Thursday, January 1, 2009
Written by Dr Terry Lacey
The controversy over shariah law raises cultural and economic issues rather than simply religious questions. If shariah banking can be modernized, globalised and in management terms westernized in synergy with a liberal fi nancial system, then why not other aspects of shariah law? Interpretation of shariah law is culturally contextualized in time and space, not universally fi xed like concrete. The liberal Islamic Indonesian scholar Zuhairi Misrawi argues that shariah law is a cultural product because it has been historically constructed and is attached to a specifi c territorial, geographical and socio political culture. [ Last year there were seminars on shariah banking organized with the British Chamber of Commerce in The profi t and loss sharing aspect of shariah banking is the most innovative but the poor can normally only access fi xed cost Islamic facilities more similar to Western interest. Islamic profi t & loss sharing instruments in Asia are surprisingly heavily used by non Muslims (in The big issue in shariah banking policy is the gap between rich and poor. When a modern economically dynamic society absorbs migrants from a culture of rural poverty, tribalism and feudalism, then economics is driving social change. Shariah banking needs to fi nd ways to extend its more innovative profi t sharing concepts to poorer people to reduce marginalization & promote social inclusion. Maybe the Shariah banking should offer part of the way forward without excluding other groups or religions. In Some UK Muslim communities are resolving family disputes voluntarily with shariah law. Of course all parties should also have the right of recourse to the jurisdiction of We should study the voluntary use of shariah law to resolve family disputes in Most of the people who reacted strongly about voluntary shariah law in local communities in the Dr Terry Lacey was a well known student leader in |
Islamic Scholars meet in London discuss Shariah Finance
0 comments Posted by Download Mp3 gratis at 6:50 PM| The Islamic Bank of Britain’s (IBB) Shariah Supervisory Committee (SSC) also got together to discuss amongst other issues, a review of forthcoming Investment (Treasury) and Home Purchase products, as well as undertaking a Shariah review of the bank’s activity in 2007. The Committee consists of Sheikh Dr. Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah (Committee Chairman), Sheikh Nizam Yaqoobi and (UK-based) Mufti Abdulkadir Barkatullah. Between them, they represent almost a century of Shariah-compliance experience. All three committee members are very much in demand by Islamic Financial institutions from around the world, and have chosen to utilise their expertise to further the cause of Islamic Finance in collaboration with IBB. Mufti Barkatullah explained his commitment: “Islamic Bank of IBB is the fi rst Islamic fi nance institution in the As well as an external and independent review by the Scholars, IBB also has an internal Shariah Compliance Offi cer, who is responsible for continuously monitoring the day-to-day activities of the bank, and reports directly to the Shariah Supervisory Committee. “The work of the Shariah Supervisory Committee is fundamental to the existence of IBB,” comments Shaher Abbas, the bank’s Shariah Compliance Offi cer. “Their approval is required before we launch any product, and they regularly review our business to ensure we are in compliance with the Sharia’a. This gives our customers complete peace of mind that we are operating in accordance with Islamic and ethical principles.” IBB offers a number of products and services to it’s customers including Savings accounts, Treasury accounts, Personal Finance and Commercial Property Finance. The bank recently launched two new Commercial Centres for Islamic Finance – in |
At the official launch of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia said the challenge for the WIEF was to generate greater economic and trade interaction among Islamic countries.
"This is absolutely necessary because there is so much poverty and deprivation among Muslims all over the world." "They live in abject poverty and deplorable conditions. The average per capita income of those living in Islamic countries now is merely US$1,100 compared with the rest of the world average of US$5,133" he said.
About 50 percent of the population in Islamic countries live on less than US$2 a day, an amount barely sufficient for subsistence living, he added. "The vicious circle must be broken. We cannot expect others to take the lead. It is the duty of Islamic countries to help each other, so that they can share the prosperity, not the poverty," he said. "Indeed, the WIEF should be the platform for synergistic interaction among government leaders, civil society and business players of the Muslim ummah," he said.
Abdullah said the forum should explore and identify new and innovative means of strengthening cooperation between Islamic countries. "It should engage in dialogues and trading of ideas not only with Muslims but also with non-Muslim entrepreneurs and provide the networking for leading international business executives and political leaders," he said.
Abdullah said the private sector could take advantage of the forum to voice concerns and put forth proposals to top leaders and decision-makers in an informal setting. "Above all, the forum should also make its contribution towards strengthening the Muslim brotherhood at the same time as it promotes viable joint-ventures and smart partnerships," he added.
In the area of international trade and investment, Abdullah said there was a special niche market for halal products and services which Islamic countries should take the lead in securing.
He said the Islamic financial services industry was another area that Muslim countries should capitalise on and spearhead its growth and development.
"With 1.8 billion Muslims in the world, there is a ready market for Islamic financial services in commercial activities.
"These institutions can also be a vibrant platform for dialogue between the West and the Muslim world in these turbulent times. We need to build not only economic and trade bridges between the two sides but also, and even more importantly, establish institutions and provide forums that assist to spread goodwill and trust between the two great civilisations," he added.
When speaking of the WIEF Foundation, Abdullah hoped it would make important contributions to bring back some of the glory in the history of Islam. "In the past, Muslims excelled in various fields including politics, philosophy, the military, the sciences and the arts, and had in fact dominated the world trade scene. May the foundation be an effective catalyst for economic development, progress and prosperity," he said.
Source : http://www.islamictimes.co.uk
In 2007, despite rising net wealth of USD300 million, prince Al-Walid to the position down four levels. In 2006, "Warren Buffet" from the Arabs, the nickname of awarded Time magazine, in ranking to-8 with a wealth reached USD20 billion.
The Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company is to collect tens of wealth through investment in 10 sectors. In the hotel business and property of many known name. Grandchildren founder of the
Hotelnya related business, in 2007 he twice to make big blow, to buy the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok and Four Seasons Resort in
The acquisition of the hotel was named Regent is a debutnya in
How can the son of the Arab position is to climb such a high speed? Many of the suspect, it hamate with the role of Al-Walid as the spearhead of the investment for the Saudi prince other than publicity. There are also issues related to the spread pace with the development of the county in the contract a secret military base in
Al-Walid was born on
State wiped nearly went bankrupt that it changed overnight. The explosion in oil prices in the 1970s siphon wealth exceeds, and the Al-Saud clan, which has an 6,000-prince collectively become the richest family in the kingdom of earth.
Al-Walid Al-Saud with a difference. In 1962, the father of four with his brother protest. Talal show sympathy to the enemy Al-Saud, namely, the revolutionary leaders of
Marginalized, Al-Walid had excess motivation. He pitch aspiration of becoming a businessman while still on the age dozen years. He landed in
When returned to
In 1982, two years after the founding company called Kingdom Establishment in Riyadh, Al-Walid mengegolkan first transaction: build a single club in a military academy near Riyadh worth USD8 million. He represents the small contractors from
Activities Al-Walid as investor attention when he began buying shares Citicorp (now known as Citigroup), which terlilit liquidity difficulties in 1991. With initial investment of USD550 million, Prince mem-bail-out of Citibank, which involved real estate bad debts in the
Currently he has a 17 percent share in Euro Disney SCA, the organization that manages Disneyland Resort Paris in
Saudi Hollandi Bank completes SR775 million bonds sale
0 comments Posted by Download Mp3 gratis at 6:24 PMSaudi Hollandi Bank (SHB) announced yesterday the successful closure of its SR775 million issue on Monday, which is the first tranche of a SR1.5 billion Tier-II Sukuk issuance recently approved by the bank's shareholders.
"The successful closure of this Sukuk puts SHB as the first bank in the
He added that the decision to support the bank's capital is aimed to help SHB achieve its plans to grow its Shariah-compliant services and products to meet client requirements and also to achieve higher returns for shareholders.
He continued that "The Kingdom is one of the fastest growing markets in the world for Islamic banking and finance and with this Sukuk issue, SHB extends its long tradition of bringing innovative financing solutions to the Saudi market." Al-Khafrah also thanked SHB's Shariah Committee for their guidance and support in the Sukuk transaction. Geoff Calvert, SHB's managing director, explained, "the SR775 million Mudaraba Sukuk is a Shariah-compliant follow-up to the bank's first Tier-II capital bond for 700 million that was issued in 2004." He added that, "SHB's Sukuk issue is the first by a bank in the
The Sukuk is a Floating Rate Note (FRN) with tenor of 10 years, with an option to call it at the end of 5 years. Investors will receive a return of SIBOR (Saudi interbank offered rate) plus 2 percent per annum to be distributed bi-annually. The principal investment amount will be returned as a bullet payment on maturity.
Calvert further explained that, "the bank has successfully closed this issue with a positive response from a number of major institutional, corporate and private clients." Saudi Hollandi Capital acted as sole lead manager & book runner for this transaction.
Source: AJP and http://www.islamonline.com
The Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) is poised to expand abroad and will develop financial instruments to meet increasing calls for Shariah-related banking and financial services locally and internationally, says its Chairman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jabr Al Thani.
In an interview to QIB in-house magazine 'Al Masraf', Sheikh Jassim said: "QIB has developed a five-year strategic business plan until 2012. The objectives of this plan are to consolidate and maintain our leading position in Shariah-compliant banking in
He said in order to execute the plan the bank has been totally restructured. External advisors and auditors have been hired to evaluate the bank's information technology and human resources as well as its organisational structure.
"The expansion plan will continue. We are now licenced by the FSA in the
"We will also expand our Asian presence, extending the reach of our Malaysia-based Asian Finance Bank by opening representative offices in
The bank will continue its expansion in
( Source: AJP and http://www.islamonline.com )
by JORDAN ROBINSON
The Muslim community in America remains gripped by “analysis paralysis,” argues Shahed Amanullah, editor-in-chief of the online magazine altmuslim.com. But he sees a light at the end of the tunnel, and for Amanullah, that light comes from his MacBook laptop screen.
The Internet can be a powerful tool for open discussion, criticism, engagement and empowerment. But few efforts from the Muslim community have leveraged it as well as altmuslim.com.
For now, the American Muslim foray into the fourth estate remains in its infancy. Whether it is the print or broadcast medium, according to Amanullah, the Muslim community has yet to develop a fully functioning and vigorous free press that acts as a watchdog and transparent interface between different levels of the Muslim American population. The consequence of this, he says, is a rather static and seemingly monolithic plane of conversation that does little to address important issues affecting Muslims and their role in contributing to the betterment of American society. In other words, we need to get past “Islam means peace.”
Founded in 2001 after 9/11, altmuslim.com attracts 160,000 unique users and 360,000 page views a month. Amanullah and fellow editors are leveraging the power of the Web to plug in and provide media consumers with commentary barely audible in many publishing corners, be they Muslim or not. Topics vary widely, including family and community, art and culture, U.S. politics and gender relations. The Web continues to create ripples in Muslim and mainstream media, challenging society’s traditional gatekeepers of knowledge. Amanullah and his altmuslim.com colleagues are riding the wave of Internet-enabled community introspection by creating new modes of critique and accountability that circumvent not only traditional power monopolies, but also national borders.
With clairvoyance for coding, Amanullah created several Web sites, including zabihah.com, salatomatic.com and halalapalooza.com, in effect establishing the first “consumer reports” for everything Muslim. Salatomatic.com — “Your guide to the best mosques & Islamic schools in your area” — allows worshippers to rate their mosque experiences and provide information about things such as a mosque’s type of governance and the availability of women’s facilities. In the age of Wikipedia, who needs experts?
With the Web’s great democratizing and decentralizing effects, something not lost on Amanullah, alt.muslim is designed to be an interactive forum that includes more than 1,500 registered users with the ability to provide feedback to writers and artists. Interactivity for Amanullah includes using the Web as a facilitator for large-scale collaboration and social networking. Along these lines he recently introduced unitedmuslims.org that will include more tools for project sharing and collaboration. As a dynamic platform for greater Muslim activism and participation, major organizations can use it as a way to plug into the average Muslim whose talents and experiences have yet to be tested or utilized. This enhancement, Amanullah says, will help empower America’s grassroots activists working for change.
While most other Muslim information dissemination organizations take the top-down approach, Amanullah empowers from the bottom up. “I think the lay Muslim can do wonders but has never been given a chance.”
( Source : http://www.islamicamagazine.com)
