Sharia-compliant financing

Recent months have seen a big expanion of sharia-compliant financing (SCF) - investment vehicles that, for example, pay no interest, as that is forbidden by the Koran. These new vehicles aim to attract Middle Eastern investors awash in oil income. However, they are not just financial tools: in an op-ed today in the Waterbury Republican-American, syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock argues that their aim is also to extend sharia law in general. He lists Muslim extremists, including Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who act or have acted as SCF advisers to Western financial institutions, and points out that SCF funds usually donate 2.5% of profits to Islamic charity "zakat," some of which may go to terrorists. Read all about it at http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2008/04/07/opinion/syndicated_columnists/331090.txt.