Pakistani Central Bank to Push Shariah
Pakistan’s central bank has published a detailed five-year plan to promote Islamic finance through an array of proposed legislative changes, product incentives and instructions to market participants. The plan aims to double the branch network of Islamic banks, which now have about 1,200 branches, and increase the industry’s market share to 15 percent of the banking […]
Here are some statistics on the growing threat from Shariah Finance. The fact that they come from an article promoting Shariah Finance in Hispanic Business should also raise some eyebrows about the movement to push Shariah on non-Muslim communities… • Size of Shariah-Finance Industry: $1.35 trillion • Annual Growth Rate: 20% • Number of Shariah-Compliant Financial Institutions: […]
BreitBart.com: London is Shariah City
BreitBart.com has recognized the infiltration of Shariah into the UK via the financial underbelly in an article published last night. Excerpts and link… Britain has six “fully Islamic” banking organisations and government minsters are attempting to attract even more Sharia-compliant finance initiatives to the UK. But concerns will no doubt abound, considering the extra cost […]
The Pakistani-based AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE) is slated to conduct a Shariah finance and banking road show of sorts across the continent of Africa. Among the countries that CIBE will be proselytizing in will be Tanzania, Tunisia, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and Mauritius. https://www.zawya.com/story/AlHuda_CIBE_will_Organize_African_Islamic_Banking_and_Finance_Road_Show-ZAWYA20140224135617/ CIBE is becoming a nefarious force in the […]
S&P Admits to “Extra Costs” of Shariah Compliance
Readers who click on the link below will note that the article doesn’t reflect the headline that we’ve posted here, but there is a valid reason for that. As is often the case with Shariah-compliant finance, the real story is often found by reading between the lines. In the article below published in Qatar, which, by the […]
The Infiltration of the British Financial System Continues
Elected officials in the UK have long expressed the desire for London to become a “mecca” of Shariah finance in the West (pun intended). They have bent over backwards to promote Shariah finance for years. Despite these efforts, statistics show that Shariah banks in the UK lag behind their conventional counterparts. Perhaps this is because […]
The Financial Jihad Comes to Hong Kong
Hong Kong seeks to attract a larger share of the Shariah-compliant finance market and is adjusting regulations to accommodate Shariah… http://www.scmp.com/business/money/markets-investing/article/1381481/hong-kongs-islamic-finance-goal-boosted-basel-iii
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 […]
Shariah-compliant finance is the ultimate form of Islamic imperialism in that in return for capital investment, participants are required to abide by Islamic law. One of the chief targets of this strategy has been India. Some in India have been pushing back to prevent Shariah finance from embedding itself there, but the temptation of petrodollars […]
OpEdNews Column: The Dark Side of Saudi Petrodollars
There is a nice column over on OpEdNews by a man named Brian Lynch touching on Saudi Arabia’s funding of Jihadist terrorism. The column doesn’t break any new ground, but it does provide links to other recent columns by other authors dealing with the same subject matter. It is also interesting in that the column […]
The effort by some in the United Kingdom to allow Shariah to infiltrate their legal system and culture through the financial back door continues apace. The latest push saw London’s deputy mayor travel to an “Islamic finance” conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to promote his hometown as a center for Shariah-compliant finance. From ArabianBusiness.com: Britain […]
Report: Egypt Orders Arrest of Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi
Egypt has reportedly ordered the arrest of Muslim Brotherhood Shariah scholar, Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi. SFW readers may recall that Qaradawi has been one of the pioneers of Shariah Finance for a few decades now, serving on the Shariah advisory board of some of the biggest banks and financial institutions in the Islamic world, including Bank […]
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 […]
The Muscat Securities Market has launched a ‘Sharia Index’ (MSMSI) aiming at measuring the performance of Shariah-Compliant companies that pass AAOIFI compliance with the Shariah investment principles. With this launch, more individuals and corporates are expected to make use of the Shariah financial offerings in the country. SFW readers may recall that AAOIFI’s Shariah advisory […]
Here we have one of the starkest examples yet of the use of Shariah-finance to basically extort borrowers into adhering to Shariah. The head of Nigeria’s central bank all but says that if African nations want to secure funding for their infrastructure projects, they better turn to Islamic finance. Islamic finance is of course a […]
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 emergence of Shariah-compliant Finance in Tunisia is hardly surprising given the emergence of the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist factions in the wake of the so-called “Arab spring.” According to Reuters, Shariah-compliant finance could gain as much as a 40% marketshare in Tunisia. A poll in Tunisia indicates that 54% of respondents would switch their […]
A British minister called for turning London into a global center for Shariah finance on the 69th anniversary of D-Day. “It’s about making Britain the preferred choice for the Muslim world to invest in and do business in,” senior Foreign Office minister Baroness Warsi claimed in a speech to the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies. “It is […]
Turkey is fast becoming the “poster child” for Islamization and Shariah-Compliant Finance. This is no secret, in fact another post from earlier today pointed this out: https://shariahfinancewatch.org/2013/05/31/shariah-banks-thrive-in-previously-secular-turkey/ We also came across another article about the emergence of sukuk, or Shariah-Compliant Bonds in Turkey. As we have pointed out on numerous occasions, sukuk are increasing the […]
Arcapita, one of the most notorious Shariah-Compliant international conglomerates, with a major office in Atlanta, Georgia, is looking for money to it can complete a “Shariah-Compliant” bankruptcy, something that would be the first of its kind in the USA. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which is already providing Arcapita $350 million in bankruptcy exit financing, is now seeking […]
Islamic Bank of Britain Promotes Zakat
One of the most troubling and controversial aspects of Shariah-Compliant Finance is the system of zakat that plays a key role for Shariah-compliance. Zakat is a system of tithing in Islam, except that it goes way beyond what Westerners think of as “tithing” or “alms giving.” While some in the Shariah Finance industry deny that […]
In a sure signal of the direction that the Muslim Brotherhood seeks to take Egypt, a Shariah Finance specialist has been appointed as the country’s Finance Minister… The new Finance Minister, Fayyad Abdel Moneim, a relative unknown with a PhD in economics from Al Azhar University, is Egypt’s 5th finance minister since the revolution. He […]
Despite the combined efforts of Islamist regimes in the Islamic world and the appeasing government in the United Kingdom, Shariah-Compliant Finance has yet to take off in Britain. In fact, it’s struggling and financial firms are abandoning it. One reason is that the weapon of choice in Shariah-Compliant Finance, sukuk, also known as Islamic bonds […]
The Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), which lists the Jihadist Shariah scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani as the chair of its Shariah Advisory Board, will hold its annual conference in Bahrain this year… http://www.ameinfo.com/kfh-bahrain-sponsors-aaoifi-annual-sharia-conference-337986
Sovereign Sukuk to Push Shariah Bond Market
The Sukuk (Islamic bond) market is expected to grow by 30 percent in 2013, led by sovereign sukuk that will continue to dominate, due largely to new countries that will issue sukuk, according to a report from Kuwait Finance House (KFH). Sovereign issuers led the market share in 2012 despite a record amount of corporate […]
Ratings Firm Confirms Negative Outlook for Malaysian/Indian Telecom Sukuk
RAM Ratings Services Bhd has reaffirmed its negative outlook for Binariang GSM Sdn Bhd’s senior sukuk and junior sukuk ratings. Sukuk are also referred to as “Islamic bonds” and “Shariah Bonds.” Binariang GSM Sdn Bhd is an investment holding company with interests in telecommunications company Maxis Bhd and Aircel Ltd – India’s seventh largest mobile operator – and PT Axis Telekom Malaysia, the fifth […]
By Cliff Kincaid Apparently on the defensive over its unorthodox entry into the U.S. media market, Al Jazeera has hired a high-powered lobbying firm on Capitol Hill to stave off an investigation of the curious transaction with former Democratic Vice President Al Gore. The firm, DLA Piper, represented Al Jazeera in the acquisition of Gore’s […]
Gulf Nations to Continue Shariah-Compliant Sukuk Push
HSBC Bank, perhaps the West’s most shameful pimp for Shariah-Compliant Finance, and a serial violator of Treasury regulations regarding Iran sanctions, is reporting that the market for Shariah-Compliant bonds (known as sukuk or Islamic bonds) is set to break records in 2013 thanks to the proliferation of issues from Gulf states. Mohammed Dawood of HSBC […]
Shariah-Compliant Finance Continues its Creep into Egypt
As anticipated, Shariah-Compliant Finance is making headway into the Egyptian financial system and economy. The latest evidence comes from the announcement that the Egyptian Electricity Ministry has inked its first ever Shariah-compliant financing contract with the help of National Bank for Development (NBD) and the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. The $110 million deal is the first […]
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