 2012. The growth in demand for the Sharia-compliant bank’s alternative to mortgages was fuelled […]
In Nigeria, a bank offering “interest-free” loans to poor farmers back in 2009 in conjunction with a Shariah court judge, is now under investigation for fraud. Readers may want to take note that Nigeria is being wracked by a violent jihad these days: http://vinienco.com/2012/11/26/twelve-christian-pastors-killed-muslims-nigeria/ http://vinienco.com/2012/11/26/muslim-suicide-bombers-kill-eleven-christians-attending-sunday-church-service-nigeria/ As has so often been the case, violent jihad is […]
“Ethical Investing” from Countries Overrun With Corruption?
Transparency.org has publishes a Corruption Perceptions Index that rates the level of corruption in the world’s nations. The most recent year for which there is data is 2011. The results are instructive for observers of Shariah Compliant Finance. Shariah-Compliant Finance is often touted by the financial jihadists as “ethical” investment. There are a variety of […]
West Point Report: Haqqani network supported by “rich donors”
By way of CNN, we have still more evidence of financial support for violent jihad by wealthy Muslims in the Persian Gulf region. The Haqqani network is one of the most virulent Jihadist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan and has been battling US troops for several years. It is closely allied with both Al Qaeda and […]
Standard & Poor’s, one of the most prominent names in the Western financial world has formed an alliance with the world’s most prominent Wahhabi Islamic supremicist organization to establish a new Shariah-compliant investment index. The new S&P COMCEC 50 Sharia Index has been established in partnership with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an organization […]
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