Proponents of Shariah-Compliant Finance like to refer to it as a form of “ethical” investing, especially in efforts to get non-Muslims to invest in Shariah-Compliant products. Many of the decisions associated with Shariah compliance are made by clerics, sheikhs, muftis and others collectively known as “shariah scholars.” The problem with this premise is that Shariah […]
Shariah is not just law in the Western sense. Unlike Western legal traditions, Shariah covers every aspect of life. At SFW, our mission is to focus on the financial and economic aspects of Shariah. Shariah Compliant Finance is the opposite of free enterprise, for reasons which we delve into on a daily basis on this […]
It is often said that “people are policy” and the prospect of Harold Koh as a legal adviser to the US State Department unfortunately illustrates that vividly. Koh is a transnationalist who believes in incorporating foreign legal traditions into US legal decisions, including Shariah law: A New York lawyer, Steven Stein, says that, in addressing […]
Dear Mufti M. Taqi Usmani…
Stephen Ranzini, Shariah-sop running University Bank, Ann Arbor A MUST READ FROM THE GOOD FOLKS AT SANE! http://www.saneworks.us/Dear-Mufti-M-Taqi-Usmani-newsblog-2514.htm
Bailout Fallout: Uncle Sam’s Shariah Board
At your service, American Taxpayer! AIG’s Shariah Advisory Board. As members of the AIG Takaful Shariah Advisory Board, they really work for you and me, the American taxpayer, ever since we the people bought an 80 percent stake in the bankrupt insurance company. How’s that for bait and switch? While we agonize over chump-change AIG bonuses, we ignore the […]
Islamic banks are establishing banks all over Europe, and even the Vatican has joined the bandwagon by publicly voicing its approval. Proponents of Shariah banking advocate it as a “more ethical” option than those banks entrenched within the capitalist doctrine. However, Shariah principles forbid investment in certain companies deemed inappropriate in the Muslim world, and […]
Sultan Choudhury, commercial director of the Islamic Bank of Britain, is “very keen to enter the Scottish market and have a presence up there.” He praises the “flexibility and strength” of Scottish law which is apparently a prime avenue for implementing Sharia-compliant finance. http://business.scotsman.com/business/Islamic-bank-set-to-boost.5100831.jp
If I had a dollar for every Muslim “caliph” claiming to have millions of followers… So this present economic recession will lead to World War III? What are we involved in now? I was under the impression that the US had been fighting a somewhat global war on terror for years. “His Holiness” calls for […]
Regular readers of SFW know by now that one of the more sinister aspects of Shariah-Compliant Finance is the shady practice of distributing zakat payments to various Muslim charities, dozens of which have been tied to terrorism. We have covered these subjects here: https://shariahfinancewatch.org/category/islamic-charities and here: https://shariahfinancewatch.org/category/zakat/ The NEFA Foundation has now published a […]
Jayme Evans has written a good article on the hypocrisy of the Treasury Department, which is talking out of both sides of its mouth on the rather inconsequential issue of AIG bonuses and the far more significant issue of taxpayer-funded Shariah via the AIG bailout… http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/9563 Meanwhile, over on The Lid blog, they put things […]
The Pakistani government entered into a deal with Jihadists over a month ago in which the Taliban will be able to rule in the Swat Valley of NW Pakistan by Shariah law. Not surprisingly, this has only whetted the Jihadists’ appetite for more and wider Shariah… http://www.geo.tv/3-22-2009/37970.htm
A group of Saudi clerics urged the kingdom’s new information minister on Sunday to ban women from appearing on TV or in newspapers and magazines… In a statement, the 35 hardline clergymen also called on Abdel Aziz Khoja, who was appointed by King Abdullah on Feb. 14, to prohibit the playing of music and music […]
Despite the fact that Shariah-Compliant investments have suffered right along with other sectors in the financial crisis, promoters of Shariah-Compliant Finance continue to falsely proclaim that it is a solution to the world’s economic woes. The latest myth is being spread by a Russian… http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_business.php?id=398137
Promoters of Shariah-Compliant Finance love to proclaim that it is a form of ethical investing. But in Australia, one of the Shariah ruling councils has engaged in some decidedly unethical business practices… A court has heard a Victorian Islamic body tried to put a company out of business so it could monopolise the certification of […]
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, commented, “Although widespread public anger has rightfully focused on bonuses AIG paid to top executives using taxpayers’ money, that anger would be at an even higher pitch if the public knew that our tax dollars were being used by AIG to promote Islam […]
This article isn’t about Shariah, but it is obnoxious enough so as to prompt me to post it anyway, especially since it refers to one of the rogue nations ruled by Shariah, Iran. One of the leaders of the movement to appease the Jihadists…er..I meant to say, “engage” the Muslim world, is a man by […]
Lately there has been a great deal of outrage expressed over bonuses for AIG employees (which it appears the entire government actually knew about ahead of time, despite denials to the contrary). There is a lot more to be outraged about as the federal government transfers tens of billions of dollars to AIG, like the […]
Recently in Somalia, that beleaguered country’s newest leader attempted to appease Jihadists there by agreeing to impose Shariah. What did he get for his troubles? A threat from Osama Bin Laden (or a voice claiming to be that of Osama Bin Laden) urging his overthrow because he delayed the imposition of Shariah and is thus […]
Among the investors who fell victim to the Arab eastern Jerusalem Ponzi scheme – violating religious law in the process – were leading Islamic figures in eastern Jerusalem, Hamas members, former Orient House officials, Fatah leaders, and top personnel in the Islamic organizations on the Temple Mount. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/130418
The Islamic Bank of Britain is operating in the red so far in 2009, after having posted a loss in 2008. If you listen to some promoters of Shariah-Compliant banking, you’d have the impression that Islamic banks have all been untouched by the financial crisis. But, that certainly is not the case in Dubai, as […]
Al Qaeda endorses Shariah-Compliant Finance
The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a German-language video recording of German Al-Qaida member Bekkay Harrach (a.k.a. “Abu Talha the German”) produced by the As-Sahaab Media Foundation. During the video, titled “Islam and the Finance Crisis”, Harrach asked, “Where are the taxes that the German people now need so urgently? They are spent in […]
Things haven’t been going so well in the economic miracle known as Dubai, as we have documented frequently in recent days and weeks: https://shariahfinancewatch.org/category/dubai/ Now, not only is Shariah-Compliant Finance failing in Dubai, but the rest of Shariah is creeping out, demonstrating to the rest of the world that fancy hotels and modern architecture can’t […]
Over the past week, we have been following an exchange between the CEO of University Islamic Bank in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Stephen Ranzini, and Christopher Logan of Islam in Action blog. For those of you who missed the first two parts of this exchange, you can catch up here: https://shariahfinancewatch.org/category/university-islamic-bank/ In Part 3 of this […]
Several Tunisian politicians and members of non-governmental organisations expressed unhappiness with Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s visit to Tunisia this week. The protesters called the chairman of the Association of Muslim Scholars “a symbol of intolerant salafist ideology.” Some Tunisians say that Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi expressed violent opinions concerning Tunisia’s achievements in the field of human and […]
The Islamic states circulated a new resolution at the current session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday that would criminalize defamation of Islam as a human rights violation and encourage the imposition of Shariah… More from the Jerusalem Post: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1236764174608&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
Indonesian government advised not to issue Shariah bonds now
CitiGroup has advised the Indonesian government not to issue Shariah bonds (also known as Sukuk) at this time due to adverse market conditions and the large number of bond issues in the global marketplace. It is also interesting to note that CitiGroup also cited the “high yield” that Indonesia would have to set for the […]
The promoters of Shariah-Compliant Finance claim that it is an attractive form of “ethical” investing, yet the world’s oldest “Islamic” bank has been wracked by scandal repeatedly… http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Business_News&subsection=market+news&month=March2009&file=Business_News200903129113.xml
Pakistan, nesting ground of the Taliban, launching site for the Mumbai terrorist attack and haven for Al Qaeda, is putting on a countrywide roadshow to promote “Islamic banking.” http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/03/12/4050232.htm
Lies from the President of Indonesia
At SFW one of our chief activities in the past couple of months has been to dispel the notion that Shariah-Compliant Finance (sometimes referred to as “Islamic Finance”) has been immune to the impact of the world financial crisis. Just yesterday we reported on two articles on the impact of the world financial crisis on […]
Anyone who says that Shariah is not coming to America needs to wake up and take note of this article in which it is revealed that US-based Shariah Capital is part of a $200 million launch of a Shariah-Compliant hedge fund. Note also, however, that Deutsche Bank launched a similar vehicle and it received no market […]
Categories
Archives