As you navigate your way through the gyrations of the U.S. banking industry with its welter of new and different charges on bank deposits and credit cards, you can comfort yourself. At least you're not dealing with Lloyds TSB in London, which charges its Muslim customers 15 pounds for an overdraft, and the non-Muslim ones 200 pounds.
Of course, any non-Muslim wishing to protect himself or herself against such overdraft charges could sign up for sharia-compliant financing ... now, where did I leave my headscarf?
Showing posts with label sharia finance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sharia finance. Show all posts
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Follow this case
A judge in eastern Michigan has ruled to continue the case, reported earlier, brought against the U.S. Treasury for continuing and developing the sharia financing programs of insurance giant AIG, which has by now received more than $150 billion from the government. As Frank Gaffney and David Jerushalmi argue:
"The problem with all of this public largesse is that AIG sponsors, pays for, and aggressively markets sharia-compliant insurance products. The practice of sharia finance has created lucrative advisory positions for often radical imams, who get paid to guarantee the religious 'purity' of sharia-compliant products. Such vehicles typically follow the Muslim principle of zakat and donate a slice of their profits to charity. Unfortunately, many of the charities receiving these funds have links to terrorism. Mr. Murray objects to his funds’ being used to legitimate and promote sharia law, when that is the same law that calls for jihad. For that matter, sharia allows Saudis, Iranians, Sudanese, Somalis, Afghans, Taliban members, and other adherents to justify the following: the execution of apostates who decide to abandon the faith; the criminalizing of “Islamophobic blasphemy”; the punishment of petty crimes with amputations, floggings and stonings; and the repression of “non-believers” from practicing their respective religions freely and openly."
The government had moved to dismiss the case; the judge replied that he would not, on these grounds:
"In this case, the United States government has a majority interest in AIG. AIG utilizes consolidated financing whereby all funds flow through a single port to support all of its activities, including Sharia-compliant financing. Pursuant to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, the government has injected AIG with tens of billions of dollars, without restricting or tracking how this considerable sum of money is spent. At least two of AIG’s subsidiary companies practice Sharia-compliant financing, one of which was unveiled after the influx of government cash. After using the $40 billion from the government to pay down the $85 billion credit facility, the credit facility retained $60 billion in available credit, suggesting that AIG did not use all $40 billion consistent with its press release. Finally, after the government acquired a majority interest in AIG and contributed substantial funds to AIG for operational purposes, the government co-sponsored a forum entitled 'Islamic Finance 101.'"
This will be a case to watch. (Thanks to Jihad Watch.)
"The problem with all of this public largesse is that AIG sponsors, pays for, and aggressively markets sharia-compliant insurance products. The practice of sharia finance has created lucrative advisory positions for often radical imams, who get paid to guarantee the religious 'purity' of sharia-compliant products. Such vehicles typically follow the Muslim principle of zakat and donate a slice of their profits to charity. Unfortunately, many of the charities receiving these funds have links to terrorism. Mr. Murray objects to his funds’ being used to legitimate and promote sharia law, when that is the same law that calls for jihad. For that matter, sharia allows Saudis, Iranians, Sudanese, Somalis, Afghans, Taliban members, and other adherents to justify the following: the execution of apostates who decide to abandon the faith; the criminalizing of “Islamophobic blasphemy”; the punishment of petty crimes with amputations, floggings and stonings; and the repression of “non-believers” from practicing their respective religions freely and openly."
The government had moved to dismiss the case; the judge replied that he would not, on these grounds:
"In this case, the United States government has a majority interest in AIG. AIG utilizes consolidated financing whereby all funds flow through a single port to support all of its activities, including Sharia-compliant financing. Pursuant to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, the government has injected AIG with tens of billions of dollars, without restricting or tracking how this considerable sum of money is spent. At least two of AIG’s subsidiary companies practice Sharia-compliant financing, one of which was unveiled after the influx of government cash. After using the $40 billion from the government to pay down the $85 billion credit facility, the credit facility retained $60 billion in available credit, suggesting that AIG did not use all $40 billion consistent with its press release. Finally, after the government acquired a majority interest in AIG and contributed substantial funds to AIG for operational purposes, the government co-sponsored a forum entitled 'Islamic Finance 101.'"
This will be a case to watch. (Thanks to Jihad Watch.)
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Business is booming
Terrorism finance is one activity that has profited from the recent economic downturn, according to this article by Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld. Saudi funding for Hamas, for example, has surged. If there are shortfalls in legal revenues from oil and gas, terrorists can easily replace them with income from various criminal activities such as drug traffickling, arms smuggling, or counterfeiting.
In addtion, sharia finance is making steep inroads into important US financial institutions. The individuals promoting sharia finance don't hide their goal of using it to replace the Western fianncial system. As the chief sharia advisor to HSBC wrote, in a 2002 book: "For a non-Muslim state to have more pomp and glory than a Muslim state itself is an obstacle, therefore to shatter this grandeur is among the greater objectives of jihad." Western governments, financial institutions, and publics have yet to understand what is going on.
In addtion, sharia finance is making steep inroads into important US financial institutions. The individuals promoting sharia finance don't hide their goal of using it to replace the Western fianncial system. As the chief sharia advisor to HSBC wrote, in a 2002 book: "For a non-Muslim state to have more pomp and glory than a Muslim state itself is an obstacle, therefore to shatter this grandeur is among the greater objectives of jihad." Western governments, financial institutions, and publics have yet to understand what is going on.
Monday, December 22, 2008
USG Sharia-compliant insurance instruments
Kevin Murray, a private citizen, has filed a lawsuit in Michigan demanding that the U.S. Treasury Department withhold bailout funds from the American International Group insurance company (AIG) unless it divests itself completely of any branch that deals with Islamic finance. The lawsuit alleges that U.S. government ownership of a sharia-compliant subsidiary represents an unconstitutional government infringement on religion. You can read the text of the complaint here.
An AIG subsidiary, AIG Takaful Enaya headquartered in Bahrain, provides a range of sharia-compliant insurance products for the Islamic world. However, these products are not exotic and remote. On December 1, another AIG subsidiary announced that it was introducing a 'Takaful Homeowners Policy', aimed at the U.S. market, in conjunction with AIG Takaful Enaya.
It's not clear whether this lawsuit will succeed, or whether it will be rejected due to the principle of sovereign immunity, which protects the U.S. government from U.S. taxpayer challenges over how it uses its funds.
An AIG subsidiary, AIG Takaful Enaya headquartered in Bahrain, provides a range of sharia-compliant insurance products for the Islamic world. However, these products are not exotic and remote. On December 1, another AIG subsidiary announced that it was introducing a 'Takaful Homeowners Policy', aimed at the U.S. market, in conjunction with AIG Takaful Enaya.
It's not clear whether this lawsuit will succeed, or whether it will be rejected due to the principle of sovereign immunity, which protects the U.S. government from U.S. taxpayer challenges over how it uses its funds.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
UK Sharia financing
Melanie Phillips reports that UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown traveled last week to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states to ask them to contribute funds to help the IMF bail out countries at risk in the financial crisis. And what did his interlocutors want in return? A larger say in the IMF and other financial institutions, which only makes sense. And the Saudis, apparently by threatening violence, got UK authorities to call off a bribery investigation involving an arms deal between Saudi Arabia and the British firm BAE Systems.
Nevertheless, British authorities still want to make London the world capital of...sharia financing. As Phillips points out, not only is sharia financing designed to feed required Muslim charitable donations to various jihadi activities, but it is profoundly subversive: "The key point is that sharia law does not recognize the superior authority of the secular law of the land." A breathtaking example of how Islamists can subvert key Western institutions.
Nevertheless, British authorities still want to make London the world capital of...sharia financing. As Phillips points out, not only is sharia financing designed to feed required Muslim charitable donations to various jihadi activities, but it is profoundly subversive: "The key point is that sharia law does not recognize the superior authority of the secular law of the land." A breathtaking example of how Islamists can subvert key Western institutions.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
US Treasury takes to sharia financing
As I explained in an entry last April, sharia financing is a technical tool designed to introduce sharia law into the West via the economy. Last week the Coalition to Stop Shariah held a press conference at the National Press Club to protest the fact that the Treasury Department appears to be not only condoning sharia financing, but giving its employees training courses on it.
As Kyle Schindler of the Endowment for Middle East Truth noted at the press conference: "it is supremely ironic that the Treasury Department, [the] government agency responsible for prosecuting charities which fund Islamic terrorism is now considering a financial system which will mandate banks and investment products [to] donate to those charities."
As Treasury is now directly engaged in much of what Wall Street does, its openness to sharia financing can be extremely harmful.
As Kyle Schindler of the Endowment for Middle East Truth noted at the press conference: "it is supremely ironic that the Treasury Department, [the] government agency responsible for prosecuting charities which fund Islamic terrorism is now considering a financial system which will mandate banks and investment products [to] donate to those charities."
As Treasury is now directly engaged in much of what Wall Street does, its openness to sharia financing can be extremely harmful.
Monday, April 7, 2008
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
