By Christopher W. Holton Yet another sign that all is not well in the world of Shariah Finance. Shariah finance has all but evaporated in Singapore and Malaysia, which has been regarded as the Shariah finance center for Asia, has shown signs of decline. Indonesia is looking to try to benefit, but one wonders what […]
Pramerica Real Estate Investors has decided to team up with Qatar’s QInvest to establish a Shariah-compliant real estate fund. For some time we have covered Qatar’s troubling ties to terrorism… https://shariahfinancewatch.org/category/qatar/ Now Qatar, which backs the Muslim Brotherhood and has a shoddy record in counterterrorism cooperation, particularly countering terrorism financing, is teaming up more and […]
Toxic Propaganda from the Financial Jihadists on Shariah Finance
By Christopher W. Holton Periodically we see articles and marketing pieces come out promoting Shariah-compliant finance as somehow more “ethical” than conventional finance. In fact, Shariah finance is often promoted as the ethical substitute to conventional finance and promoters of Shariah finance, notably Sheikh Youssef De Lorenzo, who has written that Shariah finance should be […]
The Philippine House of Representatives took a major step backward this week when a committee endorsed a measure that financial Jihadists have pushed to facilitate regulatory changes that would provide an advantage to Shariah-compliant institutions… Note that the author of the bill points out that the Shariah finance sector will seek to obtain non-Muslim customers […]
Financial Jihadists Try to Push Shariah-Compliant Finance on Uganda
by Christopher W. Holton For several years now, Africa has been a focal point of financial Jihadists and violent Jihadists alike. The violent Jihadists–Boko Haram, Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb–have wreaked havoc from one end of the dark continent to the other. The financial Jihadists’ quest has been just as relentless, […]
ISIS Enforcing Shariah Finance in Libya at Bayonet Point
H/T to Money Jihad: Islamic State operatives in Sirte, Libya, have ordered banks there to close because they profit from charging interest. ISIS told the banks that they “must change to Islamic banking” before they can reopen. If you know somebody who still doubts the connections between sharia-compliant banking and terrorism, please forward them this […]
Shariah-Compliant Finance Stumbles in Singapore
Singapore’s objective of becoming a Shariah finance center has been dealt a serious setback by DBS Group Holdings Ltd.’s decision to close its Shariah banking division that had sought to promote Shariah finance throughout Asia. The Islamic Bank of Asia will be gradually wound down as it was “unable to achieve economies of scale,” DBS said in a Sept. 14 statement to the stock exchange. Southeast Asia’s largest […]
Yale Establishes Shariah Law Center with $10 Million “Donation” From Saudi Shariah Finance Titan
By Christopher Holton Yale has now joined its Ivy League rival Harvard by establishing a center designed to promote Shariah in America. And, just like Harvard, Yale has prostituted itself to do so by taking a $10 million inducement from a wealthy Saudi financier who made his fortune in none other than Shariah-compliant finance. That […]
Seattle Mayor Edward B. Murray has introduced a plan to provide affordable housing in a city that is home to much of the high-tech industry’s wealthiest individuals and businesses. Overshadowing the irony of this scheme is this part of the plan: Support the Community in Finding Housing Tools for Sharia-Compliant Lending: For our low – and […]
Here we have more definitive proof that the Shariah Finance industry is designed to not only promote Shariah to Muslims but also to non-Muslims… Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan speaking at an IMF discussion emphasised the universality of Islamic finance for all of man-kind irrespective if the customer is Muslim or not. http://www.islamicfinance.com/2015/06/turkish-deputy-prime-minister-islamic-finance-values-universal/
Ramadan Reminders of Zakat
Ramadan starts on 17 June and, as usual, with the onset of Ramadan, the Islamic media is littered with reminders for Muslims of the importance of Zakat, the obligatory charity tax that is one of the 5 pillars of Islam. Zakat is also one of the most troubling aspects of Islam for non-Muslims and one […]
Speaking at the World Islamic Economic Forum Roundtable, an event co-hosted by the Alliance Forum Foundation and the World Islamic Economic Forum, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, urged Japan to engage in activities related to Islamic finance in partnership with Malaysia. He opined that the combination of Japan’s industrial technology and Malaysia’s finance expertise would give […]
More and more we are finding evidence that Bitcoin is being used to facilitate the spread of Shariah via Shariah-compliant Finance. Indonesians are increasingly embracing the digital currency known as bitcoin as a payment solution for online transactions and to send and receive money… Blossom is a two-month-old startup based in Silicon Valley that focuses on funding […]
Here we have more evidence that Shariah-Compliant Finance is the opposite of free enterprise and market capitalism. Banks in the UAE want to create a central Shariah board to govern the entire industry… The United Arab Emirates’ bank industry association has discussed a proposal to create a centralised sharia board that would monitor Islamic banking, […]
Shariah-Compliant funds are a $60 billion industry forecasted to grow to at least $77 billion by 2019, while the underlying demand for Shariah funds is projected to grow to $185 billion over the next five years according to The Global Islamic Asset Management Outlook published by Thomson Reuters. The study based on a survey of key […]
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. A color-coded map may be even more useful. In this case, we’d say so anyway. The map shown here was created with data from the IFSB–the Islamic Financial Services Board. As you can see, there are some regions that stand out in terms of the prominence […]
One side-effect of the British government’s embrace of Shariah-compliant Finance has been the marketing of Shariah-compliant products to non-Muslims. …this niche section of banking has seen an upsurge in popularity – and not just among Muslims. Islamic financial products conform to the ethics laid out by Muslim teachings. It’s possible to find Islamic savings accounts, […]
Shariah-compliant airliners? Not exactly, but their financing is Shariah-compliant… A Bahrain-Dubai joint venture has closed a $94 million deal at list prices for the lease of three Bombardier Q400 NextGen planes, its third Sharia-compliant aviation deal since December… http://english.alarabiya.net/en/business/aviation-and-transport/2015/04/30/Bahrain-Dubai-joint-venture-closes-third-Bombardier-deal.html
Few things illustrate the United Kingdom’s thorough infiltration by Shariah than a real estate deal for an industrial park in the UK financed by a British Shariah bank… http://www.islamicfinance.com/2015/04/uk-industrial-estate-secures-sharia-compliant-investment-17-92-million/
Iran has long had more Shariah-compliant financial assets under management than any other nation on earth, as measured by The Banker, but it has been largely blocked by international sanctions. Now that the Obama administration is clearing the way by lifting those sanctions, there is an expectation that Iran’s presence in the Shariah finance marketplace will […]
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 […]
Shariah Compliant Student Loans for Northern Ireland
Alliance Party MLA and Department of Employment and Learning Minister (DEL), Stephen Farry, has confirmed his plans to “assess the appropriateness of, and need for” the introduction of a Sharia law compliant student finance system for Northern Ireland. Those who live by Sharia law, and require a student loan to attend university, are currently less likely to […]
The International Monetary Fund has weighed in on Shariah-Compliant Finance and pointed out some “challenges” that the industry faces. The Shariah-compliant finance system faces several key challenges if it is to unlock its potential and develop safely, the International Monetary Fund reported on April 6. The sector still lacks regulatory and supervisory frameworks catering to its unique risks […]
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
London has set its sights on becoming the world centre for the Islamic finance industry according to the UK’s foreign office minister for Middle East. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/11435465/Britain-to-lead-the-world-in-Islamic-finance.html
Bank of England Shills for Shariah and Bitcoin
What do Bitcoin and Sharia have in common? The Bank of England. Concerted efforts to embrace new areas of finance such as these are uncommon, and the move regarding digital currencies is seemingly being taken in tandem with other schemes. The UK under-secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs, Tobias Ellwood, said at the […]
The Indonesian Financial Services Authority (OJK) has launched a nationwide campaign to encourage the development of Indonesia’s still shallow Shariah-compliant capital market with new initiatives and regulations. A roadmap, new and revised regulations as well as incentives and campaigns to raise awareness are in the pipeline for the Shariah capital market. The regulator declared the year 2015 […]
Western Sanctions Said to be Pushing Russian Banks to Shariah
Russian banks are developing expertise in Shariah finance in an effort to diversify funding sources for local firms. Russia’s Shariah banking sector is still in its infancy. However an estimated 20 million Muslims living in the country are a potential source of money, as are cash-rich Islamic nations abroad. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/international/facing-sanctions-russian-banks-look-to-build-islamic-finance-knowhow/article6874069.ece
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