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 [...]
Bank Islam in Malaysia has launched a new Shariah-compliant derivative product called an Islamic Dual Currency Investment-i (DCI-i). This product is wrapped in a murky Shariah cloak, but make no mistake about it: it is a derivative product designed to squeeze additional returns out of fluctuations in foreign currencies. The foreign currency markets are highly [...]
On June 1, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that a federal taxpayer lacks “standing” to challenge the government’s use of taxpayer funds to support sharia-based activities. The case, which is captioned on appeal as Murray v. United States Department of Treasury, et al., was brought by American Freedom Law Center [...]
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 [...]
We suppose that when you live under an atheist, communist system, it makes no difference to you whether the food is halal or haram. Add in a dash of capitalism and presto! You get a foothold for Shariah-compliance in a city-state with virtually no Muslim population. Such is the nature of the petrodollar driven Islamic [...]
A firm called Ethical Asset Management in the UK is launching a Sukuk fund for individual investors. This is fairly unremarkable, but the designation “ethical” is worth commenting on. Ethical is a subjective term. To most Westerners, there is little or nothing ethical about Shariah. On the contrary, many of the tenets of Shariah are [...]
The intrepid and illustrious Joy Brighton weighs in on Goldman Sachs’ ridiculous foray into the world of Shariah-Compliant Finance. This is an excellent article that regretfully we previously overlooked… Excerpt and LINK: In September 2011, Goldman Sachs announced it would issue a $2 billion Shariah Compliant Islamic Bond derivative known as a “Sukuk” to finance [...]
The Weekly Standard has published an article that was linked on Drudge today about German bank WestLB rolling out its Islamic Strategy Index Certificate. The value of the certificate is based on the value of the WestLB Islamic Deutschland Index, consisting of shares of ten German firms “whose business activities are consistent with the ethical rules of [...]
Maybe the only thing worse than getting in bed with the financial jihadists is to get in bed with the financial jihadists, only to find out they don’t want you. That may be the situation Goldman Sachs finds itself in with regard to its Islamic bond (sukuk) program. It seems Goldman got the blessing from [...]
Money Jihad blog has posted two important articles over the past week regarding the Shariah-compliant alternative to conventional financing known as murabaha. One thing to remember about murabaha is that, almost invariably, these arrangements cost the borrower more than conventional financing would. Money Jihad compares murabaha to “rent-to-own” deals in the US. We think the comparison is [...]
Some REALLY Bad Ideas on How to Solve America’s Debt Problems
On August 9, 2011 · In Creeping Shariah, Da'Wah, Debt Bonds, Defaults, Economic Crisis, Fatwa, Islamic Banking, Islamic Bonds, Islamic Economics, Islamic Finance, Islamization, MEDIA, Media, Nakheel, Sharia Compliant, Sharia Products, Shariah Banking, Shariah Bonds, Shariah Finance, Shariah Law, stealth jihad, SUKUK, U.S. Policymakers, USA, Usmani, Usury, Zakat
Not surprisingly, the financial jihadists are promoting Shariah as the solution to America’s debt problems. We’ve seen this before. Back in 2008, in the wake of the subprime mortgage debacle and near-financial meltdown, the financial jihadists insisted that Shariah-compliant finance would have avoided the whole mess. Then, in 2009, defaulting on sukuk (Islamic bonds) just [...]
Egypt delays sukuk as financial jihad comes to South Africa and elsewhere
On April 12, 2011 · In Creeping Shariah, Egypt, Islamic Banking, Islamic Bonds, Islamic Finance, Islamic Financial Services Board, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Sharia Compliant, Sharia Products, Shariah Banking, Shariah Bonds, Shariah Finance, South Africa, SUKUK
The political unrest in Egypt has forced that country to delay setting up the structure for sukuk (Islamic) issuance, but the financial jihad is moving into Nigeria, Kenya and, most ominously, South Africa. The delay in Egypt will no doubt be short-lived, given the growing influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in the political power structure [...]
The concept of insurance in Islam is a relatively new one. Conventional insurance contracts have been considered haram (unislamic). As a result, the financial jihadists concocted their new form of Shariah-compliant insurance, known as takaful. Despite their efforts, takaful has yet to gain wide acceptance in the Islamic world. As the article below details, the [...]
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who recently launched a presidential exploration committee, was personally responsible for shutting down Minnesota’s Shariah-compliant mortgage program last year. Bravo, Governor Pawlenty. He has demonstrated great courage and appreciation for the US constitution that governors in states like South Dakota, Michigan and New Jersey would do well to emulate. It turns [...]
Hat tip to the good folks at Creeping Shariah blog for uncovering and posting this information… http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/shariah-compliant-credit-cards-more-common-as-sharia-spreads/
Federal Judge Upholds Government Funding of Shariah Law
On January 21, 2011 · In AIG, Creeping Shariah, Islamic Finance, lawfare, Sharia Products, Shariah Finance, Shariah insurance, Shariah Law, Takaful
Last week, Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff, a federal district court judge in Michigan, dismissed a constitutional challenge to the U.S. Government’s bailout of AIG, which used over a hundred million dollars in federal tax money to support Islamic religious indoctrination through the funding and promotion of Sharia-compliant financing (SCF). http://nation.foxnews.com/justice/2011/01/20/federal-judge-upholds-government-funding-sharia-law
Proponents of Shariah Banking are pushing for its acceptance in India, where there has been strong opposition to the concept from time to time. Now the financial jihadists are trying to foist Shariah Banking off on Indians by dubbing it “Interest-Free Banking.” You can put lipstick on a pig, but it will still be a [...]
The Islamization of American Business
On September 30, 2010 · In Creeping Shariah, Islamic Economics, Islamic Law, Islamization, Sharia Compliant, Sharia Products, Shariah Law, stealth jihad, USA
The intrepid Christopher Logan over at Logan’s Warning has brought a new web site to our attention: AmericanMuslimConsumer.com. On October 30th, there will be an American Muslim Consumer Conference which is described as: the only platform for industry professionals to examine this potent market sector, and explore its rich potential.It effectively raises awareness of the [...]
Spanish-based Allfunds bank has signed on to the financial jihad with their announcement that it has launched an “Islamic Services Unit.” The bank offers 80 Shariah-compliant funds to investors in Spain, Italy, Chile, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and 17 other countries. Allfunds’ Islamic Services Unit was created with a fatwa issued by a Shariah advisory [...]
Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of London-based Barclays Plc, is offering Shariah- compliant repurchase agreements to allow Islamic banks and investors manage their funds. Barclays introduced the product worldwide two weeks ago and is focusing on clients in Malaysia and the Middle East. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-18/barclays-capital-offers-islamic-repos-in-1-trillion-market.html
Here we have a marketing piece by Reuters (whose parent company is thoroughly involved in Shariah Finance) masquerading as a news story. In what other industry or financial sector could a rash of defaults–combined with high fees and conflicts of interest–prompt a wave of faux optimism as expressed in this Reuters fluff piece? Recent sukuk [...]
Reliance Capital Asset Management’s subsidiary is set to launch two Shariah-compliant funds in Malaysia by July 2010. http://assetmanagement.banking-business-review.com/news/reliance_capital_to_launch_two_islamic_funds_in_malaysia_100629/?
In the video at the link below, Guy David, partner, Gowling Lafleur Henderson, explains the potential for Shariah finance in Canada, including its application to residential mortgages and the capital markets. David admits that there is essentially no inherent demand for Shariah-compliant products in Canada; the market is not demand-driven, it is supply-driven. Muslims in [...]
Periodically, we conduct web search engine queries to test how our site appears. Yesterday, we Googled “Shariah Finance Watch” and an advertisement appeared to the right of the results. The advertisement was entitled, “INTEREST FREE HOME FINANCING.” That really caught our eye because Shariah-Compliant Banks around the world often promote their Shariah-Compliant mortgages as “Interest-free.” [...]
North Jersey Federal Credit Union has designed a Shariah-Compliant banking division. Through a partnership with New England Financial, North Jersey is also offering Shariah Mutual Funds. Clients of New England Financial may wish to take this into account when making investment decisions in the future. Note that the release linked below claims that there are [...]
In a move that certainly cannot be considered surprising, the United Arab Emirates’ central bank has announced the creation of a new certificate of deposit that will comply with Shariah. The move will allow Shariah banks access to liquidity instruments that heretofore have been unavailable because conventional CDs are inherently violative of Shariah prohibitions against [...]
GE Capital has announced that it will offer another Islamic bond (sukuk). The sukuk offerings are not eligible for US markets, so obtaining a prospectus for an offering can be difficult. Nevertheless, SFW was able to obtain such a prospectus after GE’s first foray into the world of Shariah and part of the prospectus does [...]
Judging by the spate of conferences on “Islamic finance” organized in the Russian Federation and the rest of the former Soviet republics in recent months, interest in Shariah finance is fast developing in the region… http://arabnews.com/economy/islamicfinance/article56957.ece
Derivatives Go Shariah
On May 7, 2010 · In Credit Dirivatives, Derivatives, IIFM, Islamic Finance, Sharia Compliant, Sharia Products, Shariah Finance
They said it would never happen. The Shariah scholars said that derivatives were inherently “unislamic” and had no place in Shariah-Compliant Finance. Well, we guess “the truth changed.” Financial Times has an article explaining how derivatives are creeping their way into Shariah Finance. No doubt, greed played a prominent role in this transformation… The release [...]
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