ACT for America and the Center for Security Policy Invite you to join them for a luncheon briefing on Shariah Compliant Finance and Financial Jihad: What America Needs to Know by Christopher Holton Tuesday, May 29, 2012 12:00 noon – 1:30 p.m. 2103 Rayburn House Office Building Lunch will be served. RSVP to lpiraneo@actforamerica.org [...]
The market for Islamic bonds was seriously rocked from 2007-2009 when the global economic crisis forced numerous defaults. Lately the sukuk market has been thriving, with new issuances setting records. Clearly, sukuk have become the instrument of choice for spreading Shariah in the financial world. But in the past week there have been two high [...]
The financial jihadis are celebrating at the World Islamic Funds and Financial Markets Conference in Bahrain. They are celebrating the meteoric growth of Shariah-Compliant Finance, a development that the West should be deploring, since the main purpose of Shariah-Compliant Finance is to promote Shariah itself. Estimates announced at the conference indicate that investors globally hold more [...]
A year ago SFW reported on a Toledo, Ohio couple who had conspired to send money to the Jihadist terrorist group Hezbollah: http://www.shariahfinancewatch.org/blog/2011/05/24/ohio-lebanese-american-couple-pleads-guilty-in-hezbollah-terror-funding-case/ This week the husband, Hor Akl, was sentenced to just over 6 years in prison for his role in the scheme. This sentence is so lenient as to be insulting to the [...]
Irish Attorney: “Financial shock would never have happened under shariah”
On May 21, 2012 · In "Ethical Investment", Defaults, IRELAND, Islamic Banking, Islamic Bonds, Islamic Economics, Islamic Finance, Islamic Law, Islamization, Shariah Banking, Shariah Bonds, Shariah Finance, Shariah Law, SUKUK, Uncategorized
Every once in a while we come across a story that is really outrageous. Some or outrageous because they are inaccurate. Others are outrageous because they are simply offensive. Today we bring to you an article from John King, an attorney with one of Ireland’s most prominent law firms, in which he makes the case [...]
US Treasury Sanctions Two for Ties to Al Qaeda
On May 18, 2012 · In Al Qaeda, Jihad, Jihadist Groups/Individuals, Money Laundering, Taliban, Terror Funding
These kinds of sanctions are largely symbolic since it is unlikely that these two men have any assets in the USA. The Treasury Department put two people that it alleged have ties to militant Islamist groups on a blacklist on Thursday and banned American citizens from any dealings with them. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets [...]
Federal authorities have arrested a Florida businessman, Osama “Sam” Mustafa in a money laundering/tax fraud scheme. This is not the first time Mustafa has met the Feds. He was previously questioned a decade ago because he had employed one of the 9/11 hijackers at one of his San Diego gas station/convenience stores in 2000. Two [...]
An extraordinary meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council was held to discuss the Council’s transformation into a union – be it a federation or confederation; an agreement has yet been reached regarding which form that union would take. Among the justifications used to promote the idea of a union is the fact that the GCC [...]
A terror plot targeting Kenyan tourist hotels with chemical explosives was financed by Samantha Lewthwaite, the British widow of 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay… http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/kenya/9258011/77-bomber-widow-Samantha-Lewthwaite-financed-Kenya-tourist-terror-plot.html
The Kind Hearts charity has officially ceased operations in a deal struck with the US Treasury Department. Officially known as KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, the Islamic charity was founded almost immediately after the Holy Land Foundation was shut down, in what became the largest terrorism financing conviction in US history. KindHearts was subsequently shut down [...]
We were heartened to learn on Friday that the Kansas senate had followed the example of the Kansas House of Representatives by voting overwhelmingly in favor of American Laws for American Courts legislation there. American Laws for American Courts (ALAC) legislation was crafted to protect the constitutional rights of Americans against the incursion of foreign [...]
US Treasury Claims Sanctions Hitting Al Qaeda Hard
On May 11, 2012 · In Al Qaeda, Iran, Islamic charities, Jihad, Jihadist Groups/Individuals, Obama, Sanctions, Terror Funding, USA, Zakat
The US Treasury claims that its targeted sanctions program is hitting Al Qaeda and rogue nations, such as Iran, hard. We’ve no doubt that Iran, the world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism, has been substantially effected by sanctions and we would concede that Al Qaeda has no doubt been impacted in some way. But [...]
European Nations Fund Jihad Through Ransoms
On May 11, 2012 · In Al Qaeda, France, Islamic Law, Jihad, Jihadist Groups/Individuals, Shariah Law, Spain, Terror, Terror Funding, terrorism
Money Jihad blog has another excellent and important story up about ransom payments by European nations to Jihadists, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in particular. Note especially the explanation with regard to ransom payments and Shariah in the Money Jihad posting. Note also that the amount of money paid by Spain and France [...]
One of the chief concerns about Shariah-Compliant Finance surrounds the use of Shariah advisors who end up controlling a great deal of money invested in Shariah-compliant instruments and institutions. Some of these advisors, such as Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Mufti Taqi Usmani, have known ties to Jihadist terror groups. But even in the cases where [...]
Just in time for the victory by socialists, facilitated at least partially by Islamist backing, Shariah-Compliant Finance has entered the real estate market in France… La Française AM has launched the first Sharia compliant OPCI – collective real estate vehicles with simplified investment rules with leverage – into the French market as part of the [...]
According to a warning issued by the UN Security Council, the use of kidnapping for ransom by terrorist groups is on the rise, an indication that Jihadists in particular are supplementing their income from zakat and state sponsors of terror, such as Iran. In addition, the UN says that terrorists are making greater use of [...]
…if she is Shariah adherent, 1/40th of this will go to zakat…that’s $125,000. One of the eight acceptable destinations for zakat under Shariah is to “those fighting in the way of allah,” defined as those engaged in Islamic military operations who are not on any Army roster. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-mct-muslim-woman-gets-huge-award-in-workplace-20120505,0,6271844.story
Abu Sayyaf kidnappers have set a four-week deadline to be paid or they will behead Australian Warren Rodwell. It should be noted, though, that the original ransom demand of A$2 million has been reduced to A$460,000. http://stayingsafeabroad.blogspot.com/2012/05/philippines-abu-sayyaf-reduces-sets.html
A SENATOR has requested an official inquiry into whether Australian taxpayers are unknowingly funding a Palestinian terrorist organisation. In a letter sent to Foreign Minister Bob Carr last week, Victorian Liberal Senator Michael Ronaldson cited evidence collected by Israeli civil rights organisation Shurat HaDin, which alleges that the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), based [...]
We have covered HSBC frequently here on SFW, but Forbes and Reuters have just broken a story that paints a picture of HSBC as a financial institution out of control when it comes to vigilance against money laundering. We first reported on HSBC’s deplorable money laundering policies almost a year ago when it was announced [...]
Seven people have been arrested in Britain on suspicion of funding overseas terrorism with money linked to smuggling of the stimulant khat. The arrests were part of an international probe into alleged terror fundraising and money-laundering. In a statement, Scotland Yard said the arrests were part of an investigation into a network suspected of illegally [...]
The U.S. Treasury Department’s point man on terrorist financing is off to the Middle East for nearly two weeks. Daniel Glaser, assistant Treasury secretary for terrorist financing, will travel to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Glaser will talk with government and private sector officials about the threat of terrorist financing, [...]
This news story proves the adage that truth is indeed stranger than fiction. It seems that a US Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement intelligence officer has been embroiled in serious financial impropriety. But wait, that isn’t even HALF the story. It gets much worse. This intelligence officer is a former colonel in [...]
One of the key aspects of a secure investment is liquidity. The ability to turn your investment to cash is considered a key component of mature financial markets. That’s why it is so important that sukuk, also known as Islamic bonds, lack liquidity, especially as compared to conventional bonds. Investors holding sukuk that get into [...]
Report: S&P to cut rating of Dubai’s DIFC Investments on Sukuk Refinancing Risk
On April 30, 2012 · In Defaults, DIFC, Dubai, Islamic Bonds, Shariah Bonds, Standard & Poor's, SUKUK, UAE
DIFC Investments LLC, which owns properties in Dubai’s tax-free financial center, may have its credit rating cut at Standard & Poor’s due to “heightened refinancing risk” on its $1.25 billion Islamic bond due in June. DIFC Investments “has little room for delays in its efforts to secure a bank loan and government support to refinance the sukuk,” the rating [...]
Back on January 31 we reported that Dana Gas, which had issued a sukuk (Islamic bond) looked to be in trouble: http://www.shariahfinancewatch.org/blog/2012/01/31/another-sukuk-in-trouble/ Well, sure enough, Dana Gas has hired Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity firm, to restructure its sukuk set to mature in October… http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-24/dana-gas-said-to-hire-blackstone-to-restructure-1-billion
Malaysia is doubtless a center of Shariah Compliant Finance, certainly the leader in Asia and the Pacific Rim. One of Malaysia’s largest Shariah banks is Maybank Islamic. Maybank Islamic is making moves to become a global force for Shariah. They are setting up shop in neighboring Singapore and Indonesia, but also have their sights set [...]
For at least the third time, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has launched a verbal broadside at capitalism, this time blaming it for the economic crisis in the West, the current trouble in Europe in particular. Previously, in September and November of 2009, Ahmadinejad was critical of capitalism: http://www.shariahfinancewatch.org/blog/2009/09/25/ahmadinejad-criticizes-capitalism/ http://www.shariahfinancewatch.org/blog/2009/11/12/iranian-president-mahmoud-ahmadinejad-blasts-free-market-capitalism-at-oic-economic-conference/ Ahmadinejad’s repeated attacks on capitalism are [...]
An International Conference on Islamic Funds and Investment opened this week in Karachi, Pakistan. According to the Pakistan Observer, among the large number of attendees were investors from the USA and Canada. The report indicated that some $1.3 trillion is invested in 650 Shariah-Compliant funds worldwide, including 230 in Saudi Arabia, 172 in Malaysia, 59 in [...]
They say that truth is stranger than fiction and this report from CNS News confirms it. The Obama administration now says that it has conducted outreach to the granddaddy of all Jihadist organizations in order to promote “small business.” The Obama administration says that it has talked with members of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood in order [...]
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